The Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera Proposal

THE DIANE B. WILSEY CENTER FOR OPERA

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN PROPOSAL S AN FRANCISCO OPERA: 2015

401 VAN NESS AVENUE SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102 CAPITAL CAMPAIGN PROPOSAL

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MISSION 

To present opera performances of the highest international quality available to the widest possible audience

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To perpetuate and enrich the operatic art form

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To be creative and innovative in all aspects of opera

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To take a leadership role in training, arts education, and audience development

C AS E S T AT E M E N T San Francisco Opera’s production shops and administrative offices currently operate in seven venues scattered across San Francisco, called “an unholy archipelago” by General Director David Gockley. The Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera will consolidate all Company functions, excluding the Scene Shop, onto one War Memorial campus, eliminating our need for expensive and inconvenient spaces throughout the City.

The Center will be the first major addition to the Opera’s plant since the 1980 “patch” on the back side of the Opera House, and it is the only source of reasonably priced additional space available to the Company in the foreseeable future. The unified location will create opportunities for collaboration and teamwork that our current isolated facilities do not support. Also, the creation of the Company’s first public archive of documents, artifacts, photographs, and audiovisual materials will encourage study of opera as an art form and of San Francisco Opera as an integral part of the history of opera in the United States.

In addition to the conveniences this move affords, The Wilsey Center for Opera will save San Francisco Opera well over $1 million in annual operating costs, allowing the Company to better focus its resources on artistic work onstage and in the community.

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T H E D I AN E B . W I L S E Y C E N T E R F O R O P E R A The creation of The Wilsey Center for Opera will take place while the Veterans Building is undergoing a two-year seismic retrofit funded by the City of San Francisco’s capital improvement fund, starting in July 2013. Thus, the Center will benefit from new elevators, restrooms, HVAC and lighting, as well as the restoration of skylights and numerous original architectural details covered up or removed over the years, which are all included in the scope of the City’s project. Spaces accommodating veterans’ activities will also receive redesign and modernization and a new public gallery for the San Francisco Arts Commission will be created.

The Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera will add over 55,000 square feet to San Francisco Opera’s facilities on the War Memorial Campus, enabling the Company to centralize functions that are currently spread across seven different venues throughout the City. Approximately 11,000 square feet will be dedicated to discreet offices, work stations, and meeting rooms. These areas, featuring arched ceilings and skylights, will accommodate all staff currently located at our Ivy Street satellite offices and allow for modest expansion in the future. And the proximity to the Opera House will enable more effective and efficient communication and collaboration across all departments. In addition, 10,000 square feet of storage and fitting rooms will be created in the basement of the Veterans Building.

ABOVE: Sketch of the view from the performance lobby to the Atrium Theater RIGHT: Artist rendering of the Atrium Theater

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The Center will feature the following named facilities:

T H E AT R I U M T H E A T E R The centerpiece of The Wilsey Center for Opera will be the 9,000 square-foot Atrium Theater, a fully-equipped 300-seat flexible space that can accommodate chamber opera, recitals, chorus and staging rehearsals, large social events, exhibits, panel discussions, and more.

For public events, patrons will be carried from street level in the Veterans Building’s Van Ness foyer to the theater’s outside corridor via the new public elevators. They will enter a richly decorated vaulted foyer that leads into the performing area, where seating can be arranged in at least five different configurations. State-of-the-art sound, lighting, and imaging equipment will permit sophisticated theatrical presentations. Dressing rooms, control perches, and storage will also be included in the design. The Atrium Theater will be shared with the City, so it will be available for rent to other organizations when not being utilized by San Francisco Opera.

THE COSTUME SHOP The west end of the Fourth Floor will house the 5,500-square-foot costume shop, one of the most sophisticated and skilled in the opera world.

Locating the shop in the Center saves approximately $500,000 per year in rent and support expenses, making it the single-most valuable component of the complex, in terms of new cost efficiencies. With fitting rooms in the basement of the Veterans Building and the close proximity to the Opera House, this move will also improve productivity for our costume staff, which will be spending less time traveling between venues.

ABOVE: Costume Shop display LEFT: Rendering of the Atrium Theater

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T H E E D U C AT I O N S T U D I O Occupying a former San Francisco Museum of Modern Art gallery, the 3,000 square-foot Education Studio will be one of two spaces shared with the City, available for rent to other organizations when the Opera does not require it. A towering, concave glass wall at the entrance on the north side will be fitted with blinds to allow for privacy and light control.

