Upper Jay Arts Center celebrates 20 years in operation

UPPER JAY | This year, the Upper Jay Art Center & Recovery Lounge (UJAC) is celebrating 20 years of providing quality music, theater, and visual art to locals and visitors alike. It all started in 2005 when Scott and Bryon Renderer purchased a historical building on Route 9N. The building once housed the Keith & Branch Ford Motors Factory & Showroom. Constructed in 1920, it was conceived and erected by Keith & Branch — formed by residents Earl Keith and Robert Branch 10 years prior — to accommodate the partial assembly and local sale of Ford Motors Model T automobiles. "It was sort of a big push by Ford to sort of market the automobile to, like, rural communities," said Gabrielle Schutz, an interdisciplinary theater artist who took over as UJAC artistic director in 2022. "They would assemble the cars and park them in here; people would come to buy them." It is unknown when the Keith & Branch Ford franchise was discontinued. However, the three-story building served many different purposes, including an antique shop and "The Old Seed Store" — a pine cone seed factory — owned by the Herbst Brothers. And in 2005, the Renderer brothers turned it into an upholstery shop and multi-dimensional performance space. In 2008, it incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and they named the performance space the "Recovery Lounge." "They were upholsters by trade. That's actually where a lot of our seating came from," Schutz said. "But they were also both musicians. They started doing events, and the community really loved it; they wanted more and more." Since then, UJAC has brought an eclectic array of professional musicians to the area and staged plays by classic and contemporary playwrights. It has also hosted poetry readings, performance art, dance, art exhibits, and the CA+MP Residency Program—the artist-in-residence program that hosts artists in all disciplines for one or several weeks, offering time and creative freedom to create, dream, perform, and explore. The first floor is now reminiscent of an antique shop, with old signs and other artifacts adorning the shelves and walls. Various chairs, rockers, recliners, love seats, and couches serve as seating for the plays and concerts held year-round. Perhaps the most eye-catching feature is the huge elevator shaft positioned in the back of the building. To move the elevator up and down, one must tug on a thick rope, which activates a flywheel on the third floor. The elevator was originally used to move partially assembled Model Ts from floor to floor. Today, it is used for special effects and props for shows. The UJAC is preparing for its next play, "Boom," an epic and intimate comedy by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb that explores the influences of fate versus randomness in the course of one's life. "It's essentially a future tale about a past apocalypse," Schutz said. "It's a little absurd but lovely and still heartfelt, but zany and fun." Showtimes are July 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, and 26 at 7 p.m. and July 27 at 2 p.m. The UJAC will host an Art Party on Aug. 16 at 6 p.m., a benefit event celebrating its 20th anniversary. "Our mission is to improve the quality of life in Upper Jay and the surrounding communities through artistic expression, and I think that we do that by offering radically accessible arts programming," Schutz said. "My hope for the future is that it keeps going, it keeps adapting and changing, and that the community continues to embrace all of the exciting, entertaining, and provoking things that we offer." For more information or a full calendar of events, visit upperjayartcenter.org.

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Upper Jay Arts Center celebrates 20 years in operation

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