The Chelsea Theater’s Future is In Question. Is The ArtsCenter the Answer?

Posted on November 15, 2017 by patrick

This evening I caught the Herald-Sun article announcing that Chapel Hill’s Chelsea Theater may be near the end of its run. Having seen many films there and having given my spouse Chelsea gift certificates for many birthdays, this is a gut punch and a sad reckoning for arthouse and related films in Chapel Hill / Carrboro.

The article states:

“Now in the last year of our current five-year lease, with only a handful of months to go, we must make some serious choices about the future of the Chelsea Theater,” the release said. “Given the advancing years of the current owner it might be difficult committing to another five year lease. And yet there may be some interest in continuing the legacy of the Chelsea.”

The theater is asking interested parties to reach out to the theater via email.

Cutting to the chase, unless there is some deep-pocketed film aficionado interested in taking over the labor of love that has been Bruce Stone’s stewardship of the Chelsea (and previously the Varsity), then there is one obvious organization to ask if they are interested in stepping into the breach: The ArtsCenter.

It wouldn’t be the first time an arthouse theater has gone the non-profit route to stay in business. The Coolidge Corner theater in Brookline, MA made the move in 1989. A/perture Cinema in Winston-Salem did, too, in the past 7 years.

What’s different from both of these other situations is that these locations were stand-alone operations without other infrastructure that they needed to develop to execute their plans. The ArtsCenter already has a box office, online ticket sales, a wine/beer permit, and people who know about running a theater, not to mention a non-profit board in place. Clearly there’s a space question to be managed, but 300 East Main has a few spaces that aren’t fully leased and maybe there’s a temporary opportunity that could be figured out while larger programming questions about the ArtsCenter’s footprint downtown could be managed.

So what’s in this idea for various parties?

For the ArtsCenter, it presents an opportunity to open up a new fundraising and stakeholder channel around arthouse films like the two theaters above, in addition to embracing a new level of film engagement.

For Carrboro, it’s a potential downtown economic development opportunity that fits with the town’s brand that is authentic, artistic, and independent.

For film fans, it’s a chance to put their money where their mouth is and support the Chelsea as the community institution it is. Our household currently buys tickets to ArtsCenter events a la carte. I’m certain that if the ArtsCenter made this move, we’d become members, and I bet others would, too.

What do you think?

CB21 Exclusive: Jones Ferry Rd Mural Design Released, Public Hearing on Sept 1

Posted on August 22, 2015 by patrick

Randee Haven-O’Donnell, Michael Adamson, Damon Seils

While CityBeautiful21 is normally in the business of reacting to and commenting on news developments in Carrboro, today I have the opportunity to break some news – the design for the proposed mural on the wall near the Jones Ferry Rd and NC 54 interchange is being released in this blog post!

This week I had the opportunity to connect with Michael Adamson (MA), a longtime friend of Carrboro who has been shepherding the mural process along over the last two years, with significant contributions from BOA Members Randee Haven-O’Donnell and Damon Seils. Here’s what he had to say.

CB21: First, where is this mural being proposed?

MA: The mural would be painted on a large wall facing NC 54 beneath the Collins Crossing (formerly Abbey Court) apartments near where the on/off ramps meet Jones Ferry Rd. Here is a picture of the area from Google Streetview:

Rightmost wall face, facing off-ramp, is the proposed mural location near Jones Ferry Rd

CB21: Tell us a bit about how the idea of a mural at this location got started.

MA: It wasn’t my idea. My daughter Catherine Adamson, who lives near the mural wall and commutes by it twice a day, said to me, “Dad, a mural would look really good on that wall.” She suggested I take it on as a project. That was in September, 2013. I brought the idea to Art Menius (then director of the ArtsCenter) and Jacquie Gist (Carrboro alder). They smoothed the way to working with the Carrboro Arts Committee and the very fine muralist, Michael Brown. This was a complex project from the beginning because so many stakeholders were involved. The wall belongs to the North Carolina Department of Transportation so they have final say. And we wanted as much public input as possible, especially from kids who live in the neighborhood.

CB21: This intersection functions as a gateway to Carrboro for folks coming from places due west, including Snow Camp, Saxapahaw, or even further away in the Triad. (Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point) Was there a message about Carrboro you hoped to send through the artwork in this location?

