SARATOGA SPRINGS — This week, city Mayor Meg Kelly read three proclamations. The first honored the legacy of Solomon Northup.

Northup, a free black man living in Saratoga Springs, was in March 1841 tricked by two con artists who had promised him work in New York City but instead transported him further south where he was sold into slavery. It is where he would remain for the next 12 years.

At the time, Northup was 32 years old and lived with his wife, Anne, and their three children in Saratoga Springs – first on Washington Street, then relocating around the block to the United States Hotel. He was engaged in seasonal work at the busy hotels during summers and secured engagements as a violin player during the winter months to make ends meet. 

“I was walking about the village of Saratoga Springs, thinking about where I might obtain some present employment…on the corner of Congress Street and Broadway near the tavern still kept by Mr. (C.B.) Moon,” Northup recounted in the book he wrote about those years, titled: “Twelve Year a Slave.” 

The strangers promised Northup $1 for each day of service plus $3 per show in addition to cover his traveling expenses back to Saratoga Springs. He was enslaved for 12 years.

Saratoga’s reputation as a resort town had already been established by the mid-1800s. The black population in Saratoga Springs grew from less than 100 in the 1830s to nearly 300 by mid-century. Many were attracted, as Northup was, by the hope of job opportunities. 

“I passed the days and nights. I was heart sick and discouraged. Thoughts of my family, of my wife and children, continually occupied my mind. When sleep overpowered me, I dreamed of them – dreamed I was again in Saratoga – that I could see their faces, and hear their voices calling me,” Northup wrote.

Although northern-based blacks were said to be free, many were kidnapped and brought South where they would be sold. In 1800, all of Saratoga County had 358 slaves. By 1810, the figure was 107. At the time of Northup’s abduction 30 years later, census figures list a total of four slaves in the entire state of New York. By comparison, southern states like Georgia showed 280,000; South Carolina more than 320,000 and Virginia recorded nearly a half million slaves among the population in the 1840s.

Solomon Northup Day, launched by local resident Renee Moore, was first designated in Saratoga Springs in 1999. A plaque commemorating Northup was fixed outside the Saratoga Visitors Center on the corner of Congress Street and Broadway. 

Northup’s book was published shortly after his release in 1853. In 2013, a film adaptation of Northup’s book, titled “12 Years A Slave,” garnered numerous awards, including an Oscar for Best Picture of the Year.   

A second city proclamation honored the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Capital District Transit Authority on Aug. 1 and noted that in its highest ridership year CDTA had secured 17.1 million riders. 

A third proclamation expressed appreciation for the work conducted by AIM Services, Inc., who have residential and community-based services to people with disabilities since 1979 in Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties, and was read in advance of next week’s 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Performing Arts Center announces that “Caffè Lena @ SPAC”  will return to premiere a special, limited screening of ‘Mavis 80, A Newport Folk Revival’ on the SPAC Grounds at 8 p.m. on July 31. The broadcast, which was previously recorded live in Los Angeles at The Theatre At Ace Hotel on May 22, 2019, is exclusive to Newport Folk Festival and “Caffe Lena @ SPAC.” 

The SPAC lawn is the only place where the concert will be streamed in person, with a limited capacity of only 50 people, and with carefully mapped out, socially-distanced seating and rigorous COVID protocols.

“This is a very emotional moment for us, to be able to open our gates again for the communal enjoyment of great music-making. To be able to partner with Caffè Lena and Newport Folk Festival around artists like Mavis Staples, Trombone Shorty and Deva Mahal — all SPAC Jazz Fest favorites — makes this event incredibly meaningful,” says Elizabeth Sobol, President and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center. 

The broadcast ‘Mavis 80, A Newport Folk Revival,’ is the premiere of Mavis Staples’ 80th birthday celebration in Los Angeles, following shows in New York and Nashville. Staples was joined by Jason Isbell, Phoebe Bridgers, Brandi Carlile, M. Ward, Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison, Dawes’ Griffin and Taylor Goldsmith, Benjamin Booker, Ben Harper, Lucius, Trombone Shorty, Joe Henry, Son Little, the War & Treaty, and more. The show was produced by Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. and proceeds from the “Caffè Lena @ SPAC” screening will support the Foundation’s music education programs. 

 This “Caffè Lena @ SPAC” event will take place rain or shine around SPAC’s new concession building, “The Pines,” and its new HD screen. Designated 10X10 lawn spaces will be allocated and reserved for ticket buyers. Tickets are available to purchase for $25 as a box, which seats up to two people.  All guests are required to purchase tickets in advance at https://nvite.com/caffelena/f1f59; tickets will not be available for purchase at the door. Guests are permitted to bring chairs, blankets, factory sealed water bottles and essential personal items.  Food and alcohol are not permitted on the grounds, however Mazzone Hospitality will be on site to provide food and beverage options. 