The Studio will also be equipped with the latest in audio and video equipment to accommodate a diverse array of activities, including: 

Orchestra and staging rehearsals

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Master classes, lectures, and other educational and community events

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Banquets and other donor events

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Board meetings

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Exhibits

TOP: Rending of the Education Studio ABOVE: Opera ARIA session with teachers and students; rendering of the Public Archive

As the Company’s first-ever dedicated space to be used for education purposes, the Education Studio is a vital part of the design of The Wilsey Center for Opera.

T H E P U B L I C AR C H I V E The Public Archive will occupy the northeast corner of the Fourth Floor. It will include an elegant reading room for scholars, students, and the general public to access a host of previously unorganized and unavailable documents, artifacts, photographs, and audiovisual collateral, which should generate interest in the history of opera and this great Company.

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T H E M c AL L I S T E R F O Y E R The main entry to The Wilsey Center for Opera will be a foyer off of McAllister Street featuring vaulted ceilings. A dedicated elevator will carry passengers directly to the Fourth Floor reception area for convenient access.

N O R T H & S O U T H G AL L E R I E S Two spacious hallways with vaulted ceilings will extend east and west along both sides of the Atrium Theater, serving as attractive galleries for selected archival photographs and special exhibits throughout the year.

TOP: Rendering of one of the conference rooms ABOVE: Rendering of the McAllister Foyer; rendering of one of the galleries

CONFERENCE ROOMS Two discrete conference rooms will be included in the Fourth Floor layout to accommodate departmental staff meetings and events.

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BUILDING COMMUNITY While there are numerous tangible benefits to The Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera, the greater value may indeed be intangible: 

The unified campus location will enhance a spirit of teamwork and belonging that is impossible in the Company’s current plant configuration

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The consolidation of all Opera functions onto one campus will provide

G E N E R AL DI R EC TO R’ S

opportunities for even more memorable patron experiences, such as

CORNER

the ability to view galleries of historical photos, visit the Costume Shop, research their favorite recording, and potentially meet with Adler Fellows and Company members without ever having to step foot off of the War Memorial Complex 

By designing numerous spaces specifically for community access, the Company will be able to increase its presence as an educational and artistic destination within in the community

“I am convinced that this is the most elegant and efficient way the needs of the Opera can be met for the next fifty years.”

- David Gockley

A HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY The Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera will be the first major addition to San Francisco Opera’s plant since the 1980 “patch” addition on the back side of the War Memorial Opera House. The Veterans Building option represents the only source of reasonably priced additional space available to the Company in the foreseeable future.

And the development of the Center goes hand-in-hand with the closing of the scene shop and the sale of its location on Indiana Street. Each initiative will yield significant fiscal advantages to the Company.

The cost of the design and construction of the Center is estimated at $19 million, to be funded entirely by private gifts, with 95% of the funding needing to be committed and “in hand” by the end of calendar year 2014.

ABOVE: Sketch of the Public Archive lobby

A $5 million lead naming gift has been pledged by Diane B. Wilsey.

In addition, the Hume family has pledged a $1 million gift for the North Gallery.

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FUNDING LEVELS & N AM I N G O P P O R T U N I T I E S AT R I U M T H E AT E R

$5,000,000 

G E N E R AL DI R EC TO R’ S CORNER

“Creating this wonderful asset is the most significant physical addition to San Francisco Opera’s facilities in a halfcentury, and it will be our generation’s most important legacy to the Company. Please consider supporting this vital effort.”

- David Gockley

Name: Donor Name Atrium Theater

C O S T U M E S H O P (fully funded)

$3,000,000 E D U C AT I O N S T U D I O (fully funded)

$3,000,000 M c AL L I S T E R F O Y E R

$1,000,000 

Name: Donor Name Foyer

O P E R A AR C H I V E S (fully funded)

$1,000,000 N O R T H & S O U T H G AL L E R I E S (North Gallery fully funded)

$1,000,000 each 

Name: Donor Name South Gallery

CONFERENCE ROOMS (2)

$500,000 each 

Name: Donor Name Opera Conference Room

BUILDER’S CIRCLE

$250,000 

Name on commemorative plaque

Additional giving opportunities are available and will be further defined as the project continues to take shape. Naming gifts are being sought through the end of calendar year 2014.

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Conference Room Costume Human Resources

Costume Shop

Development

FOURTH FLOOR PLAN

Herbst Theatre

Dressing Rooms

Dressing Rooms

Lobby

Conference Room

Restrooms

Storage

South Gallery

Atrium Theater

North Gallery

Conference Rooms

Employee Canteen

THE DIANE B. WILSEY CENTER FOR OPERA

Education Studio

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Education

Marketing

Public Archive

Public Archive Lobby

Catering

Storage