The Sanctuary for Independent Media is gearing up to revamp a long-abandoned building into the NATURE Lab Environmental Education Center! We are embarking on a community-led design process to ensure that the new center's design and programming reflects the needs of the North Troy community. Let your ideas be heard at our Community Design Think […]
Join us for the final celebration of the 2018 Uptown Summer youth employment program and see what we’ve been working on! At 1pm, architect Cameron Toler will be presenting the NATURE Lab prototypes generated from last week’s community design think tank. Then, we’ll watch a few short films about the Uptown Summer program and hear […]
A deep roots trio made up of guitarist and vocalist Pascal Danae, Rafgee on sousaphone and drummer Baptiste Brondy, blending French Caribbean and New Orleans’ musical styles for a contemporary Creole blues sound with an African flair. Named for Officer Louis Delgrès, the band pays tribute to the forgotten hero, a biracial man who spent […]
The eighth consecutive year of this community celebration, with free music, food and arts activities outdoors at Freedom Square. Just as farmers reap the harvest, providing sustenance for all, it is time to celebrate all our harvests--the results of seeds sown through art, education, agriculture, tolerance, and everything we do to build strong, healthy, tolerant […]
Exhibition Opening Wednesday, Sept. 26, 6-7pm, with photographer Catherine Rafferty! During her internship at The Sanctuary for Independent Media, Catherine Rafferty photographed the images in this exhibition during the Uptown Summer 2018 program. Born in Albany, she is working toward a BFA in Photojournalism at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is currently the photography editor […]
Join us on Tuesday October 2nd, as we kick off the Fall 2018 NATURE Lab Open Hours season with an awesome workshop about what science is, who gets to do it, and how knowledge is created. Expect fun activities, lively discussion, and more! Open to all ages. This event takes place at 3334 6th Avenue, […]
Help us produce an hour a day of local news and public affairs content for the Capital Region. There are many ways to get involved (regardless of your interests, skill level and time available). We’ll show you how!
Something is in the water! Learn how and what life’s like under the water surface. Includes hands on manipulations and live critters to explore. Hope you like getting your hands dirty! Open to all ages. About the NATURE Lab: North Troy Art, Technology, and Urban Research in Ecology (NATURE) Lab is a volunteer-led urban ecology […]
Working with simple DIY tools and protocols, participants will learn to extract and identify estrogenic compounds in liquids ranging from waterways to common foods. We will construct our own scientific tools using readily available components that we will use to collect estrogenic compounds from the water and liquids around us. Through this workshop, participants will […]
Four women, virtuosic musicians, and educators–Lara Klaus, Daniela Serna, Mafer Bandola and Sara Lucas – each from a different country and culture of the Americas, sisters in song, rhythm and spirit. A multinational ensemble of women building community through sound. With powerful vocals, often accompanied by Pat Swoboda on the bass, LADAMA delivers an utterly […]
In this workshop, we will take a piece of plant and multiply it in vitro. Learn how to multiply plants, including Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). We'll also learn a lot about what Genetically Modified (GM) plants are, the rules around multiplying them, and how they interact with us and our environment (or not). Open to […]
The art of creating powerful radio, podcast and video productions requires skillful sound editing. The tools are more accessible than ever; learn the techniques!
At 5pm, join us for a community potluck. Then, at 6pm, there will be a screening of the groundbreaking documentary Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope, a film examining the emerging science around toxic stress and how it negatively alters the brains and bodies of children if left untreated. Following the screening, Urban Grief […]
Learn about the value of bugs in farming and their potential as “microlivestock.” We promise they don't bite! Includes experiments for kids. Open to all ages. About the NATURE Lab: North Troy Art, Technology, and Urban Research in Ecology (NATURE) Lab is a volunteer-led urban ecology education initiative. Artist/scientist teams work to empower the community […]
This class shares ancient practices of fermentation, followed by the reaction of edible bio-art that will take two weeks for microbes to cook for you. Open-Source education contra the neoliberal university. Slow-cooking class with raw dripping shelf-unstable cabbage. Spiritual revival of unsterilized interspecies collaborations. Ritualistic healing of Industrial Amnesia. Ecstatic dwelling in decomposition and decay. […]
The Sanctuary for Independent Media welcomes acclaimed South African artist Vusi Mahlasela back to the Capital Region with his full band for a concert at The Egg in Albany to benefit WOOC 105.3 FM. Known simply as “The Voice” in his home country of South Africa, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and poet Vusi Mahlasela and his band […]
Join our fall seed swap and social to learn seed keeping methods, acquire seeds and bring your own. Learn seed keeping methods from local gardeners, acquire seeds to grow, bring your own seeds to show and share. Bring food and stories to share too! With seeds from: Collard City Growers, The Next Epoch Seed Library, […]
Join us as we celebrate the release of Leah Penniman’s new book, Farming While Black. The Black Kreyol farmer/peyizan, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY recounts the efforts of a global network of farmers working to increase farmland stewardship by people of color, restore Afro-indigenous farming practices, and end food […]
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author shows an America that should shame us: a land of rampant and deadly drug addiction, of escape into gambling, sadism and pornography, of xenophobic scapegoating and of plundering by the rich and powerful. Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, New York Times best selling author, former professor […]
Take a peek into the tiny world around us! Ever wonder what’s lurking on and around you? Learn about what microorganisms live on your skin and in the air. We will test for tiny life using felt and edible media, and even grow airborne bacteria on underwear! Ages 12+ Mentor: Natalie Dubois Calero One foot […]
We use art and participatory action to promote social and environmental justice and freedom of creative expression.
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