HVSF Case Statement - August 2023

ROOTED:

A Campaign for Our Permanent Home

Campaign Case Statement

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival

Let’s create one of the most extraordinary open-air theaters in the world, in one of the most beautiful and important landscapes

America.

Dear Friend,

Shakespeare is a poet in touch with the power of place. His characters often embark on a journey from the court to the woods, from the pressures of politics and commerce to the clarity and possibilities of the natural world, a place where a process of discovery and transformation can take root. The Hudson River Valley is such a place, and it has been a wellspring of inspiration to poets, painters, writers, and musicians since long before Henry Hudson sailed on the tidal estuary then known as Mohicanituck.

The power of place has shaped the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival for over three decades. And now, for the first time, our theater will have a permanent, year-round home in the heart of the Hudson Highlands: Philanthropist Chris Davis has conveyed over 98 acres of breathtaking river-view land to HVSF to be reimagined as an open-air theater campus with publicly accessible parkland, picnic space, trails, and a worldclass, LEED Platinum performance venue.

This is one of the most significant acts of generosity in the American theater in more than a generation. Not only is this a singular opportunity for our theater company, it will also enable us to serve as a vibrant hub for our local community, a year-round cultural anchor for the greater Hudson Valley region, and a model for environmental sustainability

“Said the river: imagine everything you can imagine, then keep on going.”

- Mary Oliver in the wider landscape of the American theater, as we re-imagine the performing arts for the post-pandemic era.

Mary Oliver is right: as it has for as long as anyone can remember, the river is asking us to open up our imaginations. Let’s heed that call by embracing the power of place and creating a space where the experience of nature and culture is available to everyone. We can’t do it without you. After reviewing Rooted: A Campaign for our Permanent Home, we hope you will join us on this journey.

Warmly,

Davis McCallum Artistic Director

Mission

Rooted in the landscape of the Hudson Valley, with the plays of William Shakespeare as our touchstone, HVSF engages the widest possible audience in a theatrical celebration of our shared humanity.

Work

Founded in 1987, HVSF is a critically acclaimed, professional, non-profit theater company based in Garrison, NY, one hour north of Manhattan. The Festival has established a reputation for lucid, engaging, and highly inventive productions – plays by Shakespeare and contemporary playwrights alike – staged in an open-air theater overlooking the Hudson River. By reaching over 35,000 audience members and more than 15,000 students and educators annually, the impacts of our work are broadly felt throughout the tri-state region. In recent years, we’ve toured to venues within the Hudson Valley, transferred productions to other regional theaters, engaged our community through radically participatory art-making, and connected with area schools through year-round education programming.

Values

EXCELLENCE

AN ILIAD, 2015

INCLUSION GENEROSITY SUSTAINABILITY

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, 2019

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, 2017

RIP VAN WINKLE, 2018

THE HEART OF ROBIN HOOD, 2018

frolicsome, and of our time.”

The New York Times

ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home

“Improvisatory,

Jesse Green

The transfer from philanthropist Chris Davis encompasses over 98 acres on the site of what was formerly The Garrison: a golf course, inn, restaurant, and event venue. Between now and 2025, we will reimagine the parcel as an open-access theater campus with parkland, picnic space, trails, and a world-class performance venue – the first purpose-built LEED Platinum theater in the country.

More than just a home for our theater company, though, we envision the new campus as a model for environmental sustainability in the performing arts, a vibrant hub for the local community, and a national arts destination. It will create opportunities to foster meaningful human connections at the convergence of nature and culture, at a time when our neighbors are most in need of inspiration and connectedness.

“I am delighted to have found the perfect steward for this extraordinarily beautiful land,” explains Mr. Davis. “HVSF is a nationallyrecognized arts organization with deep roots in this community. With this transfer, we can assure that this place continues to be a positive force for the region while becoming a cultural hub for the Hudson Valley.”

With this opportunity, we will know we’ve realized this vision when we are...

