Mission & Vision

The Foundry @ Antioch College is a multi-use performing arts center with a long and rich history in the village of Yellow Springs. Our vision moving forward is that it will serve as a cultural hub for Antioch College and the regional community through original programming, artists in residence, and partnerships with other mission-aligned organizations and events.

Antioch College values the history of its celebrated theater past and honors all of the work that has transpired in its performance spaces over the years. The vision for the next wave of programming at the Foundry is an expansive mix of performances across various disciplines that work to engage the broader community through a ticketed series. Providing local audiences with culturally relevant programming, The Foundry Performing Arts Series will be a curated and mission-aligned season of shows that draw regional attention to both the College and the Village of Yellow Springs. It will engage the current student body and facilitate positive, community-building experiences through the arts. Through its success, the Foundry will help solidify the College’s stated vision of activated Learning Hubs and join many of the regional theaters as a known and sought out destination for the arts.

The Facility

The Facility includes a 200+ seat Mainstage Theater, a 60+-seat Experimental black box theater, a sprung-floor dance studio, an atrium, and additional workshop, office, and studio spaces. The Foundry is one of several Learning Hubs at Antioch College that contribute to mission and revenue by putting learning into action for our students and surrounding community.

Academic Intersections

• The Foundry often hosts courses in Performance and other areas that contribute to the Interdisciplinary Arts and Creative Practice focus for self-designed majors.
• The Foundry often employs students as part of the Antioch College Works campus jobs program or cooperative education requirement, offering hands-on experience in the world of the arts and arts management.

Chris Westhoff, Foundry Director

Chris Westhoff is excited to join Antioch College as the new Director of the Foundry Theater. He has worked in museums as an art handler, in schools as an educator, with construction and carpentry crews, and in many theaters across the country as a performer, musician, and manager. Chris has worked as the Managing Director of Mad River Theater Works since 2009 and recently became the Development Coordinator for the Antioch School, a celebrated democratic elementary school in Yellow Springs, OH. Between 2014-2022 he served as the Managing Director of the Historic Holland Theatre in Bellefontaine, OH, where he led seasons of dynamic arts programming and a restoration campaign that brought $1.6 million dollars to the 1931 venue. The fully restored facility, which became home to 4 artist-in-resident companies and host to celebrated and internationally touring artists, was recently nominated as the Ohio Historic Theater of the Year. Chris has a liberal arts degree from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, where his focus included documentary arts, media production, and music performance.