About

The Sanctuary for Independent Media is a telecommunications production facility dedicated to community media arts, located in an historic former church at 3361 6th Avenue in North Troy, NY. The Sanctuary hosts screening, production and performance facilities, training in media production and a meeting space for artists, activists and independent media makers of all kinds.

Emailing is the best way to reach us. You can also phone 518-272-2390 on the night of an event.

Drop-in hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11a.m. – 5 p.m. and by appointment.

Our mailing address is:

The Sanctuary For Independent Media
PO Box 35
Troy, NY 12181

Our Mission

We use art, science and participatory action to promote social and environmental justice and freedom of creative expression.

More about us

Media Alliance, founded in 1977, moved its headquarters to North Troy in 2005. Media Alliance is run by a six-member board of directors (all of whom are artists and educators living and working in Rensselaer County), a small paid staff, and scores of volunteers. The budget is largely comprised of small contributions from hundreds of contributors, along with support from the NY State Council on the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Community Foundation, and other grantors.

Media Alliance owns, operates, and has offices in The Sanctuary for Independent Media, a century-old former church that has been re-purposed into a telecommunications production facility dedicated to community media arts. The Sanctuary for Independent Media is a place where community-engaged interdisciplinary artists experiment with aesthetic form and challenging content, with the overarching goal of shedding light on media arts’ vital role in the process of building a democratic society. The Sanctuary for Independent Media, located at 3361 6th Avenue in North Troy, hosts screening, production and performance facilities, and arts and education training in community media and media arts.

The mission of Media Alliance is to address common needs of nonprofit organizations providing electronic media programs and services to artists, organizations and the general public in areas including, but not limited to, production, distribution, exhibition, research, preservation, appreciation, and to further development of this field. Media Alliance has a mandate to sponsor and encourage cultural, and educational activities among media organizations, artists, and the general public, by conducting research, by gathering information, by organizing and disseminating information among the membership, by effectively communicating and cooperating with organizations, independent producers, funding sources, and the general public, by responding to issues of concern to the field, by public information programs, and by administering property.

Sanctuary Think Tank, Spring, 23

We gathered together — on zoom — to reflect upon the story of the Sanctuary.

Land Acknowledgement

The Sanctuary for Independent Media resides upon the ancestral homelands of the Mohican people, who are Indigenous peoples of the lands of New York. Despite tremendous hardships and being forced from their lands, today their community resides in Wisconsin and is known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. We honor this community, past and present, and are committed to building a more inclusive and equitable space for all.

We encourage everyone to learn whose land you are residing upon.