Project Local: Gretchen Saam

Project Local: Gretchen Saam Presented in partnership with the Lake George Arts Project

Gretchen Saam grew up surrounded by art and music — her father was a first violinist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, her mother an artist. A longtime resident of Lake Luzerne, she spent nearly three decades as a Registered Nurse certified in mental health and psychiatry, where she ran art therapy groups for her patients.

Now fully retired and devoted to her work as an artist, Gretchen creates mixed-media paintings on unconventional surfaces: canvas, furniture, walls, and most strikingly, reclaimed instruments. The idea was born during a visit to her brother, a luthier, when she spotted violins and cellos destined for the fire pit. Rather than let them become firewood, she began dismantling, priming, and transforming them into paintings — recycling one art form into another.

Largely self-taught, Gretchen draws deep inspiration from the natural beauty of upstate New York. Her work is on display at the library through the end of July.