Local Ideas, Local Arts -- Gotta Have 'Em!

I note with great pleasure Madison Daily Leader owner and publisher Jon Hunter's return to his own editorial page. After months of ceding the editorial slot to reprints from other newspapers, Mr. Hunter has reclaimed his rightful place as the regular editorial voice of Lake County's only daily newspaper. I apply "Be a yokel, buy local!" to my news and opinion as well. When I open the Leader, I want local content, especially on the opinion page. Mr. Hunter may tread more carefully than I in his prose -- I don't expect any calls for revolution from South Egan Avenue -- but I'll take his measured comments on life in Madison and South Dakota over borrowed out-of-town editorials any day.

And in tonight's editorial, Mr. Hunter strikes a similar tone in support of local fine arts. Given all our fancy electronic media, he notes that "relying entirely on entertainment from far away causes us to miss some great opportunities at home." School bands and other local musicians, painters, sculptors, and dancers -- like Jon Hunter, we may not produce the flashiest or most famous work (not yet, at least!), but what we produce is unique, and it is ours, part of a tradition of fine arts one might not expect from our little bump on the prairie.

But Mr. Hunter points out that this tradition is jeopardized by declining support from the fiscal powers. He argues that such budget cuts are not the result but the cause of declining participation in arts programs. In fine Hunterian form, without pointing his pen at any specific entity that should take action, he calls for everyone to promote local fine arts to encourage children and adults alike to get interested.

I'll take Mr. Hunter's well-timed suggestion to a level of specificity he perhaps feels ill-suited to offer: Let's turn the proposed new gym into a genuine events center, with dedicated spaces for the performing arts as well as sports. Or better yet, with sports moving to the new facility, let's convert the old gym (old here meaning about a dozen years old) into a theater complex (to replace the current theater, which is forty years old). No, not just rig up some curtains and a platform, but totally renovate the space. Install a permanent stage, curtains and fly system, state-of-the-art light and sound system, set shop with big loading doors, and new acoustic walls to change the gym from an echo chamber to a genuine theater. Create new storage areas for props, costumes, lights, and musical instruments. Dedicate some permanent display space (if not an entire gallery, then some bright display cases in the lobby) for exhibits of local art. Wall off a portion of the gym, break it into a couple dozen soundproof practice rooms for our musicians.

$5.83 million dollars is the gym's current price tag. The bond promoters tell me that's $89 a year more in taxes for my family; multiplied over 25 years, that's $2200. Before I "donate" my $2200, I'd like to see how we might make that money serve the broadest range of activities. Before the April 10 election, let's turn some artistic minds loose on the plans and see how we could put some of that money toward promoting the arts alongside athletics in Madison.