The Ancram Center for the Arts opened its newly renovated annex May 22, marking the completion of a project that restores an 18th-century building and expands the arts center’s footprint in the hamlet.
More than 60 people attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, held in the theater beside the former opera house. The annex, a restored building next door, will provide housing for visiting artists and interns, rehearsal space and room for free community workshops.
The project also includes accessibility upgrades to the arts center’s campus, including ADA-compliant restrooms and entrances, reserved parking for patrons with limited mobility and a new outdoor gathering area between the theater and the annex.
Cathy Redlich, chair of the Ancram Center board, called the opening a “pivotal moment in Ancram Center’s ten-year history,” and said it reflected co-directors Paul Ricciardi and Jeffrey Mousseau’s vision “to connect art with community.”
Ricciardi said the new space builds on the center’s belief that everyone has a story to tell. Mousseau said the annex would have an “outsize impact” on what the center can offer, creating what he described as a broader “campus for the arts in Ancram.”
The first artists scheduled to use the space are MacArthur award recipients Heather Christian and Taylor Mac, who are working on a piece about finding empathy in polarized times.
The restoration drew support from several state and local partners, including the New York State Council on the Arts, New York State Homes and Community Renewal, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the New York Main Street program, and the Ancram Preservation Group.
Homes and Community Renewal provided $225,675 through the New York Main Street program. Additional funding came through a state capital grant sponsored by Assemblymember Didi Barrett and administered by the Dormitory Authority.
Barrett, who attended the ceremony, said the annex shows how much the organization has grown from its Ancram Opera House roots and how deeply its leaders have invested in the wider community.
“As the Ancram Center for the Arts enters its second decade, today’s ribbon cutting for the new Annex shows not only how much this wonderful arts organization has grown from its Ancram Opera House roots, but also how committed Paul, Jeff and the board are to the greater Ancram – and Columbia County – communities,” Barrett said.
Lindsay Turley, of the New York State Council on the Arts Capital Projects team, said projects like the annex show how arts organizations can serve as community anchors.
“In times like this we need spaces to come together to create and to find joy,” Turley said. “Thank you for having the courage and the vision it takes to do the work that inspires, connects, and strengthens all of us.”
Andrea Barnet, representing the Ancram Preservation Group, said the renovation carries meaning beyond the arts center itself.
“The renovation transforms the whole hamlet,” Barnet said. “What Ancram Center has done proves that it takes a community and we’re proud to be part of, in a small way, this historic moment.”