New Haven Art History 101: 'the three-stage theory'

It's four p.m. and the Educational Center for the Arts, a selective public school on Audobon Street for student artists, has just let out. "Look at them," Frances "Bitsie" Clark gushes. "They're all so talented. Earlier they were drawing this building, and a whole class was outside. All those kids with their strange piercings and hair. They're in a phase. But one day, they'll be the artists of the future."

JULIA TIERNAN/YH The New Haven Arts Council plans to give the Palace Theater a facelift.

Clark, meanwhile, has been overseeing the developmental phases of New Haven's renewal as a cultural center. Since 1983, she has been the executive director of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the city's central arts funding and coordinating organization. From her office on Audobon Street, she runs the Art Center, a privately funded umbrella organization whose membership includes 600 patrons, 600 artists, 100 arts organizations, and 60 businesses. The dynamic of this large community, however, is largely influenced by the hidden hand and public visibility of Yale. "I have a theory," she mused. "Those forms of art that Yale supports, the city supports. This includes basically everything but dance and film." She explained that the groups and organizations in the city that benefit from the greatest funding and support are, not coincidentally, those involved with music and theater, which benefit from Yale's nationally-recognized departments and facilities.

Independent from Yale, however, the Arts Council is currently developing and expanding arts facilities on a regional scale. Within the next five years, Clark hopes to extend the Long Wharf Theater to include a second theater venue, to begin a facelift to the Palace Theater, and to find the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the fourth-oldest orchestra in the U.S., a performance space to call its own.

Clark pointed out that despite this flurry of expansion, "New Haven has always been a great place for artists. It's so close to New York. Artists can live here cheaply and commute easily, to go around and peddle work, or audition. There's also great art here and a nice life-style." She posited a "three-stage theory" of the evolving character of New Haven's arts. The first stage coincided with the '80s, the era of what Clark calls "edgy artists willing to take the bull by the horns." Clark remembers an artist who arranged a Dadaist exhibit at Lighthouse Park and a building on State Street that was entirely wrapped in cloth.

That environment changed, and the second stage commenced with the coming of the '90s, according to Clark. "Some artists moved away. Some started doing other things. The atmosphere changed and there was a general discouragement. We were in a terrible recession and all the banks and developers went out of business. Arts organizations really had to cut back on staff."

Projects in the '90s were largely initiated by major arts organizations rather than community members and artists themselves. The third stage began when the community shook off its stifling arts environment around 1997, Clark said. Three women—two local artists and Helen Kauder, Yale's licensing director—decided to host an open studio weekend, opening their studio space and works-in-progress to the public. This event helped to inspire New Haven's first ever city-sponsored open studios on Memorial Day in 1998. Over 250 artists participated, making it the second largest open studio in the country. "Before the open studios, the stores that were hosting the art had been empty," Clark said. "After the open studio, when people had been in the store over the weekend, many of these stores began to be rented. It had an economic development effect that was amazing."

In addition, Clark pointed to this year's revival of New Haven's Folk Festival as proof of renewed excitement among young local artists, Yale students, and businesses alike. "It used to be that New Haven arts didn't think of Yale students as being a part of their audiences," she said. "There's always been a jazz festival in the summer and there's been the International Festival of Arts and Ideas that also happened when most students weren't in New Haven any more. Now, though, students are more aware of the city, through interest and also because of pro-grams like FOCUS and Cityscape, and things have changed. It's a really exciting time. There's a great future in New Haven as an arts center, one that combines grassroots ideas with the booming business economy and major funding organizations."

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