Events

2011 Schedule of Events

Saturday, November 19, 2011: Grand Street Community Arts Annual Meeting

2PM @ The Howe Library (downstairs in the large meeting room), 105 Schuyler St., Albany, NY

The Annual Meeting is a time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished during this year and look at what our goals are for the coming year. Light refreshments will be provided.

Sunday, October 16, 2011: Occupy Albany General Assembly Meeting

5PM @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

The third general assembly meeting of Occupy Albany.

Sunday, October 16, 2011: Community Art & Music Event

3:30PM @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

Watch artists paint, enjoy the DJ, and have some food!

Sunday, October 9, 2011: Occupy Albany General Assembly Meeting

5PM @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

Meet to discuss the issues currently facing our society.

Sunday, October 9, 2011: Circus Yoga

1PM-4PM @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

CircusYoga is an imaginative, fun-filled and safe workout designed to strengthen bodies while building creativity, self-confidence, focus, trust, teamwork. The classes in this series will include basic Hatha yoga poses taught through a unique story-like structure,contact/partner yoga, creative movement, juggling 101, skill toys, clowning and partner acrobatics. Our final CircusYoga class in this session will be an open presentation for families and others who wish to join in the fun and celebrate with us. Tickets are $10 per person, or $5 per additional family member.

Saturday, October 8, 2011: Old School Party Fundraiser

9 PM @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

Boogie the night away with the Divas for Christ at their Old School Dance Party Fundraiser! There will be refreshments and karaoke. Admission is $5, all proceeds go towards helping the Divas get their non-profit status filed and registered.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday September 16-18, 2011: Living Walls

Living Walls: Albany is a project designed to raise awareness about the use of public space. It is about exploring options that a smaller city like ours has in terms of bike commuting, sustainable energy options, urban gardening, rebuilding and/or reclaiming buildings as opposed to demolishing them. Through a series of lectures, performances, and the involvement of some of the world’s great mural artists, the Living Walls project is intent on creating an open dialogue between the people and city.

Wednesday September 14, 2011: Community Meeting

7 PM @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

What’s on your mind, sunshine? Gather at the center to discuss everything GSCA. Let’s share ideas and make neighborhood dreams come true.

Saturday September 10, 2011: Discard AvantGarb

6 PM @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

Capital Region artists ingeniously turn discarded materials into high fashion. Who knew bottle caps and old socks could look so good? This unforgettable evening will feature a cash bar, live music, and the most original runway of the season. Stay tuned for more details and how to purchase tickets!

Friday September 2, 2011: BoardedUP Exhibition & Auction + 1st Friday

6 PM @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

Get ready to bid on your favorite boards from the past 2011 season. Featuring more than 70 local artists. Like last year, we will also have previous year boards for only $25. There will also be raffles, a DJ, live music, and dancing. Refreshments will be served along with a cash bar.

Thursday August 25, 2011: Grand Street Eats “One Mile Harvest”

6 PM – 9 PM @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

The Chefs Consortium, an organization dedicated to promoting local sustainable food, in partnership with Youth Organics (an urban gardening program of Grand Street Community Arts) and Harmony House Marketplace will host a cocktail party at the Grand Street Community Arts. It will feature local food harvested within a one mile radius, wine, music and art.

Participating chefs include: Noah Sheetz, Hudson Valley chef and local food promoter; Nicole Cagan, The Ulster County farm-to-school initiative, “From the Ground Up”; and other prominent Albany chefs.

Locally renowned artist Chip Fasciana, founder of the Albany Underground Artists, will be enlisting the participation of fellow artists, food artisans and musicians, including Swamp Baby, Dan Johnson and His Expert Side Men, and Andy Sink.

Tickets are $20, Advanced tickets can be purchased on Brown Paper Tickets (https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/192711) or on day of event at the door.

Friday August 12, 2011: YO Community Harvest Dinner

5:00PM-7:00PM, @ YO Garden, South Hawk & 3rd Street, Albany, NY

The end of summer programming is just around the corner, we can’t believe how quickly time ﬂies! To commemorate a job well done and eat some tasty food in the process, Youth Organics will be hosting their annual Community Harvest Dinner at the YO Garden.

The dinner is free but donations are gladly accepted. All money collected will beneﬁt the upcoming season of Youth Organics. Don’t miss out on this event, come and see what’s been harvested!

