AROOTED:CampaignCaseStatementHudsonValleyShakespeareFestivalCampaign for Our Permanent Home
Long-Term
Project
Opportunity,
Project
Mission,WelcomeWork, and Values
Vision: Environmental Sustainability
beautiful and important landscapes in America.Contents
Vision: Cultural Placemaking
Vision: Community Engagement
Let’s create one of the most extraordinary open-air theaters in the world, most
Vision, and Team
in one of the
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Site Vision JoinCampaignTimelineUsinOur Next Act23222019141210843
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“Said the river: imagine everything you can imagine, then keep on going.”
Shakespeare is a poet in touch with the power of place. His characters often embark on a journey from the court to the woods, from the pressures of politics and commerce to the clarity and possibilities of the natural world, a place where a process of discovery and transformation can take root. The Hudson River Valley is such a place, and it has been a wellspring of inspiration to poets, painters, writers, and musicians since long before Henry Hudson sailed on the tidal estuary then known as Mohicanituck.
- Mary Oliver in the wider landscape of the American theater, as we re-imagine the performing arts for the post-pandemic era.
The power of place has shaped the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival for over three decades. And now, for the first time, our theater will have a permanent, year-round home in the heart of the Hudson Highlands: Philanthropist Chris Davis is conveying over 98 acres of breathtaking river-view land to HVSF to be reimagined as an open-air theater campus with publicly accessible parkland, picnic space, trails, and a worldclass, LEED Platinum performance venue.
Warmly,
Davis McCallum Artistic Director
This is one of the most significant acts of generosity in the American theater in more than a generation. Not only is this a singular opportunity for our theater company, it will also enable us to serve as a vibrant hub for our local community, a year-round cultural anchor for the greater Hudson Valley region, and a model for environmental sustainability
Mary Oliver is right: as it has for as long as anyone can remember, the river is asking us to open up our imaginations. Let’s heed that call by embracing the power of place and creating a space where the experience of nature and culture is available to everyone. We can’t do it without you. After reviewing Rooted: A Campaign for our Permanent Home, we hope you will join us on this journey.
Dear Friend,
MissionValues
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Founded in 1987, HVSF is a critically acclaimed, professional, non-profit theater company based in Garrison, NY, one hour north of Manhattan. The Festival has established a reputation for lucid, engaging, and highly inventive productions – plays by Shakespeare and contemporary playwrights alike – staged in an open-air theater overlooking the Hudson River. By reaching over 35,000 audience members and more than 15,000 students and educators annually, the impacts of our work are broadly felt throughout the tri-state region. In recent years, we’ve toured to venues within the Hudson Valley, transferred productions to other regional theaters, engaged our community through radically participatory art-making, and connected with area schools through year-round education programming.
Rooted in the landscape of the Hudson Valley, with the plays of William Shakespeare as our touchstone, HVSF engages the widest possible audience in a theatrical celebration of our shared humanity.
EXCELLENCE
AN ILIAD, 2015
Work
5 PLAYFULNESS INCLUSION SUSTAINABILITYGENEROSITY MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, 2019 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, 2017 RIP VAN WINKLE, 2018THE HEART OF ROBIN HOOD, 2018
6 INTO THE WOODS, 2019
7ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home “Improvisatory, frolicsome, and of our time.”
Jesse Green New York Times
The
The Opportunity 8 The Team Former Site Boscobel New Permanent Home The Garrison The Vision
The transfer from philanthropist Chris Davis encompasses over 98 acres on the site of what was formerly The Garrison: a golf course, inn, restaurant, and event venue. Between now and 2025, we will reimagine the parcel as an open-access theater campus with parkland, picnic space, trails, and a world-class performance venue – the first purpose-built LEED Platinum theater in the country.
An arts organization that values people over stuff. Our work springs from the most essential of elements – actor, audience, language, and landscape. We prioritize human relationships, and our people feel strongly invested in our success.
Home
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A national model for sustainability in the performing arts. Ecological restoration, solar panels, rainwater capture, reduced embedded carbon and other design elements will minimize climate impacts.
