Help to build The Caravan Center
Join Us in Building the Caravan Center at Stone Mountain Farm!
The Vanaver Caravan and The Center at Stone Mountain Farm need your support to create a transformative new space for arts, education, and community. We invite you to contribute to our campaign to build the Caravan Center at Stone Mountain Farm. Your donation will help construct a four-season creative haven for a wide range of classes, workshops, performances, and artist residencies.
What Will the Caravan Center Look Like?
Imagine driving into Stone Mountain Farm and seeing a beautiful, circular, sunlit dance studio. This space will be fully insulated, with heating and cooling to provide comfort year-round. Inside, a sprung tap-worthy marley dance floor will host movement classes, dance parties, aerial arts, Tai Chi, Yoga, seminars, and workshops. High ceilings will support 5th Wall Studio’s flying lessons, and the walls will display historic pictures and archival footage of The Vanaver Caravan and the Center for Symbolic Studies.
A rotating collection of books from the Center for Symbolic Studies’ Myth Library will enrich the space. Behind the studio, two bathhouses with showers and bathrooms are already built. Around the center, whimsical carts and wooden sheds will serve as storage units and seasonal office spaces, including a Vanaver Caravan shed painted by our CaravanKids during CaravanKids week.
Our Mission and Vision
The Caravan Center will be an accessible, safe community space open to everyone, regardless of gender, economic means, disability, belief, religion, ethnicity, or race. It will honor and acknowledge the Schaghticoke and Munsee Lenape lands it is built upon, sharing its space with indigenous groups and tribal organizations.
About Our Partnership
For over 30 years, the Vanaver Family and the Larsen Family have co-produced events, festivals, and workshops, beautifully aligning their missions to educate, inspire, and heal through art, storytelling, and nature. The building of the Caravan Center is the natural progression of this partnership. The Vanaver Caravan seeks a home base for year-round classes and workshops, and the Center at Stone Mountain Farm has the vision to build such a space.
About The Vanaver Caravan
For 50 years and three generations, The Vanaver Caravan Dance and Music Company has been an integral and beloved part of the Hudson Valley community, promoting peace, celebrating our shared humanity, and transforming young lives through the magic of music and dance.
About The Center at Stone Mountain Farm
The Center at Stone Mountain Farm, formerly the Center for Symbolic Studies, is the nonprofit branch of Stone Mountain Farm. For over 30 years, it has been a gateway to the Mythic Imagination, offering seasonal festivals, Dream Workshops, sacred teachings by shamans, lectures, and art and dance celebrations surrounded by nature.
About Stone Mountain Farm
Owned by the Larsen Family, Stone Mountain Farm is a performing arts hub and home to The Center. Its mission is to inspire nature-based spirituality, personal growth, and communal awareness. The farm hosts a year-round community and offers accommodations in cabins and ‘glamping' tents. Activities include building fairy houses, enjoying music at the Rail Trail café, Tai Chi, flying-dance, Dream Workshops, and theater rehearsals.
Project Timeline
Phase One: Quiet Phase (Year 1-2)
✅ Raised: $35k for the down payment on the yurt
Phase Two: Collaborative Capital Campaign (Year 2-3)
Raise the final $100k for materials, labor, construction, and electric
Phase Three: Build Phase (Year 3-4)
Raise the yurt and build the center!
Phase Four: Open Our Doors (Year 4-5)
The Caravan Center opens to dancers, aerial arts students, and the community
Future Projects (5 Years and Beyond)
Create an Access Fund for low to no cost space rental for artists and groups in need
Landscape the grounds with native flowers and indigenous plants
Build an entryway ‘waiting area’ for parents and caregivers
Construct “tiny home” style offices and storage units for visiting artists and community workshops
Build a state-of-the-art Myth Library and events building
How to Get Involved
If you are interested in contributing or volunteering for the Caravan Center capital campaign, please contact Miranda Way at moo@vanavercaravan.org or Gwyneth Larsen at stonemountainfarmlife@gmail.com.
Note: Miranda will be on maternity leave from July 2024 to September 2024. During this time, please reach out to Gwyneth Larsen.
Help us realize our dream and build our home! Together, we can create a lasting legacy of art, education, and community at Stone Mountain Farm.