The Catskill Mountain Foundation's Capital Campaign

The Catskill Mountain Foundation (CMF), founded in 1998 by philanthropists Peter and Sarah Finn, is a vibrant hub of arts, culture, and education in the underserved northern Catskill Mountain region. As the leading arts advocate in Greene County, New York, the nonprofit fosters community growth and enriches lives through the arts. Its world-class performances, studio programs, residencies, and arts-centric magazine positively impact over 100,000 individuals annually.

Solo dancer leaps in front of a background with a line of dancers

Since its launch, the Foundation has invested nearly $16 million in facilities. Its current facilities include the Orpheum Performing Arts Center, the Doctorow Center for the Arts, the Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts, The Red Barn rehearsal studio, Hunter Village Square, and other residences. Recently, CMF installed $1.4 million in new state-of-the-art technical equipment at the 245-seat Orpheum Performing Arts Center with support from a New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative (NYSDRI) grant.

With demand for rehearsal space exceeding the Foundation’s current capacity, plans are underway to build two dance/rehearsal studios in a new 5,000-square-foot net-zero building adjacent to the Orpheum Performing Arts Center. This $2.5 million facility has received grant support from the NYSDRI and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). These new studios will be used by 1) the Orpheum Dance Program, 2) the Orpheum’s Dance Residencies hosted in partnership with The Joyce Theater Foundation, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, and the National Dance Institute, and 3) the Maude Adams Theater Hub. CMF’s current Capital Campaign goal of $1.3 million will allow the nonprofit to complete architect Hugh Hardy’s vision for the Orpheum Performing Arts Center and equip the Orpheum’s new dance rehearsal studios, as described below.

Orpheum Dance Program

“Without love in the dream, it will never come true.” – Robert Hunter.

CMF’s Orpheum Dance Program, led by former Metropolitan Opera ballerina Victoria Rinaldi, is an excellent example of the nonprofit’s ability to promote a thriving and healthy community while transforming lives.

The Orpheum Dance Program has provided pre-professional and enrichment dance training for children of all ages since 2015. In addition, the program offers opportunities for the entire community to participate in annual productions of The Nutcracker and A Midsummer Night's Dream, which feature acclaimed actors and dancers from Aquila Theatre, Joffrey Ballet School New York, and other professional troupes. Participation in these fully staged productions is free and open to everyone, allowing over a thousand local children and audience members to experience artistically superior dance performances.

The Orpheum Dance Program has helped many local children gain admission to national and international professional training programs and launch their careers in dance. Young dancers regularly take time from their busy professional schedules to perform with the mountaintop dance community in Orpheum Dance Program productions.

Below is the transformational journey of some of CMF’s brightest dancing stars.

Sydney Henson was a student in the Orpheum Dance Program from 2015 through 2020 and featured in Orpheum productions from 2015 through 2021 before moving to Hungary to train with the Hungarian Dance Academy in Budapest. Sydney is a principal dancer with the Cleveland Ballet in Cleveland, Ohio.

Orlando Harbutt pursued formal dance training with Victoria Rinaldi from 2014 to 2017 and was featured in Orpheum Dance Program productions from 2015 through 2022. At 16, Orlando received a full scholarship to the Juilliard School for Dance in New York City, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA). Orlando is presently a member of Ballet British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

Freeda Electra Handelsman was a student in the Orpheum Dance Program from 2013 through 2017 and was featured in Orpheum productions from 2014 through 2020. Freeda is an in-demand contemporary dancer, most recently featured with the Tabula Rasa Dance Theater in New York City and the Art Omi and Biennale di Venezia, Italy.

Justin Valentine was a student in the Orpheum Dance Program from 2013 through 2017 and was featured in Orpheum productions from 2014 through 2017. Justin is presently dancing with the Martha Graham Company in New York City.

The Orpheum's Dance Residencies

The Catskill Mountain Foundation (CMF) partners with some of New York’s most prominent global arts organizations, like Works & Process at the Guggenheim, The Joyce Theater Foundation, Pathways to Dance, and National Dance Institute to provide residency and performing arts programs led by some of America’s best contemporary artists and art educators from New York City.

Works & Process at the Guggenheim

The New York Times describes the Works & Process performing arts series at the Guggenheim as “an exceptional opportunity to understand the creative process.” For 35 years, New Yorkers have seen, heard, and met acclaimed artists in intimate settings through Works & Process. The program champions new works and offers unprecedented audience access to leading creators and performers.

Over the past three years, CMF has partnered with Works & Process, hosting residencies in the small rural communities of Greene County, New York. During these residencies, local communities have participated in workshops and demonstrations, met professional performing artists, shared the creative process, and gained a unique window into creating original works.

The residencies also support emerging performing artists from the studio to the stage. During the two-week residency, CMF and Works & Process provide salary support, housing, and rehearsal and performance space to prepare the performances for world-class venues in New York City.

The Joyce Theater Foundation

CMF hosts multiple two-week residencies in partnership with The Joyce Theater Foundation each year, culminating with a performance at the Orpheum Performing Arts Center.

In 2024, three-time Tony Award-nominated choreographer and Broadway director Camille A. Brown and the Camille A. Brown & Dancers (CABD) were in residence at CMF. Camille A. Brown is a prolific choreographer whose work taps ancestral and contemporary stories ranging from personal experiences to African American cultural identity narratives. Brown successfully balances her career in stage, TV, and film. According to Danceview Times, Camille A. Brown had The Joyce Theater’s audience in New York "whooping with justifiable delight!”

