Fellow Madison blogger Emily Mills had a post yesterday concerning the recent news that the Overture Center's trust fund is to be liquidated.
Reading it made me realize all over again that the Overture Center has a huge PR problem. Mills' post is bookended by nonsense. Here's the first sentence: "News came on Friday that Madison's ivory tower of the arts, the Overture Center, was being forced to liquidate its trust fund in the name of paying off some substantial debt." (Emphasis mine.) "Ivory tower" has a pejorative connotation so right off the bat Mills is bashing the Overture Center.
And here's how she ends her post:
Perhaps if the center was more accommodating of local bands, artists, and functions, that would held to bring in more attendees and more cash. Perhaps not. It would, at least, make it more of a community space and not just an incongruous behemoth in the midst of otherwise homey State Street.
None of that will matter, of course, if the people who run the place can't get their financials in order. I wish them the best, honestly, because it would be nice to have the chance to transform the place into something the whole community can enjoy, and not have it become a stone around the city's neck.
So where can one find an example of these mystical arts centers that are enjoyed by a whole community? There is no way for the OC to be everything to everyone in this city. No arts facility can do that. And what does it mean to be a "community space"? When scores of families are gathered there on Saturday mornings for Kids in the Rotunda – a free event featuring local performers – what the hell do you call that? Sheer coincidence that a large group of free agents just happened to be in the same room at the same time?
Mills finds a quote from Alderwoman Brenda Konkel to be her "favorite" part of the article she links to at The Cap Times: "I'm not even sure a lot of our community even particularly wanted [the Center], to tell you the truth," she said. "I think our community appreciates the arts, but we're more into local arts, and I don't think this venue that really promotes that very much." Nothing like a little schadenfreude at the OC's expense.
Maybe in Konkel's bailiwick and at Progressive Dane meetings, but, while I think local art is most certainly appreciated, Madison as a whole is just like any other town or city – it values pop culture, the lowest common denominator, and the tried & true above all else, Richard Florida be damned. Thousands of Madisonians were all over "Phantom of the Opera" and "The Producers". Broadway musicals do well; Wilco was a sell out at the OC; Hollywood blockbusters do great here as do independent films that get the blessing of critics in New York – foreign films, films that don't receive the Sundance seal of approval - not so much; MSO audiences don't want to hear new or challenging compositions, they want Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms; and how many local playwrights find their work being performed here in Madison exactly? Look at the Bartell schedule and tell me how many of those plays were written by a local. Where's all this local art that Madison audiences supposedly crave above all else that is being rejected by the cultural arbiters of the OC ex cathedra?
If Madison has such a hard-on for local art, then the commodes at the Bartell should be lined with gold; the Broom Street Theatre would be in a larger venue; local bands would be selling out the Barrymore and the Orpheum on a constant basis instead of complaining that large swaths of the community don't support the music scene enough; locally-made films would be having month long runs. On this one, Ms. Konkel is full of shit up to her ears and the rest is sawdust. A run of Phantom of the Opera will always dwarf the productions of local theatre groups and bands like Wilco and Ryan Adams will fill Overture Hall while few, if any, local bands could do so. This group of people that eschew non-local art is a chimera because Madisonians demonstrate time and again that they're willing to march like lemmings to see big name acts from out of town.
While I think the OC can rightly be criticized for having made pledges to certain segments of the local arts community – I'm thinking local theatre troupes – and reneging, too many people in Madison thoughtlessly bitch about the facility, call it an "ivory tower", and, in general, think it elitist, in large part to my mind, because it doesn't direct all of its programming to 20-somethings. The OC ought to be commended more often for its programming, much of it free, directed at audiences that aren't served very well by other venues. Are there free activities for kids at Bartell every Saturday during the school year? Does The Frequency have shows for senior citizens? I guess I missed those listings in the paper.
Back in August Mills described Dane101 as an "effort at providing a comprehensive local resource for music, art, sports, recreation, politics, and everything else you might find in Dane County." Never mind that the vast majority of events at the Overture Center are ignored by Dane101. You can elide the culture promulgated at the Ivory Tower when bandying about the term "comprehensive", I guess. (And don't take this as a slam against Dane101 because it's not. Most of what happens at the OC is just simply beyond the purview of the site. I fully expect the site to make mention of Wilco or Ryan Adams at the OC but understand completely when it doesn't note a ballet performance there.) This, to my mind, is the problem here. It seems like Mills is so angry about how local theatre groups were betrayed that she can't look beyond that and see what actually happens at the OC. (See this post of hers from last fall.) There are walls constantly lined with the art of locals; there is a steady stream of performances by locals. But again, the OC has a tremendously broad potential audience. Of course, if you don't have kids, you're not going to give a shit about events like Kids in the Rotunda and the Children's Art Festival. If you're young, it's no surprise that you'd reject programs aimed at older adults. But just because you personally don't find community at the OC doesn't mean it's not there. If you feel left out by the OC then remember that there are lots of people in Madison who feel the same way about the clubs and other venues in this town that get petagallons of ink, both real and virtual.
