UIndy hosts citywide Arts Summit
The University of Indianapolis hosted a panel of arts leaders from diverse backgrounds in an Indianapolis Arts Summit on Dec. 10 at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center to explore the topics of why arts and why Indy? Organizers involved the community by soliciting questions via Twitter, Facebook and e-mail, as well as from the audience.
UIndy President Robert Manuel started the summit, speaking about UIndy’s commitment to holding events for the arts community such the Arts Summit.
Department Chair and Associate Professor of Music Kathleen Hacker said that the summit provided a place where community members could discuss issues and learn to work in tandem for the advancement of Indianapolis arts.
“A couple of years ago, it came on my heart that educators, artists and arts advocates all need to get in the same room together and talk to one another,” she said.
Hacker underscored the importance of getting the community involved to preserve the arts in Indianapolis. She introduced a video of Indianapolis arts community members sharing why they love the arts and their concerns for the community. Hacker made the video with a few UIndy music students, including sophomore music education major Abby Egenolf.
Egenolf said that she hopes the summit not only helped artists and art advocates, but also the larger community to become more involved in Indianapolis arts.
“This is the conversation that we need to have about how can grow the arts in Indy, [and] what we need to do as a community to help educate the citizens of Indianapolis and inform them about why the arts are important,” Egenolf said.
According to Egenolf, one reason supporting Indianapolis arts organizations is necessary is because of a growing discrepancy between the growth of arts and sports in Indianapolis.
“The arts advocacy program we are doing is particularly important because, as we have noticed, sports are definitely growing in Indianapolis, but the arts aren’t growing a lot,” Egenolf said. “We can see that with the problems that the ISO [Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra] has had.”
According to Hacker, the Arts Summit was intended in part to find the underlying cause of the problems that the Indianapolis arts community faces.
“This thing we are doing is not just about the orchestra. It is about all arts organizations,” Hacker said. “What has happened with the orchestra is symptomatic of a larger issue. Where is our community? What have we done to allow this to happen?”
The summit panel included featured guest Michael Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The panel was co-hosted by Artistic Director of Dance Kaleidoscope David Hochoy, Executive Director of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis Glen Kwok, Vice President of Community Engagement and Strategic Innovation for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Beth Perdue Outland, Managing Director of the Indiana Repertory Theatre Steven Stolen and Executive Director of Big Car Jim Walker. Former Indianapolis Star Editor Dennis Ryerson moderated the event.
Kaiser has been dubbed “The Turnaround King” for assisting ailing organizations around the country, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He said that Indianapolis arts community members are not alone in their concerns.
“They share many concerns of arts leaders, not just from this country, but of arts leaders around the world,” Kaiser said. “You would hear the exact same concerns in Abu Dhabi, Capetown or Singapore.”
The panel covered a number of topics of concern to the arts community, such as how the cost of producing art is different than the cost of producing other services. Kaiser said that while the other industries can increase productivity and cut costs, the arts cannot do the same and require more funding every year as a result of inflation.
“The problem we have in the arts is that we cannot play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony faster every year,” Kaiser said. “And we wouldn’t want to.”
The panel also discussed the importance of institutional marketing. Kaiser said that institutional marketing is key to turning around troubled organizations. He also advised that arts organizations focus on making good art, because organizations cannot “save their way out” of financial insolvency by putting on the same show.
He said that organizations should examine what makes them unique and to market that uniqueness by reaching out to the community through arts fairs or other programs. Kaiser suggested thinking of outreach as an art portfolio; the goal is not to abandon old audiences by reaching out, but to expand arts patronage.
Walker suggested organizing more performances at iconic places in Indianapolis such as Monument Circle or the canal downtown.
Audience member Keesha Dixon of the Asante Children’s Theatre raised a concern about the lack of diversity represented in the arts in Indianapolis. Dixon said that art should represent the community as a whole and give children of color a role model.
Kaiser agreed that lack of diversity in the arts was an important issue. He pointed to a statistic that said “organizations of color” receive six percent of funding from donors, compared to predominately white organizations that generally receive 60 percent of funding in donations.
In her closing remarks, Hacker said that the Arts Summit was created to do more than talk once a year.
“I do not want the discussion to end when the curtain comes down on this discussion. Hopefully we will have another discussion. Maybe it will focus on educators, advocacy problems, or philanthropy,” Hacker said. “The hope is to keep the conversation alive and have change-makers in the audience that say, ‘I want to make a difference.'”