In 2023, Lester Horton Award-winning choreographer Olivier Tarpaga, director of the African Music Ensembles of Princeton University, was in residence at CMF. His work focuses on oral tradition, native African traditions, urban rhythms, and the interrelationship between dance and music. Olivier Tarpaga’s works have been described as “unforgettable” by the Los Angeles Times and “extraordinary” by The New York Times.

Pathways to Dance

Pathways to Dance was a unique collaboration between nine regional venues in the Catskill Mountains of New York, The Joyce Theater Foundation, and renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp. This initiative supported the creation of new works through various activities such as intensive workshops, performances, exhibitions, lectures, master classes, and film presentations. The project was launched in the spring of 2016 to commemorate Twyla Tharp's 50-year pioneering career in choreography. The central aspect of the initiative was a six-week residency in the Catskills, where Tharp created two repertory works and a new dance set to Beethoven's Grosse Fuge, Opus 133. Following a three-week residency and showcase at the Orpheum Performing Arts Center, the piece premiered at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and The Joyce Theater. Twyla Tharp continued her relationship with CMF, returning for annual residencies in 2017 and 2018. Pathways to Dance was an important precursor to Works & Process and The Joyce Theater Foundation residencies.

National Dance Institute

Since 2007, CMF has been organizing a two-week dance workshop in collaboration with the National Dance Institute (NDI). This program is made possible by the generous funding of Jacques d’Amboise, a former New York City Ballet star. NDI is a renowned organization that provides dance education to thousands of children in New York City and other locations. CMF supports this program financially, enabling many children and families from our community to participate in this exciting dance workshop. The program is open to children in grades 3 to 8 and offers high-energy dance classes, choreography workshops, and live music. The workshop concludes with a sold-out performance at the Orpheum Performing Arts Center, a community-focused event. It's exciting to see that alums return to dance with the younger NDI students every year, making the event even more engaging.

Maude Adams Theater Hub

The Maude Adams Theater Hub (MATH) and CMF offer the community diverse on- and offstage opportunities. MATH programs include theater, musical theater, music, film screenings, comedy, and community theater productions. In addition, it provides performing arts classes for students of all ages.

To foster community connections and enhance access to the performing arts, CMF and MATH established the Community Performing Arts Fund. This fund supports community-based performances and educational opportunities in the Foundation’s venues. It also enables CMF to bring world-class artists and educators to collaborate with local professional and amateur performers and directors, significantly impacting our community's cultural landscape.

MATH's classes provide comprehensive training in a wide range of theater skills, including script writing, auditioning, acting, singing, dancing, costume, and set design. These classes are available in group and private settings and are led by professional acting and vocal coaches. The MATHarts Theater Explorers Summer Program is a two-week intensive workshop in which 9- to 13-year-old children work in small teams to create original plays. The program culminates in on-stage performances shared in a community showcase. Scholarships are available to eligible students.

The Orpheum Performing Arts Center’s Capital Campaign

CMF’s current $1.3 million capital campaign is focused on its most significant performance venue, the 245-seat Orpheum Performing Arts Center in Tannersville, New York. The Orpheum has hosted performing arts legends like dancers from the New York City Ballet and Joffrey Ballet School New York, legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp, actors from the Aquila Theatre, musical performances by Ukraine's Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra and Cécile McLorin Salvant, the Orpheum Dance Program’s annual performances of The Nutcracker and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and many more.

Rendering of the Orpheum Performing Arts Center

Hugh Hardy’s Vision for the Orpheum Performing Arts Center

“The places he created are places you want to feel and be in.” – Adele Chatfield-Taylor

In 2010, world-renowned theater architect Hugh Hardy transformed the Orpheum Performing Arts Center from a dated small-town movie theater into CMF’s beautiful performance venue.

Over his fifty-year career, Hugh Hardy reshaped America's cultural landscape, breathing new life into some of the nation’s most storied theatrical landmarks. These included the beautifully restored Radio City Music Hall, the revived New Victory and New Amsterdam Theaters near Times Square, the Majestic Theater in downtown Brooklyn, the gingerbread information kiosk in Central Park, the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, Gustavino's under the Queensboro Bridge, and Windows on the World on top of the World Trade Center.

Community, architectural, and preservation organizations have consistently recognized Hardy's work for its progressive spirit and sensitivity to context. Former New York Times architecture critic and design professor at The New School Paul Goldberger says, “Hardy wanted people to feel instinctively that they were in a place that celebrated old and new.” Adele Chatfield-Taylor, who served as President and CEO of the American Academy in Rome, concurred, “The places he created are places you want to feel and be in.”

The Orpheum Performing Arts Center was among Hardy’s final visions before his death in 2017. The Catskill Mountain Foundation’s current campaign will allow them to complete his vision for the Orpheum as a living legacy.

The Catskill Mountain Foundation’s Vision for the Future

The Catskill Mountain Foundation has raised nearly $9 million to modernize the Orpheum Performing Arts Center and construct new dance studios in a 5,000-square-foot annex. In 2022, they were awarded almost $2.7 million in grants from the NYDRI and NYSERDA to transform the new studios into a carbon neutral demonstration project.

Exterior of the new Orpheum Dance Studios

The Catskill Mountain Foundation’s current Capital Campaign goal is to raise $1.3 million to complete Hugh Hardy’s Vision for the Orpheum Performing Arts Center, equip its new performing arts studios, and expand the Foundation's capacity to serve its community through the arts and education.

Interior of the new Orpheum Dance Studio

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The contribution you provide to the Catskill Mountain Foundation furthers our vision of bringing the arts to our community, enriching the lives of children and adults through arts education, and supporting artists and arts organizations in the development of new works.

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