A classical repertory theater that speaks to the present moment.

For us, Shakespeare and the classics are more than texts; they are sites of inclusion and community, co-created by artists and audiences in the here and now.

An arts organization that values people over stuff. Our work springs from the most essential of elements – actor, audience, language, and landscape. We prioritize human relationships, and our people feel strongly invested in our success.

A year-round community resource for all of the people of the Hudson Valley. Our campus is an extraordinary space for gathering, and we actively share it with our neighbors as a public good.

A national model for sustainability in the performing arts. Ecological restoration, solar panels, rainwater capture, reduced embedded carbon and other design elements will minimize climate impacts.

Landscape Architect Architect

Theater Consultant Project Manager

ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home

Project Vision Cultural Placemaking

HVSF’s mission is to engage the widest possible audience in a theatrical celebration of our shared humanity, and our new home will be a place of gathering and belonging, with the theater at its center.

Improved facilities will support our commitment to artistic excellence, with a permanent openair theater and backstage spaces to support it, as well as on-site artist housing to ensure HVSF is a place where the country’s best talent continually wants to work.

The social isolation that we experienced during the pandemic must now be countered with community, and with artistic inspiration. Our expansive new campus will be an immersive arts destination, and may well be the first (and only) significant theater constructed in the years immediately following the pandemic.

Our ambition is to create one of the most extraordinary open-air theaters in the world, in one of the most beautiful and important landscapes in America, and we want this

experience to be available to everyone. For that reason, we are designing the campus and its structures as models of inclusivity and accessibility, with an extensive institutional commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

All buildings will be fully accessible and ADA compliant, and the rolling parkland on the property will be available for passive uses such as walking and biking, as we transition a golf course to an open greenspace offered as an amenity to the public.

New Campus Impact

Artistic Excellence

• Permanent Open-Air Theater

• Improved Back of House Support

• On-Site Artist Housing

• New Play Commissions

Access for All

• Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Focus

• Comprehensive Accessibility Upgrades

Common Ground

• Outdoor Gathering

• Parkland for Public Use

ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home 11

Community Engagement Project Vision

Our new home will enable us to grow from a seasonal festival to a year-round cultural anchor for the community.

Our already robust education programming will wrap around the calendar year, and an extended performance season will allow for fall student matinees.

12 RIP VAN WINKLE, 2018

In-school education programming

We will activate new partnerships with other Hudson Valley non-profits (environmental, Indigenous, historical, among others) through on-site programming to offer a truly intersectional educational experience for students.

By sharing space with other organizations in our community, we will ensure that the campus serves as a year-round resource and local hub.

We will continue to facilitate and produce large-scale participatory theater, forging a more interconnected and resilient community through the shared experience of art-making.

Finally, with complete ownership of our calendar and facilities, our regional impact is projected to grow 65% –to $7.6M annually by 2025. The effects of our relocation will be felt across industries throughout our community–in construction, hospitality, retail, and beyond.

New Campus Impact

Education & Outreach

• Student Matinees

• Intersectional Programming

• Year-Round Residencies

On-Site Partnerships

• Collaborative Programming

• Space Sharing/Gathering

Participatory Art-Making

• Workshops

• Community-Led Theater Making

ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home

Project Vision Environmental Sustainability

Chris Davis bought this land in the 1990s to protect it from development and to ward off the threat of suburban sprawl in the Hudson Highlands. Now, his visionary transfer allows this land to be preserved, while also transforming it into a vibrant asset to the community.

Our role as stewards calls us to care for this land on behalf of our community, by

transforming the golf fairways to native meadows, reducing fertilizer and supporting biodiversity, planting new trees, rehabilitating wetlands and establishing an ecological maintenance plan for the entire site.

As a theater, we will serve as a national model for sustainability in the performing arts, with buildings designed for environmental resilience and to minimize

climate impacts. The architecture itself is responsive to the environment, with materials from local and sustainable sources and a design inspired by the contours of the surrounding Hudson Highlands. In our everyday operations, we will be a field leader in climate action and green production practices.

