10/15/2026
Celebrating CHARM Mural Week! Cultivating Havens for the Arts through Regional Murals is a Governor’s Initiative established by Governor Hochul in 2025 and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).
"Curtain Call: Soul of the Stage" Designed by Artist Dion Browne of Dion designs / DesignerWear, and installed by Dion and collaborating Artist Sam Somostrada (Todd Omos) of SOMO Art, Celebrates the History of Theater and the Performing Arts in Elmira on the Centertown Parking Garage, Elmira, NY.
"Curtain Call: Soul of the Stage" was inspired by the fiftieth anniversary of the nearby Clemens Performing Arts Center. The wraparound mural rises seven stories and spans fifty feet, depicting the history of theater in Elmira, New York, from Keeney’s to the Elmira Theater, to the silhouetted performer emerging from the historic pipe organ of the Clemens Center.
This visual art story is one of resilience and artistry, of a vaudevillian testing ground, where Artist Ella Fitgerald performed at the grand opening of the Clemens Center in 1977. Ella Fitzgerald headlined the gala opening performance that included the rising of the historic theater's pipe organ from the orchestra pit. During the visit, Ella Fitzgerald received the key to the city of Elmira from Mayor John M. Kennedy.
"On December 21, 1925, the Marr and Colton Company installed a 3/20 instrument in what became the Keeney Theatre, owned and operated by Frank Keeney, featuring 2,600 seats for vaudeville and silent movies. The organ was used daily to accompany silent films until the advent of talkies in 1929. After that time, the organ was used only on rare occasions and was not kept in repair – the last record of its having been played was in 1941, but it has been restored since. Keeney’s Theatre closed July 13, 1952, and in the Fall of 1951, it was purchased and renamed the Elmira Theater."
In September 1977, the Elmira Theater was saved again, renovated and became the Clemens Performing Arts Center, and exists today, centric to the area arts and culture scene, and that is represented by upper levels/stories of the mural with the silhouetted performer emerging from the center of the historic theater pipe organ.
Source of theater history: https://clemenscenter.org/theater-organ/
Community Arts of Elmira "Elmira Infinite Canvas" public art program is grateful to work with such superlatives as Artist Dion Browne, Artist Sam Somostrada (Todd Omos), the Clemens Center, City of Elmira, The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes and New York State Council on the Arts!
This mural is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts CHARM Initiative with support from the Office of the Governor and is administered locally by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes in partnership with Community Arts of Elmira.
The mission of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is to foster and advance the full breadth of New York State’s arts, culture, and creativity for all. Annually, NYSCA funding supports over 3,000 artists and arts and culture organizations across all 10 state regions. In FY2027, NYSCA will award more than $161 million. Created in 1960 and continued with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, NYSCA is a state agency part of the Executive Branch.
