THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412280170
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Art Notes
SOURCE: Marlene Ford
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Support the arts, see art and be a part of the arts in the coming weeks.
People may be planning winter cruises or sunny holidays in the Bahamas. However, local cultural organizations are encouraging those who value the arts to stow their bikinis for just one day and travel to a slightly less exotic locale - Richmond. Arts Advocacy Day is set for July 25, 1995.
According to Glenn Payne, projects director for the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission, the idea is for everyone to participate. Theater-goers and actors, concert patrons and musicians, one dancer or a whole troupe, everyone is invited to assemble in Richmond and let local representatives from the Senate and House of Delegates see how much they value the arts in Virginia.
Arts organizations and artists in Virginia have been hard hit by the recession and by state budget cuts. These continue to be critical times for the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the local arts commissions who all help fund civic, educational and professional arts.
Funding for the Virginia Commission hit a low during the Wilder administration as Virginia sank to 48th among the states per capita funding for the arts in 1991. Today, after regaining a toehold, Virginia ranks 46th in the nation with per capita spending for the arts at 34.7 cents. Maryland ranks ninth; West Virginia ranks 16th and North Carolina does better ranking 17th.
Today Virginia Beach received $2,910 from the state commission to assist local arts groups. This is down from the $5,000 received in 1990, but up from zero dollars received in 1991 or the $2,400 received in 1992.
``Arts Advocacy Day came about in response to the dramatic reduction given the arts,'' Payne said. ``And it has been helpful in letting our representatives know that the arts are more than an amenity; they are a basic component in the economic infrastructure of the state. Arts attract and retain businesses and they develop the state's cultural image.''
Activities for the day include meeting with local delegates and senators, lunch, a Virginians for the Arts board of directors meeting and performances by various artists.
Payne went on to explain that even though attendance at Arts Advocacy Day is critical for public recognition of the arts, people should understand there still remains a tremendous audience for the arts. Last year 6 million people attended arts events supported by the Virginia Commission for the Arts. The Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission helped support arts events attended by 209,886 locals.
In this city alone, a few of those groups supported and enjoyed were the Virginia Beach Center for Arts, touring programs by a variety of professional artists brought by the Tidewater Performing Arts Society, the ODU Ballet's ``Nutcracker,'' more than 70 performances by the Little Theatre of Virginia Beach, the Tidewater Winds concert band in the summertime, the Virginia Symphony, the Virginia Beach Symphony, Commonwealth Musical Stage. And, in-school performances youngsters enjoy such as presentations by Young Audiences of Virginia and the Virginia Opera go on almost daily.
To find out more about the schedule of events for Arts Advocacy Day, call Payne at the department of museums, 431-3733, or call Virginians for the Arts, the state group coordinating the Richmond event. The public is also invited to attend the next Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission meeting for further discussion at 4 p.m., Jan. 10 in the mezzanine conference room of Pavilion.
``THREE OF A KIND,'' a print exhibition by three Virginia Beach artists, is currently being presented by the Community Arts Center, 420 High St. in Olde Towne Portsmouth.
Working primarily in printmaking, Wendy Lilly, Cyndi Herrmann and Theresa Milstead are exhibiting in lithography, intaglio, relief and serigraph prints. All the works, however, are individual to each artist. Lilly creates self-revealing images. Herrmann uses printmaking as a means to focus on processes and correlates her work with the way decision-making in everyday life is faced. Milstead develops her images in a step-by-step method which duplicates her exploration of the levels of inner and outer realities.
The exhibit continues through Jan. 6. For information, call 393-8543.
FINALLY, THE HURRAH PLAYERS will hold auditions for the Broadway musical adventure ``Starmites'' on Jan. 14 and 15 at the studio, 935 Woodrow Ave., Norfolk. Adults as well as students are needed for this production directed and choreographed by Hugh Copeland, with musical director Polly Martin. To arrange an audition, call 627-5437. ILLUSTRATION: Art by Cyndi Herrmann
``We're All in this Together,'' an itaglio, is part of the print
exhibit ``Three of a Kind,'' at the Community Arts Center in Olde
Towne Portsmouth.
by CNB