Fancy digs!

This is my last blog for The Austin Scenic Co-op and I am really happy with what we have been able to accomplish in the past year, thanks to TCG and Metlife.

This year we have created some reliable and consistent systems for inventory and check-in/check-out processing. We have a website and a facebook page... but the most exciting new growth spurt happened in just the last two months with the opening of a Co-op Scene Shop at the Rude Mechs CenterCenter space. This scene shop will be available for low rent to the Austin theater community. Over the past year many artists complained about a lack of space to build their shows and we are so happy to be able to finally meet that need! Not only does it meet a community need but it also offers us opportunities to create systems of sustainability within the Co-op. With the rental fees for use of the shop we hope to continue to be able to employ at least one Co-op staff member after the Ah Ha grant has ended.

Here are a couple of pictures of our fancy new digs...

 Thank you once again TCG! This has been a really rewarding year and we hope to continue to grow and strengthen all of the foundations that have been laid.

Jenny Larson, The Austin Scenic Co-op/ Salvage Vanguard Theater

Mark your calendars! TEDxCalArts is official

Mark your calendars! We are pleased to announce that on March 9, 2013 the CalArts Center for New Performance will host TEDxCalArts. With the generous support of the MetLife/TCG A-ha! Do It Grant, this all-day event will gather together a diverse array of the world’s brightest minds to talk about the big ideas and innovations that are shaping our world.



Through a series of talks and performances, our conference will explore how new understandings of performance and liveness are radically changing the world we live in.

TEDxCalArts will be held at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), CalArts’ downtown center for innovative visual, performing and media arts.

Visit our website, http://tedxcalarts.org, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates and announcements about our line-up of speakers.

Who We Are

The Center for New Performance (CNP) is the professional producing arm of CalArts, established to provide a unique artist- and project-driven framework for the development and realization of innovative theater, music, dance and interdisciplinary projects. Extending the forward-looking work carried out at CalArts into a direct dialogue with professional communities at the local, national and international levels, CNP offers an alternative model for the support of emerging voices and directions in the performing arts.

About TEDx

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED- like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. This independent TEDx event is operated under license from TED.

Who is using the Co-op?

For this months blog I wanted to share a few projects that have been using the Scenic Co-op for their set needs.

Currently running at the Salvage Vanguard Theater is local latino theater company Teatro Vivo’s production of Raul Garza’s CURA. Cura explores what happens when faith is tested to its limits. In 1938, in a small Texas bordertown, a humble, defeated woman of faith, Amparo, encounters both spiritual hope and crisis in a young man who may or may not be the legendary Curandero/Saint, El Niño Fidencio. The Spanish word “cura” means both “cure” and “priest.”

Last month Glass Half Full Theatre ran their production of FupDuck on SVT’s mainstage. FupDuck is a puppetry adaptation of the novela Fup, by Jim Dodge, an anti-authoritarian fable about whiskey, ducks, life, death, and the untamed spirit of the West. The Puppets: Granddaddy Jake is a foul-mouthed, back-woods octogenarian who receives unexpected custody of his grandson Tiny, a child as gentle as Jake is cantankerous. Fup is their ornery twenty-pound duck, who embodies both chaos and heartfelt wisdom. The story explores this non-traditional family’s diverse obsessions, namely whiskey-brewing, fence-building, checkers, and an enthusiasm for sitting still. Granddaddy Jake's memories of his conversations with Johnny Seven Moons, the local Medicine Man, and Tiny and Fup's ongoing feud with the wild boar, Lockjaw, lead to a wry examination of what it means to live and how it is to die.

7 Wonders of the World +1 by Tongue and Groove also used the Co-op this past month. The source material for this original comedy, directed and adapted by David Yeakle, is a 1940s-era suite of songs by the late record producer, Robert Scherman. The story follows a dreamer across time and space to various landmarks of both the ancient world and modern U.S., bouncing from then to now, from temple to skyscraper, classical drama to screwball romance. This production ran at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

In the coming months the following companies will be using the Co-op library for their shows: Trouble Puppet Theater’s Toil and Trouble, an adaptation of Macbeth. The Exchange Artist’s The Man Who Planted Trees.

Jenny Larson, Salvage Vanguard Theater/ Austin Scenic Co-op

Meeting minutes...

This is not my most exciting blog ever but here are our meeting minutes from the partner meeting we held last month... The biggest and most exciting thing is that we are now moving forward with creating community shop space at the Rude Mechs venue and opening up community storage space at the SVT venue...

Co-op Partners Meeting, July 18^th 2012
Present: Connor, Eliot, Thomas (Rude Mech), Joe (St Edwards University), Zac, Jenny

The goal of the meeting was to discuss with partners what would be useful to them in creating a relationship with the Co-op and exploring and discussing ways that the larger budget partners can help make the Co-op more sustainable. Are the bigger organizations interested in making an annual contribution to the Co-op and what would make that viable for them?

