Season 9: Year in Review

From The Hudson River School Painters to the green pioneers of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, the Hudson Valley has long been an important beacon of cultural and modern day environmental movements. The legacy of our region drives and inspires Basilica, and serving and responding to the place that we live has been at the heart of our mission since we launched our reclaimed industrial art factory back in 2010.

In 2019, we deepened our connection to the region’s partners in sustainability, and made a commitment towards transforming our building and our non-profit public programs into a model of what is possible for a sustainable future.

From supporting local small business at Basilica Farm & Flea, to showcasing the work of individuals and organizations working to protect our environment at our Basilica Green Energy Fair, we were proud to open our doors for neighbors, partners and friends in our ninth season of programming. We worked alongside many of Hudson’s inspiring youth organizations and were enlivened by the drive and enthusiasm of the next generation of community leaders, activists and organizers.

As we move into our tenth anniversary in 2020, we take a look back over our season in Community + Green non-profit programming.

BASILICA FARM & FLEA

With our seventh annual Basilica Farm & Flea Holiday Market and our fifth annual Basilica Farm & Flea Spring Market, we saw two bountiful weekends of local and independent talent. We’re proud to say that Basilica Farm & Flea has become a staple of our riverfront city’s calendar, and are beyond grateful to be able to celebrate the abundance of talent in our region each year. With over 100 local, independent makers at each market, and close to 13,000 attendees, Basilica Farm & Flea directly supports small business and a healthy local economy. At a time when huge online retail can feel unavoidable, events like Basilica Farm & Flea allow shoppers to feel confident about their purchases. Basilica Farm & Flea also forms a special weekend for the makers themselves, who enjoy a chance to connect in person with their fellow small business owners, as well as to make a meaningful, in-person connection with their customers. We’re also proud to partner with a number of local non-profit organizations at Basilica Farm & Flea, with AnimalKind, Hudson Area Library and Perfect Ten all among 2019’s vendors. This is what sustainable community looks like!

BASILICA GREEN

Through our nine seasons of programming, we have worked to evolve from a solar-powered factory to a platform to inform our audience on environmental causes and action. Each season, we have explored new green initiatives and forged lasting partnerships with those leading the field in sustainability. In April, we hosted the Basilica Green Energy Fair, a full day of programming dedicated to informing, educating and inspiring attendees. Produced in partnership with SunCommon and CYCLEffect, and with the support of Green Mountain Energy, the Basilica Green Energy Fair included expert presenters on topics as wide ranging as turning food waste into fuel and alternative currencies, with stops along the way for community solar and sustainable agriculture. We also invited our long-standing collaborator Jon Bowermaster to return for a special screening of Growing With The Grain, the latest film in his Hudson River Stories series, plus a live broadcast of his Green Radio Hour for Radio Kingston. Enlivened by the relationships we developed during the Basilica Green Energy Fair, as we move into our tenth season of programming in 2020, we will mark and celebrate this important milestone by bringing sustainability and green action to the forefront of our mission. Learn how you can support our non-profit arts programming here.

HUDSON VALLEY FOOD AT BASILICA

From endurance-boosting Yummy Kitchen meals at 24-HOUR DRONE to pop-ups by Inner Flame and more at our Basilica Non-Fiction Screening Series, Hudson Valley food and chefs kept us fuelled throughout our ninth season. Our friends at Bread Alone joined us with samples of the breads baked in their solar-powered ovens at the Basilica Green Energy Fair. Albany Symphony’s SING OUT! free concert saw our outside courtyard filled with local food. As we celebrated the 10th year of Hudson Pride at ALL THE BODIES in partnership with OutHudson and Tiger House Hudson, our Hudson neighbors at Lil Deb’s Oasis kept the party fed with a grill for all the senses. Recurring favorites Nicole LoBue of Alimentary Kitchen and Ruby of Raven & Boar once again joined us at Basilica Farm & Flea with a spread of hearty, local hot food and drink.

