Tupper Arts to host another Kathleen Bigrow photography show, starting May 6

by Dan McClelland

Coming back to Tupper Arts next month is another Kathleen Bigrow Photography Show, presented again by the curator of the legendary photographer’s complete collection, Jim "Cookie" Lanthier

The past four times Mr. Lanthier has shared Mrs. Bigrow’s works with the community have generated tremendous accolades from both visitors and residents here. For many older adults here, the Bigrow collection is a composite of their lives in Tupper Lake. This will also be the first show of Tupper Arts’ string of popular shows and exhibits in the next eight months. The Bigrow exhibits starts on May 6 and runs almost to the end of the month.

Mr. Lanthier’s shows have been the most popular of all the dozens and dozens special shows Tupper Arts has presented- and there have been some great ones.

On this forthcoming show in May, Mr. Lanthier will intertwine Mrs. Bigrow’s collection to the Fourth Estate: the local newspapers read by the population here where she also worked over the years. (See story in coming weeks)

Jim is well-known in Tupper Lake, primarily recognized for his extensive work in preserving the town's history. He has been working tirelessly on his hobby here in recent months, sorting through thousands of Mrs. Bigrow’s negatives and making prints for the May show and the four past ones. His negative files are now organized by subject matter, including events, school sports, local government workings, etc.

His huge hobby has put him in touch with many people around the country, many of whom have Tupper Lake ties.

Jim, who often goes by his high school nickname “Cookie,” is known too across the Adirondacks and the North Country as a generous and dedicated community member and historian. He has used Facebook to show Kathleen’s collection to Tupper Lake fans all over the world. He has thousands and thousands of Facebook followers.

Jim even has several followers from overseas. He has many fans of his role in historical preservation and all that he does in maintaining the Kathleen Bigrow collection, a massive archive of thousands of photographs documenting over 50 years of Tupper Lake's history. He is a digital historian and an active contributor to local historical discussions, often sharing rare photos and insights about Tupper Lake's past landmarks, such as the Iroquois Hotel and the Commercial House, among other well-known hoteleries.

 Jim, now the chief archivist and lone custodian of the massive Bigrow photographic collection,  he inherited her negatives after developing a late in life friendship with her.

In recent years Mr. Lanthier donated the entire Bigrow collection to Tupper Arts to insure its long-term preservation. He currently leads those efforts and has worked extensively on digitizing ,  preserving and cataloging these historical images for public exhibits which include everything from aerial views of the town to records of local logging companies and all sports teams and captured historic moments, such as Senator Robert F. Kennedy's visit to the Big Tupper Ski Area in the 1960s, as well as the everyday "sick list" and social happenings of the village.

So important do the folks at Tupper Arts feel the Bigrow photo collection is to the history of this Adirondack village, they have opened up for Jim an office and processing studio for him in the Tupper Arts basement.

Tupper Arts, the community’s busy and expanding art center at 106 Park Street, now officially maintains and houses “The Kathleen Bigrow Film Conservation Project."

Mr. Lanthier is recognized by many here his collaboration with the leaders at Tupper Arts as a historical preservationist where he manages and archives the Kathleen Bigrow collection, now owned by the art center.

As of early 2026, Jim organized and curated four major popular photo exhibitions featuring the works of Kathleen Bigrow showcasing her unique vision of Adirondack History presented by Tupper Arts. “Through the Lens of Kathleen Bigrow” was his first show back in March 2019.

The next three were: “50 Years of Adirondack Photojournalism”, “Ski Big Tupper”, “Live, Work, Play”. And the fourth one, “Mostly Spruce & Hemlock; Tupper Lake’s Logging Heritage”.

In addition to these almost annual shows a commemorative hard cover book of Mrs. Bigrow’s photos edited by Rena Sellan, Ed Donnelly and Jim Lanthier and titled: “Fifty Years of Tupper Lake, Through The Lens Of Kathleen Bigrow,” is available for purchase at the Tupper Arts Center.

There are also two paperback books containing Mrs. Bigrow’s photos on sale at Tupper Arts and at the Tupper Lake History Museum. One is “Mostly Spruce and Hemlock, Tupper Lake’s Logging Heritage”, edited by Jim Lanthier and Amanda Lizotte also available at Tupper Arts and the Tupper Lake History Museum. The other book is “A Dream Come True: A History of the Tupper Lake Civic Center 1980 – 2020, by Jeremiah Hayes, with photos by Jim Lanthier and Kathleen Bigrow. This book is available at Spruce and Hemlock on Park St.

Articles on the Kathleen Bigrow collection maintained by Mr. Lanthier have been featured in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in its North Country Living section on August 4, 2007, and in the Adirondack Life edition of February 2008, and the Real Estate Guide, Adirondack Living of June 2021.

