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New Video Highlights Albany Symphony & Creative Economy

November 3, 2017 By Maureen Sager

[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_video_embed no_container=”false” type=”16:9″][/x_video_embed][cs_text]Check out this terrific video tour hosted by Albany Symphony’s David Alan Miller, created by the Capital Region Economic Development Council to celebrate and spotlight some fantastic projects around our region, including Creative Economy star Melissa auf der Maur of Basilica Hudson.

Interested in all of the CREDC’s priority projects? Find them here in the 2017 “Capital Region Creates” Progress Report.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]

ACE Behind the Scenes: Yaddo – September 26, 2017

October 5, 2017 By Maureen Sager

[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][rev_slider Yaddo][cs_text]On September 26, a small group of ACE members had the rare privilege of touring Yaddo, the world-famous artists’ retreat in Saratoga Springs.

Yaddo’s mission is “to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.” On March 11, 2013, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. Yaddo offers residencies to artists working in choreography, film, literature, musical composition, painting, performance art, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and video. Yaddo artists have been awarded 71 Pulitzer Prizes, 68 National Book Awards, a Nobel Prize, three Academy Awards, 456 Guggenheim Fellowships, 42 National Book Critics Circle Awards, 29 MacArthur Fellowships, numerous Emmy and Grammy awards, and many other honors.

ACE extends our deepest thanks to our sponsor The Foundry for Art Design + Culture. The Foundry, based in Cohoes and Troy, fosters innovative collaborations between creatives, civic and educational institutions, non-profits and businesses to create viable, livable and imaginative communities.

Photos courtesy TM Williams Photography.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]

MAKERS 365 Arrives at Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga

September 11, 2017 By Maureen Sager

[rev_slider alias=”makers at spring street”] MAKERS 365, the monumental photography exhibit by Richard Lovrich, is arriving at Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs, its second stop of an 8-county tour. The MAKERS Opening Reception takes place on Saturday, September 16, 5-8pm, with a Panel Discussion on Wednesday, October 11.

The MAKERS 365 exhibit is curated by Tony Iadicicco of Albany Center Gallery,and features photos of a huge array creative people who live, work, or passed through the Capital Region during Lovrich’s yearlong project. MAKERS 365 began as a social media project and became an exhibit that will tour the region. Stay tuned for more MAKERS events!

Freelancers Learn to Improv with Mopco

September 11, 2017 By Maureen Sager

[rev_slider alias=”mapco”]On September 6th, ACE Freelancers met up at Mopco Improv Theater, a renovated firehouse at 10 North Jay Street in Schenectady, home to a 60-seat theater, classroom space, and the offices of Koppett, a delightfully innovative consulting group that uses improv techniques with corporate clients including Microsoft, Chanel, and Facebook, among many others, to help with team building, conflict resolution, and more.

Mapco co-director Kat Koppett paired up ACE Freelancers and asked one partner to explain what a microwave oven was to a partner from 500 years ago. Turns out that the communication challenges in the exercise apply quite readily to what Freelancers do when pitching new clients who might not understand a new business model or concept. Armed with new skills and perspectives, the Freelancers were then treated to a hilarious, full-blown Mopco improv skit by Koppett and Mopco co-founder Michael Burns, who had the house roaring. Mapco troupe members Livia Armstrong and Alex Timmis were equally adept and ridiculously quick!

Don’t miss the amazing Mopco Improv Theater, and tell them ACE sent you.

LUMBERYARD Contemporary Performing Arts Coming to Catskill!

September 1, 2017 By Maureen Sager

[rev_slider alias=”lumberyard”] Lumberyard Contemporary Performing Arts is an exciting new addition to the upstate arts community. Its inaugural upstate season in summer 2018 is fast approaching and construction is underway for a state-of-the-art performance campus adapted from a historic lumberyard in the Village of Catskill, set to open in fall 2018. In the meantime, LUMBERYARD has been eagerly fostering relationships with its local community and neighboring arts organizations to demonstrate its commitment to partnership and revitalization.

LUMBERYARD is the only organization in the United States dedicated to providing technical residencies that culminate in premieres for performing artists finishing cutting-edge work. LUMBERYARD’s soon-to-open Catskill theater is designed with the ability to recreate many of the country’s most prestigious stages to ensure that artists can accurately design for their premiere.

This direct connection between Catskill and the world of contemporary performance is poised to bring lasting benefits to the region. “Our seasons will attract audiences from across the valley and the region— highlighting the critical role that tourism plays in the economic renewal of its immediate and surrounding communities,” said Willis. “The economic impact from LUMBERYARD will be substantial and felt by local arts organizations and Main Street businesses. This will deepen ties to the region for tourists, weekenders and the local community that calls the Hudson Valley home.”

Renovations to the remaining waterfront campus will create vibrant public spaces, studio space, a multi-disciplinary public courtyard as well as community and commercial investment opportunities. This fall, LUMBERYARD also launches a new community arts education program, LUMBERYARD Young Performers, which will provide free weekly afterschool workshops across a dozen performing arts disciplines for children in the Greene County School District ages 9-16. The program is offered in collaboration with the Catskill Community Center and combats significant cuts to school arts funding in 2008 that have left the community with virtually no free arts education opportunities. “This is our commitment to the youth of our community: that the transformative power of the arts will be a lifetime benefit,” said Willis.

In recognition of LUMBERYARD’s impact on the future of both American contemporary art and Hudson Valley’s economic growth, the organization has recently announced a partnership with the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), as well as the receipt of a $5 million social impact loan from the Rudolf Steiner Fund (RSF). Governor Cuomo has also pledged significant financial support as early leadership in a multi-year capital fundraising effort. While these partnerships have given the project momentum, we must all support LUMBERYARD to ensure it has the financial resources it needs to succeed. Visit thelumberyard.org/support to learn more.

LUMBERYARD invites the upstate community to its second annual End of Summer Shindig celebration at the LUMBERYARD campus. The event features a preview of Urban Bush Women’s highly anticipated new work, SCAT!, and bluegrass music from Steve Lutke and Appalachian Uprising. Attendees will sample local craft beer from Rip Van Winkle Brewing Company, cocktails, and American Glory BBQ while watching the sun set over LUMBERYARD’s waterfront studio. Tickets can be purchased at thelumberyard.org.