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Arts in Columbia


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How would you rank the arts offerings/community in Columbia? (Music, theater, literature, visual art, etc.)  

33 members have voted

  1. 1. How would you rank the arts offerings/community in Columbia? (Music, theater, literature, visual art, etc.)

    • Excellent
      8
    • Good
      15
    • Fair
      7
    • Poor--I feel like I'm in a cultural black hole!
      3


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This was in today's NY Times - might be of interest. About trying to attact artists to a small town to help the local economy and revitalize neighborhoods...

"A Gritty Midwest City Is Reinventing Itself As a Colony for Artists

By ROBERT SHAROFF

Published: July 24, 2005

IF Racine, Wis., is not yet the Hamptons of the Midwest, it's not for lack of effort.

This formerly gritty industrial city roughly 70 miles north of Chicago and 30 miles south of Milwaukee on the shores of Lake Michigan has been trying for much of the last decade to reinvent itself as an artist's colony and tourist destination."

...

rest of article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/realestate/24nati.html

you might need to register to read it, but it's free.

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I think for a city of its size, Columbia has quite a vibrant arts scene. Of course no one could place it on par with some larger cities, or with the artistic density of many smaller "villages"...it makes very good use of its size and fine qualities. One of the reasons I chose to stay in Columbia after I graduated was that it has constantly improved over the past 4 years, and it seems to continue to move forward. There's always something to do, and I'll be the first to admit I don't make use of everything that I should. I need to get out more...I work too much :mellow:

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I think for a city of its size, Columbia has quite a vibrant arts scene.  Of course no one could place it on par with some larger cities, or with the artistic density of many smaller "villages"...it makes very good use of its size and fine qualities.  One of the reasons I chose to stay in Columbia after I graduated was that it has constantly improved over the past 4 years, and it seems to continue to move forward.  There's always something to do, and I'll be the first to admit I don't make use of everything that I should.  I need to get out more...I work too much  :mellow:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

sadly, i must agree. i'm "part" of the arts community, but still don't get out much past my own little niche and take advantage of all the arts offerings. last night, we had a poetry slam featuring teams from across the carolinas at new brookland tavern, and we asked a local band to perform as well. it was a great result, as the diversity of entertainment gave both the poetry and music communities exposure to new audiences. i think that kind of cross-pollination might go a long way to help the arts scene grow as a whole, exposing people to the full spectrum of arts and entertainment available.

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Here's one Columbia resident's criticism of the arts scene in Columbia. Taken from a letter to the editor in The State:

In response to the July 20 letter from Christian Thee regarding the loss of artist Blue Sky, I completely agree that our city does virtually nothing to support its local artists, and I, too, am not surprised to see the exodus of talent from a cultural wasteland.

I must, however, point out that Columbia still has a group (albeit small) of local artists of tremendous talent. The unfortunate fact is that the majority of locals don

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It just amazes me that anyone can rate Columbia less than "good" in this category, unless the person is choosing to focus on one segment of culture/artistry that is lacking, rather than taking the time to think about what all Columbia offers...for a city of its size. I certainly don't understand anyone feeling as though they're in a "cultural black hole" in a city that offers one of just a few marionette theatres in the country; the Koger Center with music, ballet, Broadway, etc.; the Nickoldeon; the S.C. Philharmonic; USC's Theatre South Carolina, which performs in the INCREDIBLE 150-year-old Greek revival Longstreet Theatre; Town Theatre, one of the oldest community theatres in the country; Trustus Theatre; USC's School of Music with 200+ performances a year; Workshop Theatre; the planned Bethel AME Church Cultural Arts Center & Museum; Congaree National Park (yes, a NATIONAL Park); Finlay Park, with a variety of festivals and concerts; one of the BEST Children's Museums in the country; Columbia's historic homes (incl. the Robert Mills House); one of the BEST state history museums in the country; The Columbia Museum of Art; The McKissick; The Colonial Center & its array of concerts; City Art; Blue Sky; The Vista; Devine Street; Five Points; and so on...all in a city of 120,000. Perhaps someone should attempt a definition of "culture, " and perhaps some folks should visit more U.S. cities in the 100,000-200,000 population range and see how Columbia really compares; otherwise, relocate to a city of a million+ where most every "cultural" and "subcultural" activity or group exists. Columbia still remains greatly underrated and deserves a lot more kudos than it receives. I have spoken my peace. ^_^

