Margy Waller
Vice President, Arts & Culture Partnership, Fine Arts Fund

We kicked off the 2010 Annual Community Campaign for the Arts this year with something new: pop-up art surprises – music, painting, dancing, and storytelling – all across our region.

The Fine Arts Fund organized the surprises by secretly inviting artists to join in the fun.

Artists Pam Kravetz, Carla Lamb, and Karen Saunders organized young people from Harrison, Cincinnati, and West Chester to turn buses into mobile galleries. Inspired by the Newport Aquarium and Krohn Conservatory, they created the art in secret at the bus terminals on each side of the river. Passengers who boarded certain buses on TANK and Metro routes shared a magical experience of color, imagination, and creativity.

Meanwhile, dancers from Anaya Gypsy Dance filled the public space at the Fountain Place Macy’s with tribal belly dancing throughout the lunch hour. And people in Carew Tower’s Arcade were surprised by Liz Vosmeier accompanied by Music Director Alan Patrick Kenny singing “I’d Rather Watch You”, from “Adding Machine: A Musical,” a hit show at Know Theatre.

Finally, on other transit routes on both sides of the river, members of Pones Inc. took over buses with their form of guerilla art: original storytelling, movement and song.
The transit art was an incredible hit with the riders of buses on both sides of the river.

I rode along with Pones Inc. members Ian Forsgren, Allen DeCarlo, Kim Popa, Lacey Montgomery and Britney Sullivan. We waited with other commuters at Government Square on 5th Street between Walnut and Main Streets. We fit in with the rest of the workers waiting to head home a little after 4 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon in late February.

We boarded a #19 bus bound for Northgate Mall on the west side of Cincinnati via Over-the-Rhine, Clifton Heights, Clifton, and Northside. The seats on the bus were full and people were standing in the aisles.

As we rode through Clifton, the five members of Pones started their surprise movement. They had designed a few performance routines specifically for riding the bus and the performers started moving from a seated position.

Gradually the riders began to notice the routine. At first, there were just some startled glances. Then other riders began to stare – and to smile – and to talk to each other about the performance. They wondered openly about what was happening. The dancers became impossible to ignore when they stood up and danced in the aisles. When the first routine ended, they simply sat back down as the riders speculated.

Alan, a member of Pones who was sitting next to me, shared a text from Kim, another dancer: “It’s funny how they think we can’t hear what they are saying about us!”

One of the most vocal riders asked, “Are you gonna do some more? I enjoyed that!” After a second routine, I shared fliers about the annual free events of Sampler Weekend, which was scheduled to start a few days later.

One of the other riders looked at the schedule of over 100 free events – music, museums, make-and-take art, song, dance, and more – and said: “This surprise on the bus is a great way to promote the arts!” We could not have imagined a better response. We expect to repeat this transit surprise event someday – on a streetcar!

Greater Cincinnati is incredibly fortunate to have so many supporters of the creative things happening in large and small ways throughout our region. The arts connect people and make our neighborhoods vibrant, benefiting us all. We should all be proud of what we’ve created here and make sure we keep the arts all around us.

The annual community celebration and campaign – when people all across the region contribute to support the arts – runs for ten weeks and wraps up on April 29, 2010. Through contributions made to the annual community campaign, the Fine Arts Fund supports nearly 100 large and small local arts organizations.

To donate to the Fine Arts Fund:
www.fineartsfund.org
Join the email list to be in on future “secret art.”

Thom Mariner
Co-publisher, Express Cincinnati & EXP/arts


Tuesday, Feb. 23

College Conservatory of Music/University of Cincinnati • Faculty artist series: Andrew Garland, baritone. Donna Loewy, piano. 8 p.m., Werner Recital Hall. 556-4183. www.ccm.uc.edu

Playhouse in the Park • NPR humorist Kevin Kling performs “How? How? Why? Why? Why?” about life plans and reality. 7:30 p.m.(Also, Wednesday – Sunday, times vary) Thompson Shelterhouse. 421-3888. www.cincyplay.com

Wednesday, Feb. 24

concert:nova • “The Essential Mahler” celebrates the 150th birthday of the composer with chamber ensemble versions of his “Symphony No. 4 in G major” and “Das Lied von der Erde.” Performance is in the open space formerly occupied by The Gap store at Tower Place Mall, downtown. 7:30 p.m. www.concertnova.com

College Conservatory of Music/University of Cincinnati • Chamber Music Series performance of contemporary music, Café MoMus. 8 p.m. Cohen Family Theater.  556-4183. www.ccm.uc.edu

St. Peter in Chains Cathedral • World-renowned Swedish Radio Choir, with guest conductor Ragnar Bohlin. 7:30 p.m. 325 W. Eighth St., downtown. 421-5354. www.stpeterinchainscathedral.org

