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
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