Tucked under the main staircase at Albany Barn are artist-decorated chair desks covered in graffiti carvings, religious iconography and a monster molded from wads of chewed gum. Unadorned ones sit on each floor of the adjacent Academy Lofts, and photos of rubble-filled classrooms straight out of a post-apocalyptic, dystopian television show decorate some of the hallways. These scholastic adornments pay homage to the past life of a building almost demolished.
Ten years ago, the Albany Barn broke ground at the derelict St. Joseph’s Academy on Second Street for its new home. Today, the Barn continues to support artists and the Arbor Hill neighborhood through programming and affordable housing with an eye toward extending its mission across the Capital Region.
