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Norfolk Arts and Entertainment


skylinefan

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Yes, another fine player. Maybe we need a music and art thread? I'd like to hear you play. I'm pretty much "retired" and I'm more of an eclectic musician, but I do get a lot out of jazz and classical, and I make cds of my own stuff now and then. I perform a few times a year.

I'll let you know the next I my band has a gig or I'm performing. My band is in the middle of recording right now. I'm the the percussion ensemble now...again at ODU, and I'll be also gearing up for some solo recitals as well. I'll keep you and anyone else interested posted.

Thanks,

Metalman

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  • 1 month later...

That is a real loss for the city. I feel like they were probably holding onto that space in anticipation of the much-spoken-of development north of Brambleton (which will probably be a while, as thing stand today). I saw some great local art at the JAC - and hung a few things myself. It's said to see it go.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'll post this in here too.

Performing Arts saturation?

Perhaps that is because Hampton Roads has the state's largest concentration of performing arts facilities, according to Peggy Baggett, executive director of the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

"In Hampton Roads, there seems to be a new theater opening every week," she joked.

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  • 5 months later...

Could the actual organization for the Va Arts Festival grow so big it's self destructive? While walking by the nice office space currently around 150 East Main Street I've always wondered if putting on a couple of concerts a year required such office space.

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Could the actual organization for the Va Arts Festival grow so big it's self destructive? While walking by the nice office space currently around 150 East Main Street I've always wondered if putting on a couple of concerts a year required such office space.

Huh? I suppose I could take this as your usual "humor," but I guess I'd prefer to see this as typical misinformation by those who like to complain.

Th 2008 Va. Arts Festival is billed as "10 cities, 45 days, 82 performances." It includes music, dance, theater, comedy, speaking engagements, and much, much more. Even the Beer Fest is considered part of the festival.

Fest

Edited by Sky06
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  • 3 months later...

I'm very familiar with what the organization does. I know they receive public money to do so. I didn't realize that the Virginia Symphony had 25 full time people just to manage it. At what point do the organizations get too big?

It's like WHRO. WHRO receives public funding. WHRO begs for cash from the community, playing poor. WHRO has two ATSC HD transmitters, when the commercial stations can generally only afford one. When I had a company, I remember going to bid on private work, and WHRO was there. WHRO was using the DS3 line that is paid for, probably by taxpayers, to work on commercial business and compete against the local businesses. To me it's a head scratcher. I believe their ratings are also withheld by law from the books like Arbitron, but I'd have to verify this. While I enjoy PBS programming sometimes, you have to ask yourself is it fair to the local businesses? If there isn't demand for boring symphony concert video on the commercial stations, why should the public fund it?

Also, I'd be *really* pissed if Va Arts Fest used Ticketmaster for anything.

Edited by Telmnstr
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I'm very familiar with what the organization does. I know they receive public money to do so. I didn't realize that the Virginia Symphony had 25 full time people just to manage it. At what point do the organizations get too big?

It's like WHRO. WHRO receives public funding. WHRO begs for cash from the community, playing poor. WHRO has two ATSC HD transmitters, when the commercial stations can generally only afford one. When I had a company, I remember going to bid on private work, and WHRO was there. WHRO was using the DS3 line that is paid for, probably by taxpayers, to work on commercial business and compete against the local businesses. To me it's a head scratcher. I believe their ratings are also withheld by law from the books like Arbitron, but I'd have to verify this. While I enjoy PBS programming sometimes, you have to ask yourself is it fair to the local businesses? If there isn't demand for boring symphony concert video on the commercial stations, why should the public fund it?

Also, I'd be *really* pissed if Va Arts Fest used Ticketmaster for anything.

While WHRO does receive taxpayer support, it comprises only about 13% of our budget. Of course, those funds allow us to provide services to the Hampton Roads region not addressed by for-profit companies. 24,000 families from throughout the region think so highly about WHRO that they voluntarily provide the station financial support. Imagine that, giving money for something they could otherwise get for free. Clearly, WHRO is a valuable community asset.

The DS3 line you refer to is paid, in great part, by the 17 local school divisions that own us. This broadband interconnection allows us to provide a vast array of services to our K-12 students, including on-demand, searchable video, correlated directly to the SOLs, as well as a full blown online school (which includes over 70 teachers) that gives students access to for-credit courses that they would otherwise not be able to take.

It would be irresponsible for WHRO to not use any excess capacity from our capital infrastructure to ensure revenue diversity, especially in these dicey economic days. Of course, when we do bid on a commerical job, we pay taxes on any revenue we realize. And since we are primarily charged with using our capital assets for non-profit purposes (as opposed to the commercial companies that get to make money with their assets from day one), we feel pretty comfortable that the playing field is level. Of course we also partner with a great number of for-profit companies to enhance services to the region.

