From automobile to the arts: a history of the Upper Jay Art Center

By Tim Rowland & Erin DeSantis

On a sharp turn where Rt. 9N jogs across the East Branch Ausable River in Upper Jay, NY is a boxy, three-story industrial building where more than a century ago sections of Ford Model Ts would arrive for final assembly.

Perhaps to the chagrin of industrialists, the railroad never made it that far up the valley, but the artists did. In these environs, the likes of Rockwell Kent and John Steinbeck nudged a young Arto Monaco in the direction of Hollywood, where he helped design Disneyland.

Then, 20 years ago, the brothers Scott and Byron Renderer brought new life to the Ford plant, reupholstering furniture and opening a quirky entertainment venue called the Recovery Lounge—a bit of an inside joke playing on their day job restoring bedraggled furniture. The Recovery Lounge became home to the Upper Jay Art Center (UJAC), whose genesis as a clubby gathering spot for locals has expanded into a funky and popular artistic hangout that would not be out of place in Brooklyn or the Lower East Side.

Remnants of yesteryear add artistic charm

The old Ford plant, now on the Historic Register, had a flinty, workaday existence through the 20th century, serving at times as a seed propagator and an antique store, bearing the marks and modifications of a building that has been well-used. Adjacent to the stage, for example, is a massive, hand-operated freight elevator that once delivered automobiles assembled upstairs down to the showroom floor.

That contributes to an aura of authenticity today, even if the goal hews to relaxation instead of work. “A lot of art spaces and theater spaces are intentionally fairly neutral,” said UJAC Artistic Director Gabrielle Schutz. “And this is the opposite, where it's almost a museum unto itself, where we keep a lot of objects and even structures that are built for specific theater productions in the room.” 

If the vibe is functional, it is also accessible. It’s hard to be pretentious when there’s a big garage door where you would normally expect a storefront, or a casual assembly of overstuffed furniture instead of formal seating.

“I think a lot of people find it accessible in the sense that they don't feel like they have to walk in knowing something about contemporary art, or knowing about the play that they're seeing,” Schutz said. “They're just kind of open to an experience. And it's a space itself. It feels a little bit quirky and scrappy and weathered and loved. And I think that that lends itself to people feeling a sense of warmth, that everybody is welcome here. It's a very Adirondack place in the sense that there's more going on inside than you would know from the outside.”

A cornerstone of the community

UJAC is  probably most celebrated for its January Jams, a month of Sundays that opens the stage to talented musicians from far and wide—and packs the modest space with a standing-room-only crowd that speaks to the quality and creativity of the shows. “There are artists who meet at the jams and go on to form bands, collaborate, encourage each other's artistic pursuits and generate more work and put more art out into the world,” Schutz said.

The effort flourished. An educated audience enjoyed being challenged by UJAC’s offerings, which often danced on the cutting edge. Ticket sales were brisk. Today, the Town of Jay Comprehensive Plan Committee is focusing on UJAC, along with performing-arts venues in the hamlets of Jay and Au Sable Forks, as a foundation of the local economy.

Dinner and a show

That experience is complemented by dining within minutes of the Recovery Lounge. Just steps away from UJAC at Adirondack Mountain Coffee, located in what was one of Arto Monaco’s Land of Makebelieve theme park buildings. Enjoy a hearty breakfast (served all day) with their slow-roasted house coffee or a casual lunch.

For dinner, Ice Jam Inn in Upper Jay features a CIA-trained chef and a menu of elevated comfort food served in a cozy 1860 brick inn perched on the Ausable River. Favorite dishes range from Belgian-style mussels with waffle-cut fries to flavorful chicken sandwiches and housemade bread pudding. Reservations are recommended.

Also nearby is NewVida Preserve in Jay. The reborn Paleface Ski Mountain, now a 2,000-acre resort and wellness destination, offers farm-to-table dinners Wednesday through Sunday evenings in an A-frame lodge with views of Whiteface Mountain. Enjoy a sit-down meal or pull up a stool at their craft bar to enjoy tapas and live music. If you’re coming to town for a show, make a weekend of it at NewVida with yoga, hiking trails, and massage therapy.

All of these options are within a ten to fifteen-minute drive from the Recovery Lounge and are the perfect precursor or encore to an evening show.

Upcoming at UJAC

Like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, you’re never sure what you’re going to get at the Recovery Lounge, which prides itself on eclectic offerings in music, dance, theater, poetry readings, storytelling, visual art, film and pretty much anything that will entertain.

A glance at UJAC’s upcoming schedule gives a taste of the variety to be found at the Recovery Lounge. “Our two hallmark programs are the concert series and our theater work,” Schutz said. “Our concert series is a bit of a mix of people coming to us and me finding bands. We have a lot of relationships with agencies that are coordinating touring musicians, and they reach out. And then some of it is just research of my own—artists I'm aware of and excited about.”

Theater is similar, focusing on contemporary, but also with some older works. “Recently I did The Maids by Jean Genet, and that play was written in 1946, so not quite old enough to consider classical,” she said. “It's not Shakespeare or Greek, so it's modern, but it's not contemporary—and honestly, when it comes to theater, the curation for me is largely inspired by people who I think that I can engage in the process … people who are already performers, or who have expressed an interest in wanting to perform.” 

Keeping the arts alive and local

The appetite for this type of entertainment has been considerable. It was, in fact, popular demand that took the Recovery Lounge to another level. “Scott and Byron had been doing concerts and theater performances for a few years before the organization actually formed,” Schutz said. “And the community responded, ‘we want more of this,’ and people rallied to organize, donate money and create the nonprofit organization.”

But now the Recovery Lounge’s extended family will have to rally again. Cuts to arts funding on the national, state and private foundation levels are having local impact. Where UJAC's work has been historically recognized and supported heavily by state and local arts funding, beginning in 2025 they learned that many of these sources would be greatly reducing the amount of 2026 funding for UJAC (and other organizations). “Our total budget is reduced by about 41% compared to what we operated at last year, which clearly will impact our programming and what we're able to do,” Schutz said.

UJAC leaders hope they can convey the sense of urgency to existing donors and recruit new fans, efforts that they agree need a little attention. “I think that over the years this place has existed in kind of a shroud of coolness and mysteriousness that maybe gives people the impression that the Lounge is fine, because there's all this programming,” said Board President Chris Radey. “We need to communicate to people that it's expensive to do what we do.”

And while it’s early, there are positive signs of community engagement. With the nation’s affordability issues, donations tend to be smaller, but there are more of them now. And the Town of Jay voted this year to underwrite an $8,000, six-concert series using hotel occupancy funds.

This activity speaks to the connections built through local arts.

“At events, I overhear such wonderful conversations between neighbors that maybe wouldn't have time to connect otherwise,” Schutz said. “And we've had readings of new plays, we've had workshops of original and new productions that were created here with local artists. 

After those performances there is always a dialogue with the audience, and this sort of cyclical energy creates a space for catharsis and for community. I feel like that’s what theater and the live arts are about.”