Chicago Performing Arts Museum Takes Baby Steps

BY Kerry Reid

"It's not enough to acknowledge that the performing arts are a vital part of city life; that has become a civic mantra. We need to formally celebrate them, as other cities have, as a major part of our history and a source of Chicago's worldwide acclaim."
—Richard Christiansen, Chicago Tribune, March 2, 2008, on the need for a Museum for the Performing Arts in Chicago.

The idea started with one well-respected theatre critic, and was quickly picked up by another—Albert Williams of the Chicago Reader began posting about the possibilities of Chicago having its very own performing arts library and museum on the Reader’s “Onstage” theatre blog back in early June. On Aug. 4, an unusually eclectic group of interested individuals—critics, actors, directors, dramaturgs, archivists, teachers, publicists, producers, museum consultants—gathered at the Mercury Theatre for a town hall meeting dedicated to exploring the desire and possibility for Chicago to create what New York and San Francisco already have: an institution dedicated to gathering and preserving the city’s rich theatrical and performance history in order to share it with future scholars and theatre fans alike.

Jason Epperson, scenic designer and founder of the newly created Chicagoland Theatre and Dance Foundation, which is now the umbrella nonprofit spearheading the effort, hosted the lively event. While gale-force winds and rain pounded the roof of the theatre, insightful, and sometimes conflicting, viewpoints about what such an institution should be, for whom it should be geared, and—of course—how it could be funded shot around the auditorium. Several members of the hoped-for institution’s advisory committee were on hand, including Williams, Christiansen, WNEP’s Don Hall, Theatre Building Chicago executive director Joan Mazzonelli, Victory Gardens publicist Jay Kelly, and Next Theatre newly appointed managing director (and Performink contributor) Kevin Heckman. Others on the committee include Second City producer Kelly Leonard, publicist Cathy Taylor, and Columbia College Chicago theatre department chair Sheldon Patinkin.

Williams pointed out that there are several existing collections of theatre memorabilia in the hands of public and private libraries, including the Harold Washington Library Center’s collection, which contains the papers of the late Warren Casey, co-creator of Grease, and VHS tapes of original performances such as John Malkovich and Gary Sinise’s celebrated turn in Steppenwolf’s True West.

Glenn Humphreys, the special-collections librarian in charge of the Harold Washington archive, said he was “interested in processing these collections and making them available.” But he acknowledged that they do not collect three-dimensional objects, such as set models.

Epperson noted, “Libraries do not have the interest or ability in becoming museums.” (Other libraries and collections represented at the meeting included the private Newberry Library, which just acquired the papers of the late producer and philanthropist Hope Abelson, and DePaul University, which houses the Joseph Jefferson Awards archives.)

If we build it, will they come? That was the question raised by Hall, who has argued on his own blog (An Angry White Guy in Chicago) that the public interest in theatre memorabilia is probably pretty minuscule, so the first order of business should be “utilizing and getting people outside of theatre geeks interested in the existing collections.” Heckman raised the possibility of traveling collections that could be in temporary residence in theatre lobbies to raise awareness. Museum consultant and former theatre practitioner Elizabeth Carlson pointed out that the big problem with collecting material for display is storage—archives and libraries operate in a very different way than, say, a theatre costume shop, where items are routinely repurposed. Others raised the question of incorporating the lively arts, whether through hands-on programs for kids or ongoing public lectures, performances, and demonstrations as a way to bring in audiences.

In addition to archiving and cataloging the existing collections, the question arose as to where a permanent collection and exhibit space could be housed. The Chicago History Museum came up as a possible partner. Julie Burroughs of the Department of Cultural Affairs mentioned that the Chicago Rooms at the Chicago Cultural Center could be a possible home for at least some form of temporary exhibition. Chicago Sun-Times critic Hedy Weiss, who devoted a column to the museum question on July 31, noted that the proposed revamping of Navy Pier, especially if Chicago gets the 2016 Olympics with its attendant Cultural Olympics, could provide an opening for a permanent museum space there, particularly if the city follows through on its plans to make the pier a more upscale destination. Publicist Noreen Heron got right to the point: “Do you have the funding? Who is the rainmaker?”

Almost everyone agreed that the next step is a feasibility study. In this period of tightened government purse strings, getting funding from the city might be more difficult than in the past. But given the incredibly high profile Chicago theatre has enjoyed this past year in other cities, from Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer and Tony-winning August: Osage County to Next’s award-winning New York transfer of Adding Machine to the more recent success of Theatre Oobleck’s The Strangerer at the Barrow Street Theatre, and our well-loved and undeniably rich history of excellence and innovation in the performing arts, the timing may be perfect, after all. As Christiansen wrote, “Through good times and bad, the inherent dynamism of the arts scene will keep it moving forward.” We’ll be sure to report on this latest project as it moves forward.

LINKS:

Richard Christiansen, “Where Do We Go From Here?”

Chicagoland Theatre and Dance Foundation

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Museum of Performance and Design (formerly the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum)