A Fond Farewell to the Art Mission & Theater
This month, we devote the Film Section to saying farewell to the Art Mission & Theater, the loss of which will be felt deeply by lovers of independent cinema in Binghamton. Tucked away at the edge of Downtown Binghamton across from the Kilmer building, the Art Mission made its home as the one and only spot dedicated to showing independent films in the Binghamton area.
The Art Mission and Theater opened its current location in 2007 after the original Art Theater on Washington Ave on Binghamton’s South Side burned down in an electrical fire. With just two small theaters squeezed onto the first floor of its brick building, its impact greatly exceeded its size.
When I first moved to Binghamton in 2012 I was an emerging BU film student and
lifelong escapist, so I quickly sought out the local movie houses. It was just after the floods and the AMC Vestal’s red recliners were brand new, but still I found myself on Prospect Street seeing what was new in the more offbeat world of independent cinema. There my eyes bulged throughout Tickled, a documentary about “competitive endurance tickling” and the mysterious fellow who orchestrated this sport. In an entirely different experience, I left the theater speechless after seeing “Son of Saul,” a closeup of one day in the life of a man in Auschwitz as he tries to bury his son’s body. Countless times I showed up to the Art Mission, knowing little more of what I was about to see than its Rotten Tomatoes score, and left moved, excited, or just baffled. It’s not to say that big blockbusters can’t be moving, but Art Mission’s curation was such that nearly every film left a lasting impression.
As its name reminded, the Art Mission was not just a theater, but a community presence and force. It was home to the Binghamton Babylon and the Rod Serling Film Festivals. When there was a film festival in Binghamton, it was usually at the Art Mission. It also took part in First Friday, its lobby doubling as a gallery space.
While it long struggled to hang on, in the end the theater folded due to debt. Rebecca Sheriff, who served for five years as the Art Mission’s executive director, has said ‘Netflix culture’ is to blame for the decline in attendance. She hopes another establishment will take on the showing of indie films in this community.
Until then, indie film lovers out there will have to get to streaming from home, or it seems they have already done so. With a tear and a sigh, we say goodbye to the best place to escape into another world and pay only $2 for popcorn. The Art Mission will be sorely missed.
