OLEAN – The Cattaraugus County Arts Council invites area artists and craftspeople to participate in its seventh annual open studio tour, Routes to Art. The tour boasts more than 35 regional artists and takes place each year in central Cattaraugus County. Applications are still being accepted and artists will need to apply by Feb. 7 to be juried into the 2014 RTA weekend on May 17-18.

Anne Conroy-Baiter, Executive Director of CCAC, commented that Routes to Art 2014 is off to an excellent start.

“I’m happy to report that we already have 35 artists signed on this year, but after having been contacted recently by a new Ellicottville artist, we thought we’d put the word out one more time to encourage artists who have never participated before to consider applying. If you’re an artist or craftsperson who is producing high quality work and is looking for a venue to sell and a community of artists to join, then I personally recommend you apply for Routes to Art,” she said.

Launched in 2008, Routes to Art is a comprehensive regional marketing and promotion program for area artists. The program was designed as a cultural tourism initiative to heighten awareness of the quality of art being created throughout the Cattaraugus region while increasing tourism visits to the area. Artists are featured in 15,000 four color brochures, on the routestoart.com website and also take part in the very successful RTA Holiday Sale in Ellicottville, NY. Ultimately, RTA can mean more income for participants by creating more opportunities for the sale of art. In addition, RTA has become an important economic development tool using the arts community as a catalyst for positive change in the Cattaraugus region.

In the seventh year of the tour, CCAC once again welcomes artists and artisans from Cattaraugus County, western New York, and Northern Pennsylvania with all artists displaying their work in an area centered around Ellicottville, Salamanca, Cattaraugus and Little Valley.

For more information or to apply as a 2014 Routes to Art participant, call 372-7455, email info@myartscouncil.net, or visit www.routes.art.com.