Build connections to nurture the arts

Diana Nollen's keynote address at the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance's Celebration of the Arts! event on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Artists are survivors. Caves on every continent inhabited by humans bear prehistoric images of animals and hands - drawings most likely used in rituals or for communication, not interior home design.

Every known culture has been making music, also dating back to prehistoric peoples. Dance traces back to those times, as well, as a form of communication, ritual and celebration. As for drama, Adam and Eve created plenty of that.

How fabulous is it that we're still celebrating the arts - the most enduring of all things known to humanity. That which gives our lives meaning and purpose and beauty and wonder. The arts stir our souls in the womb and throughout our earthly journey. And I personally am looking forward to rock ‘n' roll heaven, cuz you know they have one hell of a band.

And while humans might like to think the arts are what helps elevate us above the animals, we've all seen YouTube videos of elephants wielding paint brushes and dancing with ribbons, cows that come running when they hear a trombone. My cats come running to sit beside me when I play the piano, and much to my brother's delight, the farm dog we had during my teen years sang along with me on the high notes.

We live in the arts every single day of our lives, surrounded by the beauty of the changing seasons, the song of birds and insects, the dance of the animals and the drama of nature.

How wonderful is it that those of us for whom the arts are our vocation or avocation are charged with using our talents to remind us all of the beauty in which we live.

Today we not only celebrate the best of the best in Eastern Iowa's artistic community, but the way you have survived and thrived when nature's fury rampaged through the very core of our performing venues with the Floods of 2008. The buildings were damaged, our spirits were dampened, but the flame never went out. We have rebuilt, renewed and re-energized the artistic spirit in the Iowa Cultural Corridor community. And this alliance - which brought us to today's celebration - played a leading role in that recovery.

Scouring Gazette archives, I found this 'best of” reference from a 2005 year in review: 'Continuation of the model of cooperation that the economic development agencies of the two counties have been over the years. They were 'one-upped” this year, though, by the October merger of the Linn County and Johnson County cultural alliances into one entity, the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance. Collaborations of different degrees can and do work.”

And work you did, helping to spur recovery efforts among shellshocked artists and organizations, who needed everything from pencils and rudimentary office supplies to spaces in which to pick up the pieces of flood-ruined performances and move them to other stages. Whether your organization turned to the alliance or not for help in those dark days, it was the alliance that helped lead the arts back to the light.

It's all about making connections that nurture, sustain and grow the arts, artists and organizations that have come back better than before. Time and again, as I've spoken with Chuck Swanson from Hancher, Tim Hankewich from Orchestra Iowa, John Herbert and Mel Andringa from CSPS, Casey Prince at Theatre Cedar Rapids and all the folks at Brucemore and the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art - to name just a few - the arts in Eastern Iowa have rebounded and rebuilt in ways no one could have imagined.

You have not only survived, you have thrived. The doors have reopened as gorgeously re-imagined venues at the Paramount Theatre, Theatre Cedar Rapids and CSPS.

And you can just feel the electricity in the air as we all await the reopening of Hancher Auditorium next fall. It's hard to imagine improving upon the Hancher we have loved since 1972. As Chuck is always quick to point out, Hancher is more than a building. It's a way to connect the arts across campus and across disciplines, to enhance education among the students first and foremost, but also to deliver top-flight entertainment to audiences of all ages. That mission hasn't changed, as Hancher's movers and shakers have moved through venues from Riverside to Cedar Rapids, and river to river to keep the arts alive and vibrant and relevant. Just Monday, I covered an update on the new Voxman Music Building nearly 2/3 finished, and what an amazing, updated facility it will be. I'm ashamed to admit I didn't realize the School of Music presented 400 concerts per year, from student recitals to guest performances from world-class artists. And hopefully, by 2018, we'll see a new UI Museum of Art across the street, where we can all see the spectacular Jackson Pollock 'Mural.” For as much reporting as I've done on that piece of artwork since the flood, I've never seen it in person.

Theatre Cedar Rapids picked up its programming and created a theater out of a movie theater next to Lindale Mall. That's a piece of the flood that touched me like no other. I lived in that building for 25 years as a teacher, actor and costume designer. When word came down that the building was flooded, I was devastated that the thousands of costumes I had designed and made, in addition to the huge volume of patterns and all the computerized equipment and goods stored in the basement, were all gone. At first, I said, that at least everything I had made was used for its intended purpose, but then I saw the photos of all the costumes piled on the sidewalk - the brothers and wives costumes from 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” the Oompa Loompas from 'Willy Wonka” -- all now resting in pieces on Mount Trashmore. I have to add that heart did sing a little last month when I saw Willy Wonka's costume in the window at the Costume Emporium downtown.