Cincinnati Arts Association • ”Porgy and Bess,” by George Gershwin. 8 p.m. Aronoff Center for the Arts/Procter & Gamble Hall. 721-3344. www.cincinnatiarts.org

Thursday, Feb. 25

Covedale Center for the Performing Arts • “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” a tale of two friends at a 1960’s Catskill resort experiencing life together, with several Neil Sedaka classic songs as a backdrop. 8 p.m. (Also, Friday and Saturday, plus Sunday at 2 p.m.) 4990 Glenway Ave., Covedale. 241-6550. www.covedalecenter.com

Know Theatre • “Adding Machine: The Musical,” a darkly comic and touching adaptation of Elmer Rice’s 1923 play. 8 p.m. (Also, Friday and Saturday) 1120 Jackson St., downtown. 300-KNOW. www.knowtheatre.com

Friday, Feb. 26

Miller Gallery • “One Artist, One Work (x50),” a year-long celebration of the gallery’s 50th anniversary. Opening reception: 6-8 p.m. 2715 Erie Ave., Hyde Park. 871-4420. www.millergallery.com

Sandra Small Gallery • “Quietude” curated by Daniel Brown. Paintings of Pamela Jarrett, M. Katherine Hurley, Deborah Morrissey-McGoff, John Stewart, Tim Tepe and photography by Katherine Levi. Opening rescheduled to Fri. Feb. 26, 5:30-9 p.m. 124 W. Pike St., Covington. (859) 291-2345 www.sandrasmallgallery.com

Enzo’s OTR • Debut photography exhibit of Ainsley Kellar. Opening reception. 6-9 p.m. 1106 Race St., downtown. 579-1106
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company • “Othello.” 7:30 p.m. (Also, Saturday and Sunday – times vary) 719 Race St., downtown. 381-BARD. www.cincyshakes.com

College Conservatory of Music/University of Cincinnati • The Cole Porter-inspired musical “Anything Goes,”  Feb. 26-28. Patricia Corbett Theater. 556-4183. www.ccm.uc.edu

Northern Kentucky University • ”An Evening of French Music,” NKU faculty recital with Sergei Polusmiak, piano, and Francis Restesan, violin. 8 p.m. Greaves Concert Hall. 859-572-5901. www.music.nku.edu

Saturday, Feb. 27

College Conservatory of Music/University of Cincinnati • CCM Philharmonia Orchestra, Chamber Choir, Chorale and Cincinnati Children’s Choir perform pieces by visiting composer August Read Thomas and Penderecki. 8 p.m., Corbett Auditorium. 556-4183. www.ccm.uc.edu

Sunday, Feb. 28

Adastra • duo of violinist Jennifer Roig-Francoli and harpsichordist/fortepianist Vivian Montgomery. 3 p.m. St. John Unitarian Universalist Church. 320 Resor Ave., Clifton. 961-1938. www.stjohnsuu.org.

Xavier Music Series • David Tanenbaum, classical guitar. 2:30 p.m. Gallagher Student Center Theatre/Xavier University. 745-3161. www.xavier.edu/musicseries

Thom Mariner
Co-publisher, Express Cincinnati & EXP/arts

Those who are making the decisions regarding the future of Music Hall have apparently made one key decision: to re-configure the current structure and not build a new, smaller, supplementary venue. While this decision appears to be well considered from the viewpoints of these tenant organizations, it seems that we, as a community, are overlooking an important opportunity to enhance the overall artistic life of the city.

The members of the Working Group (leaders of Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Symphony & Pops, Cincinnati Opera, May Festival, and The Society for the Preservation of Music Hall) have focused on their own requirements, as is appropriate. As a result, the agreed-upon plan may solve their needs, but it does not fill a long-standing physical void in the artistic portfolio of Cincinnati: a performance space to fill the gulf between our 900 and 2,000-plus seat venues.

What Cincinnati has needed for decades is a medium-sized concert venue. Many hoped for this when the Aronoff Center was planned. Instead we got one large (2,700 seats) and two small halls (440 and 150). There have been numerous attempts to refurbish the Emery Theatre, originally built to house the CSO in 1911, but none have ever gained enough traction to get beyond the planning stage. One might have hoped for such a solution as part of this Music Hall renovation, but it appears that no one was at the bargaining table to advocate this from a “city” perspective.

Whether a new venue or a renovation of the Emery, imagine the possibilities that a hall of 1,200-1,500 seats presents…

The CSO and Pops could divide their concerts between this venue and Music Hall, depending on the scale of the performance and projected audience.

