Albany Barn is dedicated to providing a sustainable creative arts incubator and community arts center in Arbor Hill – a place for artists to live, work and inspire. It was heralded as a breakthrough in collaborative community planning and continues to enjoy broad support during its implementation. As part of that Plan, it was recommended that one of the top priorities be the adaptive reuse of the abandoned St. Joseph's Academy building, located in the heart of the neighborhood at the corner of North Swan and Second Streets. Albany Barn has partnered with the City of Albany and Albany Housing Authority to redevelop the 40,000 square foot St. Joseph’s Academy building into low-cost live-work apartments, work and rehearsal suites, a dance studio, a digital media lab and ample exhibition, performance and programming space. The project is formally called "Academy Lofts," although it is better known locally as "The Barn." This name originates from the age-old practice of barn raising, when a community collaborated to build a barn - a structure vital to a family's livelihood - for one of its households. The Barn/Academy Lofts will provide essential, affordable facilities to regional artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers, dancers and performers seeking an engaging, supportive environment in which to create and share their work, and broad arts-based programming to benefit residents of all ages. To that end, a key requirement of residency in The Barn/Academy Lofts will be community service including, but not limited to, mentoring, creative art instruction/activities, and neighborhood art installations/public space stewardship. Informed by the success of transformative art incubators in other American cities like Providence, RI and New York, NY, The Barn/Academy Lofts is the kind of dynamic reuse that will at once address all the Arbor Hill Neighborhood Plan's components: Housing, Arts and Culture, Economic Development and Quality of Life. It will anchor the North Swan Street corridor with a built-in creative economy; expand the footprint of arts in Albany, NY; nurture meaningful, productive relationships between artists, arts groups, local businesses and neighborhood residents, particularly at-risk City youth; catalyze responsible revitalization and preserve neighborhood identity; and foster community involvement, unity and pride. Opening in 2013, Academy Lofts @ The Barn currently houses 22 artists in affordable, high-quality, live/work apartments, and more than 20 additional artists work in studios and offices at The Barn. Albany Barn also operates a 1,700 square foot art space one block from the The Barn/Academy Lofts called Stage 1. Stage 1 is available for gallery exhibitions, educational workshops, group meetings and events, community outreach initiatives, and private parties.
