SPACE on Ryder Farm will welcome eight Season Extension residents this February, officially kicking off the organization's 10th anniversary season.
Selected from SPACE alumni from the past decade, the residents are playwrights Stephen Belber (Match), Erin Courtney (A Map of Virtue), Karen Hartman (Good Faith), Max Posner (The Treasurer), and Jenny Rachel Weiner (Kingdom Come); musician, performer, and writer Grace McLean (In the Green); and writers Naomi Miyoko Raddatz and Arabelle Sicardi (Queer Heroes).
The Season Extension Residency offers SPACE alumni the opportunity to return to Ryder Farm to work on a project for two weeks. There, residents are provided with time, space, and support to create; as Co-Founder and Executive Director Emily Simoness calls it, “an artistic home-away-from-home.”
“Like any home, we hope SPACE is a place where our alumni can return," says Simoness. "This idea gave birth to our Season Extension Residency, which continues SPACE’s investment in our residents. As we welcome eight SPACE alumni back to the farm, we are excited to see what new collaborations will form, what new relationships will be built, and what new ideas will be sparked.”
The Season Extension Residency also marks the official beginning of SPACE on Ryder Farm’s 10th Anniversary Season, with a complete roster of residents to be announced in May.
Located on a 130-acre property (and one of the oldest organic farms on the East Coast) in Putnam County, New York, SPACE on Ryder Farm supports artists through various residency programs, spanning playwriting to filmmaking to social justice. Residencies range from one to five weeks, with only three simple requirements: artists are asked to attend communal meals daily, give back two hours to Ryder Farm, and share what they’ve developed with fellow residents. Since its founding, the organization has served over 1,400 residents across various disciplines.