Smashing assumptions about arts venues

If you happen to be in or near Madison, Wisconsin, this week, you should attend the public talk and discussion by Elizabeth Streb at Overture Center, Wednesday, September 23, 7:00 pm. I’ll be there (I’m one of the hosts, after all), and eager to hear more about her extraordinary and innovative work in rethinking the place, purpose, and processes of arts facilities.

Elizabeth is, of course, a compelling choreographer and ”action architect” — MacArthur Fellow, and all that. But her more recent work has been the artful reconsideration of the cultural venue, in the form of her Streb Lab for Action Mechanics (SLAM) in Brooklyn.

In SLAM’s 5000 square feet, Elizabeth and her associates cram a whole lot of creative exchange, and encourage public access during every open hour. Says the description:

Since 2003, SLAM has become a gathering spot for exchange of creative
ideas across cultures of kids, dancers, gymnasts, circus specialists
and pedestrians. SLAM is a place to experiment, a place that examines
the difference between public and private, a place that is all public,
all the time. Over the course of a year, nearly 6,000 people see one of
40 performances of STREB in its own performing space, over 400 students
come to SLAM weekly to attend one of over 40 classes, and renters,
primarily individual artists, use the space over 50 hours per week.

Elizabeth Streb is in Madison thanks to the special topics course I’m co-teaching this semester, supported by the UW-Madison Arts Institute. Future guest speakers in our public forum will include Bill Ivey (former NEA chair, leader for Obama’s transition team in Arts and Humanities) on November 12, and ArtsJournal founder/editor Doug McLennan on December 3.