CSPS staged its Landfall Festival of World Music in Greene Square Park and nearby churches and venues. The Follies took its act on the road to Gallagher-Bluedorn in Cedar Falls. The orchestra took its programming to the front lawn at Brucemore, a partnership in the talking stages for years before the flood silenced the Paramount Theatre. And then on the road all across the state, prompting a name change from Cedar Rapids Symphony to Orchestra Iowa, to reflect its new mission. The orchestra also embarked on a new business model that turned a financially floundering institution into a leader for flailing orchestras across the country.

All of these hugely positive steps reflect not only the desire but the need to share artistic visions and expressions with the masses. The arts sustain our humanity.

David Morton said it best on the Iowa theatre blog in July, when citing his top five theatrical experiences in the Corridor. This topped his list:

Moving Home, script direction by Jason Alberty, original music by Dan Bern and Gerard Estella. Classics of Brucemore, 2008.

'This experience was like no other. This show was produced for the Classics at Brucemore in the summer of 2008, the summer of the flood. We were set to produce a version of Lysistrata that summer at Brucemore. But then the flood came. Our costumes, sets and lighting were all taken by the river. So Brucemore collaborated with Urban Theatre Project of Iowa, Legion Arts, TCR, SPT and Liars Theatre to create an original piece that allowed the artists in this community to express ourselves in the midst of this tragedy. Legion Arts and TCR were both wiped out by this flood. It was horrific. But as artists we banded together. We made a difference. After the production we were able to contribute $18,000.00 to the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation' Flood 2008 Fund. I remember thinking that if I never had the opportunity to do theatre again I would be fine with that because this show demonstrated to me what art and theatre should be about - connecting with one another, telling stories that resonate and sharing experiences that change you personally on a truly visceral level.

I am truly blessed to live in a place that supports the arts and I try to remember to thank my 'lucky stars” every day.”

That's a sentiment shared by all of us. Thank you, David, for expressing it so beautifully.

Collaboration: it's what you do best. The sum total of every effort is greater than its individual components.

How many of you remember that Taylor Swift reopened the U.S. Cellular Center on Aug. 8, 2008, and then donated $100,000 to Cedar Rapids flood relief?

Emmy-winning Eastern Iowa native Michael Emerson took time out from his work on the wildly popular television series 'Lost” to lend his voice and support to Theatre Cedar Rapids' flood recovery. He said: 'I'm here to ask for your support for the fine art of theatre in your community. There's a straight line in my career from community theatre to the Broadway stage and beyond that, to TV and films. I think TV and films are a fine thing, but I don't love them the way I love theater. I like the process. I like what the theater demands of us.”

The Joffrey Ballet staged a benefit for Hancher at the Des Moines Civic Center in September 2009, which raised $156,000 for the flood ravaged University of Iowa School of Music and Hancher. An event just days earlier at the Joffrey Towers in Chicago raised $17,000 for Hancher.

At the time, Chuck Swanson told me: 'The offers came in August 2008, when everyone at Hancher was down in the dumps.

'First, Jeff Chelesvig, president and CEO of the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines called, asking what they could do to help. The next week, Joffrey Ballet officials emailed, wondering how they could help.

'Merging the offers was a natural choice. It just seems like it was meant to be,” he said. 'This never would have happened without them. In the arts, people try to support each other, and with that Midwestern spirit of trying to help your neighbor, it's a very, very touching thing, these generous offers coming from the Joffrey and the Civic Center.”

So, how do we keep that momentum going? We have new venues, including the McGrath Amphitheatre and the Klopfenstein Amphitheater at Lowe Park in Marion; remodeled venues; new theater troupes, both professional and volunteer-based; new art gallery spaces; new dance troupes; new partnerships such as the collaboration between Orchestra Iowa and Ballet Quad Cities. But we also have one of my favorite spaces, the outdoor stage in Iowa City's Lower City Park, that has continued to see floodwaters rise so often that Riverside Theatre finally just moved its summer festival indoors this year, rather than take another chance on having to move or cancel the popular series. Pollock's painstakingly restored 'Mural” is touring Europe while we await construction of a new Museum of Art on the University of Iowa campus, a project mired in red tape. Meanwhile, the museum has carried on its vital programming in temporary spaces.

We have an embarrassment of riches in Eastern Iowa. We are home to so many world-class productions; amazingly talented artists who could ply their craft anywhere, but choose to live, work and play here; and artists from around the world who share their magic here. We have the Marion Community Band - the first U.S. community band to be invited to perform in the Austrian National Band Festival in the late ‘80s, and a couple of years later, we performed at the World's Fair in Seville, Spain. Chorale Midwest was invited to perform in St. Petersburg, Russia, during a summer festival in 2000. A couple of years ago, the chorale made a musical tour of the British Isles and this summer will hop all over Europe, spreading the artistry of Eastern Iowans. I've been on all of those jaunts, and even on Friday mornings during Hawkeye football season, a bunch of middle-aged band geeks pick up our instruments, run through our songs a couple of times, then perform on the front lawn of Z102.9. It's a hoot and a way to keep that artistic spirit, nurtured in our school days, still filling us with pride.