All attendees will need to enter through the Hall of Springs Gate and are required to complete a health screening questionnaire upon entry. Guests are required to wear a face mask at all times unless situated in their reserved box. Restrooms will be available with social distancing and enhanced cleaning and sanitation protocols in place in accordance with recommended guidelines. Visit spac.org for additional details.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Arts has opened up the application process for its 2021 Decentralization Grants cycle. Designated as a Decentralized Grants Program (DEC) site by the New York State Council on the Arts, Saratoga Arts provides regrant funding for arts and cultural projects throughout Fulton, Montgomery and Saratoga Counties each year.

Saratoga Arts’ Decentralization Grants Program offers three categories of grant funding: Community Arts Grants for qualified organizations, Artist Grants to support individual artists and their work and Arts Education Grants for short-term artist residencies that take place in the community or in schools.

The deadline to apply for Saratoga Arts Decentralization Grants for projects taking place in 2021 is Nov. 6, 2020. 

Informative grants educational sessions have been scheduled as a series of webinars from end of July through September, with additional live seminars on-site at the Arts Center that will only run if it is safe to do so at that point. All interested new and returning applicants are strongly encouraged to attend one of these sessions to learn all about our new fully online application process and other important details and changes in program guidelines made in response to the pandemic’s impact on the arts.

The first set of Grants Webinars will be offered through Zoom video conferencing 

For more details on the application process, grants guidelines, deadlines, requirements and informational grants webinars, please go to: saratoga-arts.org. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — In 1821, renowned composer, musician, show man and bandleader Francis Johnson was hired to come to Saratoga and entertainer summer visitors at Congress Hall. 

The Philadelphia-born fiddle player had adapted his musical skills to the newly designed keyed bugle which earned him high prominence on the early 19th century concert circuit, providing him bookings   all across North America as well as overseas. 

Born a free black man, Johnson led his band in Saratoga Springs for more than 20 years – between 1821 and 1843 – missing only the 1840 season. He played to overflow crowds that invited extended bookings. 

“The groves and spacious halls of Saratoga resounded with the notes of this enchanting bugle and violin,” reads one anonymously penned local review of the era, praising Johnson and his band’s performance of “music from all the recent operas, together with waltzes, gallopades, marches and quicksteps.” 

Johnson performed twice a day in Congress Park and alternated evenings at Congress Hall and the United States Hotel. His compositions included pieces titled in honor of the region – “Saratoga,” “Congress Hall,” and “Ballston,” among them. 

He entertained families with cheerful marches, livened up parties with cotillions – brisk, lively dance tunes, enjoyed by audiences that included James Monroe and John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. 

For his band, Johnson hired what was regarded as some of the best black musicians of the early 19th century, and shortly before his death in 1844, he staged what are believed to be some of the first integrated concerts in America. 

The bandleader was recognized in Saratoga Springs on July 20, 1978 – which was declared Frank Johnson Day, in a proclamation issued by the city of Saratoga Springs and signed by Mayor Raymond Watkin.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College received a $1.5 million grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, the museum announced this week. The grant will build the Tang’s endowment and expand K-12 and community educational programming throughout the region and beyond.

The Tang’s educational program usually reaches more than 8,000 people of all ages each year through programs in the museum like the popular Family Saturdays, as well as workshops at schools, libraries, and community centers, especially in underserved urban, rural, and suburban areas across the region. 

These programs often feature interpretive exercises of artwork in exhibitions or from the Tang collection, and art-making projects. Since the pandemic, the program has moved online to offer a wealth of art-making activities at tang.skidmore.edu/tang-at-home. Museum educators also conduct teacher training for K-12 educators from around the region. 

The grant will endow a key Tang position, which will now be called The Laurie M. Tisch Educator for K-12 and Community Programs. The grant will also fund programming to expand the Museum’s reach to new audiences, especially school students and adults in traditionally underserved areas.

The Tang Teaching Museum was founded in 2000 and will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2020 with a series of exhibitions. Details and programs will be announced in the coming months. 

The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund is a New York City-based foundation that strives to improve access and opportunity for all New Yorkers and foster healthy and vibrant communities. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga’s Star Radio on 93.3FM, 1160AM, and 900AM, is looking to help three local businesses advertise their company’s reopening through an enter-to-win a $10,000 Marketing Campaign Contest. There will be three prizes awarded, worth $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500. 

To participate in the $10K Marketing Campaign Contest, businesses are asked to hang up a Star Radio Open/Closed sign and take a photo of their storefront with the sign on display. Photos can then be submitted on the Star website at starsaratoga.com. Once a business has registered for the contest, their name will be added to a new business directory on the Star Radio website. The contest entry deadline is 12 a.m. Monday, Aug.  31. Prizes will be awarded on Friday, Sept. 4 on the Star Morning Show with John Meaney in the 8 a.m. hour. 