If you want to argue that the OC is elitist because tickets aren't particularly cheap, then rethink that position. There are cheap seats to be had and there are even subsidized tickets available for folks who qualify. $29 can get you into many of the shows and is comparable to a lot of events at the Barrymore or the Orpheum. Is $40 a head for a BoDeans show elitist? Some prices are positively plebian: I can get a $15 ticket for the Madison Symphony Orchestra yet that wouldn't even buy me a pot to piss in at a Badger football game. $75 for the pukka seats at the Overture – what do you suppose the best seats at Camp Randall cost? (Want to grab a ticket from the Badger webpage's Wisconsin Football Ticket Marketplace? Well, cough up a $50 donation to Wisconsin Athletics for the privilege of just being able to login to the site.)
Emily, if you're reading this, please, please tell me:
1) Where can I find an arts center similar to the OC that appeals to the whole community? Do they exist anywhere except your imagination?
2) What incarnations of "community" does the OC lack?
3) What is the OC lacking for you personally?
4) Last fall you wrote: "I haven't seen much local content since (and I mean really local--not just the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the occasional jazz band in the Rotunda)." Please define "really local". When the Bartell schedule features either no or perhaps one play written by a Madisonian, does that count as "really local"?
The OC is not perfect but it cannot be everything to everyone.
Not all performances there appeal to me.
Any pledges regarding the facility's use by local groups that were never followed through should be explained and addressed.
The Overture Center is certainly not beyond criticism but how about offering some instead of merely using pejoratives, holding it up to an impossible standard, and complaining that it doesn't have "community", a nebulous, undefined concept.
5 comments:
Well, consider me thoroughly called out!
I'm willing to concede certain of your points, and happy to argue others--so please pardon what's sure to be a long-ass response.
Here we go.
First off, I have to note that the Bartell does feature plays by locals on a somewhat regular basis. Both Mercury Players and StageQ, at the very least, make a point of regularly putting on short and long form locally written plays (see: Queer Shorts, Mercury Rising, Blitz, etc.). And of course, we have Broom Street, which while hit-and-miss in terms of overall quality, consistently presents shows written by local and/or regional authors.
But you're right: Madison can and sometimes is just as prone to wanting tried-and-true national, mainstream acts as the rest of the nation, and that's sometimes reflected in the lower turnout at local events. But I would also argue that Madison holds some distinction as a town with a lot more to offer in terms of local arts than many cities of comparable size.
And I'm not just talking about stuff us crotchety 20-somethings dig--folk fests, hip-hop conferences, art galleries, foodie events, fairs, festivals, and on and on--we're not perfect in terms of diversity of the offerings, but I think we do pretty damn well.
I am sometimes a bit too harsh, though, on the Overture Center. The reason I referred to it as an "ivory tower" had more to do with the design aesthetics, though, than any perceived elitism. The place is just really, really stark and white. But I'm not an idiot, and I know that using a loaded phrase like "ivory tower" does carry with it certain implications that I probably didn't entirely mean.
Does the Overture offer some free, community friendly events? Absolutely, and I applaud them for it. My beef, I suppose, goes back to when plans were initially being drawn up, and the public cry for a more inviting, locally/regionally-oriented space went largely unheeded. I should have made that more clear. That and, you're right, the empty lip service they payed to local theatre and the like when they first opened still irks me.
Look, truth be told, I'm all for the national touring acts that they bring in. I just happen to think that they could do a better job of balancing those offerings with more locally produced art, half-affordable access to venues/space, and a little more outreach to the arts community.
Certainly, Overture will never be all things to all people, but I can't help but feel like there have been a number of missed opportunities and bungles along the way that could have been avoided. I should be less harsh and blanket-statementy in my criticisms in the future, though, and I apologize for coming off like a bit of an ungrateful jerk.
I hope that clears some things up.
I looked at my blog stats and found that someone had this post open for 838 hours. I presume you are in possession of time travel technology that the rest of the planet is not...
I agree with you about the architecture of the place. Most of it has all the aethetic quality of a public lavatory.
As for your gripe about its outreach to the arts community, I am going to assume you are infinitely more well-versed in this subject than me. For whatever reason, you seem reluctant to write about it at your blog and only mention it in passing. Please try addressing this in a future post as I am keen on reading about it.
One thing I want to add, Emily, is that not everything I wrote was a specific critique of what you had written. I had in mind many comments about the OC that I'd read at The Daily Page forum and comments on stories at the WSJ and TCT. There are lots of people who view the OC as a cow would an abbatoir.
You have time travelers reading your blog, and for that, I am jealous.
I will see what I can do to muster up a proper post about my perception that there is a lack of outreach. That seems fair enough to ask.
As a general rule, I try to avoid the comments section of news articles at the WSJ and TCT. Not that I always succeed, but in general, they tend to fill me with crushing depression.
Emily,
Having time travelers reading this thing is not all it's cracked up to be. I get lambasted about posts long before I've even written them.
I look forward to your post re the OC's lack of outreach. As for the comment sections, they are indeed depressing. It's hard to blame Bill Lueders for his views about the Internet after reading the crap that people say there.
Take care
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