This arrangement would open up dates in Music Hall for Cincinnati Opera to expand its offerings beyond the summer months, perhaps forming a Winter Opera Festival.

Perhaps more flexibility and convertibility could be built into this other hall to accommodate smaller ensembles, chamber opera, and allow these organizations to present new music without the risk of having to fill Music Hall’s several thousand seats. This is a critical time for the performing arts, and a time for introspection and reinvention. The status quo will not sustain things indefinitely. Having the flexibility of a smaller venue would allow organizations more latitude in this regard.

Other local organizations could use the smaller venue, as well. The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Vocal Arts Ensemble, for example, are forced to patch together their seasons in a variety of locales, presenting them with significant challenges in terms of logistics and marketing. Chamber Music Cincinnati has to work around the packed schedule at CCM. Cincinnati Ballet could produce new works at lower risk than having to fill either the Aronoff or Music Hall.

The greater diversity of programming could mean increased employment opportunities for area instrumentalists, singers and dancers, and serve to attract new talent to the area, and it could entice a broader audience to the urban core, bring revenue into the city, and speed the re-development of Over-the-Rhine.

Contrary to concerns that Music Hall might fall into disuse without the CSO, such a grand space would likely be in constant demand for performances of all kinds: touring orchestras, Broadway shows, smaller scale pop and jazz concerts, world music ensembles… Currently, there is extremely limited area availability for such presentations. Tours frequently skip Cincinnati in favor of Columbus or Indianapolis where suitable venues exist or have open dates.

There is no question this is an expensive proposition, but weigh the overall value to the city’s art portfolio and its diverse musical interests vs. serving only those who attend current Music Hall events. As the plan moves forward for Music Hall renovation, the need still exists for this intermediately sized hall. The question remains: who will step forward to advocate its creation?

Thom Mariner
Co-publisher, Express Cincinnati & EXP/arts

Unbelievable as it may seem, December’s performances of Handel’s Messiah represented the first time this most famous of all oratorios has ever been programmed as part of a Cincinnati Symphony subscription season. And even though each May Festival closes with the Hallelujah Chorus as the de rigueur encore, the complete Messiah has only been performed a half dozen times in its 136 years. Why is it that every church choir worth its salt takes on Messiah at some point, but our two venerable institutions seem to avoid it like end of year inventory?

Having been away from singing for several years because of a job that gave me no control over my schedule, I found myself back in charge of my life right at the time that Messiah rehearsals were gearing up. Given that the conductor was Nicholas McGegan, whose recordings I have respected for many years, I decided to inquire about sitting in with the May Festival Chorus. Robert Porco, director of the chorus, was kind enough to let me join in.

Baroque music was loosely constructed in comparison to what we find in more modern compositions. Much was left to individual interpretation and there was a great deal of assumed knowledge in terms of style and realization, not too dissimilar from the jazz and pop music of today. Nonetheless, it’s amazing how many different opinions, points of view and approaches there are about such a well-known piece of music.

• Chorus members arrived with a smorgasbord of earlier experiences ranging from provincial to professional.
• Maestro Porco is a passionate, purposeful man whose job it is to prepare the chorus ahead of time, peeling away the old wallpaper of previous learning and applying a blend of his own interpretations and the instructions of the incoming conductor.
• Maestro McGegan, a spritely stand-up comedian with a baton, had the task of imparting his decades of imprinted English baroque style to a spirited, yet part-time, Midwestern American chorus and orchestral players steeped in the Romantic tradition – and to do so in the span of three days.
• Add to this mix four soloists of diverse ages and background, each with their own predilections.Maestro

Oy vay…somehow it all works…mostly thanks to the genius of Handel.

McGegan possesses an astounding gift for metaphor, tossing them about liberally to help the musicians visualize the mood or gesture he needs to convey the music and text. A favorite of the week: “Just remember that ‘Hallelujah’ is Hebrew for ‘yippee!’” I have never seen a conductor on the podium enjoy himself more. Never a cross word. Never a sign of frustration. Rather a countenance of pure joy in bringing this masterwork to life.

Thom Mariner
Co-publisher, Express Cincinnati & EXP/arts

Last Monday night, in a vacant semi-basement space downtown, a performance was about to begin. One of the organizers of the event stepped forward a few minutes past the appointed time. He asked the audience for its patience – there were 75 people still standing outside in the cold waiting to buy tickets. Volunteers scrambled to set up more chairs. Seats were rearranged. Friends of the performers stood and offered their seats to the incoming patrons. Within a few minutes accommodations were made and the concert began.

