A Downtown Performing Arts Center - Can local artists afford it?

I do not know much about the proposed arts center outside of what I read, but I have to say it is getting more and more difficult to keep up with all the changing players, opinions and actual facts. There was another article on this soap opera on Richmond.com last week.

In my opinion, Richmond could use an arts center downtown, not just a renovation of Carpenter. We could truly use a dedicated, multi-use space that the Richmond Symphony and other organizations can utilize year-round. The space should feature an audience size smaller than Carpenter or Landmark but larger than most of the current venues and also feature a stage space to serve multiple uses - dance, theatre and the symphony. We could also use the services of a fully realized arts center, something that all the Richmond area performing arts can utilize and audiences can think of as the "go-to" for information on all of Richmond's remarkable arts organizations.

But let us also not forget the other Richmond projects such as The Canal (where are all these restaurants and venues that were going to populate The Canal for tourists?), Sixth Street Marketplace (now, only a memory), and Main Street Station (it's a train station, it's a mall, it's not a mall, it's a restaurant/club, it's a -- wait for it -- *train station*.) Before the construction starts, the powers that be really need to partner with some of our local arts organizations to make sure that the music hall, or community theatre, or whatever it is that is built at the arts center will actually be used. And one very important factor to consider is that the space (or at least part of it) should be affordable to local artists. If the local artists cannot utilize the space because of prohibitive rental fees, then is there a point? We already have fantastic facilities for tours, national and international artists like Landmark, Carpenter and, of course, the Modlin Center at UR. If the arts center adjacent to the Carpenter Center is not rent structured to make it accessible to local artists, then I do not see much of a point in dragging this process along for a full arts center. If it's not affordable, I predict it will be rented by wedding parties and dance school recitals and will not become the performing arts hub that is envisioned.

I understand that City money is being used to build this arts center. I would not recommend spending millions to build a monstrosity that will not pay for itself. It is a documented fact that people who attend performances end up spending double the tickets prices, often more, on their experience -- from dinner to parking to souvenirs, etc. An arts center could be a great contributor not only to Richmond's heart and soul but also to its pocketbook, but only if there is an actual plan. Although the idea of "build it and they will come" has not worked for Richmond in the past, the movers and shakers behind the arts center still seem to subscribe to this notion.

Richmond deserves a place where it's home grown and wonderfully talented artists can continue to afford to explore their craft and audiences can think of as a central location. It seems a lot of time and energy has been spent by many different groups formed for many different reasons to figure this whole arts center thing out. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that when all is (finally) said and done, we've got the arts center we've all been dreaming of using and visiting.

And on a related note, the Carpenter Center is amazing and the renovation past due, particularly to expand the stage and wing space for the road shows. However it does seem out of sorts that this amazing space has sat empty for so long before any type of renovation has begun.

Fall of 2009 seems so very far away....

Categories: non-theatre, editorials