The Sanctuary for Independent Media: Where Social Justice, Science and Art Meet
Along a stretch of 6th Avenue in Troy, between 110th Street to the north and Glen Ave to the south, the Sanctuary for Independent Media has transformed vacant buildings and empty lots into an incubator for science, art, and social justice. The Sanctuary first took up residence in Troy in 2005, moving into a vacant church that was more than 100 years old. This building has been repurposed as a telecommunications production facility — complete with their own radio station — with the goal of supporting the vital role of media arts in the process of building a democratic society. The training they offer in media production is the backbone of their social justice work.
A map of 6th Street. The Sanctuary owns and operates out of four formerly vacant buildings and five formerly vacant lots, highlighted above. Click to view larger.
Since coming to Troy, the nonprofit has also turned one empty lot into an outdoor performance space, two more into an urban garden, a vacant house into housing for their interns, and a land bank property into an environmental education center. The church building continues to serve as their base of operations, and their continuing efforts to preserve it led them to the League. The Sanctuary received a NYSCA-funded Technical Assistance Grant in 2020 to finance a Building Condition Survey that will help the organization prioritize necessary maintenance and repairs moving forward.
It’s clear from their investment in the community that the Sanctuary’s values intersect heavily with historic preservation. Their mission is to “use art, science, and participatory action to promote social and environmental justice and freedom of creative expression.” One of the tools they are using to support that work is preserving and adaptively reusing buildings — breathing new life into underutilized spaces and creating a built environment that actively supports members of the community.
3334 6th Ave provides housing for Sanctuary interns. Former intern Joffré Roy-Beauregard painted this mural on the side of the house during his residency in 2019. The text below the image reads: “In the valley of the Mahicannituck River, where the waters are never still, remember that you stand on Muh-he-con-neok lands”
The Sanctuary’s programming is expansive. They host performances and screenings, manage an urban farm with a burgeoning CSA program, offer health resources, operate a community biology lab, and host a summer leadership program for local teens. They do all of this while supporting multidisciplinary artists and weaving visual arts through their programs and physical spaces. The “Sanctuary Art Trail” is a continually evolving work in progress, which began with the completion of the Freedom Square Art Stage in 2013. Participants in their Uptown Summer Youth program are continuing the art trail this summer with a mural across several sites. And already on view is a mural completed by a past intern on the side of 3334 6th Ave.
The day we visited, the Uptown Summer participants started the day by collecting soil samples. Later in the morning, they headed back to the Sanctuary to hear from retired Columbia University geologist Dr. Dave Walker. His presentation, Tracking Norlite Fugitive Dust, detailed the toxic dust particles being released into the air by the Norlite facility in Cohoes — emphasizing the proximity between the plant and the Saratoga Sites public housing project and the potential harm it’s causing those residents, especially children. Walker talked about his process of collecting and studying the dust particles and equipped the teens to collect samples as well. The presentation and following group discussion was being captured in real time with one person taking photos, another recording sound for radio, and another taking video. Afterwards the teens would be set to continue their citizen science action by heading to the NATURE Lab and examining the soil samples they had collected earlier.
Dr. Dave Walker presents to the Uptown Summer group about the pollution caused by the Norlite facility in Cohoes and its affect on local populations. Environmental justice issues are woven throughout the Sanctuary’s programming.
Visiting places like the Sanctuary for Independent Media reminds us that preservation is not just one thing. Our field intersects with so many others in so many interesting ways. The work this group is doing in north Troy is exciting and interdisciplinary, and frankly inspiring. We’re excited to have played a small part in supporting their restoration efforts and look forward to seeing how they continue to evolve their programming to best serve their community.
Click through the slideshow below to see more images from the Sanctuary sites on 6th Ave.