More than just a home for our theater company, though, we envision the new campus as a model for environmental sustainability in the performing arts, a vibrant hub for the local community, and a national arts destination. It will create opportunities to foster meaningful human connections at the convergence of nature and culture, at a time when our neighbors are most in need of inspiration and connectedness.
With this opportunity, we will know we’ve realized this vision when we are...
“I am delighted to have found the perfect steward for this extraordinarily beautiful land,” explains Mr. Davis. “HVSF is a nationallyrecognized arts organization with deep roots in this community. With this transfer, we can assure that this place continues to be a positive force for the region while becoming a cultural hub for the Hudson Valley.”
Landscape Architect Architect
ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent
Theater Consultant Project Manager
A classical repertory theater that speaks to the present moment. For us, Shakespeare and the classics are more than texts; they are sites of inclusion and community, co-created by artists and audiences in the here and now.
A year-round community resource for all of the people of the Hudson Valley. Our campus is an extraordinary space for gathering, and we actively share it with our neighbors as a public good.
HVSF’s mission is to engage the widest possible audience in a theatrical celebration of our shared humanity, and our new home will be a place of gathering and belonging, with the theater at its center.
Project Vision
10 OUR TOWN, 2016
Improved facilities will support our commitment to artistic excellence, with a permanent openair theater and backstage spaces to support it, as well as on-site artist housing to ensure HVSF is a place where the country’s best talent continually wants to work.
PlacemakingCultural
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Our ambition is to create one of the most extraordinary open-air theaters in the world, in one of the most beautiful and important landscapes in America, and we want this
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The social isolation that we experienced during the pandemic must now be countered with community, and with artistic inspiration. Our expansive new campus will be an immersive arts destination, and may well be the first (and only) significant theater constructed in the years immediately following the pandemic.
Artistic Excellence Permanent Open-Air Theater Improved Back of House Support On-Site Artist Housing New Play Commissions for All Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Focus Comprehensive Accessibility Upgrades Ground Outdoor Gathering Parkland for Public Use
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All buildings will be fully accessible and ADA compliant, and the rolling parkland on the property will be available for passive uses such as walking and biking, as we transition a golf course to an open greenspace offered as an amenity to the public.
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experience to be available to everyone. For that reason, we are designing the campus and its structures as models of inclusivity and accessibility, with an extensive institutional commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
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Our new home will enable us to grow from a seasonal festival to a year-round cultural anchor for the community.
Our already robust education programming will wrap around the calendar year, and an extended performance season will allow for fall student matinees.
EngagementCommunityProject Vision
12 RIP VAN WINKLE, 2018 In-school education programming
Making
We will continue to facilitate and produce large-scale participatory theater, forging a more interconnected and resilient community through the shared experience of Finally,art-making.with complete ownership of our calendar and facilities, our regional impact is projected to grow 65% –to $7.6M annually by 2025. The effects of our relocation will be felt across industries throughout our community–in construction, hospitality, retail, and beyond.
13ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home New Campus Impact Education & Outreach • Student Matinees • Intersectional Programming • Year-Round Residencies On-Site Partnerships • Collaborative Programming • Space Sharing/Gathering Participatory Art-Making • Workshops • Community-Led
We will activate new partnerships with other Hudson Valley non-profits (environmental, Indigenous, historical, among others) through on-site programming to offer a truly intersectional educational experience for Bystudents.sharing space with other organizations in our community, we will ensure that the campus serves as a year-round resource and local hub. Theater
Project Vision EnvironmentalSustainability
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stewards calls us to care for this land on behalf of our community, by
Chris Davis bought this land in the 1990s to protect it from development and to ward off the threat of suburban sprawl in the Hudson Highlands. Now, his visionary transfer allows this land to be preserved, while also transforming it into a vibrant asset to the Ourcommunity.roleas
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climate impacts. The architecture itself is responsive to the environment, with materials from local and sustainable sources and a design inspired by the contours of the surrounding Hudson Highlands. In our everyday operations, we will be a field leader in climate action and green production practices.
