I Need that Record (2008) is a documentary feature examining why more than 3,000 independent record stores have closed across the U.S. in the past decade. Greedy record labels, media consolidation, homogenized radio, big box stores, e-commerce, shoddy “stars” pushed by big money, and the digital revolution all pose threats to the very well-being of […]
Digital Media Labs (DML) are all ages (14+) monthly workshops introduced by popular demand. Whether you are working on a documentary, making a music video, or learning to blog and post videos on the Internet, these sessions will benefit you. Bring your own digital media projects and ideas, or just commune and share skills with […]
The International Brass & Membrane Corps features Newman Taylor-Baker on drums, Charles Burham on violin, Joe Daly on tuba, and Ted Daniel on assorted brass. Ted began his professional career playing local gigs with his childhood friend, the legendary guitarist Sonny Sharrock. Since then he has played and recorded with Archie Shepp, Dewey Redman, Andrew […]
The Sanctuary Youth Media Team hosts yet another animation whirlwind! Geared specifically for youth (18 & under), this workshop teaches the skills and techniques behind stop motion animation while encouraging spontaneous creativity and fun. Participants will work in groups to brainstorm and create short animated pieces that will be uploaded to the web for the […]
A play by poet and activist Michael Anthony Reyes Benavides and former Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Luis Rosa, directed by Michael Anthony Reyes Benavides. Imagine 27 years of your life living in a space 6 feet by 9 feet. Imagine being confined in isolation with no human contact. Imagine the shakedowns, the strip searches, and […]
Percussionist William Hooker, the genre-bending Free Jazz legend, will improvise a sound track to pioneering African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux’s 1920 silent film classic, The Symbol of the Unconquered, originally advertised as a chance to come see “the annihilation of the Ku Klux Klan.” Co-sponsored by the Department of the Arts at RPI and the Albany […]
The poet icon and political activist Amiri Baraka (1934-2014) will perform with Rob Brown, one of the New York City downtown music scene’s most in-demand saxophonists, in a reading of his new book Somebody Blew Up America and Other Poems. One of the 13-part “Free Jazz from the Sanctuary” series recorded live at The Sanctuary […]
The Splatto Festival Chorus is a rare assembly that brings together Todd Reynolds (Bang on a Can, Yo Yo Ma, and Meredith Mond) on violins/laptop; Ed Mann (Zappa) on percussion/electronics; David Barrett (Banda Elastica, Splatter Trio) on saxophones; Michael Bisio on bass. One of the 13-part “Free Jazz from the Sanctuary” series recorded live at […]
The Kahnawake Mohawk ironworkers who helped to build the famed bridges and skyscrapers of New York City lived with their families in 10 square blocks in Brooklyn - a neighborhood known as Little Caughnawaga. In Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn and Back (2008) Reaghan Tarbell traces her family roots to create a portrait of this vibrant […]
Readings from Capital Region writers Chase Twichell, Sam Truitt, Christian Peet, Laura Didyk, and others in celebration of Fence magazine’s brand new anthology of poetry, creative nonfiction, short fiction and more. Area authors Christian Peet, Sam Truitt, Jibade-Khalil Huffman and Laura Didyk will read in celebration of the publication of A Best of Fence, a new […]
The photographs are on display in the Underground Gallery at The Sanctuary for Independent Media, available for viewing an hour before, during and an hour after events and by arrangement. Upstate Girls is a look at part of working class America, that, despite sweeping technological advances, remains essentially unchanged since the heyday of the Industrial […]
Reception for Exhibit of Iraqi Refugee Children’s Murals at Albany Public Library. The murals painted by Iraqi children and teenagers are currently on exhibit on the second floor through March 27. In September 2008, young Iraqi refugees recently arrived in the Capital District participated in a one-day mural painting workshop with American artist/teacher Claudia Lefko and […]
A two-day art workshop will bring together a group of local Iraqi and American youth to collaborate on a mural painting project. These youth share visions of a peaceful, just coexistence in the workshop, “How Will They Know Us? Building a Culture of Peace." Guided by Claudia Lefko, director of the Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange, […]
Teenage girls from throughout the Capital Region share stories about the challenges in their lives, gathering with representatives of the institutions with which they are entwined - including the legal, educational, healthcare, and penal systems- in response to award winning photojournalist Brenda Ann Kenneally’s compelling work. The Sanctuary will host a one day workshop to […]
“Virtual Jihadi” artist returns to Capital Region with new book. Wafaa Bilal braves fear of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Troy censorship to speak again! Iraqi-American digital artist Bilal’s new book Shoot an Iraqi: Life, Art and Resistance Under the Gun tells the story of the Domestic Tension project that placed him 24/7 on the receiving […]
Robert Hillary King became a member of the Black Panther Party while in prison for a crime he did not commit, where he remained in solitary confinement for 29 years as one of the Angola 3. He wrote From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther: Robert Hillary King (2008) after the […]
Wake up and smell the global economy with acclaimed filmmaker Su Friedrich as she takes you from Guatemala to South Carolina to New York City to see how her morning cup of coffee has passed through the hands, and lives of countless people. With few words, From the Ground Up shows how an ordinary cup […]
Celebrate bike month with "Two Wheels Good," an evening of short bicycle-themed movies curated by Andrew Lynn and members of the Troy Bike Rescue collective to make you laugh, cry, think, and-most importantly - get out and ride! Featuring Shooting Stars (Jee Udell); Ski Boys (Benny Zenga); DIY Emancipation 101 (Lynn Robinson); B.C. Clettes vs. […]
Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers, the former Weatherman-turned-professor (at the University of Illinois in Chicago), was best known for his lifelong commitment to social justice before being drawn into a Republican smear campaign directed at presidential candidate Barack Obama. Race Course Against White Supremacy, the new book he wrote with wife Bernardine Dohrn (noted Northwestern law […]
This show is the first of a regular series called “Live From Lock One,” documenting some of the most creative local artists on the live music scene. Each of the performances will be recorded with a studio audience and streamed live. “Live From Lock One” takes its name from the Federal Dam in Troy, a […]
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