Once Upon a Time: Celebrating the Caroga Experience
Saturday, July 19th, 2025

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s Gala, Once Upon a Time: Celebrating the Caroga Experience, at the historic Sherman’s Park. It was a magical evening filled with music, community, and celebration of Caroga’s past, present, and future.

The Caroga Arts Collective Gala is one of our largest fundraising events of the year. The proceeds provide critical support for our daily operations, helping to fund programs, events, and outreach initiatives throughout the year. Your participation makes a significant impact, ensuring that Caroga Arts continues to bring exceptional arts programming to the Adirondacks and beyond.

Looking Back: 2024 Caroga Arts Gala

Thank You for Making the 7th Annual Caroga Arts Gala a Success!

The Caroga Arts Collective is thrilled to share the success of our A Midsummer Night’s Dream 7th Annual Caroga Arts Gala, held on July 20th, 2024. Thanks to your generosity and support, we raised over $100,000 to further our mission of bringing music and the arts to our community.

We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who attended, donated, or contributed in any way to the success of this event. Your support helps us continue to create and share the magic of music with the world.

Interested in getting involved as an underwriter or sponsor for next year? More details will be available soon.

Thank you again for being a part of this extraordinary night.

The 2024 Ruth and George Abdella Award Recipient: Joyce Barrett aka “Grandma”

We were also honored to present the 2024 Ruth and George Abdella Award to this year’s recipient, Joyce Barrett, affectionately known as “Grandma.” Joyce has been instrumental in nurturing the roots of our organization over the past twelve years. She has provided meals and housing for our musicians, offered inspiration and guidance, and devoted countless hours to writing thousands of treasured hand-written thank you notes to our donors and patrons. Her dedication continues to this day, and we are proud to recognize her invaluable contributions.