Saratoga Arts invites you to our annual fundraising event, the Foundation Experience.
We are delighted to invite you to The Foundation Experience an extraordinary evening in support of Saratoga Arts. Our immersive fundraiser will take place on Thursday, October 15, 2026, at The Night Owl in Saratoga Springs. The event will feature customized farm-to-table catered food by Farmacy, an open bar gothic masquerade-inspired theme, all in celebration of our ever-expanding community at Saratoga Arts.
This year in celebration of our 40th anniversary, we are pleased to honor our organization’s founder and first Executive Director, Dee Sarno. Dee Sarno is a household name in Saratoga Springs – long known for her commitment to and advocacy for the arts. Dee arrived in Saratoga Springs with her family in 1988 and began a part-time job at, and then became the first Executive Director of, Saratoga Arts. She held that job for 30 years and was integral in establishing Saratoga Arts as the community arts center in Saratoga Springs, including securing its current location on Broadway. An ardent supporter of Saratoga Springs and the Capital District community, she has been honored by the Saratoga Springs History Museum, Saratoga Rotary Education Foundation, Adirondack Council of Girl Scouts, Soroptimists, the Albany League of Arts and the Saratoga Preservation Foundation.
Thank you to the Honorary Committee!
Jeffrey Altamari
Ellen & Bradford Beal Saratoga Book Fest
Susan Bokan
Ellen-Deane Cummins
Joan Dash
Discover Saratoga
Emily Farnham
Lynne Gelber
Amy Godine & John Nicholson
Tiina Loite & Fred Conrad
Susan Miller
James Murphy
A.C. Riley
Mary Estelle Ryckman
The Sarno Family
Tracy Savage
Wendy Scheening
Dex & Deb Senft
Nancy Sharples
Cindy Spence
Judy Stacey
Stewarts Shops
Allan Weatherwax
Eileen & Don Whelley
Honorary Committee Tickets still available here.
What is the “Foundation Experience”?
The Foundation was formed in 1811 in response to the growing temperance movement in Saratoga during that time. The town placed a ban on gambling, drinking, and dance, resulting in the suffering of the local arts and culture. Simultaneously, Gideon Putnam began developing Congress Hall Hotel, where arts patrons could congregate in secret and indulge in forbidden activities and culture, while regular hotel business carried on around and above them. The Foundation held hidden performances, drinking, dances, card games, circus acts, and more — all while its members worked covertly towards public acceptance of artistic recreation. Eventually Congress Hall was demolished.
However — the Saratoga Arts building now sits on Congress Hall’s footprint, and so The Foundation lives on…