First Prize includes six months of airtime on Saratoga’s Star Radio, six boosted posts on social media, a Pre-Roll streaming ad on Star’s mobile app for one month and a display ad on starsaratoga.com for one year. Second Prize includes three months of airtime, three boosted posts on social media, a Pre-Roll streaming ad on Star’s mobile app for one month and a display ad on the Star website for six months. Third Prize includes one month of radio airtime, one boosted post on social media and a display ad on starsaratoga.com for three months. A full list of contest rules and eligibility requirements is available on starsaratoga.com. 

Locally owned and operated, Saratoga’s Star Radio offers a mix of music, local news and relevant information to listeners living in the Saratoga region. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — “SPAC REIMAGINED,” a series of unique, locally shot dance videos that pay tribute to the 2020 classical season and feature all three of SPAC’s resident companies are premiering through July 25 at spac.org, and on SPAC’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

Created by videographers and NYCB dancers, Emily Kikta and Peter Walker, the project combines the talents of seven dancers and four choreographers from New York City Ballet, alongside music performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The videos will culminate with a longer-form, exclusive performance on Saturday, July 25. 

 “In a time when the usual parameters and processes of presenting live performance have evaporated, SPAC has been reinventing itself – and the ways in which we provide great art and artists to our community,” said Elizabeth Sobol, President and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center, in a statement. “This year marks our fourth collaboration with NYCB dancers and videographers Emily Kikta and Peter Walker, but it is the first time that the series will incorporate artists from across our entire classical season.  We feel fortunate to have this artistic gift to share – something to fill, if just a little, the enormous void created in a ballet season without New York City Ballet.” 

 The artists choreographed, rehearsed and shot the films over a two-week period, and features four new digital works filmed exclusively on the grounds of SPAC and in the Saratoga Spa State Park and are all set to music originally planned to be performed during the 2020 classical season. 

Emily Kikta has been a dancer in New York City Ballet since 2010. Peter Walker has been a dancer and choreographer with the New York City Ballet since 2011. New York City Ballet dancers featured in the videos include Devin Alberda, Christina Clark, Uma Deming, Meaghan Dutton-O’Hara, Anthony Huxley, Emily Kikta and Peter Walker. The pieces were choreographed by Emily Kikta, Peter Walker, Devin Alberda and Christina Clark. All artists were tested for COVID-19 prior to coming to the Capital Region and the artists strictly adhered to the CDC’s guidelines for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs History Museum will host a virtual presentation via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 23. The program, titled “Troy and Saratoga Springs: Much in Common,” is part of the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust Program Series.   

The talk will cover things that represent the tie between the two communities and will cover well-known personalities such as John Morrissey, residences of well-known industrialists, and railroads such as the Delaware & Hudson that had much to do with the late 19th and early 20th century economic development of both Saratoga Springs and Troy. 

Author Richard Chait and City of Troy/Rensselaer County historian Kathy Sheehan will present this interesting topic.

The event is free and limited to the first 100 people to join.  To join the event visit www.saratogahistory.org/alfred-z-solomon-program-series and click the link to view the event.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Casino Hotel in Saratoga Springs, and Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady each announced this week that they have issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN Act) notices to their furloughed team members. 

At Saratoga, more than 80 percent of the company’s workforce was impacted by the properties temporary closure beginning March 16 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the initial closure, all furloughed team members received salary and wages for two weeks and currently all team members remain covered by the company’s health insurance.

Saratoga Casino Hotel will issue the legally required WARN Act notices due to circumstances beyond the company’s control and the uncertainty surrounding when the property will be allowed to reopen.  Federal law requires large employers to issue WARN notices when a furlough or layoff is reasonably expected to stretch beyond six-months, and at this time it remains unclear as to when team members would be allowed to return to work. Advanced notice gives workers, their families, and communities time to transition, seek new employment, and enter workforce training programs.

Furloughed team members at Saratoga number 401. More than 1,000 Rivers team members have been furloughed after salaries and wages were retained for four weeks following the March 15 temporary closure of the property in order to help stop the spread of COVID-19. 

Both casinos say they would like to reopen as soon as the state permits. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — There will be no fans in the stands at Saratoga Race Course this weekend as the summer meet gets underway, but a quartet of local organizations are sponsoring an Opening Weekend “Masks On” celebration in downtown Saratoga Springs.

Local entertainers will perform live outside along the street in several locations along Broadway and local shops and restaurants will be hosting viewing parties and special events this weekend.

Events are presented by the Downtown Business Association, Saratoga Springs City Center, Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, and Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership. 

“Everyone strolling along outside on Broadway this opening weekend enjoying this entertainment, our stores, shops and restaurants must follow CDC guidelines for social distancing,” the organizations say, in a statement. “Where this is not possible outside along the street such as near a live entertainer, you must wear a mask for your own safety as well as those around you. That’s what we have to do to put health first during our ‘Masks On’ Celebration as we fight to stop the spread of COVID-19.”