Conservation/Preservation Continuing Chris Davis’ Legacy Low-Impact Site Use
transforming the golf fairways to native meadows, reducing fertilizer and supporting biodiversity, planting new trees, rehabilitating wetlands and establishing an ecological maintenance plan for the entire site.
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Golf Course Restoration Ecological Maintenance Plan Native Plantings Wetland & Biodiversity Protections
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ClimateSmart Performing Arts LEED Platinum Theater Climate Resilient Design Sustainable Production Practices
As a theater, we will serve as a national model for sustainability in the performing arts, with buildings designed for environmental resilience and to minimize
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New Campus Impact
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Act 3, Sc. 1)
“This Green plot shall be our Stage.”
19ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home The Site BackTheaterof ConcessionsHouseand Restrooms Picnic Lawns Entry PerviousRoadParking Lot (225 Spaces) Welcome Center Box Office + Picnic Pickup Welcome Garden Rehearsal and Administration 6 Artist and Guest Lodging Buildings Parking - Staff (45 Spaces) 5 Artist and Guest Lodging Buildings + 1 Amenity Building WeddingPavilion ExistingExistingRestaurantVenueGuestLodgingParkingLot(94 Spaces) Pervious Parking - Staff + Overflow (80 Spaces) Future Residence19.18.16.15.14.13.12.11.10.9.8.6.5.4.3.2.1.7.17. Long-Term Vision 16 15 14 17 13 10 12 4 2 1 3 7 8 6 9 5 5 11 19 18
HVSF’s first season on the grounds of our new home in Garrison, NY, used our preexisting temporary theater tent with productions of Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play by Anne Washburn and Where We Belong by Madeline Sayet. 2023-Fall
20 Timeline
In collaboration with our designers, board, staff, and stakeholders, we’ve completed initial site investigations and a Comprehensive Plan for our new home.
Fall Comprehensive2020 Plan
Final Boscobel Season
Engage Stakeholders
Picnic Lawns, & Site Infrastructure
Summer Transitional2022Season
Summer 2021
Fall 2020 & Beyond
As one of the few theaters planning to produce outdoors, our 34-year partnership with Boscobel came to a thrilling close with Shakespeare’s The Tempest and James Ijames’ The Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington.
Fall 2021-Spring 2023 Site Restoration
Spring
2025 & Beyond
Fall 2023-Spring 2025 New Theater, Welcome Center & AmenitiesSummer 2025
21ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home
Summer 2023-Summer 2024
Our full vision includes on-site accommodations for audiences and visitors, a secondary year-round theater space, walking and biking paths, and more.
2023-Fall 2023 Lawns,InfrastructureUtilities
Summer 2025 - Summer 2026 On Site Artist Lodging
Larger Vision
With our new theater and back-of-house structures now in use, we’ll continue to find creative opportunities to improve the audience experience.
Welcome Season
“Hard Hat” Seasons
While permanent facilities take shape, we’ll welcome audiences as our existing tent enjoys its final performances.
22 Campaign $35mGoal $2m Capacity Building & Institutional Costs $3m ReservesIncreased $30m Site Restoration & New Facilities CYMBELINE directed by Davis McCallum, 2019.
Please join us in our next act by pledging your support today.
Your backing at this crucial stage will determine the extent to which we can achieve our vision. Help us reshape the cultural landscape by making a formal campaign commitment. To support the campaign or to request other materials, including a list of naming opportunities, please contact:
Semra Ercin, Director of sercin@hvshakespeare.orgDevelopment
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Credits All maps and renderings courtesy of Nelson Byrd Woltz and Studio Gang. P2-3: Photos by Amy Brown. P4-5: Photos by T. Charles Erickson, Gabe Palacio, and Richard Termine. P6-7: Photo by T. Charles Erickson. P8: Photo by Ashley Garrett. P10-11: Photos by Gabe Palacio and Amy Brown. P12: Photos provided by Nelson Byrd Woltz. P22-23: Photo by T. Charles Erickson. Rear: Still from HVSF’s ‘20 virtual gala.
Case ROOTED:StatementACampaign for Our Permanent Home
Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival P.O. Box 125, Garrison, NY 10524 hvshakespeare.org | @hvshakespeare 845.265.9575
