Albany Barn Inc

In April 2014 the long-abandoned St. Joseph's Academy in the heart of Albany's Arbor Hill neighborhood emerged as The Barn- a creative arts incubator and community arts center where more than 50 resident artists live, work, and drive arts-focused community building programs.

Since that time thousands of visitors have come to The Barn and Stage 1 Gallery to participate in live performances, educational programs, and special events. This momentum signifies the return of an historic landmark to the community, and the tipping point for more than a decade of community-driven revitalization efforts, aimed at re-establishging Arbor Hill as a vibrant downtown neighborhood, with N. Swan Street serving as a hub for arts, culture, and business activity.

Albany Barn has hosted and co-produced concerts featuring top local talent, theatrical performances by long-standing and emerging theatre collectives, and provided a stage for countless designers, writers, dancers, and spoken word artists to share their latest creations with new audiences. In addition, hundreds of visual artist have exhibited on the walls of The Barn and Stage 1 Gallery- Arbor Hill's only consistent 1st Friday venues to date.

Entering our second year of operations of The Barn, Albany Barn is currently seeking support for facilities improvements including:

• a fully realized public theater & performance space including a house P.A. and stage lighting to more effectively support a broad range of performance art
• a design lab and business center with high-quality equipment and software to support creative based business development and technology driven arts education
•  a teaching kitchen and community cafe to support artisan food makers and explore programming tracts in the culinary arts.
• an apparel lab with screen printing and sewing equipment, to support local designers and teach fiber arts, textile design, and print making.
• additional rehearsal suites to provide a better rehearsal experience for local musicians.

The Barn was born of a partnership between Albany Housing Authority, the City of Albany, and Albany Barn, Inc., and it is in that spirit that Albany Barn continues to seek out community partners to co-produce high-impact programming and to select artists for residency that embrace the culture of collaboration. Become a partner in neighborhood revitalization with your gift to The Barn!