Empire Training Center for the Arts is a new vocational venture operating out of The Chance Theatre on Main Street in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Married co-founders Trish Santini and Frank Butler have drawn on decades of combined arts administration and stagecraft experience to develop a brand-new training blueprint for individuals interested in working in the performing arts from the production side - without attending traditional, and often costly, university programs.
Applications are now open for the first round of Stagecraft and Technology fellows – the application window closes on January 31.
Frank Butler will lead the Stagecraft and Technology curriculum - having served as Director of Production The Shed in New York City, and Production Director, both at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and American Repertory Theater in Cambridge. He has taught as a guest lecturer and curriculum advisor at University of Arizona, North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Vermont, and Yale University.
Empire Training Center for the Arts Co-Founder and Executive Director Trish Santini, who joins us now, was the Inaugural Executive Director of Little Island NYC. Prior to Little Island, Santini was External Relations Director and Producer at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and Vice President/Marketing at TMG-The Marketing Group. She served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. She currently serves on the board of directors for The BringAbout NYC and is on the advisory board at Pace University, Sands College of Performing Arts.
