STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY PURCHASES CROWS NEST, 175-ACRE PROPERTY IN CATSKILL MOUNTAINS FOR $1.3 MILLION
Stephen Petronio Company has purchased Crows Nest, a 175-acre property in the Catskill Mountains. Located in Round Top, New York, just outside the town of Cairo in Greene County, the $1.3M property includes two modern buildings, built in 2003, which offer 9,000 sq. ft. of year-round residential and studio space, and an 1800's caretaker's cottage.
Crows Nest will house and fully support the recently launched Petronio Residency Initiative, which will open in the summer of 2018. The Initiative will focus on the beginning stages of the artistic process and provide dance companies, invited by a rotating selection panel, with multi-week creative residencies, in addition to room and board and a healthy stipend. With stunning views of four states, Crows Nest will offer artists in residency a bucolic retreat from commercial marketplace pressures.
"After years of searching for the right property, I found heaven at Crows Nest," says choreographer Stephen Petronio, 60. "When I began this search, it seemed only natural to secure a home where the next generation of work could be made. With Crows Nest, I'm hoping to leave the world an intimate place where dance can be made, where history happens, and where the dance community can feel at home." ​
In January 2016, Stephen Petronio Company began the first phase of a $3M capital campaign to cover the cost of a permanent home and residency program. This new undertaking continues the expansion of the Company's mission, which began in 2015 with Bloodlines, an autobiographical project that honors the lineage of American postmodern dance. The purchase of Crows Nest strengthens this new approach to history and lays the groundwork for a creative and secure future for contemporary dance. Initial funds for the campaign have come from visual art sales, including a lead gift from renowned London-based sculptor Anish Kapoor, along with work by Cecily Brown, Teresita Fernandez, Jasper Johns, Judy Pfaff, and Matt Saunders, among others.
One of the foremost choreographers of his generation, Stephen Petronio's groundbreaking work includes multidisciplinary collaborations with some of today's most innovative visual artists, designers, and composers. This collaborative spirit is in the DNA of the Petronio Residency Initiative. Petronio has also recently made a commitment to steward works of his American postmodern predecessors in a project called Bloodlines. Founding a space to support his ongoing creative investigations as well as those of other dance makers, both established and emerging artists, has been one of Petronio's longtime dreams. The impetus for building a residency also stems from the desire to relax dependence on the weakening producer/presenter-driven system that has more commonly funded creative activity in past decades.