The Sanctuary for Independent Media
The Sanctuary for Independent Media is a telecommunications production facility dedicated to community media arts, located in an historic former church at 3361 6th Avenue in north Troy, NY. The Sanctuary hosts screening, production and performance facilities, training in media production and a meeting space for artists, activists and independent media makers of all kinds.
Media Alliance, founded in 1977, moved its headquarters to North Troy in 2005. Media Alliance is run by a six-member board of directors (all of whom are artists and educators living and working in Rensselaer County), a paid staff of two, and scores of volunteers. The budget is largely comprised of small contributions from hundreds of contributors, along with support from the NY State Council on the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Community Foundation, and other grantors .
Media Alliance owns, operates and has offices in The Sanctuary for Independent Media, a century-old former church that has been re-purposed into a telecommunications production facility dedicated to community media arts. The Sanctuary for Independent Media is a place where community-engaged interdisciplinary artists experiment with aesthetic form and challenging content, with the overarching goal of shedding light on media arts’ vital role in the process of building a democratic society. The Sanctuary for Independent Media, located at 3361 6th Avenue in North Troy, hosts screening, production and performance facilities, and arts and education training in community media and media arts.
The mission of Media Alliance is to address common needs of nonprofit organizations providing electronic media programs and services to artists, organizations and the general public in areas including, but not limited to, production, distribution, exhibition, research, preservation, appreciation, and to further development of this field. Media Alliance has a mandate to sponsor and encourage cultural, and educational activities among media organizations, artists, and the general public, by conducting research, by gathering information, by organizing and disseminating information among the membership, by effectively communicating and cooperating with organizations, independent producers, funding sources, and the general public, by responding to issues of concern to the field, by public information programs, and by administering property.