Our Spring 2012 season begins with a busy weekend of events related to the Occupy movement and its predecessors on March 2-3 and concludes with the first Troy observance of the Juneteenth freedom celebration on June 16.  The season features an adventurous slate of events ranging from speakers to films to music and more.  Highlights include a talk by Democracy Now! co-host and NY Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez, a rare performance by the stellar Tisziji Munoz Quartet, the exuberantly anti-consumption antics of Reverend Billy and his Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, the third annual NY Shout Out! youth media festival, Marco Calliari with his high energy blend of expatriate Italian music, and the traveling film festival "Flaherty On The Road."  Admission to most events is by donation ($10 suggested, $5 student/low income). 

FACING CHANGE: THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND MEETS OCCUPY WALL STREET season premiere weekend

7 pm Friday, March 2
#OCCUPY FILMFEST

Short films from occupations around the country, plus a discussion of the role of radical media in the Occupy movement. 

The “Be The Media!” workshop series, designed to provide local artists, producers, and citizen journalists with opportunities to acquire and improve the skills necessary for successful and high-impact independent media-making, will run from March through May 2012.

Now in its 12th season, the workshop series offers chances to explore the use of technology in making art and media, and build the creative capacity of our region.  Geared to suit people who know a lot or a little about digital tools, the workshops are suitable for both curious novices and seasoned users ready to hone their skills.  The instructors are world-renowned media artists with expertise in many fields, and come from the Capital Region and beyond.

Saturday, March 3  12-4 PM  $40
FACING CHANGE photojournalism workshop

Just as the Farm Security Administration sent photographers to cover the Great Depression, a collective called Facing Change: Documenting America has enlisted artists—including two Pulitzer Prize-winning photographers—to record America’s current struggles.  An exhibition of their work opens on Friday, March 2, 2012 and runs through Saturday, June 16, 2012 in the Underground Gallery at The Sanctuary for Independent Media.  

The Fall 2011 season at The Sanctuary for Independent Media began on October 6 and ran through December 3 with the theme Cultures of Resistance, featuring an adventurous slate of events ranging from speakers to films to music and more. 

Highlights included a talk by ACLU president Susan N. Herman on a decade of eroding civil liberties under the Patriot Act, the Capital Region debut of Afropop sensation Sidi Touré and friends, an all-day indoor/outdoor family celebration of art and community action as part of the MOHU Festival, and a compelling look at the first 30 years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic featuring activist filmmaker Jean Carlomusto.  As usual, admission to most events was by donation ($10 suggested, $5 student/low income). 

The Sanctuary for Independent Media is located at 3361 6th Avenue (at 101st Street) in North Troy.  Call (518) 272-2390, email info@MediaSanctuary.org, or visit www.MediaSanctuary.org for directions and more information.

A coalition of local community groups launched Freedom Square–just up the block from the Sanctuary–with a free outdoor live music event on Saturday, July 2nd.  Headlined by a 10-piece Boston-based Ethiopian-influenced jazz and soul group, the Debo Band, the lineup also included rock, hip hop and gospel performances by local groups including Sumac, S.K.A.T.E., and the Missing Link Street Ministry Men's Choir.

Freedom Square is an urban cultural and spiritual oasis located at the mystical corner where 5th and 6th Avenues meet 101st Street a block from the Hudson River in North Troy, NY.  Map it!

We celebrated with an afternoon of great music as well as a free bike clinic, community barbecue, info tables, and more, to launch Freedom Square!

Nearly two million people around the world have watched the Sanctuary TV production "WikiLeaks' Collateral Murder: U.S. Soldier Ethan McCord's Eyewitness Story," based on the material allegedly released by Pfc Bradley Manning, now imprisoned at Quantico.  Our video also can be seen at the WikiLeaks "Collateral Murder" and Bradley Manning Support Network websites.

Volunteers are the brains and heart that make the Sanctuary a thriving and vibrant community media and arts center. They help to staff events, shoot video, plan events, build the community, build our space, and keep the place nice.

Whether you come with a specific expertise, a new skill you'd like to learn, or just an interest in being a part of the Sanctuary, we welcome your help.

Some of the volunteer projects we need help with:

Our civil rights case against the City of Troy and former Public Works Commissioner Robert Mirch for shutting down Iraqi-American artist Wafaa Bilal's "Virtual Jihadi" anti-war installation in 2008 has been settled.  Check here for details.

The lawsuit, brought on our behalf by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Albany law firm of O'Connell and Aronowitz, was three days from a trial by jury in Federal court.

Hudson Mohawk Indymedia produced a definitive account of the whirlwind of events surrounding Wafaa Bilal's controversial art exhibit:

"Art ≠ Terrorism" goes beyond the sound bites to find out what happened when an Iraqi artist came to Troy, NY only to be censored--not once, but twice.

First, Wafaa Bilal's exhibit was shuttered by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute after his anti-war artwork was attacked by Campus Republicans.

When the work was given refuge by The Sanctuary for Independent Media, the City of Troy responded by closing us down. A massive outpouring of community support enabled us to re-open six weeks later.