Building the Future’s Arts Buildings

As an arts-facility planner whose teens are mobile-messaging, YouTubing, Ituning and 24/7 media engaged arts active kids, I can’t help but wonder about the vast divide in what we think arts facilities should be – most especially performing arts facilities – and what our kids will want them to be in the next ten years.

I’ve recently been facilitating some planning for a high school auditorium/performance center, and in the process have read hundreds of web posts from high schools all over the country planning new auditoria. In these searches, I keep looking for discussions of the ways kids learn and engage in the arts today – maybe not in class, but on their own – as a predicter of the arts facilities of the future. Its a whole different world out there, but the vast majority of high schools are still building performance halls for the band, orchestra, and high school musical.

Now, I love the band, orchestra, and musical side of arts learning as much as anyone could. But where are the sound-proof rehearsal spaces for the plugged in bands, the computer studios for the composers, or the film stages for the film programs? The editing studios? What about the black box theatres that also serve as the school television studio? For that matter, what about the small experimental theatre spaces, or the acoustically superb recital spaces? (There are more of these out there, to be sure, but still not that many…)

I’ve been reading Henry Jenkin’s report for the MacArthur Foundation, Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, at the same time as thinking about arts facilities, and it is pretty provacative. Through the arts facility lens, Jenkins to me suggests we are living in two simultaneous zones. One zone is buildings (and teaching) that reinforce tradition. The other zone – which is where our kids are, right now – requires us to find new ways to enrich and transform arts learning facilities to match this amazing participatory culture that is no longer the future.

Good News on the Horizon: Research from other sectors

A big part of what I do is bring trend information to the table for clients. I look beyond the arts to other sectors that can guide us. Today’s good news comes from Commercial Property News, a publication I regularly comb for trends regarding cultural center development, arts facilities in mixed use development, and even the trends witnessed by retailers who are the prime tenants in commercial properties.

This week’s issue focuses on a new study by RREEF Research, which is a highly regarded property research company, in this case through a study they did for Deutche Bank, on trends in US commercial real estate.

1. They see that the decline in sales of commercial properties will halt by mid summer, and that we will start seeing upturn by the last quarter this year.

2. Vacancies will decline by the start of 2010.

3. Neighborhood and community centers will be the first to start doing better.

What does this mean for our field?

1. Be ready. Those projects that you may think won’t be forthcoming may be just timed right for investment. Construction costs are lower by far than they were, and good deals can be found. Timing is great.

2. If yours is a community center mixed use venture, you should be working now to line things up. Developers will be ready to move by the last quarter of this year.

There’s one other interesting finding here. CPN reports that the “luxury goods” retailers will be among the first to see the uptick by the end of this year. I look at that and think that your subscription ticket sales next fall may be better than we could anticipate right now. A week ago, when I read that the Chicago Art Institute was increasing its admission prices to $18 come May, I thought it was not such good timing. But they seem to be right in line with this report of pent up demand meshed with a bit more expendible money. All in all, a good read of tea leaves that gives new energy to us all as we look to next season! Let’s banish fear, and get to work.

Happy New Year! The trends for the year will be…

May 2009 be a good year for everyone. We’ll be in tight financial times until mid year, at least, according to the leading economists. But then growth will gradually start. Historically, we’ve seen that recessions are an excellent time to plan and prepare for that new growth. So that means the next six months are very important for any type of planning.
* For feasibility studies, this is the time to get your homework done. Feasibility studies done now will likely focus on more doable structure than at the boom time of the market, which means these projects will be seen as viable by more funders. While capital is not out there right now, projects looking for land may find this is a sweet time for deals.
* For strategic plans, this is the time to think deeply about entirely new operational models, finance models, efficiencies and structure. We think the market has been overly flooded by entertainment options in many places, and that a little correction along with leaner operations may be very good for the long term.
* For policy plans, this is an excellent time to take the long view and focus on: 1) strategies to help organizations think about new business models that may create efficiencies while building market share; 2) strategies to build(rebuild) market loyalty by audiences; 3) helping organizations rebalance their financial models and expectations. Gaining audience loyalty this year will likely require deep discounts and price realignment in tickets and admissions, so budgets will need major reworking; 4) building for stability for the long term. During sobering times, we all do a better job of focusing on the real priorities.
* For marketing plans, this is an excellent time to focus on customer service and building customer loyalty. Marketing media continues to evolve at lightening speed. The Obama campaign organization showed us the incredible value of text messaging: this is a key time to build your own text messaging capacity. You’ll also want to build your CRM capacity, to target market as effectively as possible. And don’t forget the increased role that social networking plays in linking your audiences together.
* For cultural development in general, this is the time to think about how to benefit from the stimulus packages that are already moving through the pipeline. Programs like the federal WIRED grants have been around for a few years and will now get much larger, and offer opportunities for arts jobs the likes of which were last seen in the CETA era.

This is exciting. There is a lot of good, proactive work to do that will profoundly advance thinking about the mechanisms, support, and market for arts and culture. Let’s get to it! Happy New Year!

Rethinking Arts Facilities

As noted in one of our earlier October blogs, a recession economy is exactly the right time to plan. And it may just be a terrific time to rationally rethink community goals and needs for new arts facilities. Feasibility studies done now may actually lead to smarter and more viable arts facilities than those done in the heady days of a flush financial market. Why? A recessionary economy brings new need for partnerships, creative problem solving, and right-sizing for civic construction ventures.

There are a myriad of wonderful performing arts centers, theater complexes, and museum facilities out there to use as models of wise budgeting and solid operations.

