by Michelle Mullen<\/p>\n
Performing artists Katie Zaffrann and Esm\u00e9 Boyce have taken to some of New York\u2019s most prominent stages. After settling in Riverdale, however, they found few opportunities to create close to home. Now, they are inviting fellow creatives to help transform Spuyten Duyvil into a home for vibrant performances and community arts programming.<\/p>\n
The two Riverdale moms are partnering with the Kingsbridge Historical Society to launch Arts at the Edge, a new performing arts organization in residency at Edgehill, 2570 Independence Ave. Once a functioning church, the nearly 140-year-old building has served as the historical society\u2019s headquarters since 2022.<\/p>\n
The collaboration grew from what the pair described as a gap they saw in the neighborhood\u2019s arts scene. While many professional artists and performers call greater Riverdale home, they said, there are few local spaces for them to create or collaborate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a need in the neighborhood, there\u2019s a hunger for it, and there\u2019s so many people here who want to be working and want to be practicing your art,\u201d said Zaffrann, who has lived in the neighborhood for a decade.<\/p>\n
Zaffrann herself is an actor, singer and producer who co-founded the award-winning chamber ensemble Choral Chameleon, performed on stage with Shakespeare & Company and created original productions, like \u201cMarry Me a Little: a cold feet cabaret,\u201d a one-woman show she wrote and starred in.<\/p>\n
She and Boyce met through their children\u2019s preschool at Riverdale Presbyterian Church, both having worked professionally in New York City\u2019s performing arts community for years.<\/p>\n
Boyce, who moved to Riverdale three years ago, is a choreographer and dancer who directs her own project-based dance company while continuing to perform with other artists across New York. Her work has been presented at theatres such as Lincoln Center and Baryshnikov Arts Center, among others \u2014 including a curated presentation for MoMA\u2019s \u201cJudson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done.\u201d <\/p>\n
As they became friends the pair realized many of the parents around them were also professional artists.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know all these parents are artists, and this neighborhood is full of artists, but there\u2019s not really anywhere to do anything,\u201d Boyce said.<\/p>\n
Their first effort to change that came through fundraising galas and community performances at the preschool, bringing together neighborhood artists. The turnout convinced the pair that the Riverdale area could support something bigger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted a space to have shows that we prepare, and then also as a kind of community center for people to have access to an artistic experience without it being super formal,\u201d Zaffrann said. \u201cPeople crave that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their search for a venue led them to Edgehill, where Kingsbridge Historical Society President Nick Dembowski saw an opportunity to expand the building\u2019s role in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have our mission, the historical society, dealing with the uplifting of local history,\u201d he said. \u201cBut not everybody\u2019s into that, so there are a whole lot of people that are into art, and I think there\u2019s certainly room in that building for more to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dembowski added the partnership could also introduce new audiences to the historic building.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tend to draw sort of an older crowd,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be bad for the future of the building, and maybe even for the historical society, just to get some younger people in there to see the building, see what we do in addition to the art.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zaffrann and Boyce said their first priority is creating a permanent home base for local artists. Over time, they envision Edgehill evolving into a year-round arts center, while also serving as what Zaffrann describes as a \u201cthird space\u201d where neighbors can gather, discover local artists and build community outside of home and work.<\/p>\n
Boyce emphasized the importance of asking artists what their needs are rather than assuming, noting that she and Zaffrann are striving to make the space as inclusive as possible for all in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Before scheduling performances, Arts at the Edge is surveying local artists to better understand what resources they need. Its questionnaire asks about interests ranging from rehearsal space and workshops to exhibitions, performances and open mic nights.<\/p>\n
Zaffrann said the survey responses will give the group hard numbers to bring to funders and local officials. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have this many people who need x, y and z \u2014 subsidized rehearsal space, whatever it is that people are needing,\u201d she said, adding that respondents\u2019 zip codes and other demographic details will be anonymized before being shared. <\/p>\n
The needs vary by discipline, they explained. Boyce said she\u2019d eventually like to see a sprung or \u201cMarley\u201d floor installed, a cushioned surface that reduces impact on performers\u2019 joints. She and Dembowski said the addition wouldn\u2019t require any permanent alteration to the historic, landmarked building.<\/p>\n
The Kingsbridge Historical Society is serving as Arts at the Edge\u2019s fiscal sponsor while the organization develops and pursues funding. It does not plan to become registered as a 501(c)(3).\u00a0 Zaffrann said the group has held off on filing for its own nonprofit status, opting to build momentum first, and is looking into grants and a possible fall gala to gauge community support.<\/p>\n
The organizers said they are also eyeing a longer-term goal, describing their hope for an annual neighborhood \u201cart walk\u201d featuring open gallery spaces and public performances throughout the Riverdale area.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tKeywords<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tArts at the Edge,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t Riverdale NY,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t Riverdale arts,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t Spuyten Duyvil,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t Edgehill,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t Kingsbridge Historical Society,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t performing arts,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t community arts,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t local artists,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t Bronx arts,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t Riverdale performers,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t arts programming,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t rehearsal space,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t historic Edgehill,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t New York performing arts,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t community theater,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t dance,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t live performances\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Michelle Mullen Performing artists Katie Zaffrann and Esm\u00e9 Boyce have taken to some of New York\u2019s most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[113641,113646,128,104814,48108,73396,1117,113644,113648,59015,9508,35877,9,24,113649,63,5281,113647,113643,113642,113645,48917,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-298788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-arts-at-the-edge","tag-arts-programming","tag-bronx","tag-bronx-arts","tag-community-arts","tag-community-theater","tag-dance","tag-edgehill","tag-historic-edgehill","tag-kingsbridge-historical-society","tag-live-performances","tag-local-artists","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-performing-arts","tag-nyc","tag-performing-arts","tag-rehearsal-space","tag-riverdale-arts","tag-riverdale-ny","tag-riverdale-performers","tag-spuyten-duyvil","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}