Learn to propagate fruiting shrubs from cuttings as we plant an edible property line of currants for community consumption at Collard City Growers. NATURE Lab (short for North Troy Art, Technology and Urban Research in Ecology) is a volunteer-led initiative integrating art, science, and technology in regular community workshops, public art installations, and ongoing research […]
Learn to harness the power of your voice and the beast broadcasting and recording techniques! Explore your performing capabilities for radio. Tips include: breath and delivery, attitude and tone, vocal placement, pacing and phrasing. With Tom Hawn, longtime instructor at the New School of Radio and Television. Tom’s lengthy tenure at The New School began […]
An in-depth discussion of the art and technique of cinéma vérité with award winning Quest director, Jon Olshefski, and producer, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, in collaboration with Albany’s Youth FX media makers. And join us later that evening for a screening of Quest featuring a talkback with the director and producer.
Documentary filmmaker Jonathan Olshefski presents his first feature-length film: QUEST. Quest was filmed with vérité intimacy for over a decade, and is a moving portrait of a family in North Philadelphia set against the backdrop of a country now in turmoil. Olshefski's intimate style emphasizes the beautiful complexity of relationships, and serves as an example […]
Join us for the sixth annual year-end festivities, featuring free food from Unity House, Troy Bike Rescue bike give-away, tours of our new NATURE Lab gallery, on-demand typewriter poetry, music, arts activities, portraits by internationally recognized photographer Brenda Ann Kenneally, and tree lighting at Freedom Square (at the corner of 101st and 5th/6th Avenue), and […]
Join the NATURE Lab and Collard City Growers at The Sanctuary for Independent Media for an early spring seed swap and social to get you ready for the growing season. Learn seed keeping methods from local gardeners, acquire seeds to grow, bring your own seeds to show and share. Bring food and stories to share […]
Come celebrate the first day of Spring with NATURE Lab and internationally recognized bio-artist Shu Lea Cheang! Cheang' will present a Mycelium Network Society workshop and we'll have a mushroom-themed community potluck. With the help of a few generous individuals and a NYS Department of Environmental Conservation grant we’ve raised $40,000 of the $100,000 required […]
CHECK OUT video documentation of RUDERAL ECOLOGIES! This event was free and open to the public, with donations encouraged to build the NATURE Lab Environmental Education Center. This symposium marks the last weekend for our NATURE Lab crowdfunding campaign: help us build a center for community science, bioart and environmental justice, right here on our block […]
A modern multimedia opera by Joe Diebes, oyster is about iconic folklorist Alan Lomax and his Cantometrics System of categorizing world music, set in the lull between the McCarthy era and the advancing information technology age. Co-sponsored by iEAR Presents!
Prepare test patches for a new generation of wild plants whose seeds are dormant beneath lawns and sidewalks, in artist Ellie Irons’ art-science project “(Re)disturbance Regime: Unearthing to Rewild, Remember, Look Forward.”
Meet Ousmane Sembène, the African freedom fighter who used stories as his weapon and blaze the trail for generations of writers, filmmakers and scholars. Join Sembene filmmakers Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman to see their acclaimed documentary about Sembene's impact on African creatives. Co-sponsored by iEAR Presents! ...
A film screening of Healing Voices, and panel to challenge the cultural understanding of "mental illness" with a critical look at America's broken mental healthcare system and a message of recovery. Preceded by a reception. Co-sponsored by the Empowerment Exchange. Healing Voices is presented by: The Mental Health Empowerment Project, a section of the Empowerment Exchange. After […]
Prepare and tidy garden beds that have been resting all winter, to get them ready to receive this year's plantings. If soil permits, learn to turn one plant into many by the simple practice of root division. We’ll meet and work in the Collard City Growers’ Garden, just up the street from The Sanctuary for […]
The event will consist of a public presentation and a volunteer recognition reception. Fran Martino, of Rensselaer Land Trust, will present their stream sampling results. After the public presentation, a pizza party will be held to honor the Stream Team, composed of citizen science volunteers who helped with the sampling.
Cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and drummer Tomas Fujiwara incorporate all manner of inspiration into their purely musical dialogues to celebrate the roots and branches of jazz. Tomas Fujiwara is a bandleader, composer and drummer who is a member of the trio Thumbscrew, plays as a duo with Taylor Ho Bynum, and is a supporting member […]
The key to quality audio production is getting a good recording in the first place. Learn useful recording techniques and discover how you can produce radio segments for The Sanctuary's community radio hour, Hudson Mohawk Magazine.
Another year, another BikeFest! Come celebrate with Troy's bike-friendly community and help keep Troy Bike Rescue doors open as a volunteer-run bicycle resource center for all ages. Food, music, and cakes will be served! Troy Bike Rescue is a collective of cycling enthusiasts committed to removing bikes from the waste stream and getting them back […]
We are a research group based out of Cornell University’s Community and Regional Development Institute (CaRDI). Working in partnership with the Hudson River Estuary Program and the NYS Water Research Institute, we are exploring increased flood risk and responses in New York State. The current focus of our project is on the city of Troy. […]
Audacity is a free digital audio editor and recording application that runs on almost any Mac or PC. Learn how to use it to make radio! Audio editing is an invaluable skill for creating podcasts, music, or film. Get your start at the Sanctuary!
An introduction to modern digital cartography. Map your neighborhood! Own your data, untether from Google Maps. Share your map with friends using mesh networks.
We use art and participatory action to promote social and environmental justice and freedom of creative expression.
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