AIRPARK Buzz
Raring to Go Leaders envision big encore to a big arts season
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By Alex Gallagher ast season at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts was unlike anything that program director Abbey Messmer and Scottsdale Arts CEO Gerd Wuestemann had seen in their careers. “It’s been a roller coaster ride for everyone in their personal lives and their work lives, including us,” Messmer says. “We’ve grown together along the way and adapted in a lot of ways, and we were able to stay open the entire year.” Despite the challenges of producing shows as the world navigated its way through a pandemic, the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts staged 207 events through June 15. Wuestemann says that number “for any performing arts venue to execute in the best of times is a really heavy lift. Our crew has worked their tails off, and it was not the best of times. COVID-19 stuck around for a lot longer than we anticipated, and our team worked through really difficult conditions.” Wuestemann and his staff followed venues across the nation in requiring patrons to
Among the highlights of Scottsdale’s coming arts season is completion of outdoor spaces around the Civic Center. Recently Gerd Wuestemann, president and CEO of Scottsdale Arts, checked out the project with Brett Elsasser, project manager from Willmeng Construction. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)
provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test or proof of full vaccination to attend shows, staying the course until late spring. “We’ve had an amazing season,” Messmer says. “I guess the biggest takeaway is to persevere and collaborate with your partners.” Now she, Wuestemann and the rest of the staff are planning a big encore to that season.
Celebrating their 60th anniversary, the Temptations will swing by the Center for the Performing Arts on January 12. (The Temptations/Submitted)
Messmer is anxious to kick off one of the biggest seasons of her career with showstopping acts like the Temptations, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, an appearance from Broadway star Jessica Vosk, the return of ukulele strummer Jake Shimabukuro, as well as acts like Mariachi Sol De Mexico and “Assisted Living: The Musical.” However, it is the events planned for outside the performing arts center that have Wuestemann and Messmer the most excited. Canal Convergence is expected to be bigger in celebration of its 10th anniversary. The Civic Center is set to finish its renovation in January. Once it’s complete, Scottsdale Arts is expected to announce another lineup of acts and the return of Sunday A’Fair for the first time since 2020. “So, this year’s Canal Convergence will be extra special and we allocated even more of a budget for the event,” Wuestemann says. “We have also reached out to some of the artists that were part of the very first Canal Convergence back 10 years ago, and oftentimes those artists that we premiered back then have used this as a launchpad for their public art careers and have now become
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