Photo by Stephanie Scott
In the corner hides a sink with dried paint on the outside of its basin. Stretching down the hall is a dressing room partially lit by chandeliers in the nearly 100-year-old Giddings building. One chandelier is burnt out, but nobody will be seeing this.
Instead, follow the maze of black drapes and it will be another world, the one that will be seen, and enter onto Bas Bleu Theatre Company’s intimate “salon-style” stage. Tonight, and every other production night, audiences won’t wonder what backstage looks like, how many hours were spent crafting every detail on stage – or even how the show was funded.
And why should they, after all, they paid for a ticket, right?
“If anyone mentions that a theater ticket pays for the event, then they’re deluded,” said Eric Prince, a theater professor at Colorado State University. “The only sense that might be true is Broadway, really big commercial theater, which is there to make money.”
There are no commercial theaters in Fort Collins. And any money made from tickets goes back into making a performance.
Ryan Keiffer, executive director of Beet Street, which is a local arts and culture promoter funded by the Downtown Development Authority, explains that cost has always been an issue for theater because most groups are non-profits.
“For a long time, traditional theater and performing arts haven’t relied on ticket sales for a sustainable business model,” Keiffer said. “They’re always going to need additional funding.”
But additional funding is hard to come by.
Funding theater is based on two areas: public and private funds. Public funds come from state, national government grants and corporate sponsorships; private funds come from patrons, donors and fundraising events.
Matt Strauch, the general manager of Bas Bleu, said only 40 to 50 percent of their budget comes from ticket sales and the rest is from “the kindness of others.”
He said one of the difficult things about fundraising is that a “need” must be established for the arts, which is difficult when people in the community see needs as core services such as food, transportation and health care.
“Arts for most people is a discretionary item, and most people don’t go, ‘I must have arts and food,’” he said. “I think all of us feel the arts are critical to living because it’s more than just a hobby. The arts have driven culture, leadership and how societies are viewed in future generations.”
In 2007, Americans for the Arts released a study about how local economies were often driven by the arts. The study included only 25 regions in the United States, and Fort Collins was one of them.
“Fort Collins has been uniquely identified as an economic cluster of arts and culture … a proven mechanism for revitalizing the economy,” Strauch said. “For every dollar you spend at the theater it leverages $8 to $9 in the community.”
Photo by Stephanie Scott
In February 2009, the DDA saw an opportunity to aid struggling arts producers. The DDA, according to their Web site, operates on “public-private investment partnerships that foster economic, cultural and social growth in the Fort Collins central business district.”
“We asked: ‘What challenges are you facing today, given the current state of the economy? What can the DDA step up and assist with?’” Executive Director of the DDA Matt Robenalt explained.
Denise Burson Freestone, co-founder of OpenStage Theatre & Company was among those the DDA approached. She said this was exciting because it was the first time the value of arts producers were being recognized by government entities in Fort Collins.
“In the past we were battering down doors and making our voices heard sometimes when people didn’t want to hear us,” Freestone explained. “People didn’t understand how close to the bone arts organizations operated.”
Robenalt said the outcome was that groups needed predictability and stability. But this would be met differently through financial and spatial means because Bas Bleu is the only company who runs their own facility and box office.
“Some groups are operating in scattered sites, garages, basements and unoccupied spaces,” Robenalt said. “Their experience is they would get booted out and that can be unfortunate because it could happen a week before their show opens.”
So in September 2009, the DDA approved leasing Bas Bleu’s space for 10 years at $220,000, underwriting tech and rental fees at the Lincoln Center for four years and purchasing a warehouse for five years so non-profit groups can use the space to store props, rehearse shows and construct sets.
The DDA’s investments will alleviate current headaches for non-profits, but the traditional funding model will still be in place.
“America makes life very tough for people in theater, unlike European countries because we believe in national government subsidies,” Prince said. “A lot of countries believe that if the art of your nation matters, then you have to celebrate and sustain it.”
While sustainable funding may be difficult, it isn’t out of the question. In 1989, Denver passed the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District tax, a 0.1 percent sales tax that goes to the Denver Zoo, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Art Museum and Denver Botanic Gardens. According to the SCFD Web site, for every $10 spent, one penny goes to the SCFD tax.
For several years, many people in Larimer County have petitioned to get a SCFD tax on the ballot, but it has not yet happened.
“We’ve gotten enough signatures for this year, but we pulled it out because a lot of people were suggesting that it’s not the right year to do it because we don’t want to blow our chances,” Keiffer said.
Strauch and Freestone agreed, and were both confident this proposal will reappear.
Photo by Stephanie Scott
“I have heard, ‘Oh yes, I would fund the arts as long as it’s not a handout for the artists,’” Freestone stated. “If you look at it, it’s the artists giving the handouts, they’re virtually giving this away to the community and we’re not talking about amateurs either.”
The whole spirit and feel of a place, Prince said, depends on its culture, which is what enriches us.
“At the end of it all, what are we really earning money for? What’s it all about and what are we trying to achieve?” Prince asked. “Surely most people are trying to achieve some sense of happiness by what we have to offer each other – and that’s where the arts matter.”
Tags: Volume 5 Issue 1