Joe from St Eds said that they are not interested in making an annual contribution or having a "membership" but that they are willing to let the Co-op manage the rentals of the St Eds stock and keep the profit. The details need to be worked out but Joe said he would be happy to get an Office Depot gift card back from the Co-op at the end of the year and the Co-op keep all profits from the rentals. For example, Joe would love for the Co-op to manage the rentals for their prop stock. Joe would also like to give the Co-op a lot of furniture that they no longer need or use. They need more storage space but for them to buy in to the Co-op storage it would need to be closed to St Eds.

Eliot, who also works at St Eds, is going to help complete the St Eds inventory at the same time that the Co-op inventory is being completed. Both inventories are due by August 31^st.

The basic idea being that the Co-op would almost be a consignment shop for the St Eds inventory. Managing other peoples stock and rentals.

Thomas talked about Scott Guthries desire and intention to create a rentable and usable scene shop space out of the CenterCenter at the Rude Mechs space. The lease would be $300 a month. The talk started to revolve around the idea that SVT could become the main storage space and Rudes could house the shop space. The shop space could be rented out and companies could rent out parts of SVT for their storage, this can potentially create income for the Co-op right away. Scott would be the person in charge of managing the Shop. He wouldn't be paid by the Co-op but would be paid through his contract work and some money from scene shop rentals. The Co-op would cover 1/2 to 2/3 of the rent for this shop space.

The next steps are that Connor needs to talk to Scott about collaborating on this scene shop idea. We need to create a system of how the space and the rental rate of the space is shared. The Co-op also will approach Ia and Rupert and PaperChairs about their storage needs and interest in taking up some space at SVT.

The idea was discussed to use the remaining storage budget to pay for tool repair and rent at the CenterCenter for the new shop space.

Jenny Larson, Salvage Vanguard Theater and The Austin Scenic Co-op

The Myth of the Scarcity Economy?

The Myth of the Scarcity Economy?

This past weekend I was in Boston for the TCG National Conference called "Model the Movement." I loved Seth Godin. It was a liberating idea to turn an organizations marketing attention away from the masses and back to the tribe. I enjoyed DJ Spooky, he was very intelligent and I enjoyed listening to him nerd out about the “theater of molecules.” I also always have a great time reconnecting with friends new and old from around the country that I see only once a year, usually at the conference. That said there was one particular idea this year that stuck with me after the conference. The idea was that we must fight the myth of the scarcity economy, or simply, when we work together, and we put generosity first, we will find sustainability. Even more than finding sustainability, I think we can find that it is easier to roll with the punches, the ups and downs, when we approach things from a perspective of generosity instead of fear of depleting resources.

In line with this idea of “rolling with the punches” there is something about the word “sustain” that just frankly rings false. The world is in a constant state of flux, beginnings and transitions. So I guess the main point I come back to, is that holding on too tightly, is actually the thing that causes harm. We have this idea that change and letting go are failures. The meditation I am taking away from this conference is to trust that there is enough for everyone.  That may perhaps require a change in how one measures “enough”… Side note: I know that the world is overwhelmed by suffering. There is poverty, there is hunger, there is an abundance of violence and neglect. I am, for this essay, talking about our relationship to our everyday lives as artists creating work in America. 

I was reading a book last weekend at the conference that brought up the myth of the scarcity economy in ones day to day life. The last break out session I attended in Boston was an update conversation with the Creative Commons, created by David Dower, Polly Carl, Jamie Gahlon, and VJay Matthews. The Commons consists of a New Works Map, New Works TV, and HowlRound. The HowlRound online magazine has been very successful. There have been a lot of really powerful and intelligent essays posted that created really charged conversations. At the break-out Polly brought up the “myth of the scarcity economy.” 

When I talk about a scarcity economy I am referring to the idea that there are a small and finite number of things in the world, and they are rapidly running out. By “things” I mean success, love, inspiration etc etc, and I also mean good reviews, sold out houses, feature articles, you get the idea... I think we have a responsibility to really fight against that habit of thought in our work. The generosity that is the platform for the Creative Commons is the thing that inspires me. I think that the Scenic Co-op in Austin is trying to achieve and exemplify that principle of abundance and generosity.  

The business model we practice at Salvage Vanguard Theater (SVT) is also trying to exemplify this sharing and collaborative approach. The SVT hub contains the Co-op and SVTs theater productions, Trouble Puppet Theater, Gnap! Theater Collective, Scriptworks, SpankDance, Merlin Works improv classes, and Church of the Friendly Ghost experimental music curators. These groups make up a consortium of arts organizations that run the SVT hub as a family of sorts. It’s a co-op. Each organization takes an area of responsibility in running the hub. Trouble Puppet does small maintenance tasks, Church fields renter tech support calls for sound and light issues, Gnap! keeps the supply closet and concessions stocked. For participation in the consortium, they are given scheduling priority, free rehearsal space and workshop space, storage space, office space, cheaper rental fees, and full use of any tech in the space including our projectors. SVT, like most other companies with budgets under $500,000 does not have a very large staff, and will not be able to afford expanding or growing the staff any time soon (though we take small steps each year) but with this model, we are able to stay afloat. More than just staying afloat, we are thriving.

