The job scene

To noted that the Cooperstown Intermodal Transit Center Project spent more than $3 million to construct the Linden Avenue Extension parking lot, and village taxpayers took on a 10-year debt obligation of half a million dollars.

“The village also polices and protects the area,” the mayor added, “but not having the land under its jurisdiction creates the curious anomaly that if the police see a violation in the parking lot, for instance, they cannot enforce the rule because they have no jurisdiction.”

Discussion with representatives of the Town of Otsego began in 2018, but during the time it took to survey the property and prepare the proposal, the national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic interfered with continuing discussions. Now that life seems to be getting back to normal, both the village and the town considered it a good time to finalize the discussions by having both boards approve the transaction.

Since the parcels are used solely for municipal purposes or, in the case of the railroad tracks, represent land used in an historical trust, the properties are fully tax exempt. Thus, the transfer will not affect the income of either municipality. However, some residents of the Town of Otsego have voiced their concern that if the county should sell its parcel to a private developer, the town would lose the tax income from the commercialization of the property.

When confronted with this opposition, Tillapaugh countered, “While the property tax benefit issue has been raised, any potential for that would certainly be decades in the future. Even if there were a sale, the county would need to address environmental issues, as it is a brownfield site, involving costs and possibly years to engineer and clean up.

“Finally, after all those issues are resolved—and the property sold, returned to the tax rolls and developed— any developer would more than likely seek a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes), so that there would be no tax benefit to any municipality for a minimum of 15 years after the project’s completion,” Tillapaugh added.

Following the joint session, each board will separately consider the issue at their regularly scheduled monthly meetings.

Oneonta Artist Captures Essence of Our Region Using Spray Paint

By IAN KENYON ONEONTA

On a 2015 visit to San Francisco, James mcilroy stopped to observe a work by Austrian urban and graffiti artist, Nychos. The split animal anatomy in a spray paint medium left an impression on the curious mcilroy that opened a new thought process—and inevitably would result in a major public artistic contribution to the community back home in Oneonta, bringing new life to the historic Ford Sales Building on market Street.

“This was before I was doing any kind of serious painting,” mcilroy recalled. “I was so impressed by the scale and started to pick the process apart: ‘okay, Nychos sketched this first and then came in with a flat color here and separated the values and did a complementary color scheme here’.” my first completed works were the portraits I did at Roots in 2016. I had participated in other group shows, but that was my first truly solo gig—including paintings of Tesla, Einstein and Katherine Hepburn,” he said.

A native of West Carthage in New York’s North Country, mcilroy has lived in Oneonta since 2005, first as a student at SUNY Oneonta and now as a notable figure in the region’s artistic community, together with his wife, Elizabeth.

Subject to a creative muse from the start, mcilroy points to a collection of influences from childhood to today— exposure to museums and concerts, enjoying the graphic arts elements of playing in bands and going to skateparks, awaiting the school’s perennial Scholastic Book Fair to discover and collect the latest installment in the “Goosebumps” series known for its eye-catching covers, and two years in the BOCES visual communications program. Artistic guidance continued on at home, with home life helmed by his mother, a student of fashion design, and his father, an award-winning abstract wood sculptor.

Shortly after that 2015 trip, mcilroy embarked on his first solo debut in Oneonta at the Roots Brewing Company.

Expanding on his process and influence today, mcilroy explained, “my creative process is based on the knowledge I’ve built through years of study and learning from the great artists. I am far from where I want to be, but receiving quality critiques from artists I admire and constantly trying to reverse engineer concepts is a smart method.”

His medium of choice, mcilroy noted, was a natural fit.

“Spray paint for me is just a medium. It’s fast and you can get a nice airbrushed look when blending.”

He cautioned there are seasonal challenges, the obvious downside being the fumes, and said wearing a mask in the heat can get pretty intense.

Expanding on major influencers and his own style and approach, mcilroy pointed to a personal list developed through years of study: the VACVVm collective, Aaron Horkey and Ken Taylor, Greg “Craola” Simkins, The Weird Crew (Nychos, DXTR and others), John Singer Sargent, Filip Leu, Rodrigo melo, Charles Burns, Ernst Haeckel, Alphonse mucha, James Jean, Emily Ding, Lauren YS, Alex Grey, and Jane Kim, among others.

With regard to street artists, mcilroy underscored Nychos, ROA, Phlegm, Ron English, Shephard Fairey, Swoon and, “of course, Banksy.”

“Copy the greats, just don’t take credit for things that aren’t yours,” mcilroy encouraged. “Try to create what’s in your head with your hand. Lectures, books, and seminars are important, but really it’s getting out there and doing it.” mcilroy credits the foundation of his works to the “Doodle Grid” technique, a method for transferring imagery onto large surfaces without the use of a square grid or a projector. Not exclu- sive to one single method, he embraced the technique in 2020, sketching nearly 1,000 animals on “Surprise Boxes” for his wife’s Oneonta store, The Underground Attic. He said, “That really helped me gain confidence in my skill and it was a lot of growth in a short amount of time.”

An active member of the area artistic community, mcilroy cited additional influence from his peers.

“There are so many wonderful local mural artists that inspire me. Carol mandigo, Jennie Williams, Richard Barlow, Cynthia marsh, the talented artists and teachers at CANO, Hope Von Stengel, Jim maloney, Jamie Banes, Lindy Lapin, and a ton of others who have really helped me—including Kaytee Jean from the City of Oneonta—and I’m forever grateful,” he said.

On that momentum, mcilroy hosted an exhibition of freehand drawings of animals and filigree in white colored pencil on black Bristol board at the Community Arts Network of Oneonta Gallery in 2022.

Captured in his 2022 video, “Paint the Whole City,” that year ushered in the perfect culmination of inspiration, technique, subject and medium. Building off previous experimentation with spray paint in outdoor settings, mcilroy found partnership with landlords and opportunity in remote locations to further his style.

It was ultimately the partnership with the City of Oneonta that catalyzed his larger artistic feat, as he explained: “This recent mural journey all started with the mural on the Ford building. The city put out a call for an artist to propose a mural design to help the space until the building’s scheduled demolition—a temporary installation if you will. The budget was $1,000.00, most of which I spent on paint and a ladder, but honestly they could’ve offered up anything. It was more the permission I was looking for!”

Thus inspired, mcilroy’s work continued beyond the original scope of the Ford mural. At his request and at his own expense, the City of Oneonta approved mcilroy’s continued expansion of the Ford mural. Additional opportunities came up that now complement downtown Oneonta’s aesthetic—a door commissioned by Peter Clark Student Rentals next to the Autumn Cafè and the woodpecker on the door next to the Oneonta Parking Garage. Later in the year, mcilroy was approved to expand his work with two murals on the CANO Wilber mansion Studio building.

With a resounding portfolio of work, mcilroy notes that, nowadays, it’s pretty easy to get mural gigs.

“But, as all artists starting out know, if you don’t have