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It just amazes me that anyone can rate Columbia less than "good" in this category, unless the person is choosing to focus on one segment of culture/artistry that is lacking, rather than taking the time to think about what all Columbia offers...for a city of its size. I certainly don't understand anyone feeling as though they're in a "cultural black hole" in a city that offers one of just a few marionette theatres in the country; the Koger Center with music, ballet, Broadway, etc.; the Nickoldeon; the S.C. Philharmonic; USC's Theatre South Carolina, which performs in the INCREDIBLE 150-year-old Greek revival Longstreet Theatre; Town Theatre, one of the oldest community theatres in the country; Trustus Theatre; USC's School of Music with 200+ performances a year; Workshop Theatre; the planned Bethel AME Church Cultural Arts Center & Museum; Congaree National Park (yes, a NATIONAL Park); Finlay Park, with a variety of festivals and concerts; one of the BEST Children's Museums in the country; Columbia's historic homes (incl. the Robert Mills House); one of the BEST state history museums in the country; The Columbia Museum of Art; The McKissick; The Colonial Center & its array of concerts; City Art; Blue Sky; The Vista; Devine Street; Five Points; and so on...all in a city of 120,000. Perhaps someone should attempt a definition of "culture, " and perhaps some folks should visit more U.S. cities in the 100,000-200,000 population range and see how Columbia really compares; otherwise, relocate to a city of a million+ where most every "cultural" and "subcultural" activity or group exists. Columbia still remains greatly underrated and deserves a lot more kudos than it receives. I have spoken my peace.
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Not only that, but we're close enough to Charlotte, Greenville, Charleston, Atlanta, and Myrtle Beach (and Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham) so that if you're willing to drive a bit, you can see virtually any band or cultural event in existence if Columbia doesn't happen to be on their tour.

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It just amazes me that anyone can rate Columbia less than "good" in this category, unless the person is choosing to focus on one segment of culture/artistry that is lacking, rather than taking the time to think about what all Columbia offers...for a city of its size. I certainly don't understand anyone feeling as though they're in a "cultural black hole" in a city that offers one of just a few marionette theatres in the country; the Koger Center with music, ballet, Broadway, etc.; the Nickoldeon; the S.C. Philharmonic; USC's Theatre South Carolina, which performs in the INCREDIBLE 150-year-old Greek revival Longstreet Theatre; Town Theatre, one of the oldest community theatres in the country; Trustus Theatre; USC's School of Music with 200+ performances a year; Workshop Theatre; the planned Bethel AME Church Cultural Arts Center & Museum; Congaree National Park (yes, a NATIONAL Park); Finlay Park, with a variety of festivals and concerts; one of the BEST Children's Museums in the country; Columbia's historic homes (incl. the Robert Mills House); one of the BEST state history museums in the country; The Columbia Museum of Art; The McKissick; The Colonial Center & its array of concerts; City Art; Blue Sky; The Vista; Devine Street; Five Points; and so on...all in a city of 120,000. Perhaps someone should attempt a definition of "culture, " and perhaps some folks should visit more U.S. cities in the 100,000-200,000 population range and see how Columbia really compares; otherwise, relocate to a city of a million+ where most every "cultural" and "subcultural" activity or group exists. Columbia still remains greatly underrated and deserves a lot more kudos than it receives. I have spoken my peace.  ^_^

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

*clap*clap*clap

bravo...I couldn't have said it better myself!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

The State newspaper today says USC has signed off on an expansion of the music and dance schools. The music department's strings division will be housed in the ground floor of one of the parking decks to be built around the area of the existing music building. The dance department will construct a building with two dance studios and an observation area east of Sumter Street near the Swearingen School of Engineering. USC will increase its enrollment in its new dance major and de-cramp its music school space with these measures, as well as boost the school's profile as a music and dance school to be respected.

