So we know that Regal is closing the six-plex where they tend to show art and foreign films. As I mentioned yesterday, this is consistent with their past behavior.
I'm somewhat sympathetic, in that when Linda was working there, it was clear the public really didn't support these efforts very well. Then again, it always seemed like an afterthought for Regal, and they didn't do much to support them.
There is another, persistent and consistent rumor I've been hearing for a long time, which I'm bursting to talk about, but which because of the rules of this blog (try not to publish "rumors") I have to hold off.
But if it happens, (we'll know one way or the other in October -- one way or the other, I'll either admit I was wrong, or we'll all know it) it's going to hit this town like an earthquake.
But if it happens, you can be sure I'm going to make a Very Big Deal out of the "culture and arts" myths in Bend. We like to believe we're big supporters of the arts around here, which I think is only true for "events" but not so much in the everyday sense.
In other words, we haven't had a really great history of supporting the arts, despite all the talk, in my opinion.
The arts that have hung around are always limping. Supported by other means, usually.
We want everything a big city has, but we don't really want to do the work, the daily support, and pay the price.
Ultimately, I think it comes back to the fact that the Bend area has between 150K to 200K people, which SOUNDS like enough to support the arts, but in fact isn't because we just don't really ever get any synergistic energy going.
Because we are isolated, without the infrastructure of a true university, and supported mostly by retirement and tourist industries.
As H.Bruce mentioned yesterday,
"Despite its pretensions to be some kind of highbrow culture mecca, Bend is, always has been and probably always will be a middle