initiative! Eurythmy since its founding in 1972 and is home stage and rehearsal space for the Eurythmy Spring Valley ensemble. by Threefold Educational Center staff • Since the 1950s, the auditorium has been home for the Threefold Mystery Drama For almost sixty-five years, Threefold Auditorium has Group and performances of Rudolf Steiner’s mystery served cultural life and the anthroposophical movement dramas under the direction of Hans Pusch, Peter Menawith only essential maintenance and repairs. In June we ker, and Barbara Renold. launched a $1.7 million capital campaign to preserve the • The editorial and business offices of Anthroposophic building’s historic elements, and to completely upgrade Press were here from the mid-1960s into the 1980s. and update its systems and spaces to ensure its continued • The Biodynamic Association held annual meetings in service to our movement, and the world. Threefold Auditorium from 1949 until 1980; the renaA $350,000 gift from Herbert H. Hagens will fully scent BDA held a landmark nafund design and construction in tional conference here in 2010. August of new electrical, sewer • The Biochemical Research Laband municipal water lines to oratory founded by Ehrenfried the building. Work on the audiPfeiffer had labs and offices in torium, which was designed in Threefold Auditorium from 1949 the late 1940s as a permanent until it closed in 1976. home for the Threefold commu• Since 2011, the Otto Specht nity’s anthroposophical summer School (providing Waldorf eduschools, will include installation cation to children with learning of a modern heating and air-conOriginal view from the air (above); watercolor differences) has had offices and ditioning system to allow the building to impression of one of the front doors (below). classrooms in Threefold Auditorium. be used in the summer months. • The Anthroposophical Society in AmerThe redesigned interior will offer ica has held many Annual General Meetflexible spaces that can be readily adapted ings in Threefold Auditorium, most reto future needs as they arise. Plans include cently in 2009. renovated spaces for work and study, and • In June of 2014, Threefold Auditorium a complete restoration of the building’s was home to the InPower youth conferunique interior surfaces, with special atence, brought nearly 100 young people tention to the remarkable acoustics and from every corner of the country. custom woodwork in the auditorium. Remaining work on the auditorium The entire project is built around will begin when the goal of $1.37 million a thorough, ongoing evaluation of the is met. Donations can be made online at needs of all the institutions in the Threewww.threefold.org/auditorium, where fold community and beyond, today and in updated information about the campaign. the future. Threefold Educational Center To learn more, contact Rafael Manaças: Executive Director Rafael Manaças and a steering comRafael@threefold.org or 845-352-5020 x12. mittee of board and community members are actively seeking input to ensure that the renovated building best meets the needs of its present users, and will be adaptable to future needs. Since its dedication in 1949, the audiby Torin M. Finser, PhD torium has continuously nurtured the anthroposophical movement in ways large and small, many of them never For most of its long and rich history, the Threefold foreseen by its original builders: auditorium has been a cultural center that brought people • The site of countless eurythmy performances, the auditogether within the community and from around the torium has been a key teaching space for the School of world for summer conferences. It has served as a living
A Portal of Initiations
The Threefold Auditorium
14 •
being human