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  • 1 month later...

Seems as though Columbia is getting cool points for certain aspects of its arts scene from none other than...Charlotte. On Jan. 27, the Charlotte Observer ran a commentary by film writer Lawrence Toppman in which he whined about how Columbia had managed to snag Music from the Inside Out, an Oscar-nominated film that bypassed Charlotte but was at the Nickelodeon Theater through Jan. 31. "Whenever I hear of a smaller city that's hipper than Charlotte, I read about it enviously," Toppman wrote.

Nickelodeon and Trustus are great assets to Columbia's arts scene.

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Seems as though Columbia is getting cool points for certain aspects of its arts scene from none other than...Charlotte. On Jan. 27, the Charlotte Observer ran a commentary by film writer Lawrence Toppman in which he whined about how Columbia had managed to snag Music from the Inside Out, an Oscar-nominated film that bypassed Charlotte but was at the Nickelodeon Theater through Jan. 31. "Whenever I hear of a smaller city that's hipper than Charlotte, I read about it enviously," Toppman wrote.

Nickelodeon and Trustus are great assets to Columbia's arts scene.

Also, Columbia and Duke University were the only places in the Southeast that Alarm Will Sound performed. The New York Times calls them "the future of classical music." The Koger Center was packed, even the aisles. They were here January 29th.

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  • 7 months later...

Good editorial about Columbia's undervalued arts scene with a plug for a new arts festival debuting next year.

This is great news. The arts scene in Columbia is rather nice compare to other cities our size or bigger. I think the arts festival will put our beloved Columbia in the spot light once again and residents of Columbia will learn to appreciate what we have here.

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The arts festival will be a great addition to the Columbia scene. Columbia does have an awful lot of cultural assets. Did you know that Trustus is the only professional theatre in the Carolina's? These are the types of things Richard Florida was talking about when he placed Columbia very high on the development of the "creative class". We have alot to be proud of.

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Today's "The State" says the Colonial Center is the top indoor entertainment venue in the Carolinas and Georgia in ticket sales, not including tickets sold for sports events. It is rated number 20 something in the nation and number 39 in the world.

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Today's "The State" says the Colonial Center is the top indoor entertainment venue in the Carolinas and Georgia in ticket sales, not including tickets sold for sports events. It is rated number 20 something in the nation and number 39 in the world.

That's great news :thumbsup: . I can only expect for things to get better including the 1st Urban Concert Columbia has had in a long time on Nov4. featuring T.I.

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I think it's a clever move to focus the arts festival on what's already here instead of bringing in a bunch of big names. But just for the first festival, then they should build it bigger so it becomes a destination. As far as I've understood, the 'festival' is only coordinated publicity to draw attention to what's going on, and every organization is on its own financially. Now, if the festival could coordinate corporate sponsorship and public funding to do more events, it could really take off and substantially improve people's perception of the city, not to speak of the economic impact.

BTW, it's really hard to find out what's going on where in Columbia. I guess that's why a lot of people are surprised when they find out there are that many things going on. Can someone point me to the most inclusive arts/performance arts listing? I find the listings are too abbreviated (a title but no description), or not enough events listed, or not regurlarly enough published (like the State's occasional view of what's coming up). I think it's important to both be able to look ahead to important events, for example when I found out the philharmonic was putting on an all-Shostachovich concert I put it in my calender as something not to miss (this coming weekend), or the latino heritage festival with live salsa bands on Main street (this coming Sunday afternoon - again something I don't want to miss), but I also like to be spontaneous and go to something on short notice.. 'what's-going-on-tonight-or-tomorrow?'-kind of approach.

I've lived in NY for 13 years, and am involved in the arts myself. That can easily make you a rather blas

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