Monthly Archives: October 2013

The Gibbes Museum

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The Gibbes Museum is an art museum that has the purpose of revitalizing the art of Charleston and the South.  There are three exhibits going on at the Gibbes Museum: “the Fine Art of Printmaking,” “Photography and the American Civil War,” and “the Charleston Story.”  Each exhibit has its own floor.  The Civil War exhibition had the most attraction to it, where visitors were crowded around each piece.  The presentation of each exhibition had a very nice flow, where viewers could walk at their own pace to look at each piece.

My favorite part about the exhibition was the Civil War exhibition.  There were multiple things displayed such as little trinkets from the Civil War and a whole section on injuries in the Civil War.  The organization of the museum is very well thought out.  Not many people know about the exhibitions that are going on at the Gibbes Museum.  I believe that if the museum were to advertise more, then the amount of viewers they have would increase by a lot.  The other exhibitions of the museum did not interest me as much because I feel like I didn’t have enough information on each piece.  If I had learned more about the exhibitions before I went to see them, then I think that I would have enjoyed it more.  I suggest that everyone go visit the Gibbes Museum, especially when the Civil War exhibit is still going on.  But, I don’t know if I would recommend many to go when the Civil War exhibit isn’t going on, because the other two exhibits didn’t catch my eye nearly as much.

Stop Light Observations

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Stop Light Observations is a local band that is very popular in the Charleston community.  The band is quickly rising with fame and has moved from playing in small bars and restaurants to playing in large venues with a booked schedule.  I went to see Stop Light Observations at a private event held by one of the band’s producers.  The concert was at the home of one of their producers, Richards Gregory, during a 60’s themed party.  The house was filled with an extremely eclectic audience and decorations and lights to fit the theme. Stop Light Observations rarely performs at events with such small crowds, so it was a fun atmosphere where the audience was able to hang out with the band members.

I had a lot of fun at the party, the band was really fun to see play because they were so passionate about their music.  The band really got into the 60’s theme by dressing up and occasionally adding a cover song of an old 60’s hit into their set list. The party didn’t have as much structure as most concerts would, because people could walk freely throughout Richards’ house where there were other small performances such as acrobats hanging from the ceiling.  The party was very bizarre at some points, but it was really entertaining to see everyone in 60’s characters.  The band’s songs were a mixture of multiple genres, which allows them to connect with many different audiences.  The party wasn’t meant to generate income or for advertisement of the band, but from a managerial perspective, I think that the event would have generated a lot of income.  There were many more positives than weaknesses.  I would definitely recommend this event to anyone and everyone because it was such a rare occasion that you get to see a band so up close and personal.

 

 

AMERICAN GOTHIC

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College of Charleston Opera
College of Charleston Opera

On Sunday, October 6th, 2013 at 3pm I attended College of Charleston’s Opera program in the Music Department that present “American Gothic.” It was held in the Recital Hall, which is on the first floor of the Simons Center for the Arts. This music was very operatic and included Broadway ensemble pieces written by American composers. Music teachers Anna Young and David Templeton directed the production, and Irina Peyzner played the piano. There was a large cast of twenty-four singers including everything from freshman to seniors at the College of Charleston.

First of all, I have to say that my music appreciation teacher directed this, so she gave us some insight on what it was going to be like, but to my surprise it was much better than what she made it sound out to be. I was not expecting it to be completely based on Opera and Broadway songs; it was really nice though because it was almost like its own musical. During some songs there were many solos and they all were great and very dramatic like they should have been. The best part was when the entire cast would come out and sing together, it just gave me chills when they all sang. It sounded just like a those choirs you hear in movies, especially when they sang “The Ballad of Sweeny Todd” from the musical Sweeny Todd.

Going to see this concert related to what we discussed in class about having organizational control. As soon as I got there I noticed that there were many people out in the lobby area waiting to get their ticket from the box office. There was only one person at the entrance greeting everyone and taking up tickets, which held up the line to get in. No programs were passed until after 3pm which is when it was suppose to start. Something was wrong with the printer and they had to go somewhere else to print them, that’s why they started a bit late. The director never came up on stage and gave an introduction or a thank you. Someone did go up on stage and gave information, but I figured it would have been the director. Also there was one point where there was no one in the booth in the back who worked the lights and the cast had to wait on the person to get back to the booth because the lights gave a very special effect for this particular song. Things would have ran more smoothly if it was planned accordingly and should have had a back up plan just in case things went wrong. Other than the mishaps that happened I definitely recommend seeing it because the cast was spectacular, unfortunately it was only held on October 5th and 6th. If they have another show whether it’s this semester or next I would definitely try to go!

