Become a Member

The past year has been an extraordinary time for the Catskill Mountain Foundation. Consider some of the highlights:

• Continued the expansion of our studio arts programming at the Sugar Maples Center for Arts and Education. This past summer we offered over 50 courses at Sugar Maples, and had almost 600 students. With the help of a Federal grant obtained through the assistance of Congressman John Sweeney, we will be expanding our facilities to include on-campus housing, additional studio spaces and a building for our growing Youth Program. In 2006 we will offer close to 100 courses and hope to attract over 1,000 students, many of whom will benefit from our local scholarship program.
• Broke ground for the new Orpheum Performing Arts Center. This state of the art performing arts center will enhance CMF's slate of live performances and bring excitement and attention to our community. Architectural and engineering plans are complete and work has begun inside the existing structure. We are on track for our grand opening during the summer of 2007.
• Presented an exciting array of live performances in music, dance, theater and shows for the family, which played to growing and enthusiastic audiences. We look forward to expanding our Performing Arts Program in the new Orpheum.
• Started to develop two exciting new programs at Sugar Maples. The first of these, which will debut next summer, is the Orchard Project, a dynamic theater residency program for world-class theater companies from New York City and elsewhere. The Orchard Project will use the resources of Sugar Maples to provide these companies and ensembles with the time and space to focus on developing new works. The second is a Digital Media Program for talented, under-served youth from both the Catskill Region and the New York City metro area. Funded by a Federal grant secured through the office of Senator Hillary Clinton, the program will be designed to teach participants valuable career skills in video production and digital photography.
• Planned the expansion of CMF's cinema complex in Hunter into the Doctorow Center for the Arts. Thanks to funding from the Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation, this work will begin next month. The new complex will eventually include two additional movie screens, and a new space for the Pleshakov Piano Museum. Our current Screen One will become a small concert hall to be used by the Piano Museum, the Amati Music festival, and for other small scale recital programs.

And this abbreviated list of CMF's programming leaves out so much. It doesn't include the art exhibitions in the Gallery or the Poetry Readings. It doesn't describe the excitement of our annual Mountain Culture Festival, or the glow that our retail spaces in Hunter Village Square impart to Main Street in Hunter.

We are proud of what we have accomplished in the last seven years. It is a tribute to our staff, and to the many generous donors who have supported us by becoming members of the CMF. Our programming depends upon member support. Your membership contributions make it possible to continue to present the very best arts programming, and to expand our class offerings in studio arts. If you are not already a member of the Catskill Mountain Foundation, we urge you to become one now. If you are already a member, we thank you and ask that you renew your membership and if possible, increase your level of support.

All members are listed in our programs throughout the year and are eligible to receive valuable benefits, which are described in the enclosed membership form. Most important, our members know that they are supporting an organization that brings the performing arts and much more to our Mountain Top community.