Basilica Hudson is an arts and performance venue in

Hudson, New York Hudson is a city and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. Located on the east side of the Hudson River and 120 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it was named for the rive ...

, US. It was established in 2010 out of a 19th-century factory located near the city's "South Bay" riverfront along the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. Basilica Hudson schedules its programming between spring and fall. Events range from film screenings and visual art exhibitions, to annual farmers' and flea markets with local vendors. It is the setting for the annual Basilica SoundScape festival and the 24 Hour Drone music festival, Its creative directors in 2013 are musician

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited as the bassist ...

and independent filmmaker Tony Stone. In 2012, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' named Basilica Hudson one of the ten best industrial-chic spaces worldwide.

History of the site

The building that currently houses Basilica Hudson was originally built in the 1880s as a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

that produced railroad car wheels. Later, it was converted into a

glue factory Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

that closed in the 1980s. In 1999, the site was slated for inclusion in a redevelopment proposal by the Americlean corporation to build a processing facility for the dry cleaning solvent

perchloroethylene Tetrachloroethylene, also known under the systematic name tetrachloroethene, or perchloroethylene, and many other names (and abbreviations such as "perc" or "PERC", and "PCE"), is a chlorocarbon with the formula Cl2C=CCl2 . It is a colorless liq ...

. The successful campaign to defeat this proposal was led by the newly formed Friends of Hudson environmental organization. After the defeat of the Americlean proposal, the property was acquired by a Florida developer who sought unsuccessfully to establish an arts center. In 2001, developers and civic activists Patrick Doyle and Catherine Dodge Smith acquired the property and opened it as a community arts center under the name Basilica Industria. The venue was the site of a 2003

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''. Called the "punk poe ...

concert benefiting the Friends of Hudson campaign to stop development of a 1,800-acre cement plant in neighboring town of Greenport. By 2008, musician Melissa Auf der Maur and filmmaker Tony Stone, then newcomers to Hudson, began curating events, filming, and holding band practice in the space. In 2010, Doyle and Smith sold the property to Auf der Maur, Stone, and his parents, artists Bill Stone and Nancy Stone. They renamed the property 'Basilica Hudson' and repurposed it as an arts and performance venue. Basilica Hudson launched its music and arts programming in the summer of 2012. In 2012, the Albany, NY-based publication '' Metroland'' named Basilica Hudson the "best new venue" in the Capital Region. In 2012, ''

'' named Basilica Hudson one of the ten best industrial-chic spaces worldwide.

Operation of venue

Basilica Hudson is an 18,000 sq. ft. space with a maximum capacity for 1,200 people. It schedules its programming between spring and fall. Basilica Hudson has attracted international acclaim for its unusual program of events and its owners' commitment to supporting the creative community of the Hudson Valley region. Events range from film screenings and visual art exhibitions, to annual farmers' and flea markets with local vendors. It is the setting for the annual Basilica SoundScape festival, described as 'the antifestival' by various publications for its thoughtful mix of music, visual art and literature. Basilica Hudson is also home to the 24 Hour Drone music festival, which sees festival-goers camp in the space for a round-the-clock, non-stop 24-hour performance by a selection of experimental artists.

References

{{Coord, 42.25188889, N, 73.79861111, W, display=title Performing arts centers in New York (state) Hudson, New York Buildings and structures in Columbia County, New York Tourist attractions in Columbia County, New York