Dear YOU, Basilica friend, neighbor and collaborator,

I am writing to you at the end of our 14th program season, on the eve of our 15th anniversary, to tell you of big news in our world. This month marks the completion of our historical, carbon-neutral restoration of our beloved factory on the Hudson waterfront. Did you notice: New roof? New windows? Shiny and new radiant heating and cooling concrete floors? Completed white cube Back Gallery? Thriving maple trees surrounded by green grass and wildflower berms, where once dusty rubble used to be? 

Over the last couple of years, our factory has been fully rehabilitated, and most importantly, LOVED. Loved by the manual labor of skilled hands and the devoted creatives that have filled her, and our dedicated team. This winter, Basilica’s Net Zero Campus construction wraps up, transforming Basilica Hudson into an historically restored, all-season, FOSSIL-FUEL-FREE venue. We must imagine and plan for the expanded opportunities this offers.

We did this together.

Music. Art. Noise. Dancing. Poetry. Friends. Markets. Conversation. Movies. Food. Fun. Fun. Fun.

An exchange of authentic spirits and ideas. 

She is a shining jewel, reflecting a world that many of us crave, and consider essential to live a nourishing, well-balanced life…. 

“I’m taking a leap of faith into the shadow side of the world”

This sentence came to me last month, in the middle of the night, while processing the end of the year, and what seems like the end of an era for many things … hard decisions made, and many unknowns ahead which will lead to changes for all. 

In 2010, when Tony Stone and I founded Basilica Hudson, with nothing but a down payment on a factory with no running water or sewer and outdated electricity, we knew we wanted to bring all that we love in the world to this historic building, in this storied city, on the majestic Hudson River, framed by the mesmerizing Catskill Mountains. She grew alongside our daughter River and our life as a little family making a go in the City of Hudson.

Committed to offering a platform to independent and innovative voices in arts and culture …. This seemed important to do then, in an off-the-beaten-path town that did not yet have much of it, as a refuge from the increasingly unaffordable arts, culture, and living in the big cities. 

With 2025, and a new dawn in America, that idea takes on new meaning. The ever-changing town of Hudson also offers new context to what we once were, and what we will be in the future.

Since the 2020 pandemic, Basilica’s not-for-profit arm that presents all of our public programs, struggled to rebound. But thanks to our devoted tiny team and program partners, we pushed ourselves to reestablish all of our existing programs and resulted in 2024 being our fullest program year to date.

Please do enjoy the full recap HERE 

2024 Year in Review

With the many changes around us there are both opportunities and challenges to contemplate, and we must take a pause for much-needed hibernation to revise and stabilize. This winter, we, the founders and the Board of Directors, will review options for restructuring toward a more sustainable model that will assure a commitment to the original mission and vision for Basilica Hudson. 

We’ve come to the difficult decision that we are not able to present our most ambitious program, 24-HR DRONE this coming spring, and need to lay off our fantastic Basilica Arts team. I want to acknowledge Director of Programs Ben Seretan and Programs & Marketing Manager Xe Davis for their dedication and hard work bringing all our programs to life this year, and Stacy Morrison who generously stepped off the board this year to take the reins as Executive Director at a critical time. Thanks are also due to our committed 2024 board members: Sonia Skindrud (Chair), Cecil Castellucci (Director Emerita), Joshua Cohen, Bill Covell, Cathryn Dwyre, Rebecca Foon, Sotirios Kotoulas (Chair Emeritus) Raj Kumar, Cassandra Marketos, John Pelosi, and Jessica Wallen.

As my wise DRONE collaborator Sarah Van Buren recently said, while I struggled to imagine the heartbreak of NOT launching our 2025 Spring season with 24-HR DRONE (the program that literally came from my dream about the power of sound that changed my life at age 19)…

“Maybe sometimes you need to go to sleep, for new dreams to come to be.”

This is not the end of the Basilica dream, but a communal commitment to expand, and build it back better.

Save the Date! In the wake of a feel-good Holiday Farm & Flea Market, we look ahead to our Farm & Flea Spring Market come Mother’s Day weekend May, 2025. 

Season’s Greetings to you and yours,

Happy Holy Daze, 

And Make Basilica Dream Again 

OX

Melissa Auf der Maur

Basilica Hudson, Co-Founder and Director 

Learn More About BASILICA GREEN HERE

The Basilica Net Zero Campus Project is supported by NYSERDA’s Net Zero Energy for Economic Development Program, the City of Hudson Downtown Revitalization Initiative, NY Empire State Development, NY State Historic Preservation Office, Hudson River Bank Trust and National Park Service.