About
OUR MISSION
& VISION
Mission
The Foundry at Hudson fosters mutual understanding and builds common purpose through theater and creative civic gatherings.
Vision
We envision a more cohesive and imaginative society built through shared civic experiences and community-engaged theater – gatherings that bring neighbors together, illuminate our common values, and inspire goodwill through creative expression. We envision an organization rooted in and inspired by Hudson and Columbia County while enriched by a broader network of national practitioners.
Our programs invite everyone to explore imaginative solutions to shared challenges and rediscover shared ideals. We think of The Foundry as a joyful laboratory where people can discover ways to model and enhance our democracy through the arts.
We’re currently in a planning, learning and listening phase while we revitalize a building in Hudson, New York to be a home for our future shared work.
Our Approach
Our Values
Engagement
We believe that in-person participation changes everything. When we bring people together for common purpose, problem solving, and celebration we experience both collective and personal transformation.
Storytelling
We believe storytelling has the power to shape our world. It helps us understand our past, uplift our communities, and imagine a more just and connected future together.
Interdependence
We believe we have more in common than we have differences, and through collaboration, shared responsibility, and mutual respect we thrive together.
Belonging
We believe everyone has something to contribute and that we must continually strive to create an inclusive organization where all can feel valued and empowered.
Care
We believe in showing up for our neighbors. We seek to build long term relationships and to cultivate a culture of deep hospitality and mutual support.
Artistic Innovation
We believe in championing art that is adventuresome in its approach to theatrical form, that is expertly crafted and accessible.
OUR TEAM
TIMOTHY BANKER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Tim began his professional life traveling the country to small towns creating community-specific theater events as a founding member of Cornerstone Theater Company. In his 20s, Tim worked as a freelance director, assistant director and stage manager and collaborated at some of the most well known repertory theatres in the country. More recently, Tim served as the Director of Content and Production for From the Top, a media and education company that empowers and celebrates young musicians. Tim oversaw its hugely successful NPR program, its Emmy Award winning programs for PBS and over 18 seasons of live events. Having moved to the Hudson Valley in 2022, Tim has come to love its creative originality, the wide variety of people he’s met here and the Valley’s expansive views.
IVEY LOWE, PRODUCING DIRECTOR
For over a decade, Ivey has worked at the intersection of theater, arts education, and civic engagement, using art to bring people together and strengthen the places they live. As a theater director, she is an alum of the Drama League Director Project, Williamstown Directing Corps, The 24 Hour Plays Nationals, and Lincoln Center Director Lab. Her directing work has appeared on and off Broadway, at universities, and at regional theaters across the country. As a cultural organizer, she has worked at the intersection of art, advocacy, and public life, including as a Social Practice CUNY Fellow funded by the Mellon Foundation and a National Civic Saturday Fellow with Citizen University, where she developed creative initiatives to increase civic participation in artistic and educational spaces. Since moving to Hudson, Ivey has found inspiration in the region’s creative spirit and welcoming culture. Now, as Producing Director, she is excited to help cultivate spaces where connection, creativity, and joy can thrive.
Taking on winter walk
This past year, 2024, we joined the City of Hudson to produce Hudson’s annual Winter Walk street festival. Hudson Hall, the former producer of the event, passed the producer baton to us and they were hugely supportive in providing a blueprint for making Winter Walk happen. In the end, the work resulted in a fantastic and exhilarating event for the region featuring over 56 attractions and performers, 39 street vendors and at least 72 shops open late. Over 8000 people came out to celebrate it all! We’re looking forward to producing Winter Walk in the future and we hope to expand the festival’s scope.
Check back here for future updates.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is with gratitude and humility that we acknowledge that we are learning, gathering, and creating on the ancestral homelands of the Mohican people, who are the Indigenous peoples of this area. Despite tremendous hardship in being forced from here, today their community resides in Wisconsin and is known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.
As artistic practitioners, we honor the deep artistic, cultural, and collaborative legacies of the Mohican people, whose traditions inspire us. We pay respect to their ancestors, past and present, and reaffirm our commitment to creating an inclusive and equitable space for all.
We view this acknowledgment as a beginning step. As we work to strengthen our relationships with local Indigenous Tribes and as we commit to supporting and collaborating with them more substantially, we invite our community to join us in learning, supporting, and engaging alongside us. Below, you’ll find resources to begin that work including a link to support a cultural center in the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.
Photos by JD Urban, Jayden Cross, Jess Giacobbe, and Simon Li.