SPACE ON RYDER FARM ANNOUNCES RESIDENTS FOR 2020 SEASON EXTENSION RESIDENCY

SPACE on Ryder Farm—the nonprofit residency program and organic farm located on a 225-year-old family homestead in Putnam County, New York—has announced the eight residents for its Season Extension Residency in February 2020, which marks the beginning of SPACE’s 10th Anniversary Season. Selected from SPACE alumni from the past decade, the residents will include playwrights Stephen Belber (Match), Erin Courtney (A Map of Virtue), Karen Hartman (Good Faith), Max Posner (The Treasurer), and Jenny Rachel Weiner (Kingdom Come), musician Grace McLean (In the Green) and writers Naomi Miyoko Raddatz and Arabelle Sicardi (Queer Heroes).

Residencies at SPACE on Ryder Farm provide artists and activists with dedicated time and space to create away from the stress and noise of everyday life. First launched in 2018, the Season Extension Residency offers SPACE alumni the opportunity to return to Ryder Farm to work on a project for a two-week residency during the month of February. The program is offered by application for SPACE alumni who have previously spent two or more weeks at SPACE through The Working Farm, Family Residency, Creative Residency or Creative Solutions Symposium. 

“SPACE’s residencies take place on a homestead that has been in my family since 1795. SPACE strives to create an environment for residents where they feel supported and taken care of—an artistic home-away-from-home,” said Co-Founder and Executive Director Emily Simoness. “Like any home, we hope SPACE is a place where our alumni can return. This idea gave birth to our Season Extension Residency, which continues SPACE’s investment in our residents. As we welcome eight SPACE alumni back to the farm, we are excited to see what new collaborations will form, what new relationships will be built and what new ideas will be sparked.”

The Season Extension Residency also marks the official beginning of SPACE on Ryder Farm’s 10th Anniversary Season. Founded by a group of predominantly theatre artists to develop their own projects while contributing to the preservation of Ryder Farm, SPACE has grown to serve over 1,400 residents of all stripes since its first season in 2011. Over the past ten seasons, SPACE has established one of the first and only residencies for parent-artists and their children, mentored over 75 young professionals through its internship and fellowship program and has become one of the most sought-after artist residency programs in the country. Furthering its commitment to the sustainability of Ryder Farm, in 2019 SPACE took on management of the organic farming operations, spearheading a unique new model for reciprocity between the arts and agriculture. 

SPACE will announce the full roster of residents for its June-October residency season at its annual Season Kick-Off Party on May 4th, 2020. 

ABOUT SPACE ON RYDER FARM

SPACE on Ryder Farm is a nonprofit residency program and organic farm located on the grounds of a 225-year-old family homestead in Putnam County, New York, just an hour north of New York City. SPACE’s mission is to create an environment singular in its ability to invigorate artists and innovators and their work, and to contribute to the sustainability and resourceful preservation of one of the oldest organic family farms on the East Coast.

Through unique programs supporting playwrights, filmmakers, activists, working parent artists and more, SPACE has served over 1,400 residents since its founding in 2011, and has developed a national reputation as one of the most sought-after residency programs in the country. SPACE counts among its alumni Academy Award winners, Tony Award nominees and winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, Guggenheim fellows, Obie Award winners and MacArthur “Genius” Fellows. Past residents include theatre artists Clare Barron, Adam Bock, David Cale, Linda Cho, Lucas Hnath, Samuel D. Hunter, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Young Jean Lee, Martyna Majok, Dave Malloy, Adam Rapp, Sarah Ruhl, Mfoniso Udofia and Anne Washburn; theatre companies Ars Nova, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company, Soho Rep and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; musicians Cesar Alvarez, Heather Christian, Grace McLean, Riley Mulherkar and Shaina Taub; filmmakers Janicza Bravo, Begonia Colomar, Nia Dacosta, Josh Mond, Chioke Nassor and James C. Strouse; and visual artists Alta Buden, Kylie Manning and Tiffanie Turner.  

Located on Starr Ridge Road in Brewster, New York, Ryder Farm was first established by Eleazer Ryder in 1795, was an early adopter in the organic movement and was one of the founding farms to participate in the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City. In 2019, SPACE assumed management of the agricultural operations, and is deeply committed to ensuring Ryder Farm is a source of inspiration and nourishment for all. In addition to stocking SPACE’s residency kitchen, produce from Ryder Farm is available at the Friday Union Square Greenmarket in NYC, at SPACE’s roadside stand on Starr Ridge Road in Brewster and via a sliding scale CSA (community supported agriculture) membership program serving both NYC and Brewster.

Programs at SPACE on Ryder Farm are made possible with generous support from Amazon Studios, Anne Anastasi Charitable Foundation, Around Foundation, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, Gerald and Janet Carrus Foundation, Deupree Family Foundation, Distracted Globe Foundation, Dramatists Guild Fund, Deann Dylandale Foundation, The Getter Foundation, Hargrove Pierce Foundation, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Lillian Hellman Fund, The Hyde & Watson Foundation, JKW Foundation, The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Henry J. Kimelman Family Foundation, The Lilly Awards Foundation, Lost Man Foundation, Marjorie Weil & Marvin Edward Mitchell Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, Michael Palm Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Putnam Arts Council’s Arts Link Grant Program, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, The Shubert Foundation, Stanley Family Foundation, Still Point Fund, Sustainable Arts Foundation, Tamarack Foundation, UNCSA Foundation, The Rafael & Diana Viñoly Foundation, Watershed Agricultural Council, The Westchester Community Foundation's Emily and Harold E. Valentine and Evelyn Gable Clark Scholarship Fund, Tamara White Charitable Foundation and hundreds of individual donors. SPACE is a Playwrights Horizons Company in Residence. 


For more information, visit www.spaceonryderfarm.org.

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Submitted by Brewster, NY

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