Engaging the Community

In 2023, Ancram Center produced 90 events, including productions, concerts, and workshops for approximately 1,700 individuals. Half of all events were free. We are committed to making theatre accessible to all and, to that end, offer performances for young audiences each year, always free for kids. We also partner with organizations such as the Roe Jan Library, North East Community Center and The Boys and Girls Club, providing workshops in public speaking and storytelling at no cost to these organizations.

Real People Real Stories, our popular community storytelling program, supports residents in developing and sharing personal, authentic narratives. We also bring our storytelling methods to the Taconic Hills School where 4th, 5th and 6th graders are introduced to our innovative approach which complements the school’s literacy initiative. Teachers report that students who are normally insecure as writers find success in the act of telling stories. Children who may not normally speak in class, or who have challenges in reading aloud, become fully engaged in the process of telling stories.

Through this campaign, we plan to build upon the proven success of our public school program with the addition of several new community arts projects:

• The Town of Ancram is connected to two regional school systems encompassing more than a dozen individual towns spread out over hundreds of miles. Sixty percent of the students in these school systems are from low-income families. The schools often find they must cut arts programming due to budgetary constraints. We seek the capacity to bring the storytelling program to students at both Ancram school systems.

• To augment our children’s storytelling program, we wish to launch a playwriting program for students modeled after NYC’s 52nd Street Project—which will bring students and professional artists together for playmaking sessions. The program culminates in a final performance in which professional actors perform the plays the students have created.