Throughout October No Theater and the Young @ Heart Chorus are in residence at A.P.E.,  126 Main Street, sketching out a new work for the stage.  With STOMPIN’ AT THE SALVO in 1983 at the Walter Salvo Residence for Seniors, Young@Heart and No Theater began a collaboration that over the years has created such works as LOUIS LOU I, A REVOLTING MUSICAL at the Academy of Music in 1991, and ROAD TO HEAVEN and ROAD TO NOWHERE which have toured throughout Europe these past 11 years.
 
No Theater has been a resident theater group of A.P.E. for over 30 years, performing original works on the top floor of Thornes such as THE ELEPHANT MAN in the 70’s, DFS (de fiancé suction) in the 80’s, and DUPE (Doppelgänger) in the 90’s.
 

‘DESIGN NORTHAMPTON WEEK SEEKS COMMUNITY INPUT

NORTHAMPTON, MA – From Sunday, September 7th through Saturday, September 13th citizens of the City of Northampton, Massachusetts hosted to a unique public process crafted to help shape the future of their city. Each year students from Notre Dame University’s Urban Design Studio, under the direction of Professor Philip Bess, head to a selected city in the United States and, as part of their curriculum, develop a long-range illustrated urban design document for that City.  Last year Cooperstown, New York, hosted the Notre Dame studio.  This year, Bess made his offer to the City of Northampton.

The Northampton Design Forum advances the City of Northampton’s sustainability goals by promoting high-quality urban design and architecture through open and inclusive public processes. We work with diverse constituencies and City officials to create an inspiring and practical shared urban design vision for Northampton’s future.

Additional information on NORTHAMPTON DESIGN WEEK activities is available at northamptondesignforum.blogspot.com.

The Northampton Charrette:

We visited Northampton, on behalf of the Northampton Design Forum, this past September 6 -14, 2008. The purpose of our visit was to document the existing conditions, and to hold public meetings where we listened to the community's concerns and presented drawings of our proposed ideas.  We recognize that proposed changes affect numerous interests, both public and private, and while these interests may seem irreconcilable at times, we suggest that communities have always had to balance individual self-interest with their common good.  Examples of our proposals include changes to Main Street, Route 66, the Center of Florence, King Street, Pleasant Street, and Hospital Hill.  We have looked at other areas in the city, as well as the city as a whole, for which proposals will be made and updated periodically.  We had lengthy discussions with the community about growth, sustainability, economic concerns, social concerns, transportation, agriculture, public services, zoning, and public spaces.  We began to discuss in further detail the ideas of infill and refill, providing a diversity of housing options (including affordable housing), improving public infrastructure (such as transit, recreation, bike paths, and green space), improving the amount and quality of public space (such as plazas or market areas) within the city, and what would be needed in order for these ideas to come to fruition.  Our goal is to help Northampton and the surrounding community to grow in a sustainable and natural way, and to suggest changes that would add value and beauty.  Sprawl development, with expansive parking lots and architecturally anemic buildings is inappropriate for Northampton.  Yet this is the type of development that is already encroaching on the city and its surroundings.  Proactive planning and community involvement are important to secure and extend Northampton's historic character.

See our website as we progress: http://sites.google.com/site/northamptoncharrette/  

A.P.E.'s new Exhibition and office spaces at Window.

If you are interested in applying for a exhibition or event at A.P.E. please contact us at (413) 586-5553 or send an email and we will provide you with our submission guidelines.

After the sale of Thornes Market to new owners in 2006, A.P.E. signed a one year lease to continue it’s programming and events on the Third Floor and to have time to look for a new location in the center of town. That search resulted in the purchase of  Window, LLC, a five story building at 126 Main Street, Northampton, just a few doors down from Thornes Market.  A.P.E.’s one year lease with Thornes was over at the end of September 2007 and A.P.E. will leave Thornes the end of January, 2008. A.P.E. will open a new office and begin to develop new programs at Window, LLC, beginning early in 2008.

During its search for a new location in 2006-07, A.P.E. began conversations with other arts organizations, the city and members of the community about the need to keep the arts vibrant in Northampton, in particular, how to keep spaces open and affordable.  Identifying different spaces and buildings became part of that conversation and resulted in A.P.E. writing a Feasibility Grant for the Cultural Facilities Fund, a newly created entity through the Massachusetts Cultural Council, to administer state funds awarded to projects devoted to cultural development and advancement.   A.P.E. received a $18,750 matching grant to study the feasibility of creating a community arts center in the former Northampton Institute for Savings, located at the corner of Gothic and Main St. in the center of town.  A.P.E. was the only recipient of this grant in Northampton!

A.P.E’s concerns revolve around the issue of affordable space for artists to create and show work in the center of town.  It is a well known fact that a number of spaces devoted to the arts are in jeopardy at this point in time and A.P.E. is at the forefront of leading the effort to retain, hold and find ways for the community to own buildings for the long term so that the arts can remain an essential part of the fabric of this community.    A.P.E. is using the model of the land trust to explore the idea of a community “arts” trust, that would enable the community to purchase and hold spaces in town for arts and culture, thus creating real sustainability for the arts to thrive.

If you would like to be kept informed or would like more information, go the following links and add your name to our mailing list!

http://www.massculturalcouncil.org/facilities/facilities.htm

http://www.schumachersociety.org/about.html