Must be some hot new band, right? In some ways you might call it that, but probably not the kind of band you might think. The performance was by concert:nova, an emerging classical music ensemble made up of members of the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, with a few invited guests (including this writer in a supporting role). The program was contemporary art music enhanced with video and light sculpture. The patrons ranged from CCM students to seasoned chamber music aficionados, with a smattering of the curious, there to expand their experience.

We learned later that this audience was 60% larger than any prior concert:nova performance. Some of this increase can be attributed to two articles in local publications the week before (one by Anne Arenstein for “CityBeat” and the other by Yours Truly for “Express Cincinnati”), but it was the nature of the event that brought people in: a carefully constructed, highly creative melding of aural and visual. Fresh, informal, affordable…a grassroots effort by consummate professionals to create a new kind of audience experience.

Thom Mariner
Co-publisher, Express Cincinnati & EXP/arts

It appears that decisions are pending regarding the future of Music Hall and how the building may or may not be altered to suit the needs and requirements of its tenants. This topic has been on-again/off-again for years, but seems to have been revived this year, either in spite of, or because of, the economic meltdown.

All historical buildings face the possibility of becoming obsolete or outdated. This is certainly not the first time that Music Hall has encountered re-evaluation over its 130+ year history. It has evolved several times to meet the needs of the city it serves. Still, the issues and challenges being faced now are complex and worth revisiting. A cherished landmark and symbol of Cincinnati’s history, Music Hall stands at a crossroads.

A caveat: There is little, if any, current public conversation about these issues. I present them from my own varied perspectives: having performed with all of the above organizations during my 32 years in Cincinnati, as a marketing consultant to corporations and arts organizations, and as a passionate advocate and patron.

Below are the organizations involved, what roles they play in the use and maintenance of Music Hall and the challenges such a grand and unique structure presents for them:

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra & Pops

ROLE: Primary tenant since 1936, they now occupy the auditorium over 30 weeks each year. Their offices are in the South Wing of the Music Hall complex.

ISSUES: Times have changed and mass media have become a greater part of our lives; live performances of all kinds have been affected. Music Hall’s Springer Auditorium is simply larger than the CSO can fill on a regular basis. At 3516 seats, Music Hall holds nearly 1,000 more spectators than Orchestra Hall in Chicago at 2522.

If Cincinnati and Chicago both draw 2500 seats to a concert (not uncommon), our venue looks and feels half empty, while Chicago benefits from the excitement, chemistry and positive PR of a sold-out house (a la the recent CSO opener with Lang Lang). Chicago sells 7000+ seats per weekend in a region of 8.1 million people vs. our 4-5000 seats in an area of 2.1 million. (On a per capita basis, I’d say we do OK.)

Thom Mariner
Co-publisher, Express Cincinnati & EXP/arts

First, it’s important for you to know that I am a professional musician. I love and have performed all kinds of music…well, at least most kinds! The impetus for this column comes from the fact that I long for the thrill of hearing a new piece of art music that just knocks me off my feet. I would like this to be a regular occurrence, whether at the CSO, the Opera, the CCO or VAE. The way things stand, new music is the exception rather than the rule at most concerts – submitted almost apologetically because organizations are afraid, and perhaps rightly so, that the audience won’t accept it. How did we get to this point? At what juncture did composer and audience go their separate ways?

Recently I came across a copy of Leonard Bernstein’s 1966 book “The Infinite Variety of Music.” In reading Bernstein’s second sentence my mouth dropped completely open. “The famous gulf between composer and audience is not only wider than ever: it has become an ocean.” I was dumbstruck. I have been mulling over this issue for decades. The amazing thing to me was that someone incredibly famous had thought the same thing more than 40 years ago.

What Lenny (my new buddy!) and I mean by “the gulf” is the ever-widening gap between A) what many contemporary “art music” composers create and Z) what most audience members are able to absorb, appreciate and/or enjoy on first hearing.

The breach…

Bernstein identified World War I as the line of demarcation for a paradigm shift in the relationship between composer and public. Prior to that, he believes, there was a level of mutual dependency between a composer and the public. Composers needed to make money from publishing and public performances. Audiences excitedly anticipated premieres of new pieces. Following The Great War, Bernstein says this relationship became increasingly a matter of “composer vs. public.”

While I agree with Maestro’s observation and his timeline, I was disappointed that he did not seek to identify the impetus for such a tragic divorce. There is no question that music was headed for a tumultuous intersection leading up to WWI, given the way Debussy, Richard Strauss, Schoenberg, et al, pushed the envelope of tonality to its breaking point. Schoenberg’s serialism technique – with its completely new rules for writing music that expanded and mutated the listening experience – was an almost inevitable result.

