HomeMy WebLinkAboutProposed Carmel arts district generates private skepticism •
private
o p ose arme arts district •
• .g enerates skepticism
•:>Z •=. Carmel is look- project.Why, without the perform- One element of the development
:„', F.”'^ ing for its down- ing arts center, amphitheater and plan needs no clarification or even
it.'•" :.,.. ;-T town with both the museum, this whole develop- a board of directors — the
r 't` ' .'-: hands — and not .meat might just as well be anoth- 56,000-square-foot multiscreen• having much luck. per strip mall —and a quick drive movie theater, cited in preliminary
s n Its dilemma is, as up Rangeline Road will show you designs as the real centerpiece of
,.;r: :
; :�',:�vT�w Gertrude Stein how well the local strip malls the City Center with all that artsy
:.: = - once said of Oak- aren't doing. stuff hidden behind it.
•-=' - 1 a n d, C a 1 i f. , With a palette of statistics
"There is no there about median income and college Movie house best bet
Visual Arts there." degrees, all of which make Cannel With all due respect to my pro-
Steve To wit: Carmel's sound more like a suburb of Har- fession, this is the most sensible
Mannheimer urban/suburban yard than Indianapolis, the mayor part of the entire project. You
• fabric is so spread assured the audience that big want ongoing funding and pro-
out and syncopated that no single bucks and big brains make folks gramming headaches? Build an
patch really feels like "down- hungry for culture. . • arts center.
town." At least that's just what his You want a self-sustaining en-
In an attempt to create what constituents consistently tell him: terprise practically guaranteed to
nature has not supplied, the sage Give us Arts! Bring the Muses to spin-off cafes, boutiques. mingled
and savvy folks in Carmel's City Cannel! - singles and family fun? Build a
Hall, aided and abetted in their Thus. this meeting of c .tturtl: movie theater.
• •• aspirations by CSO Architects you tell us, Brainard invited. How Less sensible yet delightfully
Inc., have put forward a modest should we proceed? If we build !t,
out-la-la-landish is the notion put
proposal to develop some 80 acres will they come? forward by the architects at CSO
east of the corner of 126th Street that all new construction. includ-
and Rangeline Road. Some skepticsm ing the clnepiex. be designed in a
That acreage. approximately Such appeals should be gratify Georgian colonial style akin to the
the size of broad Ripple. is intend- _ existing city hall, police headquar-
ed to support a cornucopia of cul- ing for anyone In tl.e a led me:t ters and fire station.
business. All assemble^ mur-
tural and commercial attractions, mured polite appreciation and Such blatant architectural pho-
from cinema to cappuccino, from support for Brinard's ambitions . niness has escalated far beyond
a jogging trail (excuse me. a linear to bring the arts to Cannel. any hope of remedy. •A few years
park) to office buildings, from an Off the record, however. many back, it would have been diag-
outdoor amphitheater to under- were cautiously skeptical. In that. nosed as the persistent anxiety of
ground parking — and, more to the^ echoed the more caustic suburbia to validate its endeavors
the point, a museum and perform- analysts available In Alice Gold- with the veneer of instant tradi-
ing arts center. tion(just add money).
Cannel Mayor James Brainard Farb Marquis' Art Lessons — Nowadays, we should realize
and company are calling the de- Learning From of Public Arts s F undthe Rise and acting, a fact- such y that h Disne -esque theatrical-
• velopinent the City Center, a acked and insightful 304-page ity (Visit Colonial Land! Eat at
name more attuned to marketing history of the past 50 years. Paul Revere's Tavern! Have the
appeal, however bland. than gea- Two-if-by-Sea Combo Platter Fish- , •
Marquis warns that, howeve: wich and Lobstertots!)is really the
graphical accuracy, however neb- an
noble their lntent!ons, however ,
ulous. But more's their point: Car- impressive their boards of direc heart and soul of American style.
mel needs a real center, some tors and initial funding cam- doubly so in the suburbs.
place or close-knit set of places paigns, such hydroponically- Without meaning to sound per-
•that puts the there in Its city and rown arts institutions tend to verse, let me simply congratulate
finally feels like here rather than soften in a few years into squishy
Cannel and CSO on sticking to its •
1 anywhere. uns—or its muskets. anyway. If
lumps of amateur aesthetics, bud- guns
successful in enforcing this
Ambitious IId a get deficits and political head-
anachronistic styling on all new
It is no small ambition. Cannel aches. construction, Carmel's new-old
and Brainard are to be congrtu- The experts agreed: Cannel had downtown should in a few years
lated at least for the scope if not better have a very clear idea of begin to look legitimately coherent
always the focus of this vision. what it wants to accomplish with in a charming sort of way.
Naturally, the arts have their any sort of arts center — what And in another 50 years. 'no
role to play. level of artistic quality was de- one will know the difference:
At a gathering of representa- sired, who It was meant to attract. Downtown Cannel will simply be
three from area arts organizations, how it would be funded on a long- there.
Brainard illustrated the City Cen- term basis.
ter concept in broad strokes and In short, the experts asked all Steve Mannheimer is an associate pro-
complimentary colors: The arts, the questions Brainard and corn- lessor of painting at the Herron School
he preached to the choir, were pang had hoped they might an- of Art.Indiana University-Purdue Universi-
crucial to the success of the entire saver.
ty at Indianapolis.