Iowa has produced artists of world renown, from John Wayne to Ashton Kutcher. Robin Lord Taylor from Solon is killing it - literally and figuratively - as the Penguin on 'Gotham.” Riley Smith is singing and acting in 'Nashville” on ABC. Tim Shew has played Jean Valjean on Broadway in 'Les Miz.” One of my grown-up Youtheatre kids, Tiana Brown, has danced on tour with Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, has worked with Jennifer Lopez and the Black Eyed Peas, to name a few - and is associate choreographer for the Dec. 3 television broadcast of 'The Wiz.” And yet, she has come back to work with a local show choir.

I have had the privilege of seeing two of my heroes, Marcel Marceau and Mikhail Barysnikov, on the Hancher stage, and interviewing Joan Rivers, Harry Connick Junior, Bernadette Peters, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, Kevin Bacon, Bob Saget, Winona Judd, Miranda Lambert, Jeff Daniels, author Salman Rushdie, and on and on - all because they were coming here.

We have something very special going on. They know it, and we need to be reminded of that every now and then. Hugh Jackman taped a congratulatory video to Theatre Cedar Rapids for staging 'Les Miserables.” What community theater in its right mind stages that show? TCR, and I would hold that production up to the myriad professional productions I've seen of that, my favorite musical. I enjoyed Urban Theatre Company's recent production of 'August: Osage County” at CSPS even more than the production I saw on Broadway seven years ago.

We could all go to a show virtually every night of the year - three or four shows some nights.

But I worry about ticket fatigue and donor fatigue. I've seen shows that should have sold-out venues draw an embarrassingly few audience members. I attribute some of that to ticket prices set by the artist, not by the venue. But I do worry about sustaining our ability to draw top artists with their high prices in an economy that's still recovering.

I've seen local theatre and concert ticket prices spiral to amounts that would have shocked us speechless in the years I worked at Theatre Cedar Rapids.

And I've seen handling charges that drive already high prices even higher just because we've ordered online instead of carving out time to go to the various box offices. Some venues rightfully tack on fees for mailing out tickets, but also fees for holding our tickets at the will-call window. How hard and expensive is that to do?

It sure feels like something's gotta give lest we all grow weary of giving more and more.

I applaud the venues that offer youth discounts, to help enable families to introduce children to a world that can change their lives. We have to nurture the next generation in order to sustain live art in a digital world. Gallagher-Bluedorn offers 'a buck a kid” tickets to many of its shows. Granted, that performing arts center is tied to a university and doesn't feel the same pressures as other area non-profit and smaller for-profit venues. But somewhere I urge you to find that happy medium, so we can nurture the next generation and make it feasible to nourish our souls, as well.

I also worry about a recent development, in Corridor acting companies producing the same shows in the same season or just months apart. We've recently had two 'Spamalots,” as well as touring companies of the same show; two 'Jesus Christ Superstars,” two 'Hairsprays,” two 'Pippins” and three 'Cinderellas.” I feel a disconnect among the local theaters. When I've asked about that trend, I've been told that these troupes have different audiences. But you don't always have different performers. Our acting pool stretches dangerously thin, especially when it comes to casting holiday shows. Wouldn't it be better to entice crossover audiences by giving them shows they can't see elsewhere?

I don't have a crystal ball or magic wand. I'm just tossing ideas out there. Notions to consider. Ways to keep our arts scene one that continually amazes my big brother in Delaware and his kids in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

The arts holds a mirror to society, but we can't forget to point that mirror at ourselves. How wonderful was it to see a nearly full Paramount Theatre on Halloween Eve to hear the wonderfully restored Mighty Wurlitzer give voice to 'The Phantom of the Opera” silent film. Equally riveting was the way Red Cedar Chamber Music gave voice to long-forgotten silent films in a privately held priceless collection in rural Ainsworth - a collection destined for preservation in the University of Iowa Special Collections archives.

Important work is being done in Eastern Iowa, and I salute all of the creatives who make our corner of the state the envy of the nation, the protectors of the past, the presenters of the present and the torchbearers for the future.

' Gazette's Arts and Entertainment Writer Diana Nollen has reviewed about 2,000 concerts, plays and events in Eastern Iowa, and has interviewed visiting artists and writers from Salman Rushdie and Harry Connick Jr. to Joan Rivers, Ed Helms, Kevin Bacon and her tween crush, David Cassidy. Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com