Choose the Arts, letter to the editor

Want a job and housing in Aspen?

We have 300+ employees of the City of Aspen (bennies! housing!)  but we aren’t teaching our kids to be bureaucrats we’re teaching them to be chefs and wait staff (no bennies! no housing!). The alternative to a  City job or winning the APCHA lottery is to be a real estate broker and sell as many 50,000’ mausoleums as possible. Who needs open space.. we don’t need no open space… we just need that one view from that one window.. and a plastic elk.

I can feel what’s trickling down… and it ain’t quality of life.

Want free market and a meritocracy?
I say, "Choose the Arts".

“The Arts don’t pay.” you say… I say… "Bull****".

Sit through all those credits at the end of a Marvel movie that’s the “below the line” credits the “little people” without the mansion or the stretch. Every one of those people has a job which pays enough for their home and for their kids to go to college. Every. Single. One. (that’s what collective bargaining can do folks) Do you think Food & Wine or X Games would happen without the air time? The Arts are not just paint.

We certainly have our share of artists who were born and raised here- successful professionals in their fields - they can afford to live here but they don’t work here - they don’t bring their business back home.  What would it take to fix that?

JMO

The imitation of failure, letter to the editor, updated

This is in response to the plans for development of the former Pan and Fork trailer park site.

Dear Basalt, when one culture imitates another it imitates the worst parts of that culture.

Condos???? You want Condos instead of a clear shot at the river and grass under your feet? Don't you already have a crystal clear example of what 50 year old Condo development looks like? Is that the future you want? Have. You.  Lost. Your. Mind??????

Aspen Journalism Condo/Hotel study

If I voted in Basalt I'd push for a Performing Arts Center. 

Stratford upon Avon 

(take a look at a plan of Stratford- it's analogous to Basalt in many ways)

If I voted in Basalt I'd be canvasing local architects (Harry Teague comes glaringly to mind) who understand both the topography and the community (I mean did anybody even ask???).

Center for the Arts Jackson Wyoming, Harry Teague architect

If I voted in Basalt I wouldn't rest until the wetlands which were torn out with the trailers were replaced.

Rock Bottom Ranch wetlands

If I voted in Basalt I'd be thinking of all sorts of ways that those folks in their oh so urbane loft apartments at Willits could spend a quaint evening sipping chilled cucumber water on the green by the river- because there sure ain't nothin' happening at Willits when the stores shut their doors.

Come on Basalt don't do an Aspen- do better than Aspen- make a destination community not a second home community.

Simon Pearce Mill Restaurant and Glass factory

Updated: here is a perfect example of how a museum can revitalize a community and become a destination point: Crystal Bridges which now hosts 600,000+ visitors a year

The proposed Wheeler Opera House Annex-updated

This is in response to an article in the Aspen Daily News about a proposed Wheeler Opera House Annex

Well I'm disappointed. I can't hide that. I'm very disappointed. The proposal may be "shovel ready" but the main purpose seems to be more office space instead of supporting our Performing Arts Community or any Community for that matter.

I've outlined the continuing Performing Arts Center follies in a previous post  and I'll stand by that. I firmly believe Aspen can become a Performing Arts powerhouse but not by adding more office cubicles. It's a quick way to spend the $28 million in the Wheeler RETT fund so that no-one else poaches it but it does little else.

Some problems:

1. We already have a "black box" theatre.

2. Most "black boxes" get one set of seating which rarely gets changed for the simple reason that changing stadium seating needs a lot of time and labor and that costs money- more money than the average small theatre has to spend on labor. The other consideration is that an swiss army knife concept to theatrical production needs storage. You need storage for all those other configurations. The rule of thumb is 3x the storage space as the performance space.

3. Putting a theatre in the basement means a lot of public stairs and an ADA entrance. Once you've done that you've cut into your precious seating to the point of insolvency.

4. For pities sake if you want people to know you have a theatre in the basement you don't make them walk through offices to get there. This is prime box office store front space not prime copier machine space.

5. This does not offer any community gathering space - something which you will be bulldozing when those ready shovels start digging in the pocket park next to the Wheeler. At very least  you need to replace the park you're demolishing.

Here are plans of a proposal which will work.

1. This plan gives more wing space to the backstage at the Wheeler. The new lift gives easy access to the 3rd story and additional storage effectively doubles the wing space for performance scenic elements.  Refurbishment of the Wheeler backstage should include modernizing the arbors, audio and lighting.

2. A second smaller performance space gives  single performer touring shows and cutting edge experimental production a venue with the same coveted central Aspen location. This will free up the larger Wheeler stage for bigger touring shows and for longer running local productions. The increased variety of performance arts in a central location will reinforce the Aspen core value of diversity.

