The idea for the West Side Heritage Tour began in 2019, a year after I opened my gallery and studio on Beekman Street. As I became part of the neighborhood, I discovered the remarkable history of Saratoga’s West Side. I soon realized that this history was scattered across many places: the City Historian’s archives, the Saratoga Springs Public Library, the Saratoga Historical Museum, the Skidmore University digital collections, the Preservation Foundation, and the memories of neighborhood families.
I imagined bringing these stories together in a single experience through original narrative paintings, historic photographs, oral histories, and digital storytelling. That vision was strengthened through a partnership with Skidmore College anthropology professor Michael Ennis-McMillan and the many Skidmore students who contributed research, interviews, and countless hours to this project over the years.
Many of the stories you’ll encounter are drawn from Dublin Revisited: Stories of the West Side by Lee Signor and former City Historian MaryAnn Fitzgerald. Additional research came from the collections of the Saratoga Room at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, the George C. Bolster Photograph Collection at the Saratoga Historical Museum, the City Historian’s archives, and family photographs and memories generously shared by West Side residents.
Perhaps the most meaningful resource was the West Side Oral History Project. Skidmore students helped transcribe dozens of interviews recorded more than thirty years ago, preserving the voices of the people who lived this history. Throughout the tour, you’ll hear many of those voices, allowing the neighborhood’s stories to be told by the people who experienced them firsthand.
The original artwork that serves as the centerpiece of this tour was made possible through a 2025 Saratoga Arts Community ReGrant. Inspired by the great narrative painters Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton, these paintings were created not simply to illustrate history, but to tell the stories of ordinary people whose lives shaped this community. Rivera believed that art belongs to the people and should reflect their history. That philosophy became the guiding inspiration for this project.
My hope is that this tour helps you see the West Side not simply as a collection of historic sites, but as a living community whose stories continue to shape Saratoga Springs today. Thank you for joining me, and enjoy the tour.
West Side Heritage Tour 