MA: There are really several messages. One is the message of the process itself. We are sending a message to school children and their parents that we care about them. We want them involved. We went to the local schools closest to the mural site and engaged about 160 third graders in drawing self-portraits. They looked in a mirror and drew themselves. Michael Brown used those portraits as the basic material from which he created the mural image. No child can be identified from their portrait in the mural because the elements of the images have been mixed. But the children know that they inspired the art. That is the message to them.

There is another message to the other citizens in Carrboro and in surrounding communities. The Town logo, which is at the center of the mural, tells everyone that this is Carrboro and that Carrboro cares about kids. Carrboro also cares about diversity and this comes through in the fact that the portraits look like the kids, in all their variety and uniqueness. We wanted every person who looks at the mural to see someone who looks like them. The mural is a human rainbow.

CB21: You reached out to schoolchildren to generate material for the mural. How did they arrive at the idea of doing the self portraits?

MA: Michael Brown is a former school teacher so he knew that it is a common art class assignment for kids in 3rd grade to draw themselves. It’s a valuable exercise… part of learning about your own identity as you are growing up. He suggested to the art teachers at Carrboro Elementary School and Scroggs Elementary School that their kids might be involved in a project that would benefit everyone. Both teachers enthusiastically joined the project and the kids had a lot of fun. Michael Brown taught lessons to the kids… lessons about the history or portraiture and the basic elements of art. So the kids benefited directly and their art will live on for many years, seen by the passengers of more than 25,000 cars per day that pass the mural site.

CB21: Clearly there’s some math here. 100+ kids and you can’t fit all the portraits on the wall. Was it hard to pick ones to go in the final image?

MA: There are 7 portraits in the mural. These are composed of elements from the self-portraits of the 160 children who participated. This was in no way a competition. We did not want children to be singled out or judged on the basis of their art work. After all, these are 8 and 9 year old children. So it’s not about competition. It’s about having fun and doing the best art you are capable of. Some children will recognize an element in the mural that seems to come from their own art work. But there is no way to trace the final mural image back to any particular child.

CB21: Muralist Michael Brown, who has a tremendous body of work on local walls in the area, is involved. Tell us about his role.

MA: Michael Brown is the creator of the mural. He used the children’s self-portrait art as his inspiration, but he is the real source of the mural. Michael Brown and I have a great working relationship. I think that’s precisely because I have no artistic talent. I don’t pretend that I can contribute to the art itself. Michael Brown lets me take care of guiding the project through the process. Michael Brown did all the presentations to the Carrboro Arts Committee where the final image was decided on. And he will do the actual painting of the mural. We wanted to involve the children in the painting as well as the image creation process, but that was not possible at this site due to safety concerns. We hope that in the next phase of the mural we can have everyone in Town involved in the actual painting.

CB21: How is this project being funded?

MA: The mural has been granted $8,000 in funding from the Carrboro Tourism Development Authority.

CB21: On September 1st there is going to be a public hearing at the Carrboro Board of Aldermen meeting. What input are you and others involved in the mural process are you seeking?

MA: Well, first of all we want to make everyone aware of the project. The hearing will give folks a chance to learn about how the image was created and ask any questions they have about the art itself as well as the process of putting paint on the wall. People who come to the hearing can speak to the Board of Aldermen and express their opinion about the project and the art itself.

Public art has a purpose. That purpose is to stimulate people who see it to think and feel. And when people think and feel, that can cause controversy. Maybe some people will not like having a mural at this location. Maybe some people will not like the art work. It is rare to have any piece of art that is liked by everyone. The Carrboro Arts Committee reviewed the project and selected the particular image that we are proposing. And that committee is very representative of the arts community and the Carrboro community as a whole. But everyone has a right to their own opinion and a right to express that opinion. So we want folks to speak their minds. If you like it, say so. If you don’t, say so.

CB21: This is the first phase of the Carrboro Mural Project, but there are two more phases to come in the future. Tell us about those.

Yes, this first phase, which includes the Town logo, faces NC 54 and will be seen by many thousands of people every day. It is a simple, low resolution image that can be viewed as you pass by at the speed limit, which is 45 miles per hour.

