THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510290075
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Long : 163 lines
With a series of fund-raisers, an Albemarle-area membership drive and contributions from the community, a group of Outer Banks residents hopes to open a Center for the Arts in this barrier island beach town.
Artists and local officials have been discussing plans for a multi-use arts center and theater for at least three years.
Since early September, Mitch Lively has been hosting organizational meetings for the project in his Morales Art Gallery in Nags Head. A group of about 30 people endorsed an outline for the endeavor last week, he said. They hope to open a museum, gallery, gift shop, theater and classrooms in a 17,000-square-foot former antique car museum in time for next summer's season.
``We want to give all artists - not just the visual ones - a place they can come to to work, hang out and give lessons,'' Lively said Thursday from his Gallery Row apartment. ``Writers, dancers, singers, actors and painters all need a home here. There's a need out there that isn't being met. It's expected for a community like this to have a center for the arts.''
Almost everyone involved in Dare County's arts agrees that some sort of center needs to be built to house the multitude of artistic offerings available in this area - and encourage others to participate in artistic endeavors.
But so far, the Dare County Arts Council, Theatre of Dare and Outer Banks Forum all have said they cannot endorse Lively's proposal. The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce decided to withhold its support for the center until members learn more about the project. And several individual artists have expressed concerns about the financial ramifications of such a large undertaking.
``We've always been in favor of an arts center on the Outer Banks. That's one of the long-range goals of our group,'' said Jill Bennett, president of the Dare County Arts Council. ``But this particular building they want to house it in is much too expensive. You can't start out so big. They'll have this huge mortgage hovering over them. And we don't feel comfortable with their budget. We just can't endorse a project like this that we think is too risky.''
A 20-year-old nonprofit organization with 250 members, the Dare County Arts Council operates on a $60,000 annual budget. The group does not have any paid employees. It finally rented its own office space this fall in Nags Head.
Although Lively and art center supporters Lee Knotts and Jim Davis say they cannot predict the income or expenditures of their proposed non-profit center, they know they need to come up with at least $5,000 each month to rent the big building from Outer Banks entrepreneur George Crocker. Annual rent the first year at Crocker's car museum will cost about $60,000. By the third year, that figure will jump to more than $96,000.
The center's total budget, Lively predicted, will be more than $325,000 the first year. Plans call for volunteers to perform most functions - from running the gift shop to producing catalogs of available artwork. A full-time coordinator would be paid about $26,000 the first year. A salaried director would have to be added the next year. And by the third year, Lively's budget shows that more than $70,000 is planned to fund three full-time paid positions at the center.
The group is trying to become incorporated as a nonprofit organization.
Income, Lively said, will come from a variety of art sales and classes, center memberships and fund-raising activities.
``We'll sell memberships for $25 per person per year. Then, anyone who's a member can take or teach classes,'' said Lively. ``Tourists wouldn't have to join the center. But they'd be charged higher rates to take classes than the members. We could put together weekend packages of art classes and exhibits for the shoulder seasons that would benefit hotels and motels, too. We'll send monthly newsletters about our events to the public. And we hope to offer 30 to 40 classes each month.''
Lively sees the focus of the center as being a comprehensive museum about the Outer Banks' cultural offerings. He hopes to house National Park Service memorabilia from the Wright Brothers, Fort Raleigh and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in the main gallery. Businesses would pay to sponsor each exhibit, he said. The park service would donate the artifacts and send visitors to the arts center.
Members and nonmembers of the center would have to pay $5 each each time they toured this museum-like gallery that would expose them to other local attractions.
Additional ideas for the center include a 250-seat theater and dance studio, sculpture studio, photographic dark room, child care, sales and rental area, library and ``Members Gallery.''
Center members would be able to hold individual shows in this small anteroom off the main exhibition hall for two weeks at a time, Lively said. They would have to donate 25 percent of their proceeds to the arts center in exchange for using the space.
``In the sales space, we want each member artist to put some of their work up for sale or rent,'' said Lively.
``They'd initially have to give 75 percent of their earnings on those pieces - up to $200 - back to the center. Then, after they've donated that amount, they'd get to keep 75 percent of the profits and we'd get the remainder. We provide electricity, water, space, publicity and support. They would help bring us income to pay the rent.''
Other money-making projects Lively wants to incorporate involve an after-school and day-care operation where parents would pay to have their children receive art instruction; renting space to outside art shows and competitions; and conducting classes that the artists would teach - where each instructor would have to donate 25 percent of his or her earnings back to the center's operating budget.
``We need 20,000 people to tour that gallery each summer to support this center. And we think we'll get many more than that through here,'' Davis said.
``We hope to get 200 to 300 people each day. Then, when the summer's over, we could crate off that main exhibit and ship it to other museums around the country. That would really help spread the word about what the Outer Banks has to offer.''
Davis, Knotts and Lively all defended plans to put the center in such a large building, saying that was the perfect place to house an arts center and should not be passed up while the space is still available.
``That building creates the possibility of making a lot more money than we would in a smaller location,'' Knotts said. ``The building was part of the impetus to push this project forward. The whole thing is set up to pay for itself.''
Outer Banks Forum President Joan Freemantle said the center is a great concept. But she's not sure the old antique car museum is the place for it.
``They're starting too big,'' said Freemantle, whose non-profit group brings symphonies and musical performers to the area. ``They need to start a little smaller and work their way up to such grand plans.
``That's a tremendous amount of money to pay for an empty building. The reason we can't support it is because there's no area there that will fit our needs. That facility is definitely geared for the visual arts. We have audiences of up to 500 at a time. There's no room for us in those plans.''
Kathy Morrison, who heads the non-profit Theatre of Dare, agreed. ``I support what they're trying to do with the center. It's a nice idea. But it's not for us right now,'' she said. ``There are no usable theater facilities in that building at this time. So we're not really interested in signing on right now.''
Budget projections show that Lively, Knotts and Davis expect to bring in $40,000 to $100,000 the first summer through the $5 admission fees for the main exhibition hall.
They think 480 people will buy memberships at $25 each, earning $12,000 in income.
About $100,000 is expected to be generated through gift shop sales. Another $20,000, they say, will come from sales out of the members' gallery. And at least $75,000 is projected to be produced from the lessons and classroom fees.
``The tourists are going to pay for this,'' said Knotts, an artist and art instructor.
``And all the profits will go back to develop facilities and programs for the center. We're looking for a high-profile old-timer around here to go out into the community and be a volunteer key fund raiser to help get this project off the ground.''
The concept of the center has captivated some Outer Banks artists, as well.
``At this point, I like the idea a whole lot,'' said Nags Head portrait artist B.J. Egeli, who opened an Outer Banks studio in April.
``It's a project that's needed around here. I don't know of a central place around where artists of all types can come to do their thing. I think a center like this would enhance the arts - and attract people to our area as well as our artwork.''
On the Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, the Outer Banks Center for the Arts will host its first fund-raiser at the former antique car museum.
Arts, crafts and exhibits will be displayed throughout the facility. An antique auction will offer an assortment of furniture, glassware and pottery. A silent auction of local artists' work also will be held. About 15 percent of the proceeds from the antique auction will go into the center's fund. The remainder of the money will benefit private individuals selling the antiques. Items also will be sold on a consignment basis, with 15 percent to 20 percent of those sales being earmarked for the center. by CNB