A fine accomplishment
A fine accomplishment … and a long road ahead
DOMINIC P. PAPATOLA
Well, it's over.
After years of planning and cajoling and dealing, the new Guthrie Theater finally opens next weekend. Following the grand opening of the new wing at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts earlier this month and last year's formal unveiling of the expanded Walker Art Center and Children's Theatre Company, Minnesota's first great cultural building boom of the 21st century is complete.
There are a few stray millions to be raised here and there, so it's not quite time to hoist the 'Mission Accomplished' banner. Still, what were mere twinkles in the collective eyes of board members and arts administrators a handful of years ago have become reality. Glistening new theaters. More and better gallery space. Endowment money set aside to help ensure artistic excellence into the future.
How did we get here?
Vision, for one thing. The leaders and the boards of the area's largest arts organizations already sat at or near the first tier of their respective peer groups. But each knew that growth was required to maintain that excellence and that pursuing growth was a risky economic and artistic proposition.
Sitting in his sun-splashed office at the new, riverfront Guthrie Theater, artistic director Joe Dowling was asked how he managed to stay sane through an arduous political, developmental and fundraising process.
He said he tried to think of putting together a $125 million facility in the same way he tried to put together a play. He knew how to work with a diverse group of designers, he knew about staying within a budget, and he knew that a creative endeavor frequently requires a certain amount of diplomacy with prickly personalities.
But vision without execution is nothing more than pretty words. Though we saw flashes of temper and frustration throughout the process, few people outside the institutions themselves will ever really know the sweat and agony that went into completing these projects. Maybe that's for the best.
What we do know is that it took upward of $350 million to complete the Walker, Guthrie, CTC and MIA projects. And while kudos go to the arts groups themselves for getting out there and raising the money, the community itself deserves a bundle of the credit. More than 4,000 donors contributed to make the new Guthrie a reality, for example.
That all four of these projects — operating essentially at the same time and with overlapping pools of contributors — managed to succeed is nothing short of astonishing and speaks very well of this region's support for arts and culture.
So, congratulations to the pillars of our arts community, and congratulations to ourselves.
But while it's all over, we should also remember that it's just beginning. The aftershocks of the first cultural building boom can already be felt.
The Minnesota Shubert Performing Arts and Education Center still has a long way to go on its $37 million capital campaign, and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is looking to bolster its endowment.
The MacPhail Center for Music is closer to its $25 million goal but is still toiling for contributions to build its next home near the Guthrie. And such smaller groups as St. Paul's SteppingStone Theatre for Youth Development have fundraising campaigns waiting in the wings.
While the Legislature and Gov. Tim Pawlenty have been generous to individual arts organizations in the past several years — the Guthrie, CTC, the Ordway, the Shubert and MacPhail have all been beneficiaries — the state's funding for the arts in general is still wanting.
The Minnesota State Arts Board, which funds arts groups from Grand Marais to Fairmont, is operating with a fraction of the budget it had a few years ago, and a plan to designate a portion of the state's sales tax for cultural initiatives died in the Legislature for a second year.
The arts community and its supporters have time to rest on their laurels. But not much. There's still a lot of work to be done.
Dominic P. Papatola's "Culture in Context" column appears Sundays in Life. He can be reached at dpapatola@pioneerpress.com .
DOMINIC P. PAPATOLA
Well, it's over.
After years of planning and cajoling and dealing, the new Guthrie Theater finally opens next weekend. Following the grand opening of the new wing at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts earlier this month and last year's formal unveiling of the expanded Walker Art Center and Children's Theatre Company, Minnesota's first great cultural building boom of the 21st century is complete.
There are a few stray millions to be raised here and there, so it's not quite time to hoist the 'Mission Accomplished' banner. Still, what were mere twinkles in the collective eyes of board members and arts administrators a handful of years ago have become reality. Glistening new theaters. More and better gallery space. Endowment money set aside to help ensure artistic excellence into the future.
How did we get here?
Vision, for one thing. The leaders and the boards of the area's largest arts organizations already sat at or near the first tier of their respective peer groups. But each knew that growth was required to maintain that excellence and that pursuing growth was a risky economic and artistic proposition.
Sitting in his sun-splashed office at the new, riverfront Guthrie Theater, artistic director Joe Dowling was asked how he managed to stay sane through an arduous political, developmental and fundraising process.
He said he tried to think of putting together a $125 million facility in the same way he tried to put together a play. He knew how to work with a diverse group of designers, he knew about staying within a budget, and he knew that a creative endeavor frequently requires a certain amount of diplomacy with prickly personalities.
But vision without execution is nothing more than pretty words. Though we saw flashes of temper and frustration throughout the process, few people outside the institutions themselves will ever really know the sweat and agony that went into completing these projects. Maybe that's for the best.
What we do know is that it took upward of $350 million to complete the Walker, Guthrie, CTC and MIA projects. And while kudos go to the arts groups themselves for getting out there and raising the money, the community itself deserves a bundle of the credit. More than 4,000 donors contributed to make the new Guthrie a reality, for example.
That all four of these projects — operating essentially at the same time and with overlapping pools of contributors — managed to succeed is nothing short of astonishing and speaks very well of this region's support for arts and culture.
So, congratulations to the pillars of our arts community, and congratulations to ourselves.
But while it's all over, we should also remember that it's just beginning. The aftershocks of the first cultural building boom can already be felt.
The Minnesota Shubert Performing Arts and Education Center still has a long way to go on its $37 million capital campaign, and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is looking to bolster its endowment.
The MacPhail Center for Music is closer to its $25 million goal but is still toiling for contributions to build its next home near the Guthrie. And such smaller groups as St. Paul's SteppingStone Theatre for Youth Development have fundraising campaigns waiting in the wings.
While the Legislature and Gov. Tim Pawlenty have been generous to individual arts organizations in the past several years — the Guthrie, CTC, the Ordway, the Shubert and MacPhail have all been beneficiaries — the state's funding for the arts in general is still wanting.
The Minnesota State Arts Board, which funds arts groups from Grand Marais to Fairmont, is operating with a fraction of the budget it had a few years ago, and a plan to designate a portion of the state's sales tax for cultural initiatives died in the Legislature for a second year.
The arts community and its supporters have time to rest on their laurels. But not much. There's still a lot of work to be done.
Dominic P. Papatola's "Culture in Context" column appears Sundays in Life. He can be reached at dpapatola@pioneerpress.com .
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