Often times, we can look around ourselves and become terrified by the shrinking budgets and growing competition for grants and foundation gifts, and yes we are in fact in a scarcity economy when you look at just the numbers, and just the dollar signs. Yes, we are in a recession. Yes, we are faced with a digital age and more and more people spend their entertainment dollars on movies and HBOGO. I believe however that perspective is everything. It is so important to remember that one success does not in fact deplete your chances for success. One brilliant idea does not mean there are less brilliant ideas to be had in the world. I think that the more we work together and pool our resources and move forward with a spirit of generosity in all areas of our craft, the more likely we are to see that generosity returned to us again and again. 

In the break-out group for artistic directors with budgets under $500,000 at the TCG Conference, the meeting became an information sharing session. At one point the moderator said "all this resource sharing, its spooky" and that lead to a really wonderful conversation about the fact that in times of recession, in times of scarcity, the only thing that we can do is lean on each other. Sharing is the only way forward. Generosity and collaboration are the things, ultimately, that will be able to sustain us, or, as I said earlier, even more than sustain us, working together will make it easier to let go and allow the inevitable changes that await us.

Jenny Larson, 
Salvage Vanguard Theater
The Austin Scenic Co-op

Hey, I’m Kate Valk, and this is an update on our “A-ha!” project at The Wooster Group. We are experimenting with several new formats for our proposed artist-interview dialogs. Below are some prototypes:

1. Investigative Profile: “Prince Wooster” follows one of the original artists still residing in our transformed SoHo neighborhood.



2. Casual Situation Interview: Upstairs at The Performing Garage in my dressing room, co-host Zigniew Bzymek (“Z”) and I conduct a “couch chat” with Wooster Group producer Cynthia Hedstrom. “sugar high episode 2” is a model we’d like to use with outside artists.



3. Phone Tap Interviews: Here Wooster Group director Elizabeth LeCompte talks to filmmaker Ken Kobland over a phone tap about his new film, THE TOY SUN.



4. Visiting Artist Profile: For koosil-ja/danceKUMIKO’s production of INVISIBLE/VISIBLE we sent Z to profile the artists. He investigated the title of their piece.



5. Guest Spots: We want to feature the work of other video artists on our new blog. This video is an experiment with public interface where we sent out an “open call” for guest artist videos...



6. Collaborations: We’re teaming up with Young Jean Lee on a new web series for the blog. This video presents “you are there” documentation of the artistic process at its inception.

Next Steps: The New Kid on CTG’s White Paper

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” – Peter Drucker

In December 2011, I received a copy of Center Theatre Group’s white paper on professional training programs for emerging theatre artists.

Here are possible reasons why they mailed me the report:

• I serve on the National Emerging Leaders Council and have been a core member of Emerging Arts Leaders/LA since 2005; 
• I am an alumnus of the Los Angeles County Arts Internship Program, have been a supervisor through the program six times and a Learning Community Hub leader twice; 
• I still act as volunteer staff for the organization where I interned in 2004, Circle X Theatre Co., a small theatre company similar to many profiled in the white paper as potential intern placement organizations; 
• I am an alumnus of Claremont Graduate University’s Arts Management program, whose students and faculty participated in the research process. 

It was like someone sent me a research paper about my life. Paging through the report, I saw familiar faces and quotations from friends. More importantly, I saw my career path reflected in the data and recommendations.

Four months later, I joined Center Theatre Group as the Educational Programs Manager, focused on the training, support and development of emerging, young artists and arts professionals. It is a distinct honor to build on the work done by Patricia and Leslie to provide professional training programs for Los Angeles’ next generation of theatre leaders.

Substantive, hands-on experience within a theatre company—large or small— provides theatre management students with a chance to take their knowledge from “page to stage.”

Working for a theatre company while pursuing my Masters allowed me to take what I learned on Monday and apply it to the real world on Tuesday… and then ask why it didn’t work on Wednesday.

Peter Drucker would be proud: CTG has already begun the “hard work” of implementing aspects of the white paper. This spring, two students from local arts management programs became the organization’s pilot class of Graduate Scholars.

In the program evaluation they created for CTG, Jessie Randall from CSU Long Beach’s Theatre Management program and Julia Baumgartener from CGU’s Arts Management program corroborated many of the ideas presented in the white paper:  

Nearly all the hypotheses presented are extremely accurate representations of the professional and curricular needs of graduate students in arts/theatre management […] The ideal internship would establish mutual benefit for the organization and the interns, so it is valuable to examine the two groups’ diverse needs – where they align and where they diverge.

Jessie and Julia’s recommendations included implementing a competitive application process, focusing on project-based learning opportunities, and integrating graduate scholars within their departments (literally and metaphorically, as a shortage of desk space often leaves our interns in odd locations). We’re taking their suggestions and looking ahead to future classes of Graduate Scholars.

Center Theatre Group will continue to use the data gathered through the MetLife/TCG Ah-Ha! Program to shape our professional training programs.

Thank you for the chance to think, to learn, and to grow. Now we’re rolling up our sleeves. Let the hard work begin!

Camille Schenkkan is the Educational Programs Manager at Center Theatre Group.  Email her at cschenkkan@CenterTheatreGroup.org. 

For more information about Center Theatre Group's Ah-Ha! research into what theatres can do to bridge school and work, please click here.