More art venues needed in the Arts District

[Patrick]

I personally think we need more art-related venues in the Arts District. Now, as it stands, we have Civic Center Music Hall, Stage Center, and the Oklahoma City Art Museum.

I'd love to see more art galleries, live artists, etc. in the area. A huge outdoor amphitheater might be a nice touch in the area, maybe on land next to Stage Center. And I don't mean a small stage like can be found at Myriad Gardens. I mean a for real amphitheater, with stadium seating and the like. Something similar to the amphitheater at Will Rogers Park, only concrete and more classy.

Any thoughts?

[SpectralMourning]

Thank you! I'm very glad you agree. A large, outdoor amphitheater would be a fantastic addition, though probably difficult to pull off. I'd also be more in favor of an amphitheater located along the river, probably farther West (or East, depending on the success of the Native American center.

Constant live music is a definite must in the Arts District. Street performers from all varieties should be more than encouraged by the city, concentrated in the district as well.

[metro]

I'd rather see a nice outdoor amphitheatre on the Oklahoma River.

[floater]

Yes, definitely Patrick. The district needs a few more anchor tenants -- a performing arts/exhibit space dedicated to a specific craft, or a grand multiuse theater like Carnegie Hall. A new modern art museum, relocation of the photography HOF, or a film institute could fit the bill. I personally think a private design or performing arts school would do the district good.

Besides the anchors, the arts district needs lots of smaller operations to give it daily life. I agree with spectral -- there needs to be a place where quality live music can be found often every day in the district. The celebration of re-opening of the Civic Center was close to what I have in mind. Acts coming and going, day and night.

It's been said often that rents and housing prices are just too high to spur a critical mass of residents. We need a lot more lower cost housing options in the district to attract artists, students, and other creative types. It'd be good to have art/hobby shops, music stores (not record stores), craft vendors, the aforementioned galleries, instructor offices, rehearsal spaces, recording and design studios, and specialty libraries/bookstores.

None of this will happen until the general local population sees the arts not just as something to enjoy, but to create. If we have more people pushing and engaging the arts scene, these places can follow.

[John]

A MoMA is proposed for the postal facility once they move to their new digs west of downtown. It could spur a lot of growth in the south downtown area once 40 is relocated...

[BG918]

Moving the Photography Hall of Fame to this area would be an amazing asset, especially if they built a new modern building that takes up a surface lot along Main or Walker. I was at Trattoria Il Centro last night (which is great) and I just was thinking how much better that area along Main right there could be with more lofts and art galleries. The library, civic center music hall, and art museum are all right there it just needs more "small" galleries and shops. What about residential lofts in front of the Galleria parking garage along Walker? That parking lot seems out of place next to a garage...

[floater]

A MoMA is proposed for the postal facility once they move to their new digs west of downtown. It could spur a lot of growth in the south downtown area once 40 is relocated...

Yeah, that was suggested as an idea by the planning dept, but I don't think there's been any action on it. I would prefer it be in the arts district, but it would be a nice anchor for the buffer area between downtown and Riverside.

[BailJumper]

I think a riverside outdoor theatre would be very nice. On a smaller scale, I've thought that piece of grass and hill acorss from Hooters and the river taxi ticket booth would make for a nice small outdoor performance area for local bands, school music departments and even small outdoor art shows. Something like they have in the West End.

[BDP]

Lots of good ideas here. I like the idea of putting the photography museum there and a MoMA would be great. I think the local art scene is so well entrenched in the Paseo, that it may be hard to cultivate it in the downtown arts district. But I agree that more exhbiting spaces would give it more artistic density. The development of the Film Exchange area could give it some more life as well. I'd love to see film and audio studios there on Main.

[jbrown84]

I would also like to see the International Photography Hall of Fame somewhere downtown. I actually emailed them suggesting they check out the Federal Reserve building when it first went up for sale. It would have been a cool location for a museum. I wish we had a cool Greco-Roman style museum or library downtown.

[metro]

Quote:
Originally Posted by John
A MoMA is proposed for the postal facility once they move to their new digs west of downtown. It could spur a lot of growth in the south downtown area once 40 is relocated...

Yeah, that was suggested as an idea by the planning dept, but I don't think there's been any action on it. I would prefer it be in the arts district, but it would be a nice anchor for the buffer area between downtown and Riverside.

Exactly, this is a wish, not a proposal. Yes, the OU architecture students came up with a concept helped out along with Bert Belanger with Tap architecture, but it was not an official proposal. And it wasn't officially affiliated with MoMa however it was proposed to be a modern art museum. Just a dream as of now. Let's hope that dream comes to a reality.

[jbrown84]

I think he was just using that nickname, even though it's kind of exclusive to New York's Museum of Modern Art.

[BDP]

For what it's worth, the one in SF is called SF MoMA, but, again, it's not THE MoMA.

[OSUPokeFan]

For those that would like to see more street performers- the Arts Council of Oklahoma City has a program called Out of the Box that is designed to encourage more street performers! The performers are actually paid a small fee by the Arts Council for each performance, so they do not accept any tips. The idea is to encourage street performers to actually get licensed through the city to perform on the streets.

You'll usually see Out of the Box performers in high-traffic Bricktown areas, or around the Ford Center/Cox Center during big events. They have also played around the Farmers Market this summer, and near some of the buildings downtown.

E-mail info@artscouncilokc.com for more info on Out of the Box.

[jbrown84]

That's a great program. The Arts Council and Allied Arts do a lot of great things.