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OUR MISSION Saratoga Arts’ mission is to enrich the region by cultivating a vibrant arts community and by ensuring that the arts are accessible to all. We are YOUR Community Arts Center. WHO WE ARE Saratoga Arts is the community arts center located on the corner of Congress Park and Broadway in historic downtown Saratoga Springs. Accommodating all genres of creativity, we are home to arts education for both kids and adults in multiple studio style classroom spaces, a dedicated printshop, rehearsal and music studios, a gallery and exhibition space, a black box theater for film, music, theater, special events, a gift shop and so much more.All of our activities flow directly from our mission of making the arts accessible. We encourage and enhance public access to a full range of the arts, from traditional to contemporary artwork and work by established and emerging artists. In our programming, we are committed to helping all in the community recognize themselves as artists and explore their creative abilities. Finally, we work with other regional organizations- arts presenters, business groups, and governmental agencies- working toward our vision of a greater community that understands the powerful role the arts play in personal enrichment and community development, and the regional interconnections of all stakeholders in that vision. | OUR HISTORY Saratoga Arts is a community arts organization that has been a long-time economic engine and part of Saratoga Springs’ community identity. Saratoga Arts' first Executive Director, Delores “Dee” Sarno, championed the founding of Saratoga County Arts Council in 1986. Originating from an offshoot of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, with a clear vision, Sarno became the first Executive Director and grew the organization over her 21 years of leadership. Saratoga Arts established a permanent home in the former Saratoga Springs Public Library at 320 Broadway, signing its first lease with the City of Saratoga Springs in 1996. Over the next four years, Saratoga Arts raised $550,000 toward a capital campaign that enabled the creation of a variety of spaces designed for art creation and presentation, including adding a 100+ seat black box theater, later named in Sarno’s honor, gallery spaces, offices, and classrooms. |
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WHAT WE’RE DOING DURING OUR RENOVATIONS Saratoga Arts is excited to announce the commencement of its long-awaited renovation to 320 Broadway. Funding for the project comes from several sources: a capital project grant award totaling $766,000 from the New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA), $1.1M in funds from the City of Saratoga Springs, as well as individual and foundation contributions. The scope of the project is to repair the building structure, including windows, roofing and draining issues as well as upgrade internal systems including HVAC, power and internal wiring systems. The renovations will also improve the Saratoga Arts’ gallery, Dee Sarno Theater, classrooms, and educational spaces on the lower level, as well as provide new indoor/outdoor access directly to Congress Park, and a patio for outdoor use. While the 320 Broadway location is undergoing renovation, Saratoga Arts is partnering with several local organizations to continue offering educational programming, holding regular meetings, and hosting other events to keep the momentum going throughout 2025. Adult classes will primarily be held in the Beekman Street arts district, at CREATE Community Studios and at the Beekman Street Community Room behind the Eden Compton Gallery. Most of Saratoga Arts’ kids educational programming, including kids summer arts program, will be held at the Saratoga Independent School. Board and committee meetings will be held at the Saratoga Joinery and the Spring Street Gallery. Saratoga Arts is deeply grateful for the community-wide support from both city and regional organizations that enable the organization to continue to grow and thrive while 320 Broadway undergoes renovation. Saratoga Arts is looking forward to returning to its building in late 2025 and already has begun planning a reopening party and other events in 2025 and into 2026. |
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SARATOGA ARTS STAFF |