For more info, please email Rana Morris at rana@grandarts.org

Friday August 12, 2011: Youth Arts Grand Street Kids Club Presents its Theater Showcase

1:30 PM and 6:00PM @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

Our Grand Street Kids Club, which is one of our summer programs for youth ages 4-12, will be putting on their ﬁrst ever show! Join us on Friday, August 12th at 6PM to see the production of “The Bear Song” along with the re-creation of Esphyr Slobodkin’s book “Caps for Sale”.

This will be GSCA’s ﬁrst in what we hope to be a long line of productions and the students have truly taken it to heart, turning our alter in the sanctuary into a complete stage. With generous donations from local artist Adam Plass and various community partners, we look forward to sharing our work with the entire community.

Performance is free but any donations will beneﬁt our Youth Arts programming!

Sunday April 17, 2011: Siena Bonner Clean-Up Day

9:00AM-1:00PM, @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

Come join the Siena Bonners and members of the community get GSCA ready for the summer season. Jobs will include painting the church, rigging up some new lights, organizing art supplies, putting up new paintings, and general cleaning. If you’d like to learn more or participate, contact our Development & Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator: james@grandarts.org

Saturday March 12, 2011: Youth Organics Information Session & Interviews

2:00PM-4:00PM, @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

Youth Organics is looking for Albany teens to work in the garden, grow food, build gardens in people’s backyards, work with other organizations, do outreach, learn about food and nutrition, and do peer education. We have after-school jobs available from April-June, 4-6 hours/week. Summer jobs are also available from July-August, 20 hours/week. Call 463-2222 if you have questions or want to apply.

Saturday, March 5, 2011: Youth Organics Fourth Annual Secret Café

6:00PM – 9:00PM, $20-$40 (sliding scale) @ the Albany Free School, 8 Elm Street, Albany, NY

This gourmet meal in an elegant setting makes a wonderful evening out and supports a great program. All money raised will go towards paying stipends to local teens this spring for their work with Youth Organics. They will be prepping and planting the garden for this growing season, working on a South End Earth Day celebration and neighborhood clean up, and building raised bed gardens in the backyards of low-income families. Tickets for this year’s Secret Cafe will be sliding scale, $20-$40. The tickets for this event go quick and will sell out. Book your reservation ASAP. Please call (518) 495-5055 or email rana@grandarts.org to volunteer or make reservations.

Thursday February 3, 2011: Youth FX Annual Film Screening, plus Q&A

7:00PM – 9:00PM, $7 for Adults/$5 for Kids under 12, @ the Madison Theater, Albany, NY

The third annual Youth FX Film Screening, will be followed by a question and answer panel discussion with the youth filmmakers. The public is invited to come out and enjoy an evening of cutting edge youth films and ask the youth how them made them and what they have learned.

2010 Events

Sunday October 24, 2010: Work Party at Grand Street Community Arts

Grand Street Community Arts is holding a work party on Sunday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to commence winterizing our building at 68 Grand Street. We have moved into the new office and community room, and are already holding fall after-school programs in the building. We need to do some finish carpentry, a bit of demolition and insulating, and some lifting and organizing, as well as work to protect exposed pipes from winter weather. All skill levels welcome. As always, good food and great company!

Please RSVP to Tom McPheeters (tom@grandarts.org or (518) 433-0679), or to Anthony Littlejohn, (acmefloors@verizon.net or 376-1607)

Monday October 18, 2010: Grand Street Kids Club After School Program Begins

After school arts program for kids in the Grand Street community. This program runs Mondays and Wednesdays from 3-5pm. It is open to everyone. For information about how to sign up and cost, please email info@grandarts.org or call (518)463-2222

Tuesday, September 28, 2010: EXPRESSION THROUGH ARTS After School Program Begins

After school program in partnership with Hackett Middle School and ACAN, begins. This program runs Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-5pm, and is available to Hackett Middle School students.

September 25, 2010: BoardedUP Exhibition & Silent Auction

Come bid on your favorite boards from the past season. Featuring more than 70 local artists. We will also be selling past year boards for only $25, as well as smaller boards by some of your favorite artists. 5:30-9pm. Refreshments will be served. Cash bar.

September 11, 2010: Reach Out St. Rose!

Students from the College of St. Rose will be participating in the school wide “Reach Out St. Rose” day, where groups of around 20+ students will go to a number of different community organizations to help out. We will have them be working on our Elizabeth Street Vacant Lot Project. 9:30am-2pm, light lunch will be provided.

