Basilica Hudson is an arts and performance venue in

Hudson, New York Hudson is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. On the east side of the Hudson River, f ...

, US. It was established in 2010 out of a 19th-century factory located near the city's "South Bay" riverfront along the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

. Basilica Hudson schedules its programming between spring and fall. Events range from film screenings and visual art exhibitions, to annual farmers' and flea markets with local vendors. It is the setting for the annual Basilica SoundScape festival and the 24 Hour Drone music festival, Its creative directors in 2013 are musician

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker (band), Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited ...

and independent filmmaker Tony Stone. In 2012, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' named Basilica Hudson one of the ten best industrial-chic spaces worldwide.

History of the site

The building that currently houses Basilica Hudson was originally built in the 1880s as a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

that produced railroad car wheels. Later, it was converted into a

glue factory Animal glue is an adhesive that is created by prolonged boiling of animal connective tissue in a process called rendering. In addition to being used as an adhesive, it is used for coating and sizing, in decorative composition ornaments, and as ...

that closed in the 1980s. In 1999, the site was slated for inclusion in a redevelopment proposal by the Americlean corporation to build a processing facility for the dry cleaning solvent

perchloroethylene Tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene or under the systematic name tetrachloroethene, and abbreviations such as perc (or PERC), and PCE, is a chlorocarbon with the formula . It is a non-flammable, stable, colorless and heavy liqu ...

. The successful campaign to defeat this proposal was led by the newly formed Friends of Hudson environmental organization. After the defeat of the Americlean proposal, the property was acquired by a Florida developer who sought unsuccessfully to establish an arts center. In 2001, developers and civic activists Patrick Doyle and Catherine Dodge Smith acquired the property and opened it as a community arts center under the name Basilica Industria. The venue was the site of a 2003

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

concert benefiting the Friends of Hudson campaign to stop development of a 1,800-acre cement plant in neighboring town of Greenport. By 2008, musician Melissa Auf der Maur and filmmaker Tony Stone, then newcomers to Hudson, began curating events, filming, and holding band practice in the space. In 2010, Doyle and Smith sold the property to Auf der Maur, Stone, and his parents, artists Bill Stone and Nancy Stone. They renamed the property 'Basilica Hudson' and repurposed it as an arts and performance venue. Basilica Hudson launched its music and arts programming in the summer of 2012. In 2012, the Albany, NY-based publication '' Metroland'' named Basilica Hudson the "best new venue" in the Capital Region. In 2012, ''

'' named Basilica Hudson one of the ten best industrial-chic spaces worldwide.

Operation of venue

Basilica Hudson is an 18,000 sq. ft. space with a maximum capacity for 1,200 people. It schedules its programming between spring and fall. Basilica Hudson has attracted international acclaim for its unusual program of events and its owners' commitment to supporting the creative community of the Hudson Valley region. Events range from film screenings and visual art exhibitions, to annual farmers' and flea markets with local vendors. It is the setting for the annual Basilica SoundScape festival, described as 'the antifestival' by various publications for its thoughtful mix of music, visual art and literature. Basilica Hudson is also home to the 24 Hour Drone music festival, which sees festival-goers camp in the space for a round-the-clock, non-stop 24-hour performance by a selection of experimental artists.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 42.25188889, N, 73.79861111, W, display=title Performing arts centers in New York (state) Hudson, New York Buildings and structures in Columbia County, New York Tourist attractions in Columbia County, New York