The Tastes of SPAC — Eating has been a staple SPAC experience from the beginning
The Story Behind The Music: The Instruments of SPAC — How the more unusual instruments of SPAC make its performances special
From the Floor up — Ballet dancers have gotten a lift from SPAC’s specially designed floor
Off Site, Off Stage — SPAC’s surprising winter and downtown Saratoga Springs stories
Art in Prisons: SPAC at Dannemora — In the 1970s, SPAC’s classica performing arts groups brought live performance to prisoners
SPAC and the Saratoga Race Course — In the 1960s and 1970s, synergies abounded between the arts and sports communities that made Saratoga Springs their summer home
Image Credit: SPAC Archive, SPAC at NYRA ca. 1970
SPAC by Design — Graphic design has helped communicate the Center’s identity over the years.
Putting SPAC on the Map — Many SPAC documents help potential audience members find the Center and its amenities.
A Tradition of Innovation — Even the most storied ballet was a new and radical movement.
Image credit: SPAC Archive, First Look: SPAC Design proposal, May 9, 1962, The Saratogian
“To Health, History, Horses Add: Culture and Education.” In 1963, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Skidmore College were both planning campuses nestled in the woods. SPAC opened in 1966; Skidmore’s new campus was in use by 1968.
Fifty years later, both institutions continue to promote arts and education, separately and together. In 2020, students in Skidmore College’s History Department were invited to organize SPAC’s archive and unearthed stories linking its past to its present and future.
This is their story.
