the four pillars: theater || community || history || sustainability
The ABC’s of Engagement: Art Builds Community
Outside a stunning inaugural season of theater, the most thrilling aspect of the Gerding Theater at the Armory is the open door for new audience and community development initiatives. With brand-new performance spaces, an inviting lobby and café, and a new theater school, we’re in possession of a vivid roadmap of possibility—and we’ve got our compasses at the ready. The interplay between preservation and pioneering green-practice is exceptional—an incredible draw for the performing arts community, and a powerful beacon for regional, national and international architects, planners, green-building advocates, and community development thinkers of all types.
Central to the Armory experience is the idea of the town square. As a convening metaphor, the town square offers a fantastic framework for the sorts of social and artistic experiences the building’s new spaces are meant to offer. Imagine traversing a dramatic gateway that takes you from street to threshold to lobby to stage, where artistic space and common, public spaces overlap and all manner of art and conversation interact and thrive—and you’re part of the way there.
Contemporary theater and art reflect contemporary life, which is often as shocking, challenging and thought-provoking as it is awe-inspiring, empowering and beautiful. Some like to experience renewal, inspiration and escape, while others seek out an emotional, visceral collisionary experience. How can an atmosphere for experiencing a diversity of voices, visions and cultural conversation be encouraged? Whether the focus is exploration, challenge, connection, celebration, reunion, action or debate, we plan to nurture an approach to community engagement that links Portland Center Stage and the Armory to new and expanded groups of artists, audiences and communities by highlighting the four “pillars” of the Armory: historic preservation, sustainability and green building, the community, and of course, theater.
This is an opportunity to extend an open invitation to Portland audiences to experience cutting-edge contemporary theater on a human scale, and the chance to amplify visitors’ experiences of the 1891 Armory’s innovative re-imagining as a town square for an array of individuals, communities and cultures. The innovative re-use of this historic landmark (with its staunch commitment to revolutionary, urban green-building practices) and the vision of The Gerding Theater at the Armory as both a vital community and creative center make this one of the most unique performing arts facilities in the nation.
As our friends at Ecotrust will tell you, social capital produces a stream of intangible yet essential benefits, “including safety and security, friendship and community, a sense of civic identity, access to knowledge,” that are core to a city’s health. Portland’s vitality hinges on the social capital that our arts and culture organizations produce, and it’s our responsibility to promote a deeper, sincere ethic of “we’re all in this togetherism”—and The Gerding Theater at the Armory will play an essential role in that equation—smack dab in the middle of the intersections between art and civic engagement.
What can people expect to see on the horizon? Both location and the venue’s adaptable event potential are especially appealing, and will fill a much needed void as a hub for creative conferences, festival performances, educational workshops, fundraisers, performance rental and exhibition space. We’re looking forward to exploring dialogue and engaging a myriad of potential community partners—from smaller arts groups like Hand2Mouth Theatre, Liminal, Aviator Aerial Dance, Ethos, Sojourn Theatre and Do Jump!; midsized institutions like Contemporary Craft Museum and Gallery, Literary Arts, PICA and NW Film Center; to the network of civic, educational and sustainability groups in the area, such as the Mayor’s office and City Council, Green Building Services, Ecotrust, City Club of Portland, DaVinci Arts Middle School, TriMet, Self Enhancement and P:ear, among others. Collaboration and connectivity are guiding principals in this brave new venture.
To get an idea of the shape of things to come, Mead Hunter, Director of Literary and Education Programs offers, “We will be asking an array of artists to consider surprising and unexpected uses of the building and its environs—factoring in to potential projects three elements: how the space will be animated and engaged; how the work reflects upon the event they’re a part of and/or the history of the site; and how their work expresses their own missions… Some of our community components may grow organically out of PCS’ own programming (such as the educational curriculum, Community Artist Labs, salons and post-performance events), while other projects, First Thursday tie-ins, late night cabaret-style events, a play-reading series, gallery shows, showcases encompassing everything from stand-up comedy to radio drama and aerial dance, will draw from the wealth of talented artists and organizations working throughout Portland.” Sounds like a plan.
Highlighting the magnificent possibilities of the Armory’s performance and public spaces and expanding their use will “recycle” social capital—expanding the theater experience as well as cultivating new relationships and sustainable networks that over time will increase people’s participation in not just the life of the organization, but the building, and the surrounding community as a whole—and that’s an exciting prospect. From street to threshold to lobby to stage—the art, interaction, and cultural conversation that is possible between the Armory’s “four pillars” serves to act as (to paraphrase renowned, late arts advocate Nancy Hanks), “a tremendous resource for stimulating the vitality, the humaneness and the economy of our city.” We hope you’ll come along with us as this new path unfolds.
— Tim DuRoche, from the Gerding Theater Opening Celebration Program
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