Celebrating Sandbox's first year

A 440 is recognized by musicians around the world as the tuning standard. Upon my first entry into 440 Ortiz - A, it seemed inevitable that music and art were destined to be found at such an auspicious address. The history of how 440 Ortiz came to be involves many artists and dreamers. Artists, Gregory Hawthorne commissioned FAIA architect Jerome Lomax to design this chic modernistic structure conspicuously nestled in the heart of the industrial district of Sand City. Jerome Lomax, treasured by all who had the good fortune to know him lived at the address himself. Following his passing, close friend and philanthropist, Donald McEnry Davis took over stewardship of 440 Ortiz. Don imagined and created a space where the visual, theatrical and performing arts would coexist and thrive. Then 2020 happened and lives shifted every which way. The silver lining of all these shifts is that we became the new stewards of 440 Ortiz.

Why "Sandbox"?

Naming the venue was so fun and somehow made it real. Growing up in Trenton, NJ in a row house with 9 people in a 3 bedroom one bathroom house involved lots of compromising. My French mother, Raymonde, always made us feel that we had everything we needed. She encouraged her 7 seven children to talk about their dreams around the kitchen table. She called that time “building castles in Spain”. The concept of dreaming big and imagining anything was possible helped me navigate a lot of uncertain times. Well this is sort of a castle in Sand City. With the ocean at our front door there could be no better invitation to dream and create or “build castles in Spain” than a SandBox. And so it is.

A community of talent

I am blessed to have so many gifted and generous colleagues that I call friends. With no money to promise but ticket sales they shared their many talents with a small audience that started from a mailing list of just fifty names. Mads Tolling, Grammy Award winning jazz violinist, presented the first show ever in June of 2021. The list of artists that have played and appeared in SandBox has grown to over 75 and we have held 49 events in just 15 months. And as of October 2022 the email list has grown to 600+.

This grass roots growth is so inspiring and a testament to the staying power of SandBox as an inclusive and inviting community space for realizing and witnessing the creative energy of the performing arts.

Backstage after a performance at SandBox with harpist Adam Phan, violist Siwoo Kim, cellist Michelle Djokic, and dancers Antoine Hunter and Zahna Simon

Our summer program

Join us for this rare opportunity to hear the composer bring his own compositions to life! Almer Imamovic is a highly sought after guitarist/composer and his works have been featured in concerts on five continents. As a versatile and innovative guitar player, he is a master of the electric guitar as well as Latin and Balkan stringed instruments and can be heard on numerous major motion pictures and TV soundtracks. Most recently, Almer’s song “Stani Draga” was featured in the film "In the Land of Blood and Honey", written and directed by Angelina Jolie. Join us to hear his music first hand with colleague Jessica Pierce on flute.

Witness these legends coming soon to SandBox!

Lead singer of AZA music, Fattah Abu was born and raised in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where he began playing traditional Tamazight “Berber” music at the age of seven. He is proficient on several string instruments, and percussion. Performing on the international circuit Fattah makes his first appearance in SandBox with his colleagues from AZA Music.

Grammy award winning pianist, Tammy Hall has traveled and performed extensively in Japan, Europe and Mexico, including a 30-city tour with Queen Esther Marrow and the Harlem Gospel Singers throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Other venues and festivals of note include Kennedy Center (Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival), Dizzy's and the Rose Room at Jazz At Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall.

Help us expand the reach of Sandbox

It has been less than a year and SandBox is overflowing. What a community we've built! It's time that we expand SandBox's capacity to host our growing audience. With your support, we can build a new entryway that will allow us to triple our capacity and present richer and more immersive programs. Through our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas your donation is 100% tax deductible.

If you're interested in sustaining a thriving community of artists and audience members, please consider supporting us with a tax deductible donation!