Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1982)
Jonathan Siegle finelines ... The new Hult Center for the Performing Arts is a mag nificient structure As I spent the day of the grand opening crawling through its corridors, interviewing designers and technicians and taking pictures, I grew more impressed with the quality and grand scale of its accomplishment What chutz pah! To build such a thing in little ol’ Eugene Vet all the time a little gong kept ringing in my ear Where were the local people? Local workers built it. Local artists contributed sculpture and cer amics But local talent isn't go ing to use it The symphony will play there And the opera Perhaps the bal let But indigenous creative performers will not be show cased in this fine new building The real acts are from out of town What happened is that little ol' Eugene went out to buy itself a concert hall, a nice hall, to show off Eugene It wanted a mid-size with a few amenities, not a stripped-down compact What it got was a full-size luxury model with everything — the center piece of a $26 million downtown project. As an arts writer, that's a pretty good idea to me The city wants to improve its image and its accounts, so it builds not an industrial complex or a domed stadium, but a home for the arts. Nice Paying for it now, though, is serious business Justifying it is even more serious How does one explain to voters and tax payers that we got this thing which cost a lotta bucks, yet we re gonna give it to, say, ORT to use for free? Nope, we're gonna show 'em that this thing is good for business And my little gong rings a little louder The City of Eugene and its official newspaper, the Regis ter-Guard have gone out of their way to justify this building as being the heart of urban revi talization and a new economic base tor central Lane County Phooey It’s a theater, a beautiful theater, a magnificent theater We built it because en ough people believe in the arts to want it nrotiArt Hailu CmaraiH Bob Davis, who designed the functional parts of the two theaters, told me Eugene was the best client he ever had. Folks just want buildings like this, he told me, for their own sake "There's no reason to build a hall like this unless peo ple want it." Try telling that to the public So, civic leaders throw figures around, tally up imaginary ledgers, and glow with dollar signs in their eyes Phooey on them and their ac counts and ledgers It ain't art they're talking up. What a grand idea, using the arts to attract business If you're out to build something, why not a theater? Let the world see what culture we got out here in the trees and the rain OK, let's see who's playing this month Red Skelton’II be here on the 15th Pat Boone's coming the 19th The Eugene Symphony got to play last Sa turday, but they brought in Mar vin Hamlisch as a guest U goes on In order to pay for this great building we must put up with Celebrity Attractions bringing in expensive road shows most of us can't afford to see Phooey on Celebrity Attrac tions Thanks to some recent gen erous contributions, Eugene is more assured its great civic ex periment may work But the arts have always found big-time money for big-time donations Historically the arts patron has always made it possible for big time art to exist But art is proletarian as well as bourgeois It is people on the cutting edge who bring us new dimensions, new sounds, new visions The arts must grow in order to flourish They must have freedom They must have a place to express themselves, a place where the rest of us can go to gawk, to marvel, and ul timately express our opinion We need art We don't need Marvin Hamlisch I love you Hult Center Yet you're like a Playboy centerfold — just as beautiful, and perhaps just as inaccessible While you strut and sway at 20 bucks a pop, ORT struggles for its life in a red sea. the Community Center for the Performing Arts (the WOW Hall people) fight to stay alive, the University Art Museum has to close for the summer, KWAX goes through its semi-annual blood ritual "friend raiser” and the library can t buy books You're magnificient, world class. I was told repeatedly We deserve you because we built you without state or federal help You've brought us inter national recognition and acclaim But that gong won't stop ringing until I see us locals up there strutting our stuff and showing off to the rest of the world that we got something here they got nowhere else and if they want to see it they got to come here to see it Who knows? It might be the next Red Skelton with special guest Peter Alsop Lane County Fairgrounds Performance Hall Sun., Oct. 3! 7 p.m. TICKETS ON SALE NOW All seals reserved $9/$8 (tickets subject to handling charge) Tickets available at Meier & Frank and Everybody's Records. Concerts West & Barbara Stroum Present We<jlnftsdAj TWscU^ Fr.<U^ Sa+urd©^
