We had many strong applications this year! Thank you for your patience as we wait the final decsions – and best of luck to all applicants.

“650 participating theatre companies offered more than 65,000 tickets to 1,700 performances”

Why?  To energize future audiences.  TCG believes if you want to grow theater in your area, you need to show people why theater is worth going to.  And the only way to do that is to give them a test drive.  And their results?

• 77% of those attending Free Night have gone to a theatre since the program, including 33% of those who only attend the theatre infrequently (two or fewer times or less). Further, 34% say they go to the theater more now than before the program and 86% of them attribute additional attendance to the Free Night program
• According to the online survey of the 2008 Free Night patrons, required when they made their ticket reservation, the program continues to attract a significant number of people who fall into non-traditional theatre participant categories, including infrequent theatregoers, young people, less educated, non-white and those with lower household incomes.
• Of those trying a new theatre during Free Night 2008, 33% returned to that theatre and purchased tickets, including 2% who purchased a subscription, showing the benefit of the program to the participating theatres

” In past years, over 3/4 of the people who participate have never been to the host theater before. And almost half of them come back and pay full price. Teresa Eyring says a substantial number are young, ethnically diverse, and don’t have a lot of disposable income. ‘What we’ve been able to determine is we’re reaching a new audience that does not meet the traditional profile of theatre-goer.’ “  – from “Free Theater Night Brings New Audiences“, a report by Jeff Lunden on NPR Weekend Edition Saturday

Convincing enough?

If you run a theater, large or small, we emplore you to join this event.  We know the actual date is months away (in October most likely, the actual date hasn’t been mentioned at the time of writing this) but if you want to be a part of this, you need to act now.  This isn’t ad hoc.  If you want to be an official part of the program and the marketing muscle it is creating, you must contact Robert Zuckerman of NYSCA who is acting as the statewide representative.

If you would like to discuss other ways to increase your audience and grow a diverse theater culture in Orange County, contact us as well.  We’d love to talk with you.

The Orange County Arts Council presents Orange County Open Studio Weekend 2009, a county-wide event during which Orange County artists and craftspeople open their studios to the public for the sale and demonstration of their work. This event will be held on Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18 from 11am to 5pm

Over 40 artists and craftspeople are participating including Art In The Barn, Amity Arts Pottery, Beatrice Bloom Ceramics, Bertoni Gallery, Big Pig Designs, Boogiehouse, Cedarwood Center For the Arts, Daniel Mack Studio, Di Bello Gallery/ Frame Shop, Exposures Gallery, Fine Art Studios, Gallery Warwick, Gourd Art By Claudia, Holton – Smith Photos, J.Howard Fatta and Louis Fatta, Rahl Nadas Gallery and Potshop, Linton Designs, M.E Whitehill- Watercolors, Mary Cathryn Roth, Michael Tobin Fine Art, Orange County Ballet Theatre, Susan Miiller Fine Art, The Blue Rose Studio, Michael Piotrowski, RG Bruer, Roslyn Fasset Studio, Fine Art Studios, Strazza Fine Arts & Photography, and Wallkill River School.

A full, 17 page brochure is available for download here.  It gives a fantastic map broken down for each area making it easy to plan your driving between studios -

They’re looking for puppeteers for their show – if you have any puppet experience they would love to speak with you about working with them.  If you have a good acting or dance experience you should contact them as well.

Email Terrie Goldstein, publisher of The Undercover Kids or call during business hours at 845-562-3606.

Pine Bush is looking for more artists to join their arts tour.  All disciplines are welcome, for more information please contact Ellen Quimby at the Chamber.

Grant money, through funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, is available for all art disciplines in Orange County through the Arts Community Grants program administered by Arts in Orange.

Grant awards up to $5,000 are available to not-for-profit arts and cultural organizations, as well as individual artists applying through a not-for-profit conduit or sponsor.

These grants will help support arts and cultural projects in Orange County during 2010 and are available for artist fees. The arts and cultural projects must be open to the public and presented in the county from January 1 through December 31.

To discuss project ideas or guidelines, eligibility, procedures and the application process, call the Arts in Orange office, 845.956.0005 or e-mail Suzanne Schubert, at info@artsinorange.org for more information.

Saturday, July 4th at 8-30pm, Bluesky Center, Ananda Ashram, 13 Sapphire Road, Monroe, NY 10950
Information: 845-782-5575/783-7514
Choreographed by Pandit S. N. Charka, Produced by the East-West School of Dance & Ananda Ashram, NY.
Performing by the leading dancers from the East-West School of Dance and the character Goddess Ganga by Bollywood actress Rinil Routh.

The theme of this production is the human struggle to bring the celestial river Ganga from heaven down to earth, for the betterment of the entire human race. The music composed by Mr. Rash Bihari Datta from India.

Pandit S.N. Charka has won many prestigious awards, and was appointed by the government of India to serve as cultural representative in Japan, Australia and the Fiji Islands. Over the last 25 years, he has presented numerous traditional dance recitals as well as dance dramas, and since 1981, he has been the director of the East-West School of Dance, New York.

July 4th
8-30pm

Bluesky Center
Ananda Ashram
13 Sapphire Road
Monroe, NY

Information: 845-782-5575/783-7514

The full-color storyboard exhibit was created by the Orange County Citizens Foundation and will feature 22 well-known authors who have lived in Orange County. Authors range from Gypsy Rose Lee, Mickey Spillane, Emily Post, Stephen Crane, Zane Grey, and Noah Webster to modern-day writers Whoopie Goldberg, Hunter Thompson, Frank Gilroy, Robert Lipsyte, and James Patterson and others. This exhibit was funded in part with grants from Orange and Rockland Utilities and Orange County Tourism/Orange Arts and the County of Orange.

The OC Citizens Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and enhance the quality of life in Orange County focusing on a balance between economic growth and environmental and cultural enhancement. Volunteers are welcome to join the Foundation’s committees which focus on issues such as land use, waste and water, transportation and cultural affairs. Overall the Foundation acts as a catalyst to promote balanced and thoughtful planning and change throughout the County. Visit www.occitizensfoundation.org or call (845) 469-9459 for additional information about the Foundation.

Greenwood Lake Public Library
79 Waterstone Road
Greenwood Lake, New York