Adirondack Life Announces Photography Contest Winners

Adirondack Life magazine recently named the winners of its annual photography contest, which will appear in the publication’s first issue entirely dedicated to regional wildlife.

 To honor the theme, this year’s contest spotlighted the Wildlife category—with the grand prize and first through third places awarded to photographs featuring animals. First-place winners were also named in the Landscape and Recreation categories. 

Mei-An Raicer, a veterinarian and wildlife rehabilitator from Howell, New Jersey, took the top prize with All Lined Up, a classic loon-and-chick scene on Lake Abanakee (above).

First place in the Wildlife category went to Steff Obkirchner, of Ray Brook, New York, for The Watcher, a portrait of a barred owl in light snow. Amy Cook, of Gouverneur, New York, came in second with a photograph of a young bear in a cornfield entitled Where’s Mom. Third place was awarded to Mark Epstein, of Saranac Lake, New York, for Mellow Yellow, a closeup of a damselfly on St. John’s wort at Little Colby Pond.

Christine Festin, of Clifton Park, New York, won first place in the Landscape category for a misty Sunrise on Tupper Lake, and Snowshoeing 101, a portrait of a five-year-old on his first snowshoe outing by William Adamczak, of Bolton Landing, New York, took first place in the Recreation category. 

Category winners receive a specially commissioned work of pottery by Sue Young, of Jay, New York. In addition to the category winners, 10 images earned honorable mentions, which can be seen HERE beginning March 1. 

Winning photographs are published in the March/April 2026 issue of the magazine, which also features a peek inside the secret lives of Adirondack moose by Jeff Nadler; wildlife portraits by Lake Placid photographer Pamela Underhill Karaz; an opossum search party led by best-selling author Kristin Kimball; plus loons, turtles, ticks, turkeys, chipmunks, coyotes and more. 

The View ArtsCenter presents

75th Central Adirondack Art Show

It’s not to late to enter—Entry deadline is February 20! 

CALLING ALL ARTISTS

The Central Adirondack Art Show accepts all artists, age 16 and up, working in any media, who have a residence within 200 miles of Old Forge, New York.

Artists may only enter ONE piece.

The Central Adirondack Art Show will be held March 20 – May 9, 2026.

Get the full details HERE.

View Arts Center, 3273 State Route 28, Old Forge

Bell Fire Arts Collective presents

Speakeazy Storytelling Open Mic At Snowfort Books

Hosts Loree Burns and Mac MacDevitt are looking forward to welcoming all our storytelling friends to SpeakEazy Open Mic’s new home at Snowfort Books in Westport on the FOURTH WEDNESDAY every month at 7 pm. 

We are collaborating with owners Adam and Amy Robinson in their warm, friendly bookstore and community space in the old Adams Hardware building. 

Come and join us, check out the books and settle in with your friends and neighbors for a night of sharing or just listening to true, personal stories. 

Details HERE.

Snowfort Books, 6582 Main St., Westport

Keene Valley Library presents

Life/Story: A Public Reading with Lauren McGovern

Thursday, February 26, 3 pm

Lauren McGovern, a creative nonfiction writer based in Wilmington, will read published and new work at the Keene Valley Library. The 90-minute presentation will also include resources for writers who want to learn more about publication and storytelling opportunities. 

For more information, contact kvla.library@gmail.com or 518.576.4335

Keene Valley Library, 1796 NY-73, Keene Valley

Clinton County Historical Association and the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association present

John Brown in New York, with author Sandra Weber

Thursday, February 26, 6 pm, free

Sandra presents a compelling talk about her newest book, John Brown in New York: The Man, His Family, and the Adirondack Landscape, and offers a fresh and intimate look at the famed abolitionist, focusing on the years of the Brown family’s connection with North Elba, Essex County (1848–1863). The intertwining story of sublime Adirondack scenery, farm life, and racial justice explores John Brown not only as a national figure but as a husband, father, neighbor, abolitionist, and equalitarian. 

Sandra’s insightful narrative bridges the myth and the man, revealing the tender and tragic heart of the Brown family story.

CCHA Museum, 98 Ohio Road, Plattsburgh

In Case You Missed It

“Pendragon Theatre: Setting the Stage for a Scene Change”

In the February 13 episode, Mountain Lake PBS’s Mountain Lake Journal Spotlight’s Paul Larson chats with Pendragon Theatre’s Managing Director Michael Aguirre about the theatre’s new Woodruff Street home.

See the full episode HERE.