The local arts festival Jail Break returned to Charleston for its sixth round with a punk theme on Saturday, November 16, 2013 from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. With Entropy Arts, the American College of Building Arts, and Ear for Music as its driving forces, the semi-annual event featuring a mash-up of performance and visual arts is taking the Charleston arts scene by storm. The Old City Jail, located at 21 Magazine Street, provides an unconventional backdrop that most creative minds only dream of with its detailed ironwork and Gothic Revival castle-form exterior.
The building itself, as a work of art, guided you through a maze of halls and rooms filled with artwork, photographs, and installations. It was smaller than I had expected, but delivered a systematic approach to dividing the varying styles and mediums of the artists featured. Aside from the visual arts, one room was dedicated to stand-up comedy shows and another with short performances by the Threshold Repertory Theatre. When the theatre scenes were on break, electronic music artist MindRobber performed behind a barred jail cell.
Out in the jail yard, two stages manned the attention of the audience – one for dance and one for music. There were also food trucks and alcohol venders for concessions. As you rounded the corner, the Artisan’s Market was revealed! The market featured local jewelry and tee shirt designers, vintage finds, and other crafted goods. The American College of Building Arts drew a big crowd to the Artisan’s Market with their on-site blacksmith demonstrations and graffiti artist Crosby Jack presented the transformation of his art from a blank canvas to “Frankencorn.”
In class on Tuesday (November 19) we discussed strategic economic business approaches of arts organizations. Jail Break took an approach of time and scarcity with ticket sales. The sooner you bought your ticket, the more discounted it would be. In October, they had a “JAILBIRD” special where the first thirty tickets to be sold at each location (King Dusko, Artist & Craftsman, Redux, Artisan Tees, and Dancefx) were only $10! After all of the jailbird tickets were sold, the price rose to $15, and eventually to $20 the day of the event. They have a good understanding of how much their audience is willing to spend for the event. Because it is something unique to the area and only occurring twice a year, an audience member would be likely to spend the $20 if they forgot to buy their ticket in advance.
I think the magic of Jail Break is that it brings a community of passionate creators and patrons together to coexist. It is a special environment which allows people to observe the art, gather their own understandings of the works, and then talk with the artists to learn their personal inspirations and methods of creation. It truly is a celebration of the arts! If you have any interest at all in attending Jail Break in the future, you should definitely go – just remember: take advantage of the early discounted tickets, be prepared to stay for the long haul, and bring cash!