Tim Banker, executive producer of The Foundry at Hudson, released this statement this morning.
As many of you know, and as was previously publicized, the Galvan Foundation is transferring ownership and operations of its assets to Bard College. Galvan is confident Bard will be a faithful steward of its core values.
Unfortunately, this transition means Galvan will discontinue funding the Foundry at Hudson's operations, and no other funding sources are currently available. As a result, following this year's Winter Walk, The Foundry at Hudson will be discontinuing its work and not pursuing new projects. We are, however, pleased to announce that Galvan will commit to funding Winter Walk through 2028, pending discussions with the City of Hudson in early 2026.
The Foundry will fully carry out its plans to produce Winter Walk 2025 in partnership with the City of Hudson. For updates and ways to get involved, please visit www.winterwalk2025.org. We are grateful for your continued collaboration on this vital community celebration.
Ivey Lowe and I extend our heartfelt thanks to the many people, artists, and community leaders who have shared their time, expertise, and support as we worked to conceive and launch this organization. We each look forward to contributing to the cultural life of Hudson and Columbia County in new ways--and hope to see you at our final, though certainly not Hudson's last, Winter Walk.
Interesting timing of this statement.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this line concerns me “pending discussions with the City of Hudson in early 2026.”
Watch out Joe!
The City of Hudson should be independent.
DeleteWe should run the city more efficiently, have tax payers pay for public safety and public infrastructure, and the rest can be done with private business.
If Hudson remains indebted controlled by Galvan, or Spark, or the next big philanthropist... we will never stand on our own feet.
Add Colarusso to that list.
DeleteSo that's then the end of The Foundry?
ReplyDeleteI never actually understood what they were and what they did. Weren't they just recently in front of the Planning Board, too?
The building at 724-726 Columbia Street, which Galvan was restoring and renovating allegedly for the use of The Foundry at Hudson, got its site plan approval from the Planning Board last month, and, also in October, the Common Council agreed to sell a portion of Long Alley at its eastern terminus to Galvan as part of the plan to convert 724-726 Columbia into a theater/restaurant/event space to be known as The Foundry at Hudson.
DeletePresumably, Bard is going to acquire the building, but what will happen with it is not known.
Right, Carole, that's roughly what I remembered.
DeleteThis whole Galvan disappearing act feels chaotic and entirely uncoordinated to me. And even though there's no tangible proof for it, I get that vibe that the incumbent mayor is somehow close to the core of the whole thing.
Hopefully Bard performing arts can do something with The Foundry. Maybe even the Community Theater.
ReplyDeleteWhy invest in a nonexistent Foundry? Bring back Helsinki — a proven performing arts venue with world class acoustics. Galvan always only built shabby - wanna bet what the Foundry “theater” was going to sound like? Mud. Helsinki was an oasis of good times and great music.
DeleteI agree 100%, but I think Galvan is keeping that to use with the hotel at 4th and Warren.
DeleteIf I was the new Mayor, the first thing I'd do would be to invite Bard to do a community forum and get input from we the peasants. No doubt Bard has a lot of work to do in terms of assessing their gift, which would include building inspections, financial analysis, etc. But the sooner the citizens are heard from, the better.
ReplyDelete