We were honored to welcome more than 300 guests to our Groundbreaking Celebration on May 7.
Thank you to all who attended, including Catskill, N.Y. residents and those who travelled from throughout the Hudson Valley and eastern United States.
As Executive Director Adrienne Willis told guests, our dream of building a preeminent performance venue for contemporary dance has been possible through the collective support of the Village of Catskill, community leaders, a wide range of artists as well as government officials who have committed funds to our initiative.
“Just over a year ago, we walked into this garage and knew we had found our new home,” Adrienne said.
“Little did we know how welcoming and immediately supportive the Catskill, N.Y. community would be.”
The LUMBERYARD team is excited that as of Saturday so many of you were able to see the 5,000 square foot space we’re transforming into a state-of-the-art black box theatre where artists will fine-tune their productions before they premiere.
“The audiences of Catskill, N.Y. will, in most cases, be witness to the birth of new work, the first critical eyes on choreography that will shape the future of contemporary performance in the United States,” Adrienne said.
After so many months of anticipation, we also revealed several images of what the artist residence adjoining the theatre will look like.
Several guests were introduced or spoke on stage, including Tom Tatum, a representative from New York State Senator George Amedore’s office, Catskill Town Supervisor Doreen Davis, Greene County Council on the Arts Executive Director Kay Stamer, Greene County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jeff Friedman, New York State Assemblyman for the 102nd District Peter Lopez, Director of Empire State Development for New York’s Capital Region Mike Yevoli and Village of Catskill Board of Trustees President, Heather Bagshaw.
Following a ceremonial groundbreaking, everyone was invited to mingle throughout the property and at a beer tent hosted by Crossroads Brewery, our event’s lead sponsor.
Popular Hudson Valley musicians, The Wiyos, buoyed the atmosphere with their performance.
Guests climbed aboard the Catskill Fire Department’s truck and ascending ladder, while others participated in face painting and fair games.
A petting zoo station was especially popular with our young guests.
BeaverWood Farms introduced us to more than a dozen of their animals, including goats, sheep, cows, a turkey, ducks, chicks and an alpaca.
A range of delectable snacks left line-ups at both food trucks — Cue BBQ and Pippy’s.
Banana Moon Baking Company sold out of a number of their delicious cupcake flavors.
Check out more photos taken by Akemi Hiatt, the creative director at Catskill-based web design shop, Hidden Gears which was also a sponsor of our Groundbreaking Celebration.
We are truly surrounded by so much creative talent in Catskill, N.Y.
Thank you for joining us on this adventure to cultivate even more of it.