The next phase of the project will be on the adjoining wall which faces Jones Ferry Rd. We don’t know exactly what image will be on that wall. It is also going to be viewed by moving traffic at a distance, but the cars will be moving slower and will be closer to the image, so perhaps we can have more detail in that image. The big difference with phase 2 is that there is a grassy lawn area in front of the wall. We hope this will make it safe to have regular citizens (and not just professional artists) involved in applying paint to canvas. The whole Town could be involved in painting.

And the third phase of the project will be on the wall along the Jones Ferry side walk. This will viewed by people standing still just a few feet from the wall, so we can have very high definition art on that wall. We hope to “panelize” that wall so that it can hold 25 go 30 separate art projects. And hopefully each of these can be designed and painted by citizens of Carrboro.

We hope that the first phase will be painted this Fall. In coming years, the other two phases will become reality so that Carrboro will be known for the very fine public art that graces the Jones Ferry gateway to the town.

CB21 Commentary:

In closing, I’m grateful to Michael Adamson for taking the time to discuss the mural, and I encourage CB21 readers to attend the public hearing On September 1st at Carrboro Town Hall. Personally, I support the mural for a variety of reasons, but the primary reason is that it represents the expression of a core value in this town: the notion that within everyone is the capacity for art, and that Carrboro is a place that gives everyone the opportunity, space, and freedom to be a contributor to that culture. Anyone wanting to find out more can visit the Carrboro Mural Facebook Page. Without further ado, here is the final mural image by Michael Brown! (Click to enlarge!)

Final Carrboro Mural Image

ArtsCenter-Kidzu Building: A Compelling Idea That Needs Some Work Before Going Forward

Posted on January 20, 2015 by patrick

The Short Take: The Town of Carrboro has been approached by two cherished local non-profits (Kidzu and The ArtsCenter) with a proposal to build a new “Carrboro Arts and Innovation Center” (CAIC) involving town funds from a not-presently-existent revenue stream. The proposal has several issues that should discourage the Town from moving forward until these challenges can be resolved or greatly improved upon. These issues are exacerbated by a lack of public policy guidance documents, most notably a Town Comprehensive Plan, that would guide such proposals to be more in sync with community priorities from the outset.

I urge the Carrboro Board of Aldermen to NOT move forward with this proposal at this time, and to step back and ask themselves:

Broadly: What can the Town do to better prepare itself for major proposals such as The CAIC and the Lloyd Farm project? Why is the Town so unprepared to deal with ideas like this?
More Narrowly: What pieces of the ArtsCenter proposal are at an inappropriate level of detail (too much? too little?) to effectively evaluate whether the Town should:
- Support such a project?
- Support such a project AND participate in it financially?

The Long Take: There are multiple issues to consider with this proposal and I will try to take them on one at a time.

Background on my Point of View

For those who don’t know me who are reading this, I’ve lived in Carrboro for about 15 years, and my interest in the arts is one of the reasons I live here. I’ve been a performing musician since high school, and have played locally at the Festival for the Eno, Blue Horn Lounge, Cafe Driade, the Carrboro Music Festival, Open Eye Cafe, Johnny’s, The Station, and yes, The ArtsCenter. Our family has patronized concerts, theater events, public meetings and art shows there. With a small child in our family, we have also recently been members of Kidzu. I am a supporter of both of these organizations and what they do in the community, both in spirit and as a patron of their activities. I hope that those who have spent time assembling the CAIC proposal will read the remainder of this post while keeping in mind that I am someone who wants to see both The ArtsCenter and Kidzu succeed.

What’s Good – Carrboro, The Arts, and Institutions for Young Families

The exciting part of the proposal is the promise of an expanded ArtsCenter in a town where the populace loves the arts from a participant point of view as much as a concertgoer/theatergoer/galleryhopper point of view. A great space for the arts is in keeping with Carrboro’s strengths and brand as a community. There’s no doubt that the idea is compelling. Additionally, Carrboro’s percentage of population under age 10 is almost 16%, so a place like Kidzu also makes sense to be in the community.

However, as we move from the general to the specific, these positives get overwhelmed by details (and in some cases, the lack thereof) that detract from other things residents cherish about Carrboro, most notably its nature as one of the truly walkable communities in North Carolina and the Southeast.