 

 

 

Theatre 99: Improv Riot

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Saturday night, October 5th, Theatre 99 proved to be the perfect solution to last minute plans with a visiting friend!  The 8:00pm show of the night was the recurring “Improv Riot,” where a selected 5 or 6 of the 18 member performing cast feed off of audience suggestions in hilarious off-the-cuff skits.  In the intimate theatre, presenting to a full house, the show began with a warm-up for the audience.  This twist was especially helpful for the unsure first timers of the audience.  It established a relationship between the audience and the performers, as well as the atmosphere of the rest of the show.  The cast had great energy and quickly responded to unpredictable audience suggestions.  If the onstage action didn’t have you laughing-out-loud, the underhanded comments from the announcer were sure to have you rolling.

As we have learned in class, one of the most important qualities of an arts manager is to be able to adapt to changing environments.  In a unique way, improvisational acts, such as the “Improv Riot,” are a representation of adaptations to the economic, political, social, demographic, technological, and educational external environments.  Audience involved improv is almost entirely based on the impacts of these external environments.  For example, Theatre 99 is able to evaluate their expected local demographic by maintaining relationships through their Facebook page.  Aside from that, however, the performers most likely use the audience warm-up as an immediate demographic evaluation to get a feel of how the night will play out.  Another example is a sketch where the cast asks for audience members to volunteer their phones to be involved.  This technological adaptation uses real text messages from audience phones in the hilarious improvised skit.

Because of the unpredictable nature of improv, shows are likely to be hit or miss, but this night was definitely a hit!  I will without a doubt return to Theatre 99 for future performances, and so should you! Especially with prices averaging $5-$10, Theatre 99 is can’t-miss-entertainment  in Charleston.

Gentle Lines: Crossed by Veil and Vine- Nathan Durfee Reception

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On Friday, October 4th, I went to Nathan Durfee’s opening reception at Robert Lange Studios. As someone who had never actually been to this gallery but is a fan of theirs through social media, I really enjoyed this event. It was great to see pieces I had seen pictures of in progress on facebook. That made this experience all the more enjoyable for me and I’m sure others appreciated that aspect of it as well.

Nathan Durfee designed the 2013 Piccolo Spoleto Festival poster so seeing some of his work felt extra special. Here is a really cool video of a Nathan Durfee painting that was featured on sort of paper sized posters that were there for the taking. On the back of the poster is a painting by Robert Lange so I took two. There are more works in the gallery by other great artists such as Robert Lange, JB Boyd, Sergio Lopez and more. I would definitely recommend people to see this event. It is on view through October 31.

in!Genius

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On Wednesday, September 25th, I attended the College of Charleston’s in!Genius event at the Sottile Theatre. The event consisted of multiple speakers presenting stories regarding their experiences in their different fields of study. I greatly enjoyed the event. I thought there was a very nice atmosphere, the speakers did a great job keeping the audience interested, and it was just overall a good time. The one downside was that some of the speakers went over their time limits, so the event lasted longer than the one-hour time frame.

Looking back at the event I can see a few points that actually relate to our recent discussion of operational control. While the event went smoothly for the most part, there were points where it was clear that more organizational control was necessary. The biggest example being the speakers who spent too long on stage. If it had been a bigger priority to stress the importance of the time frame to the speakers, it is likely they would have tried harder to adhere to it. Another time when more control and clarity were needed was when the prizes were being awarded at the beginning. It was a bit unorganized, as the winning seat number the emcee was initially calling out was nonexistent, and it took a few minutes for everything to get back on track at that point.

In the end, I would definitely recommend this event to others. I think it was a very interesting experience.

Monday Night Concert Series

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The Monday Night Concert Series is a long running tradition maintained by the Department of Music here at the College of Charleston. Every fall and spring semester, the Monday Night Concert Series showcases a variety of artists including students, staff, and guest performers in the Simmons building recital hall. I had the pleasure of attending this past Monday’s concert. It was a beautiful mix of piano and violin played by two very skilled artists for what might have been the most enriching hour of my week. Micah Gangwer was stoic but stellar as he coaxed each piece from his violin. Robin Zemp may have looked small in comparison to Gangwer, but the sounds that burst forth from his piano were big enough to fill the room (perhaps even more so than his partner’s). The show lacked fanfare or excessive niceties, but that did not take away from the experience in my opinion. A simple introduction given by a student provided the only words necessary for Gangwer and Zemp. They came on quietly and they left quietly, but they filled the spaces between each pause with perfectly executed explosions of music.

