Art Seek
Expiration: Mar 31st 2025
The free mobile-friendly Visit Ithaca Art Seek Pass will take you on a self-guided journey to view dozens of murals and sculptures across 20 unique sites with art and cultural significance. We are highlighting a sample of Ithaca and Tompkins County’s many celebrated public art and community driven projects. Let this pass continue to inspire your art exploration.
Included Venues
See locations on an interactive map.
Black Girl Alchemist
Annemarie Zwack, an artist who specializes in engaging communities in creating self-determinative public art, worked with Southside Community Center’s Black Girl Alchemy to realize this mosaic mural, which was unveiled in 2019.
Businessman in Touch with Nature
Originally part of the Art in the Heart of the City exhibit. Bronze sculpture by Geneva-based artist Cherry Rahn.
CARS mural
This 160-foot mural, which adorns the entire Plain Street wall of Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services, was a collaboration between Philadelphia-based artists Betsy Casañas and Mauricio Peréz, which represents struggles with addiction through symbolic depictions of a garden.
Cornell Botanic Gardens
This two-story mural by Eder Muniz, created in 2019 on the back side of the Nevin Welcome Center, was inspired by the gardens. Nearby, check out a series of abstract 10-ton concrete sculptures built by undergraduate students in the 1960s.
Dorothy Cotton Mural
Created by Shawn Dunwoody (2024), this mural is a visual celebration of Dorothy Cotton's life and legacy as a Civil Rights educator, her work as a colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and her many years in Ithaca.
Frances Perkins Memorial Statue
Visit the first female presidential cabinet secretary and the driving force behind FDR’s historic New Deal. Perkins taught at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations from 1957 to 1965, residing at the Telluride House.
Green Street Parking Garage
"Portals to Peace" by Lachlan Chambliss (2017) and "Mother of Kogi" by Yen Ospina (2015) ...there's also 3 additional murals in/on the Green Street stairwell.
Lucy J. Brown Community Statue
Lucy dedicated her life to advancing racial justice, educational equity, and affordable housing. As a co-founder of local affordable housing organization, INHS, she was an advocate for neighborhoods and instrumental in ensuring Black communities had a voice in decision-making.
No Justice No Peas
This electrical box mural, titled "No Justice, No Peas!," was created by Samarra Khaja to inspire social activism and healthy eating. 75+ boxes have been painted throughout Ithaca.
Press Bay Alley
"Kesalul" by Margaret Kops Kuveke (2020), "Presence of Justice" by MacCormick art students (2020), and more!
Press Bay Court
"Lady Liberty" by Yen Ospina (2020), Red-tailed Hawk by ARCY (2016 thanks to DIA), and more!
Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary
"Sapsucker Cairn" from internationally acclaimed environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy, who built it out of locally quarried stone, assisted by Cornell students from a variety of programs, in 2008.
Sciencenter Fence
In 2022, the Sciencenter invited artists to create artwork for their fence. They received 65 science-themed submissions and chose 16 finalists. There are also numerous murals inside!
Seneca Street Parking Garage
"No Place Like Home/Spirit of Ithaca" mosaic mural was completed in 2012 by Annemarie Zwack. Find more art around the garage including a mural from Brandon Lazore (Onondaga Nation, Snipe Clan).
Sky Ride at Black Diamond Trail trailhead
Created by Patricia Vader, this sculpture was unveiled in 2023 at the Black Diamond Trailhead near the Ithaca Children's Garden to celebrate Ithaca's bike culture.
South Hill Recreation Way
At the entrance to the South Hill Recreation Way, a 300-foot fence serves as an ever-changing gallery of murals and graffiti by 50+ artists.
State Theatre of Ithaca area
An electrical box on the corner of West MLK Jr/State and Cayuga streetsby Vivinne Williams (2023), is just one of multiple murals located near the historic State Theatre of Ithaca.
Taughannock Blvd
"Where the Wild Things Are" is the largest art in this area. Restored in 2022 by Chloe Mako, a fine arts student at Cornell who worked at a food truck sharing the lot with the mural. Original artist is Jacob Hascup (1999).
The Dalai Lama of Compassion
This monument is located outside the 14th Dalai Lama Library & Learning Center, the only place in the world to house all of his writing. Artist Mario Chiodo (2023). Please note limited public hours.
The Hotel Ithaca Mural
A community mural by Hugo Medina (2024) welcomes you to Downtown Ithaca.
Trumansburg Creek Mural
Viewable from Gimme! Coffee, this mural overlooking Trumansburg Creek was created by Kathy Armstrong in 2016.
Youth Farm Project Mural
Inspired by the mission of "growing justice from the ground up!" Mural by Efren Rebugio and Britt Johnson, 2023