This month Torn Space is breaking ground on the final stage of our multi-phase capital project, creating a campus setting geared for community engagement, complimenting and supporting recent neighborhood revitalization efforts, increasing the capacity and volume of an outdoor performance area, and transforming the site into a larger multi-use space focused on integrating the campus outward towards Wilson Street and Paderewski Drive. Since 2000, Torn Space has produced theater in residence at the Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle, which itself has been a home dedicated to literature and the avant-garde since it was founded in 1895.
Torn Space launched the first phase of construction in 2017, beginning with the transformation of an old gas station building into a multi-use meeting, design and workspace. Phase two was completed in 2021 and completely transformed the main performance space into a state-of-the-art black box theater space. Phase three focuses on the community-facing amenities, improving flow between the two buildings and providing a more comfortable experience for visiting audiences and artists. With the introduction of Torn Space’s INTERSECTION: Performance Series following Phase two, more interdisciplinary performance artists and collaborators have been invited to experiment and explore their craft in the ever-improving facilities as Torn Space transitions to serving as a platform for developing artists from the richly creative Buffalo community and beyond.
Coming up at Torn Space this spring is the second iteration of Ladies First, a recurring event curated by Sneakvibing’s Schondra Aytch showcasing female hip hop artists. This season also includes LUCA by artist Tansy Xiao, an artist-in-residence for UB’s Coalesce: Center for Biological Arts, and an immersive sound and light installation by Groupwork. Torn Space will present two original performances, CrossWalk, a fashion-party-as-performance at the theater, and Commensality at Silo City. Each project continues community collaborations developed with genre cross-pollination, creative placemaking, and bold performance experimentation in mind, all of which Torn Space has explored through its two decades of production work in our east side neighborhood, at Silo City for ten years, and across the region, gaining international recognition.
Torn Space Theater has raised over $5 million over the course of this capital project. To complete the final phase of construction, Torn Space is inviting the public to join the final push toward reaching the fundraising goal.
“We are now inviting our longtime supporters, collaborators and the greater community to become partners in the final transformation of our multi-use, historically significant home. We have dedicated the last eight years to this project, which sets the stage for even greater investment in Buffalo’s East Side and we’re proud to be part of its renaissance.”
-Artistic Director Dan Shanahan