Ardelle Striker, Blue Heron's Artistic Director, Dies 80

Ardelle Striker, Artistic Director of the former Blue Heron Theatre, died Thursday, December 3rd. Striker bravely battled the disease MDS for the past two years, at age 80.

Ardelle Striker was Artistic Director of Blue Heron Theatre and the person responsible for the day-to-day running of the Center. Striker opened the Blue Heron Theatre after having retired from her position in the theatre department of the University of Connecticut. Striker oversaw the construction of the Blue Heron Theatre off-Broadway. The theatre opened in 1986.

On December 30, 2005, the Blue Heron Arts Center closed its doors. The seven-year old space, installed in an abandoned health club in 1998, hosted more than two hundred theater companies and innumerable individual artists as it flourished at 123 East 24th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues). From its opening season, the Center provided a warm and welcoming environment for memorable productions in the larger Mainstage and aptly named Studio Theater. The lobby and entranceway also served as an art gallery curated by Patrick Christiano. Offices and three rehearsal spaces were located on a lower level.

Theater by the Blind made its home at the Blue Heron for many productions while Urban Stages and the Abingdon Theatre used the spaces for several shows before finding or building their own facilities. Well-established off-off Broadway companies worked side by side with newer voices to make the Center a vibrant part of the cultural life of the midtown east area incorporating Murray Hill, Gramercy Park and Flatiron Districts. Among the many other companies that called the Blue Heron a temporary home were the following award-winning and nominated companies: The Rude Mechanicals Theater Company (playwright Will Eno won the 2004 Newsday Oppy Award for The Flu Season presented at the Blue Heron); Ma-Yi Theater Company; Willow Cabin Theatre Company; and Edge Theater Company. David Korins won the 2004 American Theatre Wing Hewes Design Award for The Edge's production of Adam Rapp's Blackbird. The December 2005 issue of American Theatre magazine features photos (page 31) of the Studio Theater empty and with Korin's transformational Canal Street tenement design that won him the Hewes design award.

Striker is survived by her husband John and her children David and Elizabeth Nowells.