Archived update · November 19, 2022
Details, plans and references below reflect the original publication.
A $30,000 matching challenge
The 2022 end-of-year campaign began on Giving Tuesday, November 29, and ran through December 31. An anonymous donor offered a $30,000 challenge gift to support the restoration of Klinkhart Hall.
The campaign counted online gifts, cash and check donations, and Take-A-Seat contributions toward the challenge.
The Klinkhart Hall story in 2022
Fifteen years ago in the small village of Sharon Springs, NY (pop. 467), an idea was born: the abandoned and derelict Klinkhart Hall — the last unrestored building on the village’s Main Street Historic District — could be born again as a center for the arts.
Fast forward to 2022 and much has happened: the building was purchased and donated to a not-for-profit Klinkhart Hall Arts Center, $820,000 of grants were awarded, and $380,000 in other donations to support the first phase of a complete restoration of the historic building. A real feel-good story!
Then COVID hit and threw the proverbial monkey wrench into the orchestra pit. Everything ground to a halt with the restoration project. But that didn’t stop us.
Temporarily unable to move forward with the building renovation, Klinkhart doubled down on its mission to be a home for the arts. In 2022, the fledgling arts center hosted a full season of arts events:
- the return of free summer Concerts in the Park;
- an expanded, 6th annual Sharon Springs Poetry Festival that included the Oscar Wilde Memorial Lecture and a star-studded performance of Muldoon’s Picnic in addition to the traditional celebrity poets doing readings, workshops, panel discussions and more;
- plus theater, dance, Shakespeare in the Park, an art exhibit, plus a fundraising auction, wine tasting, and more.
And we are still forging ahead: Phase 1 of the renovation is now set to begin in 2023 and, in addition, we have applied for three new, transformative grants (we are already a finalist for one!) that will allow us to expand our renovation project to include ADA accessibility, a fully restored building facade for Klinkhart Hall, and more.
It is a big ask — but not too big for an organization that has just hosted novelist, essayist, and poet Joyce Carol Oates, among many other distinguished poets, writers, musicians, dancers, actors, and others!
With your help, we can move forward together to make Klinkhart Hall Arts Center a place to call home for the arts in Sharon Springs.
Use the menu (or these links) to read more about Klinkhart Hall Arts Center’s history, the restoration project, and its programming.
