The Rome Arts Hall of Fame inducted six people in a public ceremony on Sunday, May 7, 2023, in the Capitol Theatre, 220 West Dominick Street, Rome. A performance by Rome Free Academy’s show choir Rhapsody was also featured as part of the program.
The Rome Arts Hall of Fame began in 2005 with a mission to honor individuals (living or deceased) who have a strong connection to the Rome community and have a significant involvement in the performing, visual or literary arts. The class of 2023 is the sixteenth group to be named to the Rome Arts Hall of Fame.
Capitol Arts Complex Executive Director Art Pierce: In Rome, the Capitol Theatre has been the center of the community and a hub of arts and entertainment for 95 years. Presenting the Rome Arts Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in the historic theater is a fitting way to honor, recognize and preserve the contributions to the community made by these artists.
Visual artist and Rome native Tom Amidon (who now enjoys year ‘round sunshine in Florida); has exhibited locally at the Rome Art and Community Center, View (Old Forge), Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute and Sculpture Space (Utica), and Arkel Museum (Canajoharie).
Peter Costianes has been a valued member of the performing arts community in Central New York as a vocalist with the Rome Choral Society, B Sharp Musical Club and Hamilton College Masterworks Chorale, as well as a theatrical director and actor at Rome Community Theater and the Capitol’s SummerStage.
Accomplished visual artist and educator Sandra DeVisser helped form the organization which operates the Rome Art and Community Center. She also was instrumental in founding the Dodge-Pratt-Northam Art and Community Center in Boonville. Her creations in mixed media have been exhibited throughout Central New York.
Alex Haley lived in Rome for several years during the period in which he wrote Roots: The Saga of an American Family, which was published in 1976 and seen by an estimated one hundred and thirty million viewers in the 1977 ABC miniseries of the same name.
Norm Landis, retired Rome Daily Sentinel editor, is the author of the updated third edition of the Adirondack Mountain Club’s West-Central Trail Guide; and a contributing author to Adirondack Magazine, Adirondack Life, and Western Trails.
Maria Ringlund has specialized in portrait photography and photo restoration along with custom graphic layout services, while providing space for local visual artists and crafters to display and sell their creations in The Photo Shoppe Fusion Art and Gift Gallery on upper Turin Road.