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For about a year, the sidewalks bordering the 100 and 200 blocks of Montgomery Street have worn pale, frozen faces. Sure, the concrete footpath has been covered in snow, pedestrian feet and fall’s confetti leaves. But for 12 months, the stretch of sidewalk has held anything but art.

Noah Kellman speaks softly and laughs often, cracking quick jokes as he talks about his love for the band The Bird and The Bee and taking 27 credits in one semester at SUNY Purchase, which he currently attends.

More than 20 arts and cultural organizations will collaborate to present ArtsWeek, a two-weekend program of visual and performing arts events that began July 23 and concludes Sunday, July 31. With 22 organizations involved, ArtsWeek is the largest celebration of the arts in the region.

This weekend at downtown’s Clinton Square, bounded by East Water, South Franklin, South Salina and West Genesee streets, three stages will be filled with free jazz, blues, world and rhythm’n’blues programming, complemented by wine-tasting events.

Whether it’s the work of Dr. Seuss or Shakespeare, a dance passed down through generations, or a George Lucas movie, there’s something about a great story that pulls you in while the “real world” melts away. In a word, it’s magical. Syracuse Stories: An All Arts Festival is bringing this magic to ArtsWeek.

What do the stars have in store for you this week?

Mark Chisholm knows his wine. Sure, sure, as the 15-year upstate New York manager for wine distributor Palm Bay International, being familiar with the product is probably a requisite of his job. But for Chisholm, wine isn’t just a career— it’s a passion.

At the 2010 Northeast Jazz & Wine Festival, Chisholm and some of his fellow wine-expert employees will pour around their knowledge of and passion for wine at four different wine-tasting sessions under a pavilion in Clinton Square from July 29 to 31. If all goes as planned, Chisholm expects about 3,000 stop by Palm Bay International’s tent and introduce their palates to the four types of wine—two red, two white—available to sample.

Orange Line Gallery ArtsWeek combines the AmeriCU 40th Annual Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival, the popular Northeast Jazz and Wine Festival and the Blue Rain ECOfest with more than 20 interactive arts activities that are sure to bring out the creativity in everyone who visits. An arts walk links the two festivals from Columbus Circle to Clinton Square.