AMERICAN THEATRE | SPACE at Ryder Farm ceases operations

BREWSTER, NY: After 13 years, the arts and farming oasis SPACE on Ryder Farm announced today that its current writers’ residency program, the Working Farm, will be its last for the foreseeable future. The nonprofit artist residency program and organic farm is located on the ancestral lands of the Wappinger family in what is now Putnam County, on the grounds of a 227-year-old family estate. Its other programs have included Come to the Table, a five-year creative residency; institutional residencies run by nonprofit organizations to come together and develop strategies; the Greenhouse Residency, a week-long program for playwrights and lyricists; and a family residency that provided time and space for parents and their children to work. The list of artists and organizations that have benefited from SPACE’s various programs is long and notable.

The organization’s farming operations will continue through the end of 2024, fulfilling a contract with Putnam County Cornell Cooperative Extension to donate 50,000 pounds of fresh produce to emergency food providers across New York State in addition to local farmstand members. The organization will then cease operations but will not dissolve while the board explores options for SPACE’s future sustainability.

“We have worked tirelessly to keep this extraordinary organization alive, but the challenges of the past four years, including the pandemic and the loss of key funding sources, have become insurmountable,” board chair Janet Olshansky said in a statement. “We are incredibly proud of the work done and created here and eternally grateful to everyone who supported it. And while this chapter of SPACE is closed, we hope that in time SPACE will grow again.”

Anyone who would like to stay in touch with SPACE during this transition period can fill out the contact form on the farm’s website.

“Over the past few years, we have seen the closure and downsizing of hundreds of arts organizations, from residencies to major producing theaters,” Board Chair Lee Seymour continued in a statement. “This is terrible, but SPACE is not alone, and we did not make this decision lightly or quickly. We spent months crunching numbers and considering all of our possible options, but the plain truth is that we are not immune to the same funding drought that is crippling the entire arts sector. And while the Board and staff worked tirelessly to fill the gap, we simply could not raise enough funds to sustain operations through the summer. If anything, I hope SPACE can inspire others to rethink the way America supports its arts and cultural institutions and make them more sustainable.”

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