What’s Problematic:

The Architectural Style

To start with the challenges of the proposal, I’m going to focus on what I’ve learned from the media coverage as I have not been able to attend any public forums. Below are some images that I believe came from the Chapel Hill News. They show a modernist/postmodernist building that is heavy on glass and steel. The building has uneven projections from multiple sides, which certainly probably raise the cost of the building over continuous walls in the same space. I assume that the building would not actually have all the text labels on the outside and that those labels are to help explain interior functions.

ArtsCenter Visualization 1

ArtsCenter Visualization 2

First, if the town wants to take on debt to build a building for non-profit organizations, we should have a plan for how the building could be used if those nonprofits fail and cannot use the space as proposed. I flag this because the track record of re-using modernist buildings is not that good.

Carrboro’s Town Hall, a former school, has found adaptive re-use, as has Carr Mill. Meanwhile, the BCBSNC property sits empty because it ignored many timeless building practices for trendy abstract art statement-making.

If the Town is going to build a building, it should build in a style that has a record of attracting new uses when the original ones fail or leave, and we should try to build it without expensive, hard-to-maintain materials and profiles.

The Building’s Orientation to Its Surroundings

I’ve been to DPAC for a show and I walk by there all the time. It’s a beautiful facility on the inside, and it sounds great. That said, I don’t know that its interaction with the rest of the city is all that great in Durham. To be fair, I’m not sure the site of DPAC presented many opportunities for synergy when it was built, but this site has the opportunity to embrace one of Carrboro’s most busy intersections for pedestrian activity. Unfortunately, the design seems to “hide” the CAIC behind two trees and there is no relationship with Main Street, the most important or “A” street on which the property fronts. Instead, the primary orientation for people walking to and from the entrance is towards the “B” street of lower importance, Roberson Street. Additionally, nearly the full length of the ArtsCenter’s interface with the block is for drop-off/pick-up for cars.

The present design honors the car first and the pedestrian second. This needs to change, and any project at this location needs to do more to honor Main St and contribute to it as a place.

The Multiple Roles of the Architect

Mr. Szostak is on the board of the ArtsCenter. What happens when the ArtsCenter is pushing for a design element that raises the cost to the Town, and the Town wants to reduce it? Wouldn’t it be awkward for an architect to fulfill the Town’s (his client’s) wish while upsetting his Board colleagues? It doesn’t seem fair to ask the architect of a Town building to negotiate that tension. Also, shouldn’t the Town, if it’s undertaking a signature building project, seek proposals that would include competitive bids for the design work? There’s no doubt Mr. Szostak is a talented architect. I suspect he’s done many good things for the ArtsCenter board as well. If this proposal goes forward, the Town should consider how to prevent conflict between the non-profits and itself via the roles of the architect.

Architecture, Decorum, and Placemaking

Former Mayor Mark Chilton once said that Carrboro’s architecture has “a certain humility” to it. I think he was onto something, but I would say it a little differently, perhaps that our architecture has a “common dignity” to it. I think that any new ArtsCenter building would best serve its purpose by contributing to the common dignity of the street scape rather than making a big statement unrelated to the rest of downtown.

Calls for New Revenue Streams

To the extent that any of this proposal relies on new revenue streams, it is hard to ignore that the NCGA has recently taken away the privilege license tax from municipalities and is looking to redistribute some of their sales tax revenue to rural areas. This is a legislature that also put new limits on sales tax for counties last year. A realist proposal would not include a component of asking the NCGA for new revenue sources for a municipality.

Collateral from Non-Profits

The proposal suggests that the Town would only move forward if the ArtsCenter or Kidzu could offer some collateral. Realistically, what assets do these organizations have, and what is the value of these assets?

Continued Failure on Parking Policy From the Town

It is extremely painful to see that one of the four key points this agreement suggests that the Town would not move forward without the appropriate parking infrastructure. Forgetting all the other points I have made, this is more than enough to oppose the entire proposal until we get off of the idea that because we have a new use of any type in our walkable, transit-served downtown we need more (implied: free) PARKING. During the Carrboro music festival this year, theoretically our biggest visitor event which will DWARF the busiest night at any new ArtsCenter, the deck was not full. Why on earth would we put public money toward any structured parking (which eats up truly finite economically productive land in the downtown) without pricing the parking we already have? (which would also bring revenue). Or without stepping up enforcement? (which would bring revenue and reduce predatory towing)

I’ve already hashed out most of the reasons for being smarter about parking in this post. Please take a look.

