Arts group has big plans

Tenner said he hoped SPAF would work with Saugerties public access, as well as other local groups on everything from performances to art shows.

“Saugerties doesn’t really know what they’re in for with what we’re bringing here,” Tenner said. “And it’s all good.”

The duo plan to partner with village businesses. They’re all about cooperation. They plan to offer memberships and sponsorships.

Though SPAF will seek a liquor license, they’ll only serve alcohol during events and won’t run as a full-time saloon.

“When you’re watching a show here, you’ll be able to walk out and see art during intermission or before and after the production, and there will be a local restaurant or coffee shop in here,” Tenner said. “When you go elsewhere, it’s self-contained. The people who help support us will get to set up a mobile spot in our space.”

The concept of mobile – from the movable walls and stages to pop-up vendors on site – is also in the works for ticket sales.

“We don’t need to get a spot in the village for a ticket booth, but we want to find a small spot and have ticket hours so people will have to go into the village,” Tenner said. “Maybe they’ll go spend money in the village. We don’t have to do it, but we want to draw people into the village.”

How they met

If not for a fortuitous meeting, SPAF might not even be happening. Tenner and Spina were prepared to leave the theater-concept behind after a year in Kingston that didn’t live up to their expectations.

“We were there for a year and we were going to renew the lease, and it just wasn’t gaining the momentum in the way we thought it would,” Tenner said. “We were just going to regroup and concentrate on productions like videos and mobile productions and just do our thing without a theater, but we were kind of bummed, because we wanted the theater to go.”

While moving Spina into his studio on Ulster Avenue, Tenner took a break to visit his mother in the cemetery and wasn’t in the mood to visit the former Weekend Liquidators building. But he acquiesced, and when he and Spina arrived to look around, he realized the property had been purchased by Erica and Gerard Price, co-owners of Uniforms USA. The couple moved their longtime business off Partition Street with an eye on expanding. Tenner’s mother was a prior employee of the Prices.

“It was pretty hair-raising,” Tenner said. “Their uniform company takes about half the building up, and they were renovating the other space which is now the home of SPAF. They knew they wanted to do something in there having to do with the arts, and they were kind of waiting for this connection to happen, I guess.”

In April, Stella May will host a large Entertainment and Arts Fair at SPAF, with other arts and theater productions to follow. An outdoor stage alongside the primary building is also in the works.

For more information, visit: www.stellamayproductions.com.