Freedom for composers…

What is surprising, and telling, is that serialism, and the increasingly intellectual compositional experiments it fostered, continued to flourish for decades. Composers flocked to try their hand at this new musical language, in spite of ongoing audience rejection and alienation. My hypothesis is that this unfettered experimentation was propagated by composers who no longer needed to cater to public tastes to make their living. Could it have been the recently established policy of academic tenure – being able to hold one’s position on a permanent basis – that freed many university-based composers to disregard their audience?

The university as laboratory…

No doubt a valid reaction to the abuses of university donors who were intent on shaping academic policies, the concept of tenure first emerged at the turn of the 20th century as a means of protecting academic freedom. In 1915 (right smack in the middle of WWI) the American Association of University Professors issued a declaration of principles—the traditional justification for academic freedom and tenure. Under these guidelines, “only committees of other faculty can judge a member of the faculty.” The unforeseen consequence of this in all the arts is that – free from having to rely on acceptance by the public for a living – composers, poets, artists and choreographers could experiment as they wished, only having to impress their intellectual colleagues in order to maintain employment. Universities became a safe haven for artists of all types looking for a secure, comfortable environment in which to practice their craft. Before you start slinging arrows, let me acknowledge that, while this may have been a great thing for artists, perhaps it was not so great for the performance-going public. The dynamic of interdependency, once such a vital part of the creative equation, became almost irrelevant as a result.

In 1958, avant-garde composer Milton Babbitt wrote a now infamous article in High Fidelity magazine defending the solitary laboratory environment of the university as a place for unbridled musical experimentation. He equated music with other advancing fields of knowledge, such as physics and mathematics, claiming that the average lay person does not understand cutting edge developments in these fields either. What Babbitt failed to consider, however, is that art – without the ability to stir the emotions or soothe the soul – is really only an idea, a concept or theory. A key purpose of creating “art” is to express one’s emotions, to share one’s views with others, and to hopefully move them. Otherwise, what is the point? Imagine if Edison had felt as Babbitt, and simply toyed with his experiments rather than finding a way to apply them in the real world. Theories take on meaning only when applied.

The issue here is that a lot of composers surged ahead unchecked in their experimentation, but so what? If a tree falls in the forest…?

Pushing back…

A number of prominent composers bucked the avant-garde and wrote music that spoke to audiences. Think Barber, Copland, Menotti, Britten, Stravinsky, and, of course, Bernstein.
But the damage was done during a 50-year period in which art music audiences diminished and popular music flourished, coinciding with the emergence of radio, TV and recordings that made it easy to exploit what was trendy.

The Minimalist movement (Phillip Glass, John Adams, et al) that unfolded in the ’60s and ’70s was a direct reaction to “the gulf.” And there is certainly a strong trend in recent years toward a compositional language based more in expressiveness and beauty. Consider the works of Pärt, McMillan, Sametz, Schwantner, Saariaho, Rautavaara, Ades, Golijov among others. How do we get these gifted, approachable composers into the ears of more people?

Audience apathy…

The challenge is that, on the other shore of the gulf, we find much of the potential audience for classical music. Some were simply left behind and lost interest. Others turned their attentions to the popular music and jazz that became such a force mid-century.

Fewer and fewer people learn the language of music each year. It’s challenging for someone who does not have at least some understanding of the language to appreciate the intricacies of a composer’s art. It’s even difficult to talk about music without a shared knowledge base. What percentage of people is able, these days, to knowledgeably debate the relative merits of a symphony premiere or a modern opera? It’s not part of what most of us learn growing up.

Without this context for comprehension, a complex new composition is merely waves of sound to most people, nearly impossible to ingest and evaluate at first hearing. It’s like hearing someone speak a foreign language; the patterns do not register. The response is often polite, reserved, almost dutiful applause. Why do we accept music so passively? Where is our passion? Can you even imagine a modern recurrence of the full-scale riot during the 1913 premiere of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” when some people loved it and others recoiled in horror?

Whether you agree with my premise or not, the gulf exists. So what do we do about it? How do we repair this breach? How do we re-ignite the passion of the relationship between composer and audience? What can performing arts organizations and composers do? What can audience members do? What can we as a society do?

Thom Mariner
Co-publisher, Express Cincinnati & EXP/arts

As most of you know, we live in the Land o’ Brands here in Cincinnati. The refinement of the concept of brand integrity by Procter & Gamble is among the most important building blocks of our Cincinnati commercial infrastructure.

While I have been working as a singer in Cincinnati for over 30 years, my day job for the past 11 plus years has been “qualitative research consultant.” I now work for one of the world’s largest marketing research firms, helping corporations better understand how people feel about their products and services and giving them direction as to how they can be more effective. Marketing and brands are now my life, so when Beth and I attend arts functions in Cincinnati and other cities, I increasingly see the need for arts organizations to follow their business cousins in embracing the need for brand integrity.