August 30, 2010: Siena Bonners Day of Service

3:30PM-7:00PM, @ 84-92 Catherine Street + S Hawk Street & 2nd Avenue, Albany, NY

Students at Siena College who are Bonner fellows will participate in a service day at the Catherine Street Vacant Lot Project and the YO! Garden. This event is open to the public as well.

August 20, 2010: Out of the Margins Part III: The Readnex Poetry Squad and Marcus Kwame Anderson

August 7, 2010: The Conquest of Saturn; A Festival of Audio Art

12:00PM-6:00PM, ((audience09)) screening, @ Grand Street Community Arts, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY
7:00PM-LATE, ((audience)) concert, @ Grand Street Community Arts

Grand Street Community Arts will host The Conquest of Saturn, a daylong festival of audio art. From 12-6pm, ((audience09)), a program of 5.1 surround sound artworks presented as “cinema in the dark”, will be “screened” in the GSCA Gallery. The program (running time, 110 minutes) will be repeated three times. Listeners may wander in and out of the gallery. Admission is free. From 7pm until late night, ((audience)) will host a concert of improvisational electro-acoustic music.

August 6, 2010: 1st Friday of Albany: BoardedUP Exhibition

Join us for our first official event of the spring! 1st Friday, administered by the Update Artists Guild and coordinated by Michael Weirdrich, aims to introduce a wider audience to the unique vitality of the artists and venues of Albany. 1st Friday promotes interest in the arts by making it accessible, thereby strengthening the arts community in Albany.

August 6, 2010: Vacant Lot Flag Project

Everyone is invited to the Vacant Lot Flag Project; a one-day, outdoor, creative happening where participants will create a flag for themselves, community or cause; and proudly display it in an untenanted lot in downtown Albany, NY. This free, all-inclusive, public art event is organized and produced by We Are Architects, as a part of Grand Street Community Arts’ Vacant Lot Project and the City of Albany’s Vacant Lot Stabilization Program. The Flag Project will be part of Albany’s First Friday, starting Friday, August 6, 2010 at 2 PM, at 43 Catherine Street.

July 16, 2010: Out of the Margins Part II: Mahina Movement

July 2, 2010: 1st Friday of Albany: BoardedUP Exhibition

5:00PM-9:00PM, @ GSCA, 68 Grand Street, Albany

June 19, 2010: Hula Hoop Workshop

1:00PM-3:00PM, @ GSCA, 68 Grand Street, Albany

Come learn how to make a hula hoop and take it home along with some neat hula hooping tricks!

June 18, 2010: Out of the Margins Part I: Voices of Africa

Workshop 5-6pm FREE, Performance 7:30pm $5-20 @ GSCA, 68 Grand Street, Albany

This internationally acclaimed all-women Ensemble from Philadelphia presents a complete and unique experience of a cappella harmonies and traditional West African percussive rhythms. They have performed to standing ovations around the world, from Ghana to The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. www.VoicesofAfrica.net

June 12, 2010: Art You Can Eat – Kids Club Fundraiser

5:00 PM – 9:00 PM @ GSCA, Albany, NY

June 5, 2010: NY Shout Out: Youth Media Showcase

1 PM: Youth Workshop | 4:00 PM: Live Studio Shoot | 6:00 PM: Potluck | 7:00 PM Film Fest

Community media groups in the Capital Region and surrounding regions are empowering young people to take back the media. Media offers a megaphone to the hearts and minds of young people. Come see the best of their work!

June 5, 2010: Freihofer’s 22nd Annual Community Walk

12:30 PM @ Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY

June 4, 2010: 1st Friday of Albany: BoardedUP Exhibition and Refugee Colors

5:00 PM – 9:00 PM @ GSCA, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY

1st Friday, administered by the Update Artists Guild and coordinated by Michael Weirdrich, aims to introduce a wider audience to the unique vitality of the artists and venues of Albany. 1st Friday promotes interest in the arts by making it accessible, thereby strengthening the arts community in Albany.

May 8, 2010: Youth FX Film Benefit Screening

6:00 PM @ WAMC’S The Linda, 339 Central Avenue, Albany, NY

Come see the 2009 Youth FX Films of the 2009 Summer Season at the WAMC’s The Linda.

May 7, 2010: 1st Friday of Albany: BoardedUP Exhibition

5:00 PM – 9:00 PM @ GSCA, 68 Grand Street, Albany, NY