Of course, no ratings (TV or radio) are withheld from the public, by law or otherwise. Although it is true that Arbitron provides only commerical radio numbers directly to the local papers (much to our chagrin). When we get access to the numbers, we pass them on to the papers, but that usually happens after the numbers have already been published.

Hope that better helps you understand WHRO.

On a side note, groups like the Virginia Arts Festival and the Virginia Symphony are two of the many arts groups that make Hampton Roads such a wonderful place to live. Anyone that has lived outside of Hampton Roads for any length of time can see this clearly.

Bert Schmidt

WHRO

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On a side note, groups like the Virginia Arts Festival and the Virginia Symphony are two of the many arts groups that make Hampton Roads such a wonderful place to live. Anyone that has lived outside of Hampton Roads for any length of time can see this clearly.

Great point. I moved out of Hampton Roads the minute I could when I turned 18. I lived in Washington, DC and Miami. When I finally moved back to Norfolk, I finally appreciated some of the nice qualities of this area. And the Virginia Arts Festival and Virginia Symphony are great examples of that. Welcome to the forum, Bert!

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Great point. I moved out of Hampton Roads the minute I could when I turned 18. I lived in Washington, DC and Miami. When I finally moved back to Norfolk, I finally appreciated some of the nice qualities of this area. And the Virginia Arts Festival and Virginia Symphony are great examples of that. Welcome to the forum, Bert!

Thanks all. I tend to just be a lurker, but........ :shades:

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On a side note, groups like the Virginia Arts Festival and the Virginia Symphony are two of the many arts groups that make Hampton Roads such a wonderful place to live. Anyone that has lived outside of Hampton Roads for any length of time can see this clearly.

I've traveled all over the U.S. I'm a Virginian, born and bred, growing up in the western side of the state, and I also lived in the DC-NoVA area. Hampton Roads is a MUCH more inviting, inspired and enlightened area in many arenas, but especially the arts. We have more venues, more genres and more events that anyone can attend than anywhere else. And, the best part? They are all so accessible, in location, in cost and in intimacy.

As Rokk stated, sometimes you have to move away to appreciate what you have in your own backyard. I, for one, don't plan to move away unless pulled kicking and screaming. Hampton Roads rocks!

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Thanks all. I tend to just be a lurker, but........ :shades:

Hey, I don't mind hearing numbers and information about WHRO. Thanks for the information!

Is WHRO going to start airing full up commercials? I know you are pretty much running full commercials at the end of programs now.

Also, those commercials that say "Old people, considering leaving us your money in your will" are a bit freaky I must say.

I wonder if it's an age thing. Perhaps older people think the area is great in arts because they see things like the Symphony and national acts that Va Arts Fest brings in (Arturo, etc)..

Then the younger people see that in places like Richmond there is an active independent press and music zine scene, along with more support for smaller, local artists?

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(telmnstr = me, xxx = friend)

14:58 < telmnstr> hey xxx

14:58 < telmnstr> The elearning --- that WHRO provides

14:58 < telmnstr> good or bad?

14:58 < telmnstr> is it used or sits idle heating air?

15:00 <@xxx> uh

15:00 <@xxx> it's used

15:00 <@xxx> because they are required to use it

15:00 <@xxx> the teachers think it's 'eh', mostly because it's so painfully slow

15:00 <@xxx> 40 people trying to pull avi's down over a t1 is lol

15:01 <@xxx> and that's really all nps used

15:01 <@xxx> was the 'uge video archive

15:01 <@xxx> which was pretty nice, really

15:01 <@xxx> they just dont have the interweb tube size to use it effectively

15:02 < telmnstr> what do you mean required to use it? Gun held to head?

15:02 <@xxx> yeah, they send armed guards to each classrom

15:02 <@xxx> lolz

15:02 <@xxx> No, the downtown people send out a notice to all the teachers saying 'you are required to use x videos in

your lesson plans throughout the year'

15:03 <@xxx> and then they monitor to see which teachers do and which dont

:-)

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Hey, I don't mind hearing numbers and information about WHRO. Thanks for the information!

Is WHRO going to start airing full up commercials? I know you are pretty much running full commercials at the end of programs now.

Also, those commercials that say "Old people, considering leaving us your money in your will" are a bit freaky I must say.

I wonder if it's an age thing. Perhaps older people think the area is great in arts because they see things like the Symphony and national acts that Va Arts Fest brings in (Arturo, etc)..

Then the younger people see that in places like Richmond there is an active independent press and music zine scene, along with more support for smaller, local artists?

Norfolk's Bill Reid, the brains behind NORVA, is a major reason Richmond has blossomed in the music scene. He bought and rejuvenated the National into the popular music venue it is today and revitalized downtown in the bargain. Norfolk is an enviable city for those appreciative of the arts -- performing and otherwise. Chrysler ranks high in the art museum category, and your symphony has played Canegie Hall. The Richmond Symphony hasn't gotten there yet.