People have a tendency to get nervous when one talks about business and the arts in the same sentence, so let’s take a moment to examine my meaning here. Artists or musicians or writers are free to create anything they choose for their own pleasure or satisfaction. Art for art’s sake is a wonderful thing, and many people create just for the joy of doing so. If, at some point, however, they decide to sell their creation to someone else, or perform in public for a fee, then their art becomes part of a business transaction.

Creative people who become successful typically do so because they have developed a consistent, recognizable point of view that is identifiable as singularly theirs – their brand. As people become aware of and grow fond of that brand, pay attention to it and seek it out, a relationship ensues, frequently a financial one.

How does one define a brand? Effectively, it’s the message an organization or company conveys, and the way it distinguishes itself from competitors. A brand identity communicates the organization’s business standards, principles and unique qualities to potential customers. Brand integrity is achieved when all components of an organization function in alignment with and serve the essence of that brand. For arts organizations, this means that sales, marketing, venues, printed programs, performances, exhibits, volunteers, concessions, galas…all sing the same tune…in the same key…so to speak.

For an arts organization to succeed financially in today’s market, it has to develop its own brand. It has to find a way to be the middleman between creators and consumers, to effectively market the artistic “product” it is selling in order to appropriately compensate the creators. This does not mean that the organization has to compromise artistic standards, but it is vitally important to 1) understand its audience and 2) consistently deliver on its marketing promises, whatever those might be. By so doing, the organization will build trust among that audience, and reap the rewards of repeat business.

The challenge for many arts organizations is that they are not established or managed with brand integrity in mind. Artistic directors typically generate the programs and exhibits. Some are more sensitive to the marketing needs of the organization than others. In many cases, marketing staff have little or no input in these decisions, yet are still charged with attracting an audience. This product-driven process may have worked in decades past, but the days of just putting together an attractive program or show and having people line up at the door are long gone. There is simply too much competition, and the marketing plans of competitors for the public’s time and attention (movies, sports, dining, etc.) are much too sophisticated. Arts organizations must fight fire with fire, while staying true to their purpose.

An essential foundation for success is the establishment of a distinct and compelling brand identity, something more than simply being known as “the orchestra” or “the museum.” This brand is developed by first listening to people who do and who do not (but perhaps should) attend your events. Discover their likes, their dislikes, and – most importantly – the emotion behind their decisions to buy or not buy tickets. Having a basic understanding of the target market, and what motivates their decisions, an organization can begin to shape a message and a plan to appeal to that emotion.

As stated previously, it is not necessary to dilute one’s artistic product – it’s about setting appropriate expectations and delivering on one’s promises. For example, if an organization wants to present avant-garde programming, they should first find out whether there is a market for this: what types of and how many people are open to avant-garde thinking, how to reach them, what motivates their desire to attend. The keys are: having a distinctive and compelling story to tell, having enough people with whom that story resonates, communicating that story, and then fulfilling their expectations.

Long-term organizational success is best achieved when ALL stakeholders understand, support and reflect the agreed-upon brand identity. Executive leadership has to drive the branding effort and get the buy-in of everyone involved. Artistic and marketing staff must work side-by-side, tell the same story, target the same audience, with the same goal in mind.
More attention to branding will help make the arts more attractive to consumers, and therefore more self-sufficient. And this means less reliance on the restrictions and unpredictability of governmental funding and private donations.

We live in a vibrant, thriving place. We should be both grateful and also actively promoting more progress via a streetcar that will support our arts and change the way we feel about the place we live and work.

As a recent returnee to this city where I grew up, I’m thrilled by the nightlife, the new construction and renovation downtown, all of the retail options in walkable places, and the fun our arts and culture community offers every day.

There is so much going on here that I honestly can’t keep up. One of the first weekends after moving into my new place, I went to three different plays. Unless it was during a visit to New York City, I can’t remember ever doing that anywhere.

Last week, in an unscientific poll, I asked a bunch of friends what they like about our arts. A number of people told me they most enjoy those events that provide a chance for social interaction along with the in-person, live experience.

Me too.

A couple weeks ago, the Fine Arts Fund and our “Young Friends” organization hosted a party at the Contemporary Arts Center on a Friday evening. This party coincided with the Tara Donavan exhibit – a fantastic installation of sculpture made of everyday things like pins, toothpicks and plastic straws.

The partygoers that night were a diverse group who talked and ate and drank – and ventured up the stairs to see the exhibit. (See the photos at www.fineartsfund.org/what_they_wore_February_20). When the upstairs floors closed a couple hours into the party, the viewers were still not ready to leave.