New Campus Impact

Conservation/Preservation

• Continuing Chris Davis’ Legacy

• Low-Impact Site Use

Golf Course Restoration

• Ecological Maintenance Plan

• Native Plantings

• Wetland & Biodiversity Protections

ClimateSmart Performing Arts

• LEED Platinum Theater

• Climate Resilient Design

• Sustainable Production Practices

ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home

Green plot shall be our Stage.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Act 3, Sc. 1)

“This

The Site

Long-Term Vision

Back of House

Concessions and Restrooms

Picnic Lawns

Entry Road

Pervious Parking Lot (225 Spaces)

Welcome Center Box Office + Picnic Pickup

Welcome Garden

Rehearsal and Administration

6 Artist and Guest Lodging Buildings

Parking - Staff (45 Spaces)

5 Artist and Guest Lodging Buildings + 1 Amenity Building

Pavilion

Wedding Venue

Restaurant

Existing Guest Lodging

Existing Parking Lot (94 Spaces)

Pervious Parking - Staff + Overflow (80 Spaces)

Future Residence

ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Fall 2020 & Beyond

Engage Stakeholders

Fall 2020

Comprehensive Plan

In collaboration with our designers, board, staff, and stakeholders, we completed initial site investigations and a Comprehensive Plan for our new home.

Summer

2021

Fall 2021-Spring 2023 Site Restoration

Final Boscobel Season

As one of the few theaters planning to produce outdoors, our 34-year partnership with Boscobel came to a thrilling close with Shakespeare’s The Tempest and James Ijames’

The Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington.

Summer 2022

Spring 2023-Fall Picnic Lawns, & Site Infrastructure

Transitional Season

HVSF’s first season on the grounds of our new home in Garrison, NY, used our preexisting temporary theater tent with productions of Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play by Anne Washburn and Where We Belong by Madeline Sayet.

2023-Fall 2023

Lawns, Utilities

Infrastructure

Fall 2023-Fall 2025

New Theater, Backstage, & Audience Amenities

Summer 2023-Summer 2025

“Hard Hat” Seasons

While permanent facilities take shape, we’ll welcome audiences as our existing tent enjoys its final performances.

Fall 2025

Summer 2025 - Summer 2026

On Site Artist Lodging

Ribbon Cutting

Our new theater and back-of-house structures will open in time to celebrate our 40th Anniversary.

2025 & Beyond Larger Vision

Our full vision includes on-site accommodations for audiences and visitors, a secondary year-round theater space, walking and biking paths, and more.

ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home

$26.8m Site Restoration & New Theater Facilities

Artist Lodging $10m

$53mGoal

Capacity Building & Institutional Costs

Capacity Building $5m

$7.2m $4m Increased Reserves

CYMBELINE directed by Davis McCallum, 2019.

Please join us in our next act by pledging your

support today.

Your backing at this crucial stage will determine the extent to which we can achieve our vision. Help us reshape the cultural landscape by making a formal campaign commitment. To support the campaign or to request other materials, including a list of naming opportunities, please contact:

Semra Ercin, Director of Development sercin@hvshakespeare.org

Case Statement

ROOTED: A Campaign for Our Permanent Home

Credits All maps and renderings courtesy of Nelson Byrd Woltz and Studio Gang. P2-3: Photos by Amy Brown. P4-5: Photos by T. Charles Erickson, Gabe Palacio, and Richard Termine. P6-7: Photo by T. Charles Erickson. P8: Photo by Ashley Garrett. P10-11: Photos by Gabe Palacio and Amy Brown. P12: Photos provided by Nelson Byrd Woltz. P22-23: Photo by T. Charles Erickson. Rear: Still from HVSF’s ‘20 virtual gala.

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival

P.O. Box 125, Garrison, NY 10524

hvshakespeare.org | @hvshakespeare

845.265.9575