If you have ever biked, walked, or paddled along the Erie Canal near Henpeck Park, you have likely noticed a group of paintings on the abutment under the south side of the Elmgrove Road bridge and wondered: Why are they there and what do they represent?
Without a village “port” to call its own, many people don’t realize that the Erie Canal flows through the town of Greece, but it does. Nearly four miles of the historic waterway stretch across the town’s southern border. A little more than 15 years ago, the Greece Chamber of Commerce had an Erie Canal Committee, and its members were on a mission to get the word out about the canal’s presence in and impact on the town.
Around the same time, Mural Mania, a grassroots effort that began in Lyons, NY in 2007, was working to line the Erie Canal corridor with public art that depicted the rich and deep history of the canal. The Chamber committee was eager to jump on board the effort and add Greece to the list of murals that were going up along the canal from Cayuga to Orleans counties. After two years of fundraising that even included canal cruises departing from Henpeck Park, the Chamber raised enough money to commission mural artist Stacey Kirby of Albion to complete the project.
In the end, Greece didn’t get just one, but three, eight-by-twelve-foot paintings, depicting three stages of the canal: excavation and construction; the first expansion; and the time of Junction Lock (1918-1920) when the canal was rerouted to bypass downtown Rochester. Each painting was rendered on exterior-grade plywood using acrylic paints and protected with coats of varnish. A plexiglass-type of product was added later for additional protection from vandalism. The murals were installed on the bridge abutment by Erie Canal Committee member Dave Pandina, just in time for the World Canals Conference that was held in Rochester in September 2010. (This year the World Canal Conference will be held in Buffalo.) A ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony for the murals and an information kiosk was held on September 20, 2010 at Henpeck Park. One side of the kiosk shared the history of Junction Lock, and the other side described the three murals. Unfortunately, information on the murals is no longer available at the park.
To see more of Stacey Kirby’s work visit: https://staceykirby.com
For more information about Mural Mania and the murals along the Erie Canalway and the Seaway Trail, visit: https://muralmania.org/about
For More on World Canal Conference 2025 in Buffalo New York: Visit https://wcc2025buffalo.com/
These three murals were painted by artist Stacey Kriby as part of the Mural Mania project along the Erie Canal. The murals, which portray the history of the building of the canal, homesteads along the canal, and Junction Lock were installed in 2010. They were commissioned by the Greece Chamber of Commerce Erie Canal. (Photos by Bill Sauers)
