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If you're planning a trip to the Finger Lakes Region, you can be assured that visitors searching for things to do in Ithaca NY will discover that the city’s artistic energy is everywhere.
Known for its creative spirit, natural beauty, and thriving community of artists, Ithaca has even earned national recognition as one of America’s Best Towns to Visit in 2025, according to CNN and the city also appears on the Top 100 Arts-Vibrant Communities list (ranked #6) from SMU Data Arts, whose Arts Vibrancy Index measures how deeply the arts are woven into a community.
For travelers exploring the region, Ithaca stands out as a place where nature lovers, art connoisseurs and music enthusiasts thrive. And if you want an experience where you can actually meet the artists behind the work - look no further than Handwork, Ithaca’s Artisan Cooperative.
Art is subjective in many ways. What speaks to one won’t necessarily be another’s cup of tea. With so much divergence in opinion, how do we determine what shows up on our shelves? Whether you're thinking of sending in an application to Handwork, or you're a customer curious about what goes into our selections, this guide offers a behind-the-scenes view of how we assess work being considered for the store.
Handwork being a Co-Op might sound like a feel-good label, but what does it really mean to be an Artist Cooperative that is owned, operated, and staffed by its members? The history of cooperatives is rooted in a tradition that remains truly radical even today. They are in fact, a fundamental challenge to the status quo. The philosophical underpinnings of this self-governance structure stretch back centuries grounded in ideals of mutual aid, economic justice, true democratic participation, even anarchism emphasizing nonhierarchical structures. The story of cooperatives is one of people reclaiming their agency from systems of exploitation while building a new paradigm.