During one recent school year (2018 – 2019) the Tupper Lake High School’s art program participated in the “Film Conservation Project” initiated by Mr. Lanthier at Tupper Arts learning about the negatives and photos along with how to use the equipment to process them and learning about the history of the community that they grew up in. This program was designed by a Tupper Arts volunteer, Ed Donnelly. The students were under the guidance of the  school superintendent at the time, Seth McGowan.

Jim was interviewed at that time by student Kasandra Sipler while being filmed by the class for the first annual student film festival “Beyond the Peaks,” hosted by the Tupper Lake High School and the ADK Action, “ADKAction.org/filmfest”. The filmfest was presented at the Wild center on May 10, 2019, and the film took first place.

For the preservation and display of the Bigrow photographic collection, Jim utilizes several high-end pieces of digital imaging equipment. These include negative and flatbed scanners and modern, high-quality Epson photo printers built for photographers and artists who require gallery-quality output to create crisp prints from the digitized negatives for gallery exhibitions. Prints are rated by the Wilhelm Imaging Research to last up to 200 years for color and 400 years for black-and-white when displayed under glass.  Jim also uses a Sawgrass dye-sublimation printer and a sublimation machine to transfer images from the collection onto souvenir items like mugs and t-shirts.

Mr. Lanthier is among the most dominant of Tupper Lake Facebook users. His popular Facebook presence is primarily focused on local community history and events.

 His personal Facebook profile serves as the unofficial "Tupper Lake History Page," where he shares extensive archives of vintage photos, historical anecdotes about the Town and Village of Tupper Lakes local landmarks and much more.

Jim is frequently seen and credited for capturing and documenting significant local events, such as historic fires, police activities, the former Tupper Lake Woodsmen’s Days and the Northern Challenge fishing derby that he is known for documenting the event extensively, often sharing hundreds of photos and videos each year along with seasonal and wilderness scenes along with countless other photos related to updates with the community.

Beyond photography, Jim is an active voice in the community featured in North Country  news outlets, following his appearances at village and town board meetings to advocate for local improvements to town and village aesthetics.

Mr. Lanthier is a hardworking and dedicated member of the board of directors of the Tupper Lake History Museum at 291 Park Street, in what was once was the former Sarvis’ Mini Mall structure.

One of his major contributions to the creation of the new museum was much of its major renovation, including its Great Room. He donated nearly a year of his time and professional carpentry skills to renovate the building in appropriate Adirondack style. This included installing tongue-and-groove pine ceilings and chair rail with nice white drywall between the chair rail and ceiling.  The rest of the building received carpentry, drywalling and painting after major structural repairs. Nearly the entire interior of the former gas station building was gutted by him before his renovation.

Jim has a significant presence at the museum both as a benefactor and a contributor. He curates one of the museum rooms, which features many of his framed Bigrow photos and several display cases of vintage cameras collected by his nephew Mackenzie from several local photographers along with his grandfather’s camera that he used when he was stationed in Vietnam. In that room there is also a veteran’s tribute to his dad, James Sr. 

Jim is a rustic furniture artisan and builder. He has participated in several rustic furniture shows and demonstrated rustic furniture building twice at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mt. Lake in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Jim played a critical role in the "rustic" aesthetics of the Whiteface Lodge in Lake Placid. While known for high-end furniture, he was primarily hired for his expertise in log work during the resort's three-year construction from 2002 to 2005.

Although Jim initially gained attention for his Adirondack rustic-style furniture, his contributions to the lodge involved large-scale structural artistry. He became the lead log artisan with his close work partner,Todd Risenburger, who was the lead sawyer. Jim and Todd were largely responsible for sorting, shaping and installing the massive logs that encased the exterior frame and the interior great rooms. Another master craftsman and leader who played an important role in this job with his expertise was Steve Rand. Steve taught the crew how to cut and cope logs. He was also the master stone mason on this job. Joe Barile, who was the builder of this project, used to call Jim and Todd the “A-team.”

Because the lodge is built with concrete and steel it was aesthetically engineered to hollow out huge pine logs, split them, and screw them back together around the steel beams to create a seamless rustic appearance. Heavy equipment, including excavators and man lifts, were used to "snug" logs up to three feet in diameter and 40 feet in length into place.

Some of Jims rustic artistry has been featured in books, newspaper articles and on radio broadcasts.

Jim’s craftsmanship was featured in NCPR's North Country at Work project, which explored the history and experiences of workers across the Adirondacks. The feature details his career as a builder specializing in high-end rustic furniture and architecture.

Jim has worked throughout the Adirondack region, maintaining a deep connection to local craftsmanship traditions.