Wilkes-Barre ripe for arts, cultural center
5/12/2005
Commentary by Shelley Pearce,
published in the Times Leader May 12, 2005
THE REVITALIZATION of downtown Wilkes-Barre is well under way. One particularly promising project now being planned is a nonprofit arts and cultural center in downtown Wilkes-Barre. The Board of the Cultural Council of Luzerne County decided that with the emerging renaissance under way the time was right to pursue such a venture. The Cultural Council has worked to generate collaboration for an arts and cultural center with several key groups. This effort has attracted support from civic and educational leaders and organizations including the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania, the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, area colleges and universities, and the Luzerne Foundation, to name just a few.
This support comes from a strong collective sense that an arts and cultural center would contribute enormously to the community’s quality of life, serve as a powerful magnet for attracting people downtown and, in so doing, serve as a significant economic development force. Indeed, in cities like New Haven, Connecticut, and North Adams, Massachusetts, where such centers were established, they have been embraced and accepted as the heart and soul of these cities. It is only fitting that we should have a center in Luzerne County because we have an incredibly rich and diverse arts and cultural heritage. At last count, there were 26 theater groups alone. Our musical tradition includes everything from one of the finest symphonic orchestras in the state to the nationally renowned rock band Breaking Benjamin.
The area’s many galleries host national, regional, and amateur exhibitions with openings occurring practically every weekend, and for decades dance has contributed to the area’s rich arts scene. But many of these groups are financially fragile and operate in inefficient, unsatisfactory facilities.
While the Kirby Center and the Wachovia Arena have successfully hosted large regional and national events, we believe a community arts and cultural center can provide a home for local artists and arts organizations.
This center would provide a venue for smaller-scale dance, theater and musical performances and would accommodate anywhere from 50 people in a café-style setting to as many as 300 with theater-style seating. The center would also include gallery space for the exhibition of large-scale visual arts, as well as an intimate space for student and amateur artwork.
Space for community meetings, arts instruction of all kinds, a café, gift shop, and possibly space for various nonprofit organizations to lease would also be included.
To be certain we had a sound basis for moving forward, the cultural council searched for expertise in arts development. It became clear that Artspace of Minneapolis was the one firm that touched every community with a thriving arts scene.
Artspace is the nation’s leading nonprofit real estate developer and consultant for the arts. They’ve been in existence over 25 years and have completed a large number of projects including live/work/exhibition spaces as well as arts and cultural centers. The Cultural Council retained Artspace to conduct a feasibility study in Luzerne County, and on April 27-28, several forums were held by Artspace staff to determine the level of interest and support for such a project. Previous Artspace projects and the cultural and economic benefits of developing an arts and cultural center were discussed. Questions from attendees about the concept and feasibility of the project were openly discussed and answered.
Artspace is due to release its feasibility study by the end of May. While we will await the report, we were encouraged by the community’s overwhelmingly optimistic response at the April forums. We want to thank the community for its support, and we commit to providing regular progress reports as we pursue this important project.
