(In a letter to the Operations Manager of 45 Bleecker St. Theater, Christian De Gré, President & Artistic Director of Mind The Art Entertainment wrote the following on October 20th, 2010)
Dear Ms. Gagnon,
It is with great sadness that we hear news of your theater. 45 Bleecker Street is an important cultural symbol in the Off Broadway community and it is very disconcerting that you have been faced with these problems.
I would like to offer our full support in any way that we can to help your organization keep its doors open. If there is anything we can do please do not hesitate to ask. If there were to be a fundraiser of some kind or a petition, etc, we will gladly throw the weight of our members in support. Theater must survive these hardships, and artists, in all mediums, must unite to overcome these struggles.
I hope that some good news come soon but in the meantime I am at your disposal should you require anything.
Our support goes out to you.
- Mind The Art Entertainment and its 300 working artists, producers, designers, administrators and its Board.
Kindest Regards,
Christian De Gré
President & Artistic Director- Mind The Art Entertainment
(Then in a letter to the creative staff of Mind the Art Entertainment, Christian De Gré wrote the following)
The sad news came to us today and I just wanted to share them. Mind The Art was in negotiations with the 45 Bleecker street theater to take over part of their bookings for our productions in their late night slots. As you can see in this article below from the New York Times, the theater is dying. Its a very horrible state of events that also follows the fall of 6 other Off-Bway theaters this Summer & Fall including the fall of the Cheery Lane's structure and support. Let us be reminded how difficult it is to support art in an expensive metropolitan city and also learn the lessons of these great organizations that have now fallen.
Please take a moment to read and do share your thoughts.
Our correspondence with them ended with this unfortunate statement.
"If we do not find or create an entity to take over the lease here, we will dismantle the two theatres down to the four walls. In closing, if you or your colleagues have any ideas or input, we are listening to everyone and anyone at this point. "
This is very sad indeed.
We must remember that this is not 45 Bleecker's problem alone but a problem for all working Artists in New York. Arts Venues are closing left and right and it is in this time that we must unite on our common goal, to create art. Only in number's can we all survive these struggles. I leave you with our Mission to contemplate, and remember this is a fight that we are all in together.
"Art is, and must remain, a collaborative and ever evolving medium. In order to truly fulfill ones own potential, one must surround him or herself with like minded individuals. Only then, with meticulous tenacity and an ability to work together can an artist and his/her colleagues grow, inspire and ultimately succeed."
Very sad indeed. This must all teach us, especially our Mind The Art team, to learn from their mistakes, especially since we are opening a new warehouse arts and entertainment building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and especially in these hard financial times, we must do all that we can to help keep our fellow artists doors open, and of course our own!
ReplyDeleteIts heartbreaking
ReplyDelete