NEA Chief Landesman Lands In Peoria -- And Avoids Controversy

Rocco Landesman didn't take Peoria, but he did seem to refrain from dismissing the city and its arts community again.

The new National Endowment for the Arts chairman yesterday started the whistle-stop tour of U.S. arts communities that he promised a few weeks ago. The first stop was a must because he'd insulted Peorians back in August.

On his visit, Landesman avoided another direct hit, saying he would not compare the production of "Rent" that he saw at the Eastlight Theatre Friday Night to a production of the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. According to the Peoria Journal Star, here's what happened:

The chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts did observe earlier in the day that amateur arts are worthwhile much in the same way that minor leagues and amateur sports have value in relation to the big leagues and professional sports. One can feed into the other and is worthy of support, he said.

Including NEA support?

"I don't know. I'm not saying the NEA would never support a community theater," Landesman said. "I don't think that's something I could definitively say."

Having learned what not to say, Landeman also said his view of the city had changed:

"The first impression from someone who knows nothing about it is that it's a very meat and potatoes, rust belt, manufacturing city...The thing, of course, that is revelatory is realizing that there is a vibrant arts scene, that there is what has, I think, the beginnings, ultimately, of the real makings of an arts district in the Warehouse District. There's big plans for it. The riverfront museum is a big deal. You have great riverfront, too."

Here's the whole story, plus a local reaction article, also in the Journal Star. WMBD/WYZZ also covered the visit.

Photo: © 2009 GateHouseMedia, Inc., Courtesy Peoria Journal Star.