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Looks like maybe the key words in Tel's response might be "youth" and "independent." I think that VCU has given Richmond something of an edge in the "independent" arts arena with it's large visual art program. The Chrysler is an amazing museum, given the location. It would never have expanded to what it is today without Walter Chrysler having married a local girl. Often, that's the way things work. I have a harder time understanding why Richmond doesn't try to rival our orchestra. Richmond has so many more corporate resources.

My main beef about the local art scene is the lack of much originality, much less an avant garde presence. The clubs are full of dj's and cover bands, the ensembles are playing Sousa marches, the chamber groups play Mozart and the painters are decorating hotel rooms. We need more edge, more variety and a greater appreciation for what is going on in the rest of the world. Real art confronts--isn't always nice.

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oh, I just had to respond to this:

My main beef about the local art scene is the lack of much originality, much less an avant garde presence. The clubs are full of dj's and cover bands, the ensembles are playing Sousa marches, the chamber groups play Mozart and the painters are decorating hotel rooms. We need more edge, more variety and a greater appreciation for what is going on in the rest of the world. Real art confronts--isn't always nice.

I recently checked out the much-maligned artwork at Waterside (breasts covered by styrofoam plates to prevent embarrassment on the part of patrons). What a hoot!

I liked Padman's line about art so much, I had to blog about it and included a photo of the now-decorated plate-art: http://mgblankenship.blogspot.com/2008/08/real-art-doesnt-get-covered-by.html

Enjoy :dontknow:

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My main beef about the local art scene is the lack of much originality, much less an avant garde presence. The clubs are full of dj's and cover bands, the ensembles are playing Sousa marches, the chamber groups play Mozart and the painters are decorating hotel rooms. We need more edge, more variety and a greater appreciation for what is going on in the rest of the world. Real art confronts--isn't always nice.
The lack of creativity permeates the core of HR -- in more ways than just the arts scene.

My son is living with us until he starts the next phase of his life in September. Born in Austin -- spent lots of time there. Working at a beach restaurant, he has plenty of food service experience. There was an episode on a Food Network show on a dive in Austin that served fantastic looking burger, fries, hot dogs, etc. Their chili-cheese fries featured house roasted serranos, tomatillos, cilantro -- all made on site. I was asking Matt why we don't have a creative, "edgy" place like that here -- he said, "Look at that chick eating there." Twenty something, had a fifties style waitress cap/hair pin, sleeveless top -- looked like she was direct from a vintage clothing store. He said, "there aren't enough wierdos like her here, to make a place like that work." I have to think he is on to something. Again, another example, just like Padman's, where we pay a price for our lack of industry that relies on creativity -- we sold our soul for economic stability, and these things all come at a price.

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The lack of creativity permeates the core of HR -- in more ways than just the arts scene.

"there aren't enough wierdos like her here"...we pay a price for our lack of industry that relies on creativity -- we sold our soul for economic stability, and these things all come at a price.

Creativity isn't always so externally exhibited, is it? Consider the engineering, etc. creativity of industry such as NASA, VMASC, Jefferson Lab, NIA, Hampton Roads Research Partnership (and I'm sure I'm leaving out many more). We have a huge number of patents coming out of the region, too. Creativity isn't always something you can hang on a wall.

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The lack of creativity permeates the core of HR -- in more ways than just the arts scene.

My son is living with us until he starts the next phase of his life in September. Born in Austin -- spent lots of time there. Working at a beach restaurant, he has plenty of food service experience. There was an episode on a Food Network show on a dive in Austin that served fantastic looking burger, fries, hot dogs, etc. Their chili-cheese fries featured house roasted serranos, tomatillos, cilantro -- all made on site. I was asking Matt why we don't have a creative, "edgy" place like that here -- he said, "Look at that chick eating there." Twenty something, had a fifties style waitress cap/hair pin, sleeveless top -- looked like she was direct from a vintage clothing store. He said, "there aren't enough wierdos like her here, to make a place like that work." I have to think he is on to something. Again, another example, just like Padman's, where we pay a price for our lack of industry that relies on creativity -- we sold our soul for economic stability, and these things all come at a price.

I think he's onto something too. This reminded me of a video from the TED talks about how horrible architecture has run amok. Anyway, the lecturer showed a picture of a standard fugly suburban house, 4 front windows, front door, brick facade, and vinyl sides and back. He asked the audience what it said about the people who lived there, and the answer he gave was "We're normal." Meanwhile everyone who lives there is batsh*t insane, popping pills and the like. Then you look at our area, it's practically a sea of suburbs. The creativity is here, it's just locked up behind the culture of "normalcy". IDK, just a Telmenstr rant I guess. :P My theory falls apart with the successful hip-hop artists from the region, maybe they don't fit the mold.

I saw another documentary about Austin and how it was being heavily developed into suburbs... Has Austin always been suburban and then there was an influx of weirdos? I've never been, what's it like? :dontknow:

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