Arts Gains Outweigh Losses According To Capital Region Leaders

The Times Union reported that the arts landscape in the Capital Region is an ever-changing aggregation of openings, closings, cutbacks and expansions. Looking back over the past five years, how have we fared?

"I'd say the last five years have been pretty good for the arts in the Capital Region," says Philip Morris, CEO of Proctors, which completed a $30 million renovation and now operates three theaters and attracts more than 500,000 people per year.

The crown jewel, of course, is EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center), the $200 million, 220,000-square-foot spectacle at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. It opened in 2008.

The Massry Center for the Arts at The College of Saint Rose in Albany opened the same year. In early 2010, the Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs opened.

"We now have top-notch, world-class performance venues," says Michele Desrosiers, managing director at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany. "I went to the Joshua Bell concert at EMPAC, when Dr. Jackson had her 10-year anniversary, and he made a comment about how this was one of the top three halls in the world."

Those additions, coupled with Proctors' ability now to present Broadway-quality shows, have changed the nature of arts offerings in the Capital Region, she says; they're increasingly sophisticated, more cosmopolitan.

"The good news is, we've just gone through a major cycle of capital investment in structures," Desrosiers says. "Now, as the economy has faded, we're at a time when we really can't afford those investments."

A cautionary note, Morris and others say, is that most of the major investments happened at colleges. Their priorities tend to be students and faculty, and they don't offer as many mainstream events for the public or involve the community as much as nonprofits or other arts organizations do, they say.

"Placing our cultural life at the college institutions, a migration like that, I don't think is the best thing for the community," Morris says. "It's a positive thing, but colleges are not about community engagement. They might open their doors for performances or exhibitions, which is great. But you don't see community people volunteering. You don't see community board members challenged with tough ethical issues or tough financial questions."

The economy, in the guise of state cutbacks, and scandal involving its director cost us the New York State Theatre Institute and its vast programming for children -- which for 36 years also engaged adults. The Troy-based theater company ceased operations on Dec. 31 and, arts leaders say, will be impossible to replace.

We also lost Revolution Hall in Troy, which held its final concert in June 2010. Tess' Lark Tavern in Albany burned down the month before. Other music venues and art galleries closed, and others opened.

We lost some First Nights but gained monthly Arts Nights in Albany, Schenectady and Troy as well as the Schenectady Art Attack, which in its first year drew 10,000 people to see 500 artists. We lost some summer concert series and some exhibition space, and some museums reduced hours.

But we gained the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, which offers an array of arts and music events, and WEXT, which, musicians say, is one of the most significant additions of the past five years. The FM station at 97.7 showcases local music.

"All in all, things do tend to even themselves out in the long run," says Sean Allen, marketing director at the Palace Theatre in Albany. "You lose some great ones, and others come in to fill the gap.

"I think given the size of the Capital Region, we can still consider ourselves very lucky with what we do have. This is not a huge city/area by any means, and I have seen much larger areas that didn't offer half of what we have for the arts."

After losing Gallery 100, an important exhibition space in downtown Saratoga Springs, to closure in 2008, Joel Reed, executive director of Saratoga Arts, says he fears that other arts groups will follow suit.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Arts-gains-have-outweighed-losses-leaders-say-959464.php#ixzz1BJZQD59v