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Changing of the cultural guard
Saturday, December 30, 2000 By Caroline Abels, Post-Gazette Cultural Arts Writer
Five big pairs of shoes and one old cardigan.
Who will fill them?
It's hard to imagine anyone donning a Fred Rogers sweater in 2001 and replacing the venerable host of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," which ceased taping Dec. 1. Pittsburgh children, therefore, will have to settle for reruns of their favorite neighbor.
Their parents -- who might prefer attending the theater or going to an art museum to watching King Friday bounce around in his castle -- will soon learn about the people who will take over five major cultural positions in the city.
New leaders of City Theatre, the Three Rivers Arts Festival, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, as well as a new curator at the Carnegie Museum of Art who will oversee the next Carnegie International, are expected to be chosen in 2001.
Though the casual arts patron doesn't often contemplate these behind-the-scenes positions, the new leaders will influence people's cultural experiences for years to come.
Just think about the people who are leaving and what they've done.
As president of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Carol Brown, in just 15 years, turned a red-light section of Downtown into a sparkling cultural district. Will her replacement launch more real estate projects that will continue to change the face of Downtown or spend more time luring out-of-town arts groups here for performances as envisioned by the trust's strategic plan? Or both?
Marc Masterson, producing director of City Theatre for 20 years, turned a small university theater into the second-largest independent theater company in Pittsburgh. Will his replacement continue to present fresh new plays, offer an artistic alternative to the Pittsburgh Public Theater and possess Masterson's fund-raising savvy?
The Three Rivers Arts Festival grew in popularity and artistic recognition under the guidance of Jeanne Pearlman, who left after 11 years to supervise arts grantmaking at the Pittsburgh Foundation. What will Pearlman's replacement do with the multifaceted summer festival? How will the festival interact with the international arts festival being planned by the Cultural Trust?
Jay Apt -- to the consternation of some and the satisfaction of others -- turned the staid Carnegie Museum of Natural History into a buzzing, blinking, high-tech mecca in his three years as director. Will his successor be able to smooth the ruffled feathers of some employees who thought Apt went too far? Or will the new director go even farther?
And if tradition dictates, the new curator of contemporary art at The Carnegie will curate the next Carnegie International, which is expected to take place within the next few years. How will the new curator build on the popular and critical success of former curator Madeleine Grynsztejn's 1999-2000 International?
It's been more than a decade since the city had such a large number of major arts positions vacant. But local artists and arts managers are curious about the new arrivals rather than concerned about losing the old ones.
"This kind of turnover is really healthy because, if you think about it, the arts are all about creativity and risk and change," said arts consultant Robin Kaye of Dewey, Kaye & Associates, Downtown.
However, the arts have rarely been about collaboration -- until now. Perhaps 2000 will be remembered as the year local arts groups began to institutionalize their desire to work together: the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Alliance, intended to be the unified voice of the arts community, was made an official organization with a board and paid staff.
Furthering the collaborative spirit, arts groups that perform in the cultural district agreed to pool resources and market themselves jointly. A regional arts education collaborative was formed, as was an office of cultural tourism at the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau. And a calendar listing all arts events in Allegheny County was created for the first time.
Can the cooperation last? The challenge for the arts alliance, which is intended to reflect the interests and opinions of arts groups large and small, is to make sure organizations stay involved rather than become dependent on the board and staff.
"It's a predictable and normal challenge for any grass-roots organization that is evolving," said Laura Willumsen, executive director of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. "And it's going to become more apparent when we hit specific issues that require a lot of input."
Cultural leaders will also be keeping their eye on the stock market, given that more arts groups are forming endowments to foster financial stability. Not only would invested funds fall into jeopardy if the market went south, but the pocketbooks of donors could also be affected.
"In times of true economic duress, participation in the arts goes up, perhaps due to escapism, but contributions do not," said Stephen Klein, managing director of Pittsburgh Public Theater. "We're all hoping for a continuation of the great bounty."
That bounty sparked the opening of four new theaters in 2000 -- the O'Reilly, the Chosky, the Heymann and the Rauh. In addition, a number of groups announced physical expansions, including Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Children's Museum and Pittsburgh Filmmakers. The new Pittsburgh Glass Center announced plans to open next year. And the Carnegie Science Center expects to break ground on a new sports entertainment complex.
Cultural institutions in 2000 also took a new look at the Pittsburgh amusement tax, a levy on tickets to entertainment events. Puzzled as to why most local museums don't pay the tax because they are deemed educational institutions, a handful of performing arts groups began to consider asking the city for a similar exemption, noting that the federal government exempts them from taxes because of their educational missions.
Arts groups will always be seeking ways to increase audiences while remaining financially stable and artistically challenging. But there are plenty of questions specific to the new year. Will the new stadiums tug on the entertainment dollars of Pittsburghers and lead them away from the arts? Will East Liberty, Lawrenceville and the Friendship/Bloomfield/Garfield area become the arts destinations they hope to be? Nationally, will Congress do anything about the flood of violent and misogynic lyrics appearing in so much of the country's popular music?
And what will Mariss Jansons, music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, do about the overtures he's receiving from orchestras around the world that are looking for new conductors?
The curtain rises on 2001.
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The players: Carol Brown, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust; Fred Rogers, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood"; Marc Masterson, City Theatre; Jay Apt, Carnegie Museum of Natural History; Jeanne Pearlman, Three Rivers Arts Festival; Madeleine Grynsztejn, curator of last year's Carnegie International.