On another night this year, my father and his wife hosted a house concert in their Clifton condo. They invited a few friends for wine, cheese, and some short pieces on piano, harpsichord, and clarinet. Before and during the music, the performers talked about the “reed routine” of wind players (pretty amusing, really), the harpsichord-maker, and the personal story of one of the composers. After the music, most of us hung around talking – and the conversation drifted into local issues.

One of the hot topics of discussion after the house concert was the proposal for a streetcar line from the river to Over-the-Rhine to our own neighborhood of Clifton. (See the route at www.cincystreetcar.com/route.html.)

A streetcar would multiply the excitement of our center city. It would travel right through the Over-the-Rhine arts district that started long ago with buildings like Music Hall, the Emery, and the music of beer gardens, and now includes the Art Academy, Ensemble, Know, and New Stage Collective theaters, plus the galleries and art venues of Main Street. Soon, the new School for Creative and Performing Arts will expand the offerings there.

The streetcar would also connect the Freedom Center and stadiums on the river, travel through the downtown past the Mercantile Library, Fountain Square, the Aronoff Center, Contemporary Arts Center, the courts and county office buildings – before arriving in Over-the-Rhine. It would then travel up the hill to our major job center in Uptown and the student neighborhoods of Clifton.

It’s hard to think of a better way to get the students, faculty, and staff down the hill and into the galleries, theaters, music venues, restaurants – and Findlay Market too. We’re looking for a way to retain recent grads in this area – a streetcar option will add significantly to our city’s appeal for job-hunting young people.

Imagine this scene from a few years in our future:
After the workday, you head to Fountain Square on a warm evening where you meet friends. You all decide to stop in at the Contemporary Arts Center to see a new exhibit and show a newcomer one of the coolest buildings anywhere. After a walk through the fourth and fifth floors (where you run into three people you know) and back down the awesome steps inside the building, you all decide to head over to Nada to share a pitcher of sangria and some sliders.

>Then, you walk a few steps to the streetcar, because the evening isn’t over yet! The streetcar takes everyone up to Over-the-Rhine where you head to Know Theatre on Jackson Street (or the Ensemble on Vine, Music Hall on Elm, etc.). After the show, some of you stop in at Lavomatic for a drink and dessert. Everyone takes the streetcar back to 4th Street to pick up your cars and drive home. That is, except those of you who have moved to Over-the-Rhine – where there is now an indie restaurant district on Vine Street, you can walk to Findlay Market any time you like, Washington Park is a neighborhood gathering spot on nice evenings and weekends, and you ride the streetcar to work.

Naturally, there are questions about the cost of the streetcar investment. Just days after our house concert conversation, the leaders of Agenda 360 – a regional planning initiative – highlighted the concept of a streetcar in their announcement of the community plan for our future. www.cincinnati360.com/report/transportation.asp

And a mere few days later, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory gave a passionate endorsement of the streetcar saying:
“Now, we have done our homework and the benefits of a Streetcar system are clear… When a city puts rails in the ground, economic growth follows. The exact same thing will happen right here in Cincinnati. We expect to see at least $1.4 billion in economic impact in the first phase, alone. And that will give us additional resources to put to use in our neighborhoods all across the city… Streetcars must be a part of Cincinnati’s future and we will fight to make it happen.”

The mayor has a thing for progress.

And there’s another factor to consider, one that goes way beyond the economic benefit: the arts and culture of our community and a new streetcar provide us with joy of place. We love our hometown for what it offers and the way it makes us feel. The experiences we share inspire us – we create and innovate in response. We’re moved to act in the civic interest by the things we learn about each other and ourselves.

A streetcar and the arts both provide benefits to everyone in the region. And both deserve (and require) broad support. Proponents of each recognize their shared goals and values. We should all actively promote the benefits to everyone – including those who will ride the streetcar to visit our venues, as well as those who will enjoy the fruits of our regional progress.

The payoff from these public investments in our community–pride and joy–is priceless.
Margy Waller works at the Arts & Culture Partnership of the Fine Arts Fund. These opinions are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer or its leadership or of Express Cincinnati. To learn more and participate in the conversation, go to www.fineartsfund.org/blog.

Thom Mariner
Co-publisher, Express Cincinnati & EXP/arts

First, a disclaimer: I am a sports fan. I was active in sports through high school and still follow them closely today. I am also a professional musician and am passionate about the arts. I have friends who are crazy about sports and other friends who love the arts, but I know very few people who share my bilateral affliction.