How We’re Getting Input On This

I’m also disappointed that what we’re doing to decide how to proceed with this project is to hold a public hearing. First, let me say that holding a hearing is vastly better than not holding one. Still, what’s happening is that everyone is debating the merits of this proposal against itself, and not as part of a broader vision for downtown and the community. It’s the same type of short-term, single-faceted thinking that led the Town to recently consider turning the bike lanes on Fidelty Street into car parking. It’s almost as if because one idea emerges, we forget everything else we’ve agreed to as goals for the community.

The recent Lloyd Farm meetings with the community highlight some of the same problems. In frustration, one neighbor said to the developer “we’re not supposed to be designing the project for you!” This line brought lots of laughs, but it held a lot of truth. But I also had sympathy for the developers. Our zones and our code don’t tell them what we want; many of the ideas in our zoning and codes are decades old and are not made for this moment in our community’s life, but we keep governing off of them.

Of course, with both the CAIC and Lloyd Farm, the missing document that is supposed to manage all these tensions is a comprehensive plan. Carrboro needs one.

Closing

As I finish this piece, there are a lot of pieces of the CAIC proposal that need work. I hope The ArtsCenter and Kidzu will step up to the challenge and address those issues in a refined proposal to be considered somewhere down the road. I also hope the Town will take a hard look at whether our current policy tools are adequate to deal with Carrboro’s growth in the next twenty years.

Quick Thoughts on Carrboro Music Festival 2013

Posted on September 30, 2013 by patrick

Another Carrboro Music Festival (CMF) is in the books, and generally speaking, it was a great afternoon. The timing of the event usually provides some of the best weather central North Carolina can offer, temperature/humidity-wise, and today delivered on that count in spades. I biked all over the place, taking advantage of our new bicycle facilities on Main Street and the elevator to the roof of the parking deck. (more on that later)

As usual, the music was tremendous- I caught several excellent performances spanning a slew of genres, mostly from people who live in town or nearby. The Tim Smith Band‘s reggae-influenced cover of “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison was my favorite surprise of the day- just flat out awesome, even in a set that pretty much killed for 40 minutes straight. Doug Largent‘s organ playing was a great joy to hear in person for the first time as well. DC and I closed out the night at Steel String listening to Wes Collins‘ riveting “Waiting,” and then packed up the stroller and headed for home.

Wes Collins (standing) & Danny Gotham at Steel String Brewery

Beyond enjoying the day, though, I spent a portion of my time wandering around thinking about what the CMF tells us about Carrboro for the other 364 days of the year.

Here are my take-aways. Unsurprisingly with me, they are public space and transport-centric:

Lots of cities talk about “managing/cultivating/some-action-verbing” their brand, and I have previously heard that a good brand “delivers on a promise.” Carrboro has a brand and it lives it without much fuss- the town is informal, fun, musical, artistic, accepting, and comfortable with a certain amount of chaos in service of those things. The CMF is not the town putting on a persona for a day; it’s just Carrboro being Carrboro, only more than usual. That’s a good thing.
It’s great to see buses running in Carrboro on Sundays. We need our transit network to be a seven-day-a-week service. I asked Chapel Hill Transit staff and they said that a total of 679 passengers rode the two buses that provided Shuttle service on Sunday.
Even on the day of the year when the most visitors the town receives at once are there, traffic just isn’t that bad. And maybe the alternatives to get downtown help a lot with that, but still.
The parking deck was open, but not from the side that most people were likely to get the chance to take advantage of it. Even so, Levels 1-2 and a small part of 3 in the deck were filled. The roof, 4, and 5 were mostly empty even after going past all the spaces reserved for the hotel. Check it out:
3rd Level Parking Deck During Late Afternoon CMF
The sidewalks on our major streets need to be wider. Walking in Carrboro can sometimes feel tenuous under usual conditions, but the CMF crowds exacerbate this by pointing out how deteriorated some of our sidewalks are in our most heavily-trafficked areas. I’m thinking particularly of the sidewalks just east of the railroad tracks on both sides of Main St. Hopefully we can plan for some improvements here for the pieces that 300 East Main’s redevelopment will not address.
Closing Weaver Street between the intersection with Main/Roberson and the Weaver/Greensboro intersection yields a pretty minimal impact to the overall traffic conditions but provides a fantastic livability dividend to everyone who gets to enjoy the street. We’ve had a long-term closure of this space for the Weaver Street re-construction and multiple events like CMF and Carrboro Open Streets show us that the town can not only survive, but THRIVE- without that roadway capacity. We should think about what an opportunity that is for Carrboro to create a public space unlike any other in a town our size. More on that in a future post.

