ABOUT THE BARN
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Albany Barn, Inc is a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to creating a permanent, sustainable creative arts incubator and neighborhood art space in Albany, New York.
Albany Barn recognizes how difficult it can be for aspiring working artists to get a foothold. It is our goal to make a home for all the rich and diverse arts of the Capital Region, not only by providing a place to display or perform, but a place to create, to network, to promote, to learn, and even to live.
Albany Barn evolved from Rock2Rebuild(TM), a grassroots production group established to create events benefiting important causes while raising the profile of local creative talent. Since its inception in early 2005, Rock2Rebuild (R2R) has staged several major multimedia concerts featuring regional artists and raised tens of thousands of dollars for goodwill agencies including Habitat For Humanity and Save The Children.
Albany Barn is continuing R2Rıs work as part its broader mission, pioneering new local music showcases at Art on Lark and Lark Fest, two of the regionıs largest cultural events, and resurrecting the Summer In The City Youth Talent Exhibition featuring student artists from the inner city. 2009 was also the fifth year of Rock Lite, a bimonthly acoustic concert series held in the Childrenıs Hospital at Albany Medical Center.
Events are in our DNA, but local artists need more than visibility, explains Jeff Mirel, Founder and President of Albany Barn dba Rock2Rebuild. We want to put a roof over the Rock2Rebuild concept.
Informed by the success of transformative art incubators in other American cities like Providence, RI, New York, NY, & Kansas City, MO, Albany Barnıs goal is to make a home for all the rich, diverse arts of the Capital Region while promoting synergies between culture, commerce and community critical to neighborhood renewal.
Five years ago, stakeholders in the imperiled inner city neighborhood of Arbor Hill, developed a revitalization strategy called the Arbor Hill Neighborhood Plan. It was heralded as a breakthrough in collaborative community planning and continues to enjoy broad support during its implementation. As part of that Plan, it was recommended that one of the top priorities be the adaptive reuse of the abandoned St. Josephıs Academy building, located in the heart of the neighborhood.
Albany Barn has partnered with the City of Albany and Albany Housing Authority to redevelop St. Josephıs. The project is formally called Academy Lofts, although it is better known locally as The Barn. This moniker originates from ³barn-raising,² the age-old practice of a community leveraging its collective talent to erect a building for a neighbor vital to his or her livelihood.
This project will rehabilitate the 39,400 square foot structure into 25 low cost loft-style live-work residences and ground level commercial art facilities, including work studios, rehearsal suites, performance & exhibition space, a public darkroom, digital media lab, and more. This facility will be made available to local artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers and performers seeking an engaging, supportive environment in which to create and share their work, particularly those who cannot afford or otherwise obtain such space. Exhibits, performances and activities will be open to the public and audiences of all ages.
The Barn/Academy Lofts is the kind of dynamic reuse that will at once address all the Arbor Hill Neighborhood Planıs components: Housing, Arts and Culture, Economic Development and Quality of Life. It will anchor the North Swan Street corridor with a built-in creative economy; nurture meaningful, productive relationships between artists, arts groups, local businesses and neighborhood residents, particularly at-risk City youth; foster community involvement and pride; and catalyze revitalization.
This is a call to all creative artists and art supporters in the Greater Capital Region:
Spread The Word
Get Involved
RAISE THE BARN