Trends we see and like:

1) A new interest in performing arts centers “attached” to high schools. Not every city and town has the population to afford a major stand alone PAC. But they can build outstanding halls that provide their students incredible opportunities and that also provide residents with buildings that otherwise couldn’t be afforded in capital or operations. Some of these halls are free standing. Most have distinctive and professional-quality entrances and box offices. Many include black box theaters. Some are even multi-theatrical complexes. The truly great ones are every bit as workable for professional performances as for student events, and as a result are booked almost every day of the year. We’re thrilled by all that we see happening in the wonderful and affordable ($5 million) Bothell (WA) North Shore Performing Arts Center, which has been a joint venture between the Bothell School District and a private sector group. And for magnificence, the new Lake Zurich High School (IL) Performing Arts Center couldn’t be topped.

2) Facilities on community campuses. These are particularly workable in mid sized and smaller communities, but have applicability to larger cities as well. Bloomington, Minnesota’s modest but absolutely lovely performing arts facility shares a building entrance with the city council chambers. Rooms used by community arts groups for rehearsals in the evening can be used by the fire department or planning office for meeting space during the day.

3) Multi-jurisdictional and entity partnerships in making facilities happen. Today’s projects require creative partnerships, sometimes involving all or most of the following even before private giving or bond financing come into play. municiipal and or county goverment, school districts, colleges, and developers. In operations, it is fabulous to see models ranging from THEARC in Washington DC all the way to the proposed Pinedale Community Center, in Wyoming. Put together by multiple nonprofit, education, and civic groups, these are models where the arts – including state of the art performing arts halls – live side by side with afterschool education programs and diverse community service agencies. They put the arts in the heart of every day community life.

We still love the major arts facilities that are community architectural icons and centerpieces. But we are drawn to the above trends as wonderful solutions that are also financially much easier to capitalize and operate. They are the type of solutions that are worthy of consideration, not only due to the present economy, but because they really work! The books balance, users are delighted, and quality arts are at the heart of community life.

Finding Feasibility: Feasibility Studies, Economic Impact, and the Arts Market

Doing a feasibility study for a new cultural center is one of the most important policy tasks any arts community takes on, and it is especially important when the economy is tight and funders need to stretch their dollars.

My take on it is that the task is not to say if a venture is feasible or not, but to determine what will make a project the most feasible, the most viable, in even the tightest economy. (Anything is feasible if your pockets are deep enough.) I’m interested in finding a model or approach that will be beneficial to all involved. A great home for the arts needs to be both a wonderful arts center and financially beneficial: A) to the community, that wants/needs a facility/icon/cultural anchor; B) to the user groups, that need/want viable facilities that truly work for them: C) to the economic system that supports it, to right size the building so the economic impact is positive over time; D) to building the arts audience, so that the seats are sold out rather than half sold.

One of the very first consulting projects I took on some 26 years ago was a performing arts facility, recently opened. The board chair called saying “we built the thing, and now we are facing having to lock the doors and throw away the key. We had no idea it would cost so much to operate. What can we do?” Figuring out the solution for them and ensuring they kept the doors open was the foundation for a lot of my thinking about arts facilities. It taught me that the real trick is thinking beyond the capital goal. The real job of feasibiltiy testing is planning for long term sustainability. Be careful about what you build: you are creating an economic ecosystem, and all the arts and arts supporters around you will be impacted. Your arts groups will have to pay the rent. Your audiences will pay the operating costs. Your donors will pay the balance, and their other grantees will feel the impact if emergency resources have to go to the facility.

On the plus side, everyone will benefit when the facility draws thousands into town every weekend, parking, eating out, staying over, shopping, spreading new dollars through the economy. Everyone will benefit when property values in the contiguous blocks increase. Everyone will benefit when education quality increases through stronger arts education. Your task in determining the feasible model is to capitalize on those benefits, and ensure the benefits are greater than the costs.

When you take on the task of determining feasibility, there are some key questions you should be pondering.

Who do you want to benefit from the facility, and for what? If your top goal is to have your local resident organizations benefit from a terrific home base, then the facility has to really be about them – affordable, designed primarily to showcase them and to their audiences. If the local symphony averages an audience of 800 a performance, be careful about the impact of a 1700 seat venue! Don’t build a hall they can’t afford and can’t grow into. (Sometimes, smaller is better for everyone.) If the total annual rent now paid by a local group is $2000, a new hall that will cost them $40,000 in rent a year is likely to have a real impact on the local funding community. Make sure the funding community is prepared.

What partnerships or joint ventures could fill the hall, every week, every day? Real economic benefit comes when arts hubs are alive and filled every day. That’s when the surrounding businesses are buzzing, when property values increase. More and more, the way to make this happen is through community partnerships between the nonprofits, area school districts, and higher education. Suburban halls often require the extra guaranteed tenancy of urban groups that will confirm to a second home relationship. The task is to find the right combination that will open the doors every day. We favor adding ample educational “wings” and facilities to ensure that the facilities are educational hubs, and adding various sized black box studio theaters and/or simple recital halls.

What will be the source of the operating subsidy? Going in, know how the budget gap will be met, year in and year out. Create the funding strategy, and include it in your initial public dialogue. If you can model out the increase in property values, you may be able to make the case for related public funding. If the school district is a 50% tenant, you can make a case for school district support. If other municipal offices are a 30% user of all the meeting and educational rooms, you can make a case for their partnership. Bascially, answering this question means going back to that partnership question over and over until you have the user mix that ensures the operating funding mix.

What is the audience of the future, and how can the facility please them/win them as regulars? Imagine your community five to ten years from now. Will it be substantially more diverse? Will it be younger? Will people drive less distance for entertainment? Build for your arts market of the future, not today.

These are just a few of the important questions that deserve real thought, real dialogue. Make sure your project asks them, and involves your entire community in dialogue to find the right answers. If you do, you’ll find the most feasible approach to building for the arts, even in tight economic times.