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With rain clouds looming above, Steve Holland pilots a hulking orange vessel across Chautauqua Lake before arriving in Dewittville Bay,

If Tom Becker were a tree, he would be a bur oak. “It isn’t one standout characteristic that makes the

  John Shedd’s face has become familiar to many Chautauquans over the past two seasons as he handled job responsibilities

  Channels of warm orange brick weave beneath lofted river birch and red maple, the shaded textures of verdure camouflaging

Chautauqua Institution lost electric power throughout the grounds just before 3 p.m. Thursday on a sweltering and humid afternoon. A transformer at the local National Grid substation failed, and power was not restored until 6 a.m. Friday. George Murphy, vice president and chief marketing officer, described the scene on the second floor of the Colonnade after initial word reached President Thomas Becker’s office that the blackout might last for 24 hours.

The walkway in front of Strohl Art Center has become a work of art in itself. Chautauquans Lowell and Rebecca Strohl felt the outside of the recently constructed art facility needed an extra touch to make it inviting to passersby. They collaborated with Judy Barie, director of galleries for Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution, and Mike Conroe, an architect from Buffalo, N.Y., to spice up the walkway.

A brand new entrance to the ground and an extensive rain garden designed to help protect Chautauqua Lake from Institution water runoff are just two projects that highlight a typically busy off-season for Chautauqua’s grounds and landscape staff, whose efforts were severely hindered by rainfall heavier than many could recall.