Going to Market

**These panels were moved in 2021 due to the renovation of the Green St. Parking Garage**

The ‘Going to Market’ 3-panel mural by Brooktondale resident Mary Beth Ihnken depicts the journey local food items make on their way to the Ithaca Farmers Market. The mural was completed in 2009 as part of the Art in the Heart annual public art display on the Ithaca Commons. The first two panels depict rows of vegetables being planted and harvested on a field overlooking Cayuga Lake. The third panel shows shoppers biking in to explore the vendor selections at the weekend Ithaca Farmers Market at Steamboat Landing.

The Ithaca Farmers Market first opened for business on Saturdays in 1973 as a venue for local growers, craftspeople, and food vendors to sell their goods. Mary Beth Ihnken, the muralist for this piece, joined the Ithaca Farmers Market in 1994 as an artist, and was a member for 18 years. The market first opened at Agway and moved five more times before the current wooden structure and pavilion at Steamboat Landing on the Cayuga Lake Inlet was completed in 1988. The open-air market pavilion was styled after a 13th-century European cathedral and currently hosts up to 160 vendors each season and thousands of attendees, events and performances each year. The Ithaca Farmers Market celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2013.

Ihnken was excited to bring a depiction of the market back to the Ithaca Commons, where the market was located for a few of its early seasons.

Learn more: https://ithacamarket.com/history-mission/

LISTEN HERE