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2019 CENTER CITY VISION AWARD PRESENTED TO BLUMENTHAL PRESIDENT TOM GABBARD Many More Big Dreams Are Percolating in Gabbard’s Mind On April 11, 2019, at the Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte Center City Partners honored Blumenthal President and CEO Tom Gabbard with the 2019 Vision Award "for his profound creative impact in Charlotte's Center City and beyond." Following is Gabbard's acceptance speech in full.
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reating the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in 1992 was an amazingly bold, visionary strategy. Building a first-class home for the performing arts was integral to the resurgence of uptown Charlotte. As part of our 25th Anniversary, we recorded an interview with Hugh McColl where he minced no words. He said that in his first visit to Charlotte, he thought it was the most boring place he’d ever been to in his whole life. Thankfully Mr. McColl, Bill Lee, Deborah Harris, Rolfe Neill and others set out to change that by dreaming the very big dream of a Performing Arts Center for Charlotte. These leaders understood that a Performing Arts Center was essential to creating a heartbeat for uptown after 5:30 p.m. and on weekends. Their strategy worked. Now with over 1,000 performances annually in our six venues, over 4,000 classes, meetings and events, the heartbeat of activity is strong. This steady pace has helped to create an uptown that is vibrant seven days a week, 18 hours a day. Charlotte is now a top 10 market for touring Broadway. People have access to more Broadway shows than other major cities like San Francisco and Boston. The Performing Arts Center is an important tool to recruit and retain companies as well as their talent. It generates strong traffic for restaurants, bars and hotels. A big show like Hamilton generates nearly $25MM in local economic benefit through spending at restaurants, hotels, employment of local stagehands and musicians, payroll and sales taxes. A more typical one-week show, like Dear Evan Hansen a few weeks ago, generates $4MM in local benefit. Continued on Page 10
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"Remarkable as the transformation of uptown Charlotte has been, even sweeter has been the transformation of people." ALL QUOTES BY TOM GABBARD
BLUMENTHAL PERFORMING ARTS PRESIDENT & CEO
PHOTOS BY DANIEL COSTON
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"Programs like The Blumey Awards are helping to give many of our kids the shot they deserve. " Remarkable as the transformation of uptown Charlotte has been, even sweeter has been the transformation of people. It’s impossible to overstate the impact of just walking through the doors at a Blumenthal venue for some of our kids. Young people who never felt there was a place for them in our city are transformed from a chance to see a show. The experience for our kids of seeing talented performers who look like them opens their eyes to what is possible. I loved hearing Mary Nell MacPherson, who heads Freedom Schools, talk about the first visit of their students to see The Lion King. We’re honored to host the Freedom School Scholars to see a show each summer. A young Freedom School scholar, after seeing The Lion King said, “We Can Do This.” That young lady was forever transformed by her day at The Lion King. This last fall, over 2,000 Title 1 high school students from the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia participated
in EduHam. This six-week program culminated with students coming to Belk Theater to perform their own creations for cast members of Hamilton. Later the students saw a complete performance. We know hundreds of these kids were transformed by that experience. For students in the 48 schools throughout the region who compete in The Blumey Awards, performing at Blumenthal will be a lifelong source of pride and inspiration. Most of these kids will not become stars, but they will leave the experience with greater discipline, stronger teamwork skills and more self-confidence that will help them for the rest of their lives. These programs have shown over and over that an investment in arts programs for our kids pays big dividends. Tonight we have one Blumey alum starring in a musical on Broadway. Another is starring in a musical in London’s West End.
"It’s impossible to overstate the impact of just walking through the doors at a Blumenthal venue for some of our kids. Young people who never felt there was a place for them in our city are transformed ..."
"... an investment in arts programs for our kids pays big dividends."
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"The experience for our kids of seeing talented performers who look like them opens their eyes to what is possible. " What’s even more wonderful is that both are talented young actresses of color. Programs like The Blumey Awards are helping to give many of our kids the shot they deserve. We’re proud of groups like Slam Charlotte, which we’ve sponsored for 15 years. They recently won the national poetry slam competition for the third time. They are the only Slam Poetry team in the country who has ever achieved that honor. For three years we brought from London Breakin’ Convention, the international hip-hop dance theater festival. The festival helped us break all sorts of conventions in how art is presented to the public, how we work with artists, and how we involve the public. It introduced us to a wonderful group of graffiti and hip-hop artists in Charlotte who now are regularly part of our programs. The last few years you’ve seen us “push the inside out” by moving programs outdoors and to unexpected places in uptown. Many of these initiatives have been modest in scale since the most successful placemaking frequently involves a series of small actions, not something big and dramatic. We’re proud of converting a car turnaround at Spirit
Square into The Square at Spirit Square where last summer we hosted 19 consecutive Friday nights of free concerts and movies. In a few weeks you’ll see a return of the Jazz Garden Tent at Romare Bearden Park. Artist Romare Bearden, who loved jazz and had a warm friendship with Wynton Marsalis and his family, will be looking down smiling when Wynton Marsalis and other great artists perform there. In an era of exceptional divisiveness, our investment to bring people together is more important than ever. In the upcoming Charlotte Jazz Festival that kicks off Charlotte SHOUT!, you’ll find picnic tables, food and drink along with over 40 free concerts. We believe that if you bring people together for great music, along with something to eat and drink, they’ll solve some of the world’s problems together. Stimulating creativity and curiosity are important goals for nurturing a healthy city. In a few short weeks with the launch of Charlotte SHOUT!, a very big new idea will unfold that will spark everyone’s imagination.
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"In an era of exceptional divisiveness, our investment to bring people together is more important than ever." Charlotte is ready to take on the big new idea of Charlotte SHOUT! Blumenthal has teamed up with our friends at Center City Partners to create something for our city that is unlike anything we’ve seen before. The 13 days of fresh ideas, imagination, celebration and awe will be extraordinary. Trust me, it will blow your mind to see what is ahead in the upcoming Charlotte SHOUT! Being part of this community is a real privilege. I was very lucky in 2003 when the Blumenthal board chair at the time, Jim Hance, called and invited me to drain the antifreeze from my veins in Green Bay and move to Charlotte. I’m exceptionally lucky to work with a wonderful team at Blumenthal and an incredible board. I’m thankful for the unity of purpose that exists with our staff and board. I’m grateful for their commitment to leading by example, to creativity and innovation, and to making our programs meaningful to each citizen. Charlotte has come a long way from that boring city Mr. McColl experienced. The city’s heartbeat and look change throughout the day from business to arts, entertainment and restaurants at night. The partnership with arts groups, business leaders and government is nurturing a vibrant, diverse city that we should all be proud of.
The book on Charlotte has had many chapters in its first 250 years. I hope you’re like me in feeling that we’re about to turn the page and begin a new chapter. The opportunity is ours to create a truly great city. Doing so will take ALL of us. To my developer and building-owner friends, be intentional about placemaking and using the arts to make spaces that the public will love. The value of your investment will soar when it’s done right. To my friends in government, your continued partnership is essential for us to assure that each citizen has access to arts programs that will fuel their creativity and sense of belonging in our community. The arts uniquely bring us together. And to my generous friends in the charitable community, we need your continued support for programs that bring life to the wonderful venues, museums, parks and public spaces we are blessed with. I’m deeply grateful to Center City Partners for this honor tonight. I’m thankful for the opportunity to work with Michael Smith and his team at Center City Partners who share our passion to serve our community. Thank you.
"The opportunity is ours to create a truly great city. Doing so will take ALL of us." 12 SPARK | SUMMER 2019
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