Coming Soon! SaratogaArtsFest 2011

The citywide celebration will once again offer programs spanning music, dance, visual art, film, theatre, and literary art at venues throughout Saratoga Springs. The full festival schedule and program details are available at www.SaratogaArtsFest.org.

A small sampling of artists participating in this year’s festival includes jazz icon Dave Brubeck, who will perform with his son Chris Brubeck’s group Triple Play; the renowned Lar Lubovitch Dance Company; pianist and sought-after jazz sideman Warren Bernhardt; Noel Paul Stookey, of the famed folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary; filmmaker Lucy Walker; visual artist John Van Alstine; fiction writer A.M. Homes; the popular improvisation troupe Mop and Bucket; and members of the New York City Ballet, who will perform a special tribute to Saratoga Springs.

These performances will take place alongside dozens of events and activities, many of them featuring local artists, to create a program for a wide range of audiences and age groups. 

Forty-one arts organizations from the area will participate, including the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Children’s Museum at Saratoga, Home Made Theater, Hubbard Hall, Opera Saratoga, Saratoga Chamber Players, the Saratoga City Ballet. The many performances by young people will range from Guys and Dolls by Saratoga Children’s Theater to Local Voices: High School’s Best, a program presenting select choruses from three area high schools. In addition to numerous performing groups, the festival will feature local galleries, museums, and the Beekman Street Art District.

“SaratogaArtsFest is a celebration of local talent. From our schools to our businesses to our arts organizations, Saratoga Springs is known for excellence and diversity in the arts,” said Mary Ellen O’Loughlin, executive director of SaratogaArtsFest. “The festival showcases all that is available here, in combination with visiting artists, many of whom have national and international recognition.”

This year’s special features

In addition to bringing back many favorite activities and events of past years, SaratogaArtsFest 2011 will offer some fresh approaches designed to bring the arts together—and to bring the arts to the public— in new and creative ways.

More Film—This year’s SaratogaArtsFest will offer an expanded roster of film screenings, in collaboration with the Saratoga Film Forum, Saratoga Arts, and Skidmore College’s Tang Museum. The wide-ranging subjects include skateboarding (a rough cut of the film Virgin Blacktop), the artwork created by “pickers” at the world’s largest garbage dump, outside Rio de Janeiro (Waste Land), opulent African bottle-top art (Fold Crumple Crush: The Art of El Anatsui), and the birthplace of the blues (Delta Rising).

In many cases, the films will be coupled with opportunities to speak with the filmmakers or to experience related art, such as music or a visual art. Marcus Dean Fuller—the actor, writer, and film director whose first full-length release, One Fall, is due out this summer—will share his experiences on the art of filmmaking, from script to screen.

Kids Do Art—An array of hands-on art activities will be available for children on Sunday afternoon, June 12, at Universal Preservation Hall. The three-hour open house will include art stations for drawing, jewelry making, clay sculpture, paper maché, crafts, and more. Music, drama, magic, and puppet shows will also be on hand to round out the artistic experience.

Bringing the Arts Home—To celebrate the rich history of artistic expression in Saratoga Springs, the festival will feature artists whose work has been shaped by Saratoga experiences. Cellist Ashley Bathgate, who graduated from Saratoga Springs High School in 2000, will bring her TwoSense ensemble to share rock ‘n roll music and cutting-edge contemporary works with the high school’s Chamber Orchestra. In the theatrical production of Garbage Boy, playwright Christopher Millis touches on themes he experienced as a youth in Saratoga and as an artist at Yaddo.  The Enormous Room, a newly commissioned work choreographed by New York City Ballet dancer Justin Peck, draws on the rich history of the city and its longtime commitment to the arts.

Tempered by Memory: For the Community, from the Community—This multimedia show at the Spring Street Gallery will highlight the creation of a sculpture that uses pieces of salvaged steel from the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. The show—incorporating sculpture, photography, and film—will draw on the artwork of sculptors John Van Alstine and Noah Savett, photographer Lawrence White, and filmmaker Amanda Lin Costa.  The interpretive exhibit will tell the story of the sculpture project from inception to installation. The sculpture will be placed in front of the newly renovated Saratoga Springs City Center and will be dedicated in a ceremony on Sept. 11, 2011.

To See Ourselves—This lively, cross-disciplinary conversation, moderated by Yaddo President Elaina Richardson, will feature leading artists such as A.M Homes, Justin Peck, Marcus Dean Fuller, and Lucy Walker. The panelists will explore the notion that art shapes and challenges our concept of humanity through the presentation of diverse characters.

Purchase of FestivalAdmission Packages

The ARTSPASS, the festival admission package available for adults and seniors, provides access to the four-day roster of events throughout SaratogaArtsFest as well as discounts and perks at area shops and eateries during the festival. It also includes year-round benefits at area galleries, theaters, and museums.  (For a few select events, an additional charge applies; details are available online and in the printed program guide.)

Special discounted admission packages are available for youth (ages 5-17), older students, and past or present members of the military. These Festival Passes provide festival-weekend benefits including event admission, and downtown shopping and dining discounts.

All Admission Packages can be purchased online at www.SaratogaArtsFest.org. The adult ARTSPASS can also be purchased at the Skidmore College Bookstore and three downtown locations—Impressions on Broadway, Mimosa Gallery on Beekman Street, and Saratoga Beads on Henry Street.

Beginning May 16, Admission Packages will be available for sale and pick-up at the SaratogaArtsFest Center and Gallery, at a downtown location that will be announced on the festival website.

The prices for the Admission Packages are Adults/Seniors, $35; Students (18+ with student i.d.), $20; Military, $15; Youth (children 5-17), $5. Children under age 5 are admitted free.

SaratogaArtsFest is made possible by a collaborative alliance of community partners committed to increasing appreciation and enjoyment of the arts, expanding audience and strengthening year-round cultural tourism in the Saratoga region.

“The arts partner alliance provides the foundation of ArtsFest programming,” said Marie Glotzbach, chair of the SaratogaArtsFest board of directors. “We are seeing increased collaboration among partners as they enrich the Saratoga arts landscape with events that would not, in many cases, be possible during their standard seasons. These arts organizations are certainly bringing the arts together through the innovative events that they are presenting during the ArtsFest weekend.”

Major sponsors of SaratogaArtsFest 2011 to date include Adirondack Trust Company, Designsmith Studio, Fingerpaint Marketing, Interactive Media Consulting, McMurray, Miles Ahead Communications, Saratoga Casino and Raceway, Saratoga Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Saratoga Springs Rotary Club, Skidmore College, Sperry’s Restaurant/Circus Café, CBS 6, Star 101.3 fm, TheSaratogaLife.com, the Times Union, and WAMC Northeast Public Radio.