I consider it a privilege to have been able to experience so much talent for free through the department of music, but I’m sure the department knows what a great opportunity for revenue that it’s missing out on. I’m positive the department realizes the killing it could make from charging students, even if it were only a fraction of what they charge everyone else. We talked a little bit in class about “selling out”. Perhaps the department feels it would be doing students a disservice that would diminish attendance by charging them to attend the Monday Night Concert Series. Maybe the department would consider it (figuratively) “selling out” to (literally) sell out. I know that students would certainly be a little shocked if the Monday Night Concert Series suddenly began to charge them, but I don’t think that it would stop them from going or make them lose faith in the series. Even though the business minded part of me disagrees with free admission, I still admire the department of music for being so kind to College of Charleston students.

The Monday Night Concert Series is something that I would recommend to anyone who loves music. The tickets are still incredibly cheap (just ten bucks…) for non-students, and you can’t see better performances anywhere for that price.

To see what’s going on next Monday, please visit http://music.cofc.edu/.

In!Genius

ingenius

 

Wednesday, September 25th

Sottile Theatre

On Wednesday, September 25th I attended the In!Genius event held at CofC’s Sottile Theatre. The event was advertised as “a night of free thinkers and free stuff.” In one hour, seven individuals presented something that made them unique and they wanted to share with the community. All the presenters were in some way associated with CofC whether they were students, faculty, staff or alumni.

The event was based on a simple idea of giving presenters a short amount of time to share their story and message with the audience. It was a similar set-up to TED talks as the presenter was standing alone on stage alone, sometimes with a PowerPoint on behind them, but they all were well prepared and did not use notes to speak. One student who is a computer science major shared his success creating mobile apps that have been recognized by several magazines. Another student shared her experience travelling in Asia where she applied her Hindi studies to empower impoverished women. My favorite presentation was from the director of the women and gender studies program who shared her experience raising her daughter with Down syndrome. Each presentation was entertaining because it was unique and so different from the next one. The presenters clearly shared their points and shared some overall lesson they learned for the audience to take away from it. Most presenters kept to the time limit, but it was obvious when they exceeded it.

During the event I began thinking about our class discussion about SWOT analyses. One of the event’s strengths was its ability to connect people and audiences whose paths may have never crossed. The collaboration between offices and departments was very apparent and offered a unified image of the CofC community something that is necessary when appealing to an outside audience like potential donors or perspective students.

I really enjoyed the event because the presenters made clear and concise points with some final thought or lesson to take away from it. I hope to attend the next one and highly recommend this event to others!

 

Photography and the American Civil War

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DP281452_smallFor my second ARTM event I decided to go see the new exhibit at the Gibbes Museum called Photography and the American Civil War. The exhibit opened September 27th. and will conclude on January 5th. The photographer of the entire exhibit was a man named Matthew B. Brady, according to the wall mounts their were not too many people taking pictures at this time. I thought parts of the exhibit was extremely gory. Some of the photos were very cool though, they had some landscapes of just rubble and battlefields and those I thought were somehow pleasant in there chaos, like the calm after the battle has finally set in. However, there was an entire room dedicated to what looked like  pictures of wounded soldiers and medical procedures, its like they were keeping a record. Pretty gruesome.

I thought that going to the Gibbes would be a good call for this art event. All of the examples of non profits we have been talking about in class have been  big museums in New York, most of which I have been to, but then I realized I had never been to the “big” museum in Charleston. The Gibbes is also an institution with a lot of moving parts, curators and management and a full staff. It doesn’t strike me as the type of museum where people are doing two different jobs which is another aspect we have addressed in class, a full staff.

I would recommend this to anyone really. The black and whites were really cool. The old newspapers were very cool too. They had rewards for signing up for war and bounty out on people heads. I would avoid the room with all the gore, no one needs that in their life.

Photography and the American Civil War

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On October 8th, I attended an exhibition at The Gibbes Museum of Art , which walked me through over 200 photographs of the American civil war and explored the evolution of the camera role through one of the most gruesome wars of all time. The camera played a huge role in capturing images of the disturbing battle scenes, the mass destructions that had taken place and the horrid wounds that occurred on the battle fields.  The evolution of photography was a very significant time in American history. The photographs being presented were very moving, which really allowed my senses to fully engage with what really went on during this gruesome war.  I really enjoyed learning history through the art and photography that was displayed and reading the fascinating stories that the photographs captured.

 

From a manager point of view, I thought the exhibition lacked poor planning. I think they could have done a better job organizing a specific route for the people to follow, making it easier to fully engage in every piece of information presented there. I think they could have also done a better job marketing this event all over downtown Charleston and around campus, because I had heard about it very last minute. But, overall, I really enjoyed my experience and I would recommend this exhibition to anyone who really appreciates history from the civil war and how it affected both the North and South. The admission fee for students was 7 dollars, and was far worth the cost.