Ask anyone in the arts and they'll tell you that times are rough. The cost of maintaining a performing space in Seattle has risen exponentially in the last decade while the outside funding has decreased in almost as rapid a rate.
Theatre Babylon supporters are singing their hearts out in "Jesus Christ, Superstar" as one of their many efforts to save the Union Garage on Capitol Hill. The Empty Space is doing last ditch fundraising to keep their doors open in Fremont. Even Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet are concerned about the rising price tag connected with the city-owned McCaw Hall.
At the same time, the staff at Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC) are quietly celebrating the first year of their very bold experiment. They run their space as a "for profit" business. No grants, no tax-deductible donations - just a belief that they can make money in the arts.
CHAC has not operated in the black yet, but artistic director and CEO Martin Kwatinetz said that the center is on track to reach that point by the end of their first three years in business.
"We wanted to abandon the very preconceived notions of the model [of the arts as nonprofit]," said Kwatinetz. "Our vision is always a little bit naïve. In some ways, we're far beyond where we want to be and in others we need to do more work."
Operating as a "for profit" business, said Kwatinetz, has given CHAC more flexibility and different options than the traditional arts space.
"We're trying to turn the model for the arts on its head. Rather than expecting to pay 50 percent of the expenses with ticket revenue, we're trying to pay 100 percent of expenses with ticket revenue," he said.
In support of that ideal, Kwatinetz asks his designers and directors to create productions that don't go beyond the expected ticket revenue. The company is conscientious about recycling material from one show into the next. Kwatinetz also tries to keep his theater season appealing to the ticket-buying audience.
"We try to strike that balance between what people want and what the artists want to do," he said.
One thing people don't want to do is sit through shows in August when CHAC's lack of air conditioning becomes painfully evident. CHAC cut down summer performances and has moved their schedule into a more typical fall-through-spring format.
"Starting in June 2007, we'll go to a five-show season," said Amy Baranski, CHAC's director of communications. "The decision was very pragmatic. We wanted a good mix of shows and not to perform during the hottest part of the year. We try to work with the building."
CHAC's 2005 Theatre Season includes "Waiting for Lefty" by Clifford Odets, directed by Sheila Daniels (Jan. 21-Feb. 12); "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller, directed by Aimee Bruneau (March 31-April 23); and "Archangels Don't Play Pinball" by Dario Fo, directed by Matthew Kwatinetz (July 8-30).
The latter is evidence of doing what the artist wants.
"I'm a huge fan of Fo," said Kwatinetz. He added that he also thinks that past productions of Fo's work in Seattle have shown that enough audience for the eccentric playwright exists in Seattle to sustain a production.
CHAC also brings in money by renting out parts of its space to other businesses, such as the popular Crave café and a Pilates studio, and provides performance space to groups that lack a permanent home.
"We have five long-term tenants in the building," said Baranski. "I like to describe the atmosphere as like a mall and also like a community. The businesses here tend to cross-promote to drive traffic towards each other."
Another way that CHAC keeps the space humming is to co-produce events that will draw a large crowd. "One of our operating principles is to use the space at all time. So if we're not using the theater, we want to be renting it out or co-producing something (like the festivals) in it," said Baranski.
"When we reopened in September last year, we started with the Fringe Festival," said Kwatinetz. With the Fringe Festival gone, CHAC turned to sponsoring a number of smaller festivals. "This year we've had five different festivals in the space. Music, art, fashion and theater all in the same time period as the Fringe."
Being able to provide space to that many groups enabled CHAC to reap better returns while keeping costs down for each group, said Kwatinetz.
Art shows in CHAC's lower space also draw in the community and help create a greater awareness of the space. CHAC is currently working with Static Factory Media to create a series of monthly exhibitions called "En Masse" that explores spatial and emotional relationships in the contemporary urban landscape. The next exhibition opens Dec. 2 and will remain on view throughout the month.
Other lower level shows also keep churning the mix of people in the building, said Baranski:
"Monday through Sunday, there's some event happening. Every Monday night, we have Burn, for the Burning Man people. Every Wednesday, we have a night for Seattle Poetry Slam. New projects will probably start rolling out in three or four months."
Whether people come for the coffee, the Pilates studio, the art or the cabaret, Kwatinetz hopes that they'll come back for the theater. If enough come, and the center turns a profit, he's ready to take the show on the road, opening art centers around the country that turn the model on its head and make a profit for everyone involved.
"We believe that art is a necessity and try to price it like food, affordable for every day consumption," said Kwatinetz. If his model for the arts works, you might find art centers sprinkled like supermarkets throughout the country. For now, the original model of the "for profit" theater remains at CHAC.
The Capitol Hill Arts Center is located at 1621 12th Ave. A full schedule of events can be found at their Web site www.capitolhillarts.com.
Rosemary Jones writes about arts and entertainment for the Capitol Hill Times. She can be reached c/o editor@capitolhilltimes.com.
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