Did you have any observations you’d like to share from CMF 2013? Please add them in the comments!

Informal Urbanism Indicator #4: Yarn Bombing

Posted on February 21, 2013 by patrick

Whereas the Super Strudel graffiti was likely the work of one artist, the February 2012 Yarn Bombing of downtown Carrboro was a coordinated work of many skilled artists who sought (and received) permission from the town of Carrboro to put their pieces in the public realm. Below are some photos of some of the Yarn-bombed sites, and a map of where they were ultimately located, which reflects the combined decisions of town representatives and artists.

Yarn Bombed Tree, Looking Glass Cafe

Yarn-Bombed Parking Lot (Photo by Flickr User RubyJi)

Yarn-Bombed Town Hall (Photo Courtesy Carrboro Citizen)

View Yarn Bombing in Carrboro in a larger map

#informalurbanindicators

Informal Urbanism Indicator #1: Graffiti. Where Does The Urban Fabric Begin and End? Ask Super Strudel

Posted on February 19, 2013 by patrick

If a visitor asks a random Carrboro resident where downtown is, they’ll be almost certain to get directions to where the railroad tracks cross Main Street right by The Station bar.

This is the undisputed center of Carrboro’s urban fabric, a.k.a. the place where the most people are walking around. But if this is the center of the action, where is the edge of the action? Where does it dissipate? When you are in downtown Carrboro or any other downtown, do you ever wonder how far the people you see walking walked to get there?

As someone who does a lot of walking around town, I’ve started thinking about all the little and big modifications that happen to an urban streetscape because one person or institution tries to capitalize on the presence of a significant number of walkers to sell a product, promote a show, or share an idea. For lack of a better term, I will call these modifications “Informal Urbanism Indicators.” Another way to think of them might be as “Hints from Residents.” In this case, the “hint” is data about where people walk.

For the remainder of the post, I’d like to introduce you to our urban graffiti guide, Super Strudel. To be fair to the artist who created him, I must acknowledge that perhaps the “SS” stands for something else, and that it is possible that “Super Strudel” was added by another person walking by with a sharpie. I had seen Super Strudel in a few places and started taking pictures before I finally got his name down from this display by Fitch Lumber.

Super Strudel at Fitch Lumber

Whatever type of rodent he is, this guy gets out on the town pretty regularly. He showed up over on the dumpster at Carrburritos:

Super Strudel on Carrburritos’ Dumpster

Over by the White Oak Condominiums on Fidelity Street:

Super Strudel at White Oak

On the edge of the UNC Campus across from the Carolina Inn:

Super Strudel Visits Campus

When he arrived at Back Alley Bikes and Tar Heel Tattoo, he went large format:

Super Strudel Seeks Bikes, Tattoos

While this final shot on the back of Kinetix does not convey the size well, this one was also 4 or 5 feet tall, I think:

Super Strudel at Kinetix

The interesting thing about these photos as a group is that if we map them, we get a visual that depicts (probably in part) the mental map of one person of what constitutes the walkable urban fabric of downtown Carrboro and Chapel Hill. Click on the minus button in the map to zoom out one level, and you’ll see all 6 photo locations above mapped.

View Super Strudel Art Locations in a larger map

But this is just one map of one person’s urban fabric, using one variable. If we layer together data created by MULTIPLE people, that represent jointly made decisions or separately made decisions that reinforce each other, we get more “Hints From Residents.” As the title of the post suggests, I’m going to do several of these posts on Informal Urban Indicators. The post on Indicator #2 shows up tomorrow- feel free to guess what’s coming in the comments. Meanwhile, let me know if I missed any Super Strudel locations! I wouldn’t be surprised if I did.