If you love architecture, interpersonal drama, high finance, fundraising, marketing, the media, state and local government, executive management, math, interior design, high society, consulting or even the performing arts, you’re the ideal candidate to become a performing-arts-center-in-progress junkie..............
Last month I celebrated (by taking the week off, ironically) my third anniversary with the Kimmel Center. My husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed the years since relocating from Dallas to Center City, and both the city and the Center have been positive surprises. I knew a great deal about the Kimmel, though, four years before I moved here, having stalked it online from 1,300 miles away.
I am an unrepentant junkie for performing arts centers in progress. Deeply nerdy, I know. Schematic design, groundbreaking, mid-construction, grand opening: Even as far back as architect selection, I love to follow news of the sometimes beautiful but often painful births of new theaters and concert halls. There’s something for everyone in the daily drama of launching multi-million-dollar arts venues in radically different cities with remarkably similar financial challenges.
So I pass on the addiction to anyone who will take it up. Arts Journal and Musical America are good starting points for building projects as well as general news about artists, tours, recordings and new works. The IAAM represents the venue management industry, and news of new projects sometimes surfaces there, as well.
Other personal selections for interesting new projects:
The new Atlanta concert hall by Calatrava
The long-awaited Miami performing arts project
The Orange County Performing Arts Center expansion
The new Dallas opera house and multiform theater
Lincoln Center's redevelopment efforts
The new Guthrie Theater, a Nouvel building on the banks of the Mississippi River
The Richmond project, much in the news lately
Enjoy ---