Saturday, October 23, 1999
Experts: Cities can rework arts
Unity needed for changes
BY AMY HIGGINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A thriving arts scene will bring jobs, money and tourists to a city — and generally enhance a struggling downtown, civic and arts leaders from across the country said Friday.
After listening to speakers from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Charlotte and Seattle at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Friday, Greater Cincinnati civic and arts leaders say that if the transformation can happen for them, it can happen here, too.
“We need to break out of the mold into new ways of funding,” said Robert Howes, chairman of the theater committee for the Emery Center and a violist in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. “It's a hard thing for Cincinnati to do. County government has to be the political entity that gets the governments organized.”
Hamilton County Commissioner Tom Neyer attended the symposium and agreed that a more unified action is needed to boost arts in Greater Cincinnati. He envisions the formation of a Regional Cul tural Alliance to take actions like those outlined Friday.
“It was good reminder, a good motivation and a good summary of the challenges Cincinnati faces,” Mr. Neyer said of the forum.
Speakers at Friday's symposium — sponsored by CCM's Arts Administration Program — said the way they turned around struggling city centers and established high-end cultural centers was through innovative public-private partnerships.
Wendy Ceccherelli, executive director of the Seattle Arts Commission, said the West Coast city went from being known as a “cultural dustbin” to one of the country's most popular cities because of a series of strong, visionary political and business leaders who unified the community.
“People don't fight each other,” she said. “They work together for a common cause. They look for ways to work together.”
City council appropriations took political courage, she said. But political leaders committed more than $40 million to convince the Seattle Symphony to relocate downtown. The new concert hall then generated $180 million in
commercial sales, attracted 300,000 music lovers downtown for one day of free music and increased the season subscriber base 31 percent.
Pittsburgh's investment in its 14-square-block cultural district also has had significant economic development return, said Carol R. Brown, president of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Public and private groups bought commercial properties and unsavory businesses and transformed an adult-entertainment district.
In 10 years, the number of performances in the district grew from 260 to 1,200. More are expected with a new theater scheduled to open soon. About 57,000 people attended 10 years ago, while more than 1 million attended last year and 1.5 million are expected next year. And more of those people — 39 percent, compared with 25 percent — are from outside the city.
“We're much livelier, much more animated, and have a much better quality of life as a result of the development of our cultural district,” Ms. Brown said.
Alan Yaffe, co-director of CCM's arts administration program, said Greater Cincinnati's problem is not that its center city is depressed but that its arts centers are spread out between the Cincinnati Museum Center, downtown, Over-the-Rhine, the University of Cincinnati and Mount Adams' Eden Park.
He hopes the lessons learned from Friday's event are those of unification and political courage.
“We still haven't hit critical mass of some concentration,” he said. “We need someone with vision to bring it all together.”
Houses for sale on 'Net
Shell expands easyPay plan to Cincinnati
Experts: Cities can rework arts
Elsie the Cow changed industry's image
For $15 million, Duramed settles Cenestin sales dispute
TRISTATE BUSINESS SUMMARY
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
TRISTATE EARNINGS REPORTS
Stock exchanges plan extended hours
TRISTATE MARKET SPOTLIGHT