3. Using the Annex Theatre roof as a public garden increases the social networking value of the Wheeler complex. This also allows the view from Wagner Park to remain consistent with greenery masking the stage right wing addition. Sight lines are shown on "Plate #3 Wheeler Annex Patio".

4. The new Annex provides "pocket shops" for basic production needs. This is not sufficient for productions to be built in Aspen;  but it is sufficient to provide repair and maintenance on site for incoming tours. Backstage support facilities on site and in town allow for educational opportunities in the theatre arts. This supports a variety of interests in our younger citizens and cultivates a new generation of performing arts enthusiasts. 

5. This is a preliminary proposal and is only intended as a starting point for discussion.  Consultants who contributed include Glen Boyette (34 year production supervisor for AOL Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting), Isabel Rubio (award winning wardrobe manager and costume designer) and Allan Trumpler (Art Director on numerous Feature Films, Scenic Artist for Broadway and senior instructor of Film, Theatre and Video production for the University of Colorado Denver). Their expertise gives a fresh viewpoint which emphasizes basic functionality. It is highly recommended that Wheeler staff members and all the Performing Arts organizations in Aspen comment on this proposal to determine if it speaks to their specific needs.

Caveats:

No architects or engineers were consulted for this proposal. The design addresses production issues alone. Should the City decide to proceed with this design structural and code issues will certainly effect many of the items in the proposal. However, the 5 goals mentioned above should remain the ultimate goals. First, a more functional Opera house capable of hosting larger and more modern productions. Second, an additional smaller space which serves the double duty of allowing for a more intimate theatrical experience and freeing the Wheeler Main Stage for larger productions. Third, incorporating a public green space for both artists and audience where they can meet, converse and dream. Fourth, supporting Performing Arts education in our local community. Fifth, inviting everyone into the conversation. The Performing Arts are a collaborative process. That is our strength and it is to that strength we should play.

Update:
I paced the lot and it's 40' so here is the same idea with another 10' of width. This also highlights the inherit problem with the "black box" concept- you need to store all the different seating/staging somewhere…

All comments welcome.

More than brick and mortar, letter to the editor

This is in response to Executive Director Gram Slaton's farewell interview in the Aspen Times Michael Goldberg's response.

 Do we really need another theatre stage in Aspen?

The Performing Arts budget of Aspen is enviable. Why are we only a stop over for small tours which fit in one truck?

Why aren't we the stopover for major tours between Denver and Salt Lake? Why aren't we the birthplace of new productions? The Ballet is a notable exception

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC

but for the most part, like our Art Museum, we do not have a "permanent collection" of home produced Film, Theater or Opera, certainly nothing which is strong enough to travel. Our creative sons and daughters go elsewhere to perfect their craft.

With the Writers Conference, the Aspen Institute, the Music School,

Yelena Dyachek in the 2014 Aspen Music Festival 

production of Eugene Onegin Opera News Review

Aspen Film, Jazz Aspen and other numerous Arts institutions plus that big pot of money we should have the proud label of "made in Aspen" as part of our "brand".

When I asked Nancy Quinn of the Arena Stage why Aspen wasn't on the list for major productions her reply was "they're hobbyists". When Mayor Herman Edel asked me what we needed during the Wheeler Opera House renovation I said "a shop space". I had the same answer for the District Theatre and urged adding 2 more feet of fly loft so that we could host touring Broadway shows. I was drafting the tour of Phantom at the time- another 2 feet and we could have had that tour. Of course none of that happened.

A vibrant performing arts community takes building relationships as much as much as building with brick and mortar. We can be leaders in the Performing Arts if we choose to support innovation and nurture our local talent. We can be leaders in the Performing Arts if we tap into the wealth of knowledge of our Guest Artists.

We need to prove we're serious and not hobbyists. We need to support the people who make the production as well as those who sit in the seats.

Bring the backstage kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

hydraulic lifts on stage

Give our Performers a place to rehearse. 

Give our Scenic Artists a place to paint other than the cafetorium, 

preferably one with a source of water and a sink.

Have a place to learn Stagecraft from Projections to CAD,

from saber saws to CNC.

Have a costume shop instead of renting everything. Make some hats. Build some shoes.

Rig a Rope

Write a script and then watch it turn into flesh and blood. 

We are on the edge of a Makers Revolution let's ride that wave.

So, yes, another Performing Arts venue would be nice, but please don't keep repeating the same mistake over and over again. Plan for more than comfortable seats and a great place to unload the truck. Plan for a space where creative and curious minds can gather and play together and turn their ideas from dreams into something you can touch. We could be a powerhouse of innovative arts entrepreneurship if we tried.

… and some more information on the RETT as of January 7,2015