COMMUNITY ACTION IN FILM

Alongside our annual Basilica Non-Fiction Screening Series, which explores the documentary genre through regular free film screenings, our 150-seat North Hall cinema also hosted a selection of movies presented by local friends and partners to mobilize our community and encourage action on some of the issues facing our world today. Grassroots resistance group Indivisible Columbia NY hosted a screening of Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook, an exploration of the tactics being used to influence our elections and of what citizens can do to reclaim our democracy. In partnership with Berkshire International Film Festival, we hosted filmmaker Bonnie Hawthorne to introduce and answer questions on Dreaming of a Vetter World, her study of the Vetter Family Farm and its pioneering work into food sustainability. Our friend Jon Bowermaster returned to present Ghost Fleet, which examines the human rights violations behind the seafood industry. In the first week of their annual Social Justice Leadership Academy, our neighbors at Kite’s Nest hosted a teen-focused screening of the stirring Knock Down The House, which follows four women as they decide to fight back and, without political experience or corporate money, build a movement of insurgent candidates challenging powerful incumbents in Congress.

BASILICA X HUDSON YOUTH

The young minds of our riverfront city continue to inspire and motivate us to better serve the place we live. From Perfect Ten to Hudson Area Library, Kite’s Nest and Hudson Youth Center, we were proud to be able to partner with many of Hudson’s youth organizations again in 2019 as they presented the bright, vibrant work of tweens, teens and young adults.

Hudson youth aged 12 – 20 taking part in Kite’s Nest’s annual Social Justice Leadership Academy returned as part of the 2019 Basilica Back Gallery Artist In Residence Series. Drawing on work and study around the issues facing marginalized people, the artists created a moving exhibition of multidisciplinary work. As the culmination to the month-long program, SJLA participants also presented a public final event which used dance, music, discussion and more to explore injustice and inequality and look at how best to respond and act. SJLA teens also joined us as part of the Basilica Non-Fiction Screening Series for a selection of shorts by the young filmmakers of Albany’s YouthFX, sharing in the power of the big screen with an up-close-and-personal filmmaker Q&A following the screening.

The film work of participants in Hudson Area Library’s Hack The Library program was also on the big screen, with a free Sunday afternoon presentation for families and film-lovers alike. Young people from Hudson Youth Center and Hudson Area Library’s summer programs joined us for a field trip to learn more about the building and to enjoy a special screening of New York International Children’s Film Festival’s Kid Flicks series of global short films.

Once more, Hudson Area Library Tween Advisory Council and Perfect Ten’s after-school program for girls also joined us at both Farm & Flea markets with booths offering everything from custom sweatshirts to handmade jewelry, craft kits and henna hand-painting.

COLLABORATORS: Suncommon, CYCLEffect, Green Mountain Energy, LikeMindedObjects, Oceans 8 Films, Radio Kingston, Hudson Area Library, Kite’s Nest, Hudson Youth Center, Perfect Ten, YouthFX, Indivisible Columbia NY, Berkshire International Film Festival, New York International Children’s Film Festival, Albany Symphony, OutHudson, Tiger House Hudson, Lil Deb’s Oasis, Bread Alone, Alimentary Kitchen, Raven & Boar

IMAGE CREDITS: Willow Vale Farm at Basilica Farm & Flea Holiday Market 2019 by Elise McMahon; Social Justice Leadership Academy artwork in Basilica Back Gallery by Zebi Williams; Basilica Farm & Flea Holiday Market 2019 by Elise McMahon; Social Justice Leadership Academy final event by Zebi Williams; Smugtown Mushrooms at Basilica Farm & Flea Holiday Market 2019 by Elise McMahon; Social Justice Leadership Academy artwork in Basilica Back Gallery by Zebi Williams; Mrs Badila at Basilica Farm & Flea Holiday Market 2019 by Elise McMahon; Social Justice Leadership Academy artwork in Basilica Back Gallery by Zebi Williams; Social Justice Leadership Academy final event by Zebi Williams; Basilica Green Energy Fair; Lail Design at Basilica Farm & Flea Holiday Market 2019 by Elise McMahon; Fahari Bazaar at Basilica Farm & Flea Holiday Market 2019 by Elise McMahon; Bread Alone at Basilica Green Energy Fair; Lil Deb’s Oasis at ALL THE BODIES by Tomm Roeschlein; Knock Down The House screening at Social Justice Leadership Academy by Zebi Williams; Social Justice Leadership Academy artwork in Basilica Back Gallery by Zebi Williams