Having one foot firmly planted in each camp, my question is this: Why do sports flourish in American culture, but the arts always seem to be on life support?
Cincinnati Bengals fans stand in line to buy season tickets for teams that consistently disappoint. The Cincinnati Symphony, one of the best orchestras anywhere, struggles to attract a diminishing audience. There must be something those in the arts could learn from their sports colleagues.

I have some ideas about this: 1) The interests and passions of adults are shaped by what they do and enjoy growing up. 2) Most every child plays sports to some degree, and professional sports are wildly successful as a result. 3) Fewer children actively “do” art, music, dance, etc., and the arts struggle to attract an adult audience.
People go to baseball games knowing the players, their roles, statistics and what’s at stake in that particular match-up. By contrast, how many times have I been at a symphony concert and overheard someone ask, “So what are they playing tonight, anyway?”

What percentage of audience members at a classical music concert possess more than a surface knowledge of what accounts for a great composition or performance? Without practical knowledge or concrete experience in the arts, people lack the context or vocabulary for grasping the nuances and depth of what they hear or see. As a result, they tend to react viscerally, instinctively.

We have all heard this before: “That’s not art. My kid could do that.” If a symphony, sculpture or play does not appeal immediately, many will dismiss it, and not likely give it a second chance.

Growing up, many of us play some kind of sport. We share that experience of “doing” with others. We watch others play and hear adults talk about games, players, and statistics. As a result, adults possess a vocabulary and frame of reference for appreciating sports.
For some reason, our approach in exposing children to the arts is different. Somewhere along the way the arts became more about studying and revisiting history and less about personal expression and inspiration. Maybe we should concentrate more on helping kids express their emotions artistically and less as to why they should appreciate Rembrandt. The latter will come naturally in time if the seed of passion is planted early on and continually nurtured.
I remember wondering as a tweener piano student why I should care about these old guys Beethoven and Brahms. What did they have to do with my life? I quit after three years to play football. It was only at my parents’ insistence to “do something in music” that I tried out for the choir, found out that I was pretty good at singing, and changed the course of my life. Thanks to my folks for recognizing my true talent and caring enough to give me an ultimatum. But why did it have to come to that? Why wasn’t music more compelling to me as an activity? I certainly had the aptitude for it, and I liked my teacher. Why did I want to quit?

I can’t begin to count the number of people over the years who have told me how they regretted giving up music or drawing or dance as a child and wish their parents had made them continue. Why should it be so hard for parents? Why are we not better at making the arts more appealing to kids? Is it really the fault of pop culture or the digital

age, as many claim, or is it partially because of the manner in which we teach the arts?

On a 1991 Sister City exchange trip to Kharkiv, Ukraine, our Cincinnati contingent toured a magnet-type school for dance. There were hundreds of children. We asked whether all the students were being trained for a career in dance and were told, “Of course not, but someone has to attend the performances!” While I’m not suggesting that this should be our educational model, it does make one wonder about the possibilities.

In spite of compelling data supporting the value of an arts education in creating better students and better citizens (www.newhorizons.org/strategies/arts/locklear.htm), very little has changed positively in terms of our official educational priorities. There are no achievement tests or standards for arts education. As a result, these activities are the first to be put aside in favor of test preparation for the “No Child Left Behind” initiative.

In the award-winning suburban public elementary school that my step-children attended, and at many others in the area, students are instructed in music for only one period per week. What are the chances for true connection or inspiration?

There are educational success stories, such as the implementation of Orff Schulwerk and the Kodaly Method (www.aosa.org/orff.html, www.oake.org/), but these are grass roots efforts dependent on the passion and initiative of individual teachers. Consequently, the success of a program is almost completely dependent on the magnetism of an individual. When personnel changes, so does the program – and often dramatically. What we need are systematic commitments to arts education.

It’s all a matter of what we, as citizens, want schools to emphasize. Why do we, as parents and grandparents, permit art and theater and music and dance to be optional? Why are the arts often considered to be “for someone else,” as a teacher friend of mine put it?
Not only must we engage kids early on, we must do a better job of sustaining their interest through the malaise of adolescence. We have to find ways to make the arts cool, current and part of mainstream culture without dumbing things down. If kids are actively creating art and making their own statements, it will be cool. Think of the possibilities for online interactivity and sharing their own art and music instead of what someone else has made. If they are merely studying what people did in the old days, the arts will continue their long decline.

If the arts are to compete for an audience in this complex world we must capture the imaginations of more children at a very young age and engage them in vital and relevant creative activities. Remember the old Chinese proverb:
Tell me, I’ll forget. Show me, I’ll remember. Involve me, I’ll understand.
Politicians and educational leaders will not pursue this path on our behalf. We, who love the arts, must take the lead. We know what is at stake. Only we can envision the possibilities. We have to show the way.