INTERVIEW: Hudson Valley InterArts Opens Ballston Spa Location
13 Mill Road, Ballston Lake
“I think that’s a problem these days. Everyone feels like they don’t have enough time. Adults aren’t thinking about their own fun. Everything's too scheduled. We’re not here just to work.”
Ballston Lake is the perfect place for a drive. With long stretches of road, homey neighborhoods, and the view of the lake from quiet side streets, the town feels meditative and welcoming. If you turn down Mill Road, you’ll even find a gorgeous red mill, entirely unsurprising for the area, but with a twist: the building is now the home of InterArts North, the Capital Region’s branch of Hudson Valley InterArts.
Inside of a refurbished flour mill, there is now a hub for community, all centered around art — learning from each others’ expertise, collaborating on work, sharing in each other’s artistic feats, and even seeing local artists’ work exhibited.
I spoke with Taylor Martin, the project coordinator, to find out more about Hudson Valley InterArts and the plans for InterArts North.
“Community-Based Services Inc. (CBS) is an organization that creates all types of opportunities for adults with special needs, from housing to careers to arts and music programs. We specialize in helping people with transition support from childhood to adulthood,” she explains to me.
“Community Based Services Inc. has pioneered this vision [of InterArts]. They essentially gave it its wings, but we are now our own independent nonprofit. Currently, we fill our days with classes for the people supported by CBS Monday through Friday. Open to the community, anyone is welcome to participate in these classes, but eventually we will extend our offerings to include classes on evenings and weekends.”
Even those without disabilities reap the benefits of InterArts finding their way here. If you go to their website, hudsonvalleyinterarts.org, and look at the class schedule, you will see that InterArts accommodates all levels of experience in a certain art field — beginner, intermediate, and advanced — while classes marked as “assisted” accommodate those with disabilities and neurodivergencies. Everyone is welcome into their day classes, though they may be a bit more crowded with support staff and caregivers helping out those in need.
“We've been here just a little under a year, but we still have a lot of renovations. The first stage is a new approximately 2500 square foot state-of-the-art ceramic studio, kitchenette, and additional rest room. Future renovations include community theatre, and a porch and ramp out front. Then a few walls out front will come down and you'll walk into a front reception area...”
She guided me to their main room, which currently holds the bulk of their classes — painting, drumming, yoga, and a book club. The room also acts as a display for an exhibit of work by local artists titled “Reciprocity.”
“The exhibit included work from 24 local artists and we had a big gallery opening. We probably had 150 plus people here,” Taylor says with a proud smile.
Not only does InterArts do this as a celebration of local artists, but also to add a message to everyone who takes classes there: you too can be a successful artist as an adult. Don’t let your hobbies gather dust; your art matters. Celebrate it with us!
“When you take a class we have a professional, working artist teaching. It's not just our day program staff teaching a class. It's somebody who made their living as, say, a painter, teaching an art class. So anyone taking the class can start to think to themselves, ‘Oh, wow, I can do this as a career.’”
As Taylor walked me through the building, it almost seemed too good to be true. This gorgeous, expansive building has been sitting here in Ballston Lake this whole time? Anyone could have purchased it, yet an arts-based nonprofit found its way here? That’s miraculous enough, but as we kept walking, the more miraculous it seemed.
The basement holds the ceramics studio, which should be done any day now. The first floor holds their largest room and will eventually house a small recording studio. Upstairs is an office space, a yoga room, and a deceptively small sliding barn door reveals a massive room awash in twinkling yellow light. Fitting, because it will be InterArts North’s theater space. Above the theater, looking down on everything, will be an artist loft and additional meditation space. After being introduced to room after room, the mill felt like a set of Russian nesting dolls revealing space after incredible space.
If that wasn’t enough, there’s a big stone shed facing a side road in front of the building. That will eventually become a small cafe open to the public, where disabled adults can find employment. A few coffee shops have come in and out of the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake region, but this one would be here to stay and have a little more heart.
Taylor explained another simple goal of InterArts: Everyone needs to have fun. “I think that’s a problem these days. Everyone feels like they don’t have enough time. Adults aren’t thinking about their own fun. Everything's too scheduled. We’re not here just to work.”
Taylor explains that InterArts wants to accommodate the interests of the local community. If you become an InterArts regular and want to suggest a new program, they’re open to hearing you out and brainstorming together. “We’ve been calling it a build your own adventure. If you can dream it, you can do it, and we're really here to support you.”
And she’s not kidding. All classes only cost 20 dollars, except ceramics, which will have a bit of an upcharge to accommodate the cost of materials. Being an adult right now isn’t particularly easy for most. Prices of everything are skyrocketing, a considerable amount of people have taken on second jobs, and even seeing a movie can sometimes feel extravagant, let alone taking a professionally run art class. But for 20 dollars? The Capital Region should consider itself lucky that InterArts chose us.
Renovations are ongoing, but classes persist and the types of offerings will only grow. In the meantime, Taylor is happy to give anyone a tour so you can not only see the potential behind the program, but visualize your own, hand in hand with InterArts’.
For more information, please visit hudsonvalleyinterarts.org and @hudsonvalleyinterarts on Instagram. Visit commbasedservices.org for more information on services and programs that pioneered and supported the creation of InterArts. If you have questions or would like a tour, please email Taylor, tmartin@commbasedservices.org.