| Amy Bloom Executive Director Amy Bloom is an experienced leader in strategy, operations, marketing, and fundraising, and a long-time resident of Saratoga Springs. Amy has worked regionally as an Executive at Planned Parenthood, Hudson Headwaters Health Network, and Alliance for Better Health. In 2020, she and colleagues founded and grew a local primary care organization, and then led it towards acquisition by a national health care company. For the last several years, Amy has been a management consultant solving organizational challenges and bringing about culture change in not-for-profit organizations and for-profit corporations around the country. Amy is passionate about evolving the landscape of the arts and the arts community in the Capital Region. Over the last 20 years, Amy has also served as a board member for several arts and community organizations including: SaratogaArtsFest, SPAC Action Council and Saratoga Independent School. Amy moved to the community from Boston, MA, in 2006 to raise her daughter and be close to her extended family and their summer home on Lake George. As a long-time and dedicated teacher, Amy has served on the faculty at Clarkson Graduate College, teaching medical students and MBA students about management, marketing, and health care research, and bioethics for almost 20 years. Amy received her B.A. in Philosophy from Haverford College and her Masters in Public Health (M.P.H.) from West Virginia University where she focused on social epidemiology and bioethics. When Amy is not working, you can find her playing with her slightly quirky rescue dog, Max. Amy enjoys kayaking, cooking, reading, and spending time with her extended family and friends. |
| Theresa Dickenson Assistant Director Theresa joins the team at Saratoga Arts from the Western New York area. Her creative endeavors started at an early age with a love of poetry and theater. While earning her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Hilbert College, she became a published poet. Her career has led her to many different work experiences and working with the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity at Stella Niagara for the last four years has given her a solid foundation for work in the non-profit sector. In September 2022, Theresa moved to the Capital Region to be with her partner and is still learning all the amazing things about the community of Saratoga Springs. In her spare time, Theresa enjoys watching football and rooting for her hometown team…Go Bills! She participates in the art abandonment movement, painting rocks and taking photographs; as well as reading great fantasy novels. |
| Spencer Sherry Grants and Community Outreach Coordinator Spencer has been a 518 resident ever since he graduated from high school in Laurens, NY. Always eager to experience new things (but never doing one thing for too long), he attended St. Rose for Music Industry, SUNY Oneonta for Criminal Justice, and UAlbany for Communications. His natural antsiness eventually led him to filmmaking, where there are unlimited stories to tell and every day is different. After a year of working as a production assistant on big budget projects in New York City, he returned upstate to produce his own work, believing that community is a better resource than locale. Fundraising and promoting has become a large part of his independent filmmaking process, and developing those creative skills led him to a vast network of Capital Region filmmakers, to whom he offers guidance, enthusiasm, and support as board president of the nonprofit 518 Film Network. His dedication to community connection led him to found and direct the Saratoga Film Showcase in January of 2025. If he's not in his office at Saratoga Arts giving grants to local artists, he's probably producing a film or mysterious event, building a patio at his home in Greenfield Center, or eating dinner at the bar with his partner Lauren. |
| Ally DeRusso Exhibitions and Marketing Coordinator Ally is an interdisciplinary artist working with printmaking, photography, and textiles. She holds an MFA from the University at Albany and a BFA from the College of Saint Rose. She's exhibited her work at venues such as, Opalka Gallery, CREATE Council on the Arts, and Collar Works. Prior to working at Saratoga Arts, she worked as a hand painted sign artist. In 2022, she was a grant recipient of an Individual Artist Grant, part of the Community Regrant Program supported by Saratoga Arts. In her free time, she is probably in her studio printing and sewing, adventuring with her dog Canela, or cooking. |
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SARATOGA ARTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS |
Allan T. Weatherwax President Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tamara Tepper Vice President Philanthropy Consultant Mary Estelle Ryckman Treasurer Retired U.S. government official, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative-Executive Office of the President; watercolor enthusiast | Nancy Sharples Secretary Retired Professor of Fiber Arts and Independent Art Educator Tiina Loite Retired Photo Editor, The New York Times Bill Bergan Account Executive, Amsure Will Severin iTheatre | Tracy Savage Non-Profit Fundraising Consultant Elizabeth Pedinotti Haynes Photographer Ex-Officio Amy Bloom Executive Director |
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Saratoga Arts | subscribe to our email list! | Office Hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Monday - Friday |
Saratoga Arts' programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
