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THE ARTS
ARE THRIVING WITH THE OPENING OF THREE NEW VENUES: BLANCHE M. TOUHILL
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, THE CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM ST. LOUIS AND
REGIONAL ARTS COMMISSION.
By Bob Schaper
Renaissance: a new birth; any revival of art, literature, architecture,
etc…
What better term could describe three brand-new and highly distinctive
artistic facilities in the St. Louis region—the Blanche M. Touhill
Performing Arts Center; the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; and
a new headquarters and resource center for the Regional Arts Commission
(RAC)—all opening in a single year?
The St. Louis arts community has patiently awaited the opening of
these buildings, which are each very different in form and function.
But perhaps none has been anticipated longer than the Touhill Center
at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. First envisioned in 1979,
the $52 million facility will finally become a reality later this
month.
The
Arianna String Quartet, the string quartet-in-residence
at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, rehearses
in the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall at the Blanche
M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at UMSL.
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“This has been in people’s minds since the 1970s, through two decades
of hopes and dreams,” says John Kennedy, executive director of the
center. “Now, it’s here.”
The 123,000-square-foot building will feature two stages. The Anheuser-Busch
Performance Hall seats 1,650 patrons, while the E. Desmond and Mary
Lee Theater seats 350.
“The university is looking to the center to do various things,”
Kennedy says. “One is to support its own academic program in music,
theater and dance. But, we also want to provide a place for community
groups to have their events.”
In addition to university-sponsored events—including theater, Broadway
musicals, dance, operas and others—the facility will also be available
for promoters.
Kennedy credits former UMSL Chancellor Blanche Touhill for making
the center a reality. In addition to $40 million in state funding,
private donations made up the difference.
JOHN
KENNEDY
executive director,
Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at UMSL-St.
Louis |
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“There’s no doubt that Blanche and her colleagues raised the other
$12 million,” Kennedy says.
Besides elevating the school’s entire fine arts program “up a notch,”
Kennedy thinks the center will take its place as a member in St.
Louis’ family of performing arts venues. “The Powell and the Fox
seat between 3,000 and 4,000,” he says. “The next niche down was
700 with the Sheldon and Edison theaters. There wasn’t a middle-sized
venue until now.”
For lovers of the visual arts, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
will be dedicating its new $8 million building in Grand Center this
month. “This is our fourth building,” says Paul Ha, director of
the Contemporary. “But it’s the first home of our own.”
And what a home, too. The new 27,200-square-foot Grand Center building
includes three large, flexible exhibition galleries, a designated
classroom and enough performance space to seat 250 people, all next
door to the already world renown Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.
"75,000
PEOPLE ARE EXPECTED TO VISIT THE MUSEUM IN ITS FIRST
TWO YEARS, MOTIVATED IN PART, BY THE BUILDING'S STUNNING
EXTERIOR."
Paul Ha
director,
Contemporary Art Musuem St. Louis
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Ha says 75,000 people are expected to visit the museum in its first
two years, motivated in part, by the building’s stunning exterior.
Designed by distinguished architect Brad Cloepfil, officials hope
the innovative building will create an architecturally significant
corner for the revival of Grand Center.
As in most projects of this scale, corporate support was critical
in raising the needed funds. “We had enormous corporate support
on the capital side,” Ha says, citing donations from Emerson, Sara
Lee, SBC Communications and Commerce Bank.
Unlike most museums, Ha says the Contemporary will not house a permanent
collection. “We’re a non-collecting museum,” he says. “We don’t
put things in the basement and just show our collection. We want
to show the art of today—everything that’s being created right now.”
A mainstay of the new museum will be education and outreach. Ha
says the public will be invited to symposiums and other events where
they can question and discuss the exhibits with the artists.
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Regional
Arts Commission: Dan Tierney, deputy director and
Jill McGuire, executive director. The new building,
which will house offices and a cultural resource center,
is located at 6128 Delmar Blvd., just east of The
Pageant, on the south side of the street. |
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Fittingly, the third new facility goes to the organization that
helps make St. Louis a thriving arts and cultural region. Funded
by the St. Louis City and County hotel/motel tax, the Regional Arts
Commission (RAC) is dedicated to encouraging, promoting and fostering
the arts. Jill McGuire, executive director of RAC, and her staff
of nine will move into their new resource center and headquarters
building later this month.
Located at 6128 Delmar, in the East Loop, McGuire hopes the new
structure, which cost $2.2 million, will act as a hub for the arts
community and all non-profit organizations.
“This is our 18th year of making grants,” she says. “In the past,
it has been hard for our grantees to find space. We thought we should
begin to address those needs.”
Working with more than 200 art groups in St. Louis city and county,
RAC grants about $3.6 million per year to organizations of all sizes—everything
from the St. Louis Symphony to your neighborhood music festival.
The dramatically designed new three-story resource center will be
a place where groups can meet, hold a seminar, or participate in
functions. McGuire says the official ribbon cutting is planned for
October. In addition to her organization, the new building will
also house offices for the St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants
for the Arts.
Why are all three facilities opening around the same time? McGuire
attributes it to a thriving art community…along with a bit of coincidence.
“I think it’s just a matter of timing,” she says.
UPCOMING STUDY DETAILS ADVANTAGE OF THE ARTS
By
Bob Schaper
A study soon to be released by the RCGA’s Arts, Business and
Cultural Committee is expected to highlight the important
economic impact of the St. Louis region’s arts and cultural
organizations.
CHARLES
MACKAY
general
director,
The Opera Theater of St. Louis
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Survey results will be announced officially later this fall,
but RCGA Chief Economist Bryan Bezold estimates the total
annual economic impact of Artistic & Cultural Institutions
in greater St. Louis exceeds $600 million annually. The 86
responding institutions generate economic activity through
their operations and capital improvements, but are also responsible
for attracting tourists to the metro area. Their role in making
St. Louis a livable city also contributes to the desirability
of St. Louis as a location to start or grow a business.
Charles Mackay, general director of the Opera Theater of St.
Louis and Robert J. Ciapciak, principal, Edward Jones are
co-chairs of the Arts, Business & Cultural Committee. The
chairman of the survey committee is Dr. Jeffrey Bonner, president
of the Saint Louis Zoo. A wide variety of business and cultural
leaders also served, including, Randy Adams, president & executive
director, Saint Louis Symphony; Karen Bedell, director Community
Relations, The Boeing Company; Brent Benjamin, director, Saint
Louis Art Museum; Mark Bernstein, managing director, The Repertory
Theatre of St. Louis; John Ferring IV, president, Plaze Inc.;
Ron Himes, founder and producing director, St. Louis Black
Repertory Company; Cheryl Jett, executive director, Cahokia
Mounds Museum Society; Jonathan Kleinbard, deputy director,
Missouri Botanical Garden; Kenneth Kranzberg, chairman, Kranson
Industries; and Donald Suggs, publisher, St. Louis American.
Timed with the study’s release, an RCGA-sponsored symposium
on the arts will be held this fall. |
Bob Shaper is a free-lance writer based in St. Louis.
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