After spending a decade at Meta, Mark D’Arcy has opened (Creative Legion), a new combo creative makerspace, stage and gallery.
By Jeff Dingler
When I first moved Upstate years ago, I marveled at how much creativity and arts flowed up the Hudson from New York City into these charming little towns. Each felt like a jewel of artists’ colonies carved out along the river. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“Hudson, specifically, but also Columbia County, generally, are reasonably unique in the world,” says Mark D’Arcy, founder of (Creative Legion), a new artistic incubator and workspace that opened its doors in May. “There are very few places I’ve ever seen that have the concentration of creative people, which goes back generations, that’s attracted these artists and designers to this beautiful environment, and it’s a deep-seated part of the culture, but it’s also just two hours from Manhattan.”
Located in the old American Legion building on Fairview Avenue (ergo the reference in the new name), this is much more than just another public office space where folks will pound out emails high on espresso (guilty) or autopilot through another two-hour staff meeting (doubly guilty). The goal is to create a dream factory, a warehouse of ideas for creatives with its own stage, gallery and podcast series to help generate, invite and perform these new artworks. This tiny building on one-and-a-half acres just outside the downtown strip has big ambitions of elevating the arts scene in Hudson, turning it into a nexus for artists, creatives and entrepreneurs both local and from all over.
SPACE JAM “We’ve designed the (Creative Legion) less as a purist co-working space and more of a collaborative space to make things,” D’Arcy says; (below) Hougland.
“I’ve spent a long time running creative teams all around the world at a bunch of different companies, and I’ve found that places are really important to turning community into action,” says D’Arcy. “That’s why we’ve designed the (Creative Legion) less as a purist co-working space and more a collaborative space to make things.”
D’Arcy would know, too. He’s a veritable marketing wiz with a love of the arts who spent a decade at Meta, a decade with Time Warner before that and just recently switched over to Microsoft AI—living between Seattle and Manhattan.
To helm this big project, D’Arcy tapped his long-time colleague and friend, the “heart and soul” and COO of (Creative Legion), Melissa Hougland.
“Hudson has one of the largest per capita populations of creatives in the country,” says Hougland, who worked with D’Arcy at Meta for years, doing event activations and working with creative groups. She recently relocated from Brooklyn to lead this new legion of artists. “You can’t go anywhere in Hudson without meeting someone who’s creative. So making a space for them to land in, to meet each other, especially five years out of the pandemic, is one of our goals.”
Hougland even helped revitalize the old, vacant American Legion building with Chatham-based designer Michele O’Hana. After three years of renovation, the end result is a sumptuous new artists’ emporium that’s beautiful, inspiring, but also useful for generating, testing and exhibiting creative work. The (Creative Legion) is membership-based, but it offers three tiers of plans—Fancy, Affordable and Free—so anyone can have access.
“It’s based on our love of the community,” D’Arcy says when asked about the price tag of such a project. “We need more creative businesses. As we look to grow the economy around Upstate New York, the creative economy is going to be a key factor in this. The more creative business, the more entrepreneurs, the more of these people we can attract to make Hudson and Columbia County a destination, the more world-class businesses and world-class ideas can take flight here.”
Speaking of, in July, the Legion opened their second exhibition with Good Black Art, in participation with Upstate Art Weekend, called “Waiting Room,” co-curated by emerging NYC-based artist Braden A. Hollis and designed by Pablo Olguin. And it’s just the beginning as (Creative Legion) plans future exhibitions, screenings and residencies in their purpose-built studios.
Next time I’m thinking about taking a train down to Gotham, I just may hop off in Hudson instead. In fact, I know I will.
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