Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones explores an increasingly common consideration for facility-dependent arts groups in a down economy: sharing space instead of building or owning their own. Says Jones:
Given the economic downturn, sharing of space may turn out to the new
paradigm for Chicago cultural institutions. But even though the
benefits of splitting costs, pooling resources and putting arts venues
to maximum productive use are obvious, sharing performance space is a
lot trickier than it seems. Especially if it takes place on
less-than-equal terms.
Jones goes on to describe some of the tensions of shared space, especially when one group actually runs the building and the other is only a tenant. Co-promotion of events in the venue can be limited and awkward. Prime dates and real estate can be withheld by the host. And audiences can become confused about who’s producing when the work is presented by a small organization within the space affiliated with a larger one.
Still, it’s not as if there’s much choice in the matter. Capital campaigns for new facilities have stalled all over the country. Boards and executives are casting a more conservative eye on their operating budgets, wary of the increased fixed expenses of owning or operating exclusive space.
Effective cultural management (or any management, for that matter) requires thoughtful, responsive, and even brutal allocation of available resources toward the defined goal. In hard times, that also means chopping resource-grabbers that don’t advance that goal as effectively when compared to others. The balance between building and programming is often ground zero for these difficult choices.
My organization just moved into a beautiful 20,000 square foot facility that we’ve outfitted into six dance studios. The Center Dance Company has a 25 year+ reputation as one of the top ballet/dance studios in the Metro Washington DC area, but we find ourselves with more space than we need and the directive from our Board to find additional revenue sources to pay for everything.
We are very interested in partnering with or renting to other arts organizations in the DC area, and would be very interested to hear any ideas you all may have on how to do this. We already are renting to an Irish dance group, modern dance troupe, Southeast Asian performing arts (sort of Bollywood-type dance) and a Brazilian Capoeira group. But we are open to some additional ideas – if we can raise another $60,000 we can outfit our 50′ x 50′ studio as a small performing space.
Thanks for any and all of your suggestions or contacts – Happy New Year!
Caroline Frankil Warren
Executive Director
The Center Dance Company
http://www.centerdancecompany.org
Our Ballet and Dance School for Children is looking to expand our facility and dance space has proven very tough to find and keep in the long run in the Metro DC area. We have two locations in Arlington and Fairfax, VA. Despite the slowing economy, the DC area remains strong and the commercial real estate market remains stable. Finding suitable Dance Studio space is a tough job and we’ve been at it for a couple of years now. The problem is that dance schools can’t generate enough income to afford retail space, which usually has the most parking. On the other hand sharing with another similar business may impose various competition and control issues. Arts are all about independence and freedom and establishing a long-term sharing relationship is always a challenge.
Re-zoning flex space is difficult and a slow process, and 1st floor office space is rarely available and offered to us. It is a quest of its own, but with persistence anything is possible!
Svetlana Marintcheva,
Director
Adagio Ballet
http://www.adagioballet.com/