Red House Arts Center
Encyclopedia
Red House Arts Center is a nonprofit cultural center located at 201 West Street in Syracuse, New York
near Armory Square
. The mission of Red House is to transform lives through intimate and distinct experiences in the arts. Red House presents and produces new works in theatre
, film
, visual art, spoken word
, and music
.
Some of the past productions of the Redhouse include Our Lady of 121st Street by Stephen Aldy Guirgis, Klonsky and Schwartz by Romulus Linney, Pugilist Specialist by The Riot Group, and Tongues Will Wag by Mike Daisy.
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
near Armory Square
Armory Square
Armory Square is a small neighborhood on the west side of Downtown Syracuse, New York. It began life as a busy commercial and industrial area just to the west of the central city. After World War II, Syracuse's central city became less and less populated as more housing and business facilities...
. The mission of Red House is to transform lives through intimate and distinct experiences in the arts. Red House presents and produces new works in theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, visual art, spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
, and music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
.
History
In 2001, a group of local artists began planning for the implementation of the Red House. After finding the site, an old three-story brick building in downtown Syracuse, the Red House Capitol Campaign began the following year to raise funds for the building's renovations. $1.4 million dollars was raised and construction began in October 2003. Less than a year later in July, the Red House was officially opened to the public. Since its inception, the Red House has hosted over 400 events in theatre, music, film, and visual arts.Staff
The managing director of the Red House is Natalia Mount. Mount has a decade of experience of implementing numerous art programs and projects, special events, and educational programs. She possesses an in-depth knowledge of nonprofit operations and arts management, fundraising, marketing and PR, audience and board development and financial oversight. Laura Austin, one of the co-founders of the Red House, is the artistic director. "Austin’s performing career encompasses television and film work in Los Angeles and off-Broadway and regional theatre work throughout the country and abroad." She is involved in many local art organizations and events as well as having been an Adjunct Professor of Acting in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. Austin is also a member of the Screen Actor's Guild and Actors Equity.Theatre
Red House has hosted a variety of theatrical productions, the most recent being The Eaten Heart by The Debate Society, which went up in September and October 2008. The play is inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron. Its numerous roles and storylines of love, loss, and desire are performed by just two actors. The Debate Society is a Brooklyn based company whose members are writer/performer Hannah Bos and Paul Thaureen, and director/developer Oliver Butler. Lovesong, a romantic comedy, by John Kolvenbach, was performed at the Redhouse in May 2008. According to The Post Standard, "The work was staged in London's West End, where one critic praised it as "richly comic and deeply touching."Some of the past productions of the Redhouse include Our Lady of 121st Street by Stephen Aldy Guirgis, Klonsky and Schwartz by Romulus Linney, Pugilist Specialist by The Riot Group, and Tongues Will Wag by Mike Daisy.