Hancher Auditorium,
in partnership with public libraries and community
organizations in Marshalltown, Perry,
Spencer, and Iowa City/Coralville, was awarded a
four-year, $800,000 “Leadership and Excellence
in Arts Participation” (LEAP) grant from the
Wallace Foundation in November.
The funding, which is the largest programming grant
in the auditorium’s history, will enhance arts
participation by “Generation-X” families
through performances and artist residencies augmented
by innovative uses of technology.
The new Wallace Foundation grant—the major
financial component of a $2 million UI project—builds
on Hancher’s experience working with Pella,
Decorah, and Burlington in the recently completed
Iowa Network Project, also made possible by Wallace
funding. That $300,000 grant was the largest previous
grant received by the auditorium.
The project will sponsor two artist-residencies
each season. Three weeks prior to each residency,
a variety of online activities related to the art
form and the particular artist/company will be available
on the project’s web site. Included will be
background materials, streaming video, calendars
of activities, and a chat room that will enable residents
of the four communities to communicate directly with
the artists. Other technologies, including the production
of CDs and DVDs, will be used to broaden the impact
of the project.
Hancher provides unique gift ideas
The Hancher Guild Showcase Gift Shop, located
in the lobby of Hancher Auditorium, is open extended
hours for holiday shopping.
The shop will be
open 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
and Thursdays through Dec. 23.
In addition to its regular merchandise—arts-related items, jewelry, home
decor, recordings, games, and collectibles—the showcase has stocked a variety
of new holiday items, including tree ornaments, seasonal decorations, and toys.
Proceeds support the educational programs
of Hancher Auditorium.
Gift certificates to Hancher are another gift
idea for the lovers of music, theater, and
dance on anyone’s list. The Hancher box office will remain open through
Dec. 19.
Gift certificates—available in $5, $10, $25, $50, and $100 denominations—may
be redeemed during the next year for tickets to any of the UI-sponsored performances
handled by the Hancher box office.
Hancher Auditorium box office business hours are 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekdays
and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays. For information, call
(33)5-1160. |
“Hancher has been recognized nationally and
internationally as a leader in commissioning, innovative
programming, and network-building,” says Judith
Hurtig, Hancher’s artistic director.
“This project will expand our leadership role
through the use of technology in arts education and
audience building. We and our partners expect to
learn a great deal during the next four years, and
we expect to solidify relationships that will enhance
the cultural lives of these communities far beyond
the duration of this grant.”
The Iowa Communications Network (ICN), the state’s
real-time interactive fiber-optics network, also
will be a major tool in the project. Hancher has
been an ICN originating site since 1996, and has
used the network to stage interactive workshops that
connect Hancher touring artists with school classrooms
throughout the state.
Public libraries are natural partners for the LEAP
project, because they are both ICN sites and sources
of high-speed Internet access. These technologies
not only will be a vital component in the residencies,
but also will be used for project planning and evaluation.
The artists will launch each residency with an interactive
ICN event, originating in Hancher before a live audience
and beamed to each library. In the third year, the
ICN event also will be a webcast, allowing people
throughout the state and beyond an opportunity to
participate online.
The artists will then spend two days in each community
in a variety of residency activities leading to a
performance on the third day. Each residency period
will culminate in Iowa City with a performance as
part of Hancher’s regular season.
Hancher’s executive director, Charles Swanson,
who grew up in northwest Iowa, says one of the most
exciting aspects of the project is the ability to
reach out to Iowans beyond a reasonable driving distance
to Iowa City.
“By utilizing contemporary technology—building
on our experience with ICN workshops that have involved
thousands of students in distant classrooms—we
can contribute to the cultural life of Iowa communities
that in some cases are too remote from campus to
have regular access to our live events,” he
says. “When we create partnerships with these
communities, we become much more than just a performance
hall. We become more like an arts extension service.”
The New York-based Wallace Foundation supports and
shares effective ideas, practices, and solutions
that help institutions expand learning and enrichment
and opportunities for all people. The foundation’s
current objectives are to strengthen education leadership
to improve student achievement, improve after-school
learning opportunities, and expand participation
in arts and culture.
The LEAP grant will be combined with resources committed
by several other UI programs and offices, including
Academic Technologies, university relations, student
services, the Graduate College, and the Office of
the Vice President for Research.
During the course of the project, the University
of Iowa Foundation will establish an endowment fund,
with the goal of establishing a $200,000 endowment
that will enable Hancher to continue its audience-development
efforts with the technology and expertise developed
through the project.
by Winston Barclay
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