As opening night approaches, the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center’s (SKyPAC) staff is scurrying to make ready.  In addition to preparations directly associated with the March productions such as LeAnn Rimes and Damn Yankees, staff members have been holding conversations with the public, educators and artists from around the region to find out how best SKyPAC can serve south central Kentuckians.  Several exciting partnerships have already been formed.

Partnerships & the future of the Capitol

Orchestra Kentucky was the first to announce that SKyPAC would be their new home for rehearsals and performances.  In addition VSA of Kentucky has plans to work with SKyPAC and their Art on Tour exhibit. “A Matter of Perspective” will be the first exhibit in SKyPAC’s children’s gallery.  The traveling exhibition features artwork by students with disabilities from across the state and will be shown March 10 – 30.  This first exhibit is a fitting tribute to two recently lost talents in the local art community, Ginny Miller VSA’s Executive Director and Marsha Heidbrink, visual artist and creator of the annual World’s Greatest Studio Tour and Art Sale whose husband, Bob Heidbrink donated the hanging system from Memphis Marsha’s Art Gallery and Classes to be used in SKyPAC’s children’s gallery.

Andee Rudloff, the Education Director at SKyPAC, oversees the three galleries under the SKyPAC umbrella: The Children’s Gallery which will have monthly exhibit changes, the Main Gallery which will have shows about every eight weeks and the Houchens Gallery in the Capitol Arts Center which will be on a similar schedule.

SKyPAC will take over operations at the Capitol beginning in July.  “There’s no doubt in any of our minds that what’s going on there is of value,” said Rudloff. “What we’re looking to do is enhance what’s already going on.”  

Having been preparing for the elimination of their board for the last three years, the staff at the Capitol Arts Center under the leadership of Director Karen Hume has, according to Hume, accomplished the daunting task of bringing their debt from $45,000 to $0 during that time.  With that accomplishment the Board is ready to be dissolved.  Hume deferred to the SKyPAC staff for other information on the Capitol’s future plans saying that she was unsure of the next step but that about half of the Capitol’s staff had been offered positions with SKyPAC thus far.

SKyPAC Marketing Director Greg Keightley explained that specific plans are not in place for the Capitol’s series beyond July because some remodeling will be needed before the historic venue can be fully utilized.  “It needs some polish but is a viable part of our programs.  It’s very important to the city and very important to SKyPAC; It won’t be lost in translation.  It’s critically important, a great venue with a great marquee.” He said.

With the Capitol, SKyPAC will offer a variety of space for different uses: a main hall seating 1800, a studio theatre seating 200-350 depending on the configuration, an amphitheatre seating 800-1000 and the Capitol’s stage with 800 seats.

Some of the talent from the Capitol which is already working with SKyPAC to plan for the future includes Lynn Robertson who will now be the artist liaison and oversee installations at all three galleries as the Assistant Gallery Manager.  Robertson will lead a team of preparaders to install exhibitions of work from both regional and national emerging and professional artists, creating museum quality displays.  

Museum Quality Visual Arts

The first example of what can be expected from SKyPAC’s visual art shows will be the March 10th opening of Historical Cultural Heroes by Alan LeQuire.  According to the brochure, “Cultural Heroes features the first six icons of an ongoing series of artists who were key role players for Civil Rights, putting their careers on the line. Sculpted in a moment of performance, these colossal portrait heads also represent various ways of handling clay, always with the intent to make the material and its treatment at least as important as the subject matter. The artist’s six role models currently represented in the sculptures are Marian Anderson, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Lead Belly, Paul Robeson, and Woody Guthrie.

Andee Rudloff described her vision of what the exhibit would look like with quotes from the artist visualized on the wall as well as a QR code which can be scanned with a smartphone to play a video of the artist creating the work and talking about his process and inspiration.  While the website remains primarily an online brochure for now, you can find out more information, including a graphic of this QR code on SKyPAC’s Facebook page.

Other Capitol Arts Center employees who have already begun work at SKyPAC include sound technician Rob Hatcher and youth camp and performance directors Ashley Gentry and Carol Jordan.  Rudloff hopes to talk to the Capitol about joint summer camps utilizing both facilities and partnering with organizations that have been in dialogue with SKyPAC such as VSA, Boys & Girls clubs and WKU’s Confucius Institute.  A major goal in such partnerships, as with many Rudloff has already initiated for SKyPAC is to increase accessibility to programming.  Summer camps for example would no longer be limited to smaller groups and would have means for more children whose parents could not afford the price to participate.

Accessibility & Learning

Accessibility is perhaps what has been the topic of most of Rudloff’s conversations in the region.  A major breakthrough came with the announcement that SKyPAC would receive a grant from Laura Goad Turner Foundation, totaling one million dollars over the course of three years.  The grant specifically is to be used in enriching art opportunities for students in Allen County.  This means that all Allen County students will have the opportunity for free travel and free or discounted tickets to SKyPAC performances as well as having SKyPAC’s affiliated artists travel to Allen County for in school programming and residencies.  The grant will also help establish the blueprint for programming by SKyPAC’s artists by funding the initial program setup using Allen County artists.  Likewise, local businesses have already begun stepping forward to set up similar support grants for specific communities, youth organizations or schools that they feel have special needs for access to arts programming.

Rudloff has met with various schools and communities to discuss potential programming, partnerships and benefits which SKyPAC can offer.  While most have been meetings to begin conversations, some projects have already unfolded.  For example, after watching the video on YouTube of local community members creating a mural for SKyPAC’s temporary trailer offices, kids in Franklin’s Lincoln Elementary were inspired to do a similar project.  The library offered a blank wall and involved the entire 5th grade.  Students chose and drew iconic images from Simpson County and asked Andee to help.  She went in and recreated their drawings on the library wall and the students came in on an in-service day when school was out and together painted the mural, creating a similar video which can be seen in this article online.  

“There was huge self awareness and self esteem building that happened that day” remarked Rudloff.  Taking it a step further, the students created a digital book on the schools website where you can click on any of the mural images and read about the history and significance to Simpson County that the image represents.  

Early on, Rudloff established several advisory committees including the Education Advisory Committee, The College Advisory Committee and the Youth Advisory Committee who are also out engaging area communities in conversation.  “I can’t thank my advisory committees enough because they’ve been my pied pipers”.

Teachers and faculty at other schools like Warren Elementary and Rockfield Elementary have also stepped forward to become involved.  Rockfield teacher Shelly Clark is spearheading an exhibit entitled “Discovering the Me I Want to Be”.  Students will create art, other students will serve as jurors and then the students will learn how to professionally prepare the work for display.

A photography exhibit for the Main Gallery is also in the works by WKU’s Gender Studies, WKU Photojournalism and the Housing Authority.  It will feature a cross general study of mothers and children learning together.

“We are taking youth art to a new level” exclaimed Rudloff.  And she doesn’t just mean with the professionalism of the gallery displays.  The Franklin project, with its added digital resource demonstrates the capacity of the arts to teach across curriculums.  Rudloff and the staff at SKyPAC have developed teacher’s guides for each of their events to help begin conversation and fulfill Kentucky Department of Education criteria.

According to Rudloff, art is capable like no other study of incorporating learning across disciplines, saying “They are the core of education, how else do you connect the dots?”  She cites as an example their planned Golden Dragons show.  As with each show offered at SKyPAC, “Talkback” sessions will take place, where community members and students are given the opportunity to meet the performers and artists and ask questions about their work.  For the Golden Dragon Talkback session a translator will assist in communicating with the Chinese performers.  The session will incorporate not only language skills but involve physics and mathematics.

Local Bands

Other groups that SKyPAC is reaching out to include local musicians and bands.  WKU senior Landon White is charged with booking performances for the Music in the Studio, Exploring Rhythms series.  The series will take place in the Studio Theater which can seat up to 300.  The concerts will be all ages, though alcoholic beverages will be available to those over 21.  Canago will kick off the series on March 17 followed by Lost River Cavemen on March 31 and Austin Webb & the Good Company on April 14 with additional shows in the works.  Tickets are $7 for 18-20 year olds and $5 for 21 and up.

In addition to Canago’s performance, artist Stephen Wells will do live painting to the music.  According to White, “The idea of the artist came about because I wanted to make this a unique experience. Not just, ‘Oh lets go see this band play’, but ‘Oh lets go see this band play and watch this cool artist paint’. I am actually hoping this starts a trend and some of the artists come out of hiding, wanting an opportunity to paint at a show.”

He added regarding the music series, “Across America, more and more people want to attend music festivals and be a part of the live experience. I have watched it grow for almost 5 years now and the music scene around here is a boiling pot with the top on it, and it is about to explode.”

A Community Living Room

Marketing Director Greg Keightley is more than a little pumped up about the diverse lineup scheduled thus far at SKyPAC.  “I’m excited to open the doors.  While the region and community may be aware of the name, they haven’t had the opportunity to experience it.  That excites me to bring this level of entertainment to a community that deserves it.  Arts add value and improve the quality of life in a region.  It excites me that change is coming.”  He explained that the economic impact of SKyPAC, already begun by creating construction and staffing jobs, will explode once the performances begin and people begin coming to the area for a show, shopping, dinner and after performance entertainment.  SKyPAC he says, is working closely with other downtown businesses and encouraging them to become involved by offering special incentives to potential customers on show nights as well as to form partnerships when other events take place in the area.

According to Keightley, each show will offer a full experience for the audience, beginning with a full red carpet treatment.  He hopes to have media on hand as artists enter the building to greet the audience and do short interviews with area journalists.  Concessions as well as wine, beer and liquor will be available for patrons at most shows.

In March alone, six events are being offered (see our Spotlighted events on page 15).  Opening night, March 10 begins with a concert by LeAnn Rimes, joined by Orchestra Kentucky and the SKyPAC Chorus and is followed by an After Party.  The following weekend will feature a variety of events, beginning Friday with a free performance by the 101st Airborne Division Band.

“I hope to fill up the house.” said Keightley.  “It’s a great way to involve the military and the community for a free show to help people understand what we have here.”  Active personnel from Fort Campbell have recently returned from deployment and were eager to engage in community events, so the show was a recent add on to the opening festivities.

On Saturday Orchestra Kentucky will perform Rated K for Kids, pulling songs from some of the best loved children’s films.  That evening Canago performs.

Then, Sunday is Free Community Day – Let Us Entertain You, SKyPAC’s gift to the community.  From 1 – 5 p.m. all activities and events are free and open to the public.  Music and art performances and activities will be found on all the stages as well as outside weather permitting.  Local artists Jessica Moore, Beth Reitneyer and Kim Soule will lead children in activities such as chalk drawings, theater masks and paper art.  And twenty seven performances will be offered throughout the venue and vary from dance to theatrical shows and music. The music featured will vary from student choirs to professional gospel and rock musicians.

SKyPAC’s mission is “to exist as a ‘living room’ for the community – an unpretentious environment where people can come and experience world-class art and entertainment in their own backyard.”  You don’t miss this opportunity to see what all they have to offer.

About the author: Kim Mason is the Content Manager of the Amplifier which was founded by her in 1995. She serves as Executive Director for the BG International Festival and designs websites.

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