The day has arrived.  This is the 21st time I’ve walked into the building to start the yearly process of teaching, exploring and crafting with what is always a unique and diverse group of people.  Summer is always kind of rough for me – lack of routine and waiting for information needed to proceed is challenging.  This day comes as a relief and this year, despite the extraordinary circumstances, is no different.

And of course, as with any major project, delays are something to be expected, planned for and worked with.  I’ve said on many occasions during the renovation process to whoever will listen that we [the UWM Theatre Faculty and Staff] can work with a variety of possible situations and it is more important that renovations get done safely with a focus on quality than be totally finished on this day.  I’m happy to find time solutions if it means the end result will be the best it can.  So, yeah – above is one of our main teaching spaces, the Theatre Department’s Scenic Studio.   Students will arrive there at 11am this morning for class and there are probably a couple of weeks worth of co-existance with the renovation crews ahead.

There has been significant progress in the Mainstage Theatre itself.  New ventilation and acoustic treatments are nearing completion.  It won’t be long before we start to see the more forward facing components going in, such as seating, lighting and rigging systems.  As this ramps up, I promise to document the process with more frequency.  The improvements in functionality are significant.  We are extremely anxious to get in there and make some art – the new possibilities are, well – it’s sort of like going from having two flavors of ice cream to thirty.

Maybe the public (and perhaps many of the students) will just see a dust pile when looking at the above photo.  I see not only an amazing blank canvas waiting to be carefully and deliberately painted on, but a rare teaching opportunity.  We have entire modules in the curriculum about how to create a performing arts facility, but until now the exercise could only be theoretical.  This time, we are doing it for real – and the students will be with us every step of the way.  What we are doing is setting up the future for the next 50 years.  It is a hugely daunting task, but very, very exciting.

Theatre Artists pride themselves on embracing the unknown – solving the problem that hasn’t come up before.  We thought we were pretty good at it (and we are :).  But what we have found out about ourselves since April is that we have only scratched the surface of that skill set.  We are going to come out of this with a new perspective.

I think it’s going to be a groundbreaking, life-changing, forward-thinking year that will break barriers, demolish silos of thought and expand the definition of our craft.  It will be hard – of that I am sure.  We will want to default to years of tradition and expectation, but I and my colleagues know that establishing new expectations and traditions is critical for our art-form’s growth.  Indeed it is critical for art as a whole.  It’s critical for our mission of researching and understanding the human condition.

It’s also critical for our students to thrive in our world.

Sure it’s really only a building.  But much like theatre is a solid foundation for all the art forms in the world that explore what it means to be human, the spaces and environments we create in are, quite literally, foundational.  It’s our body and we are its soul.

And then there is this – replacement equipment for the Scenic Studio has started to arrive!  There’s nothing quite as satisfying as un-crating a new tool.  I’m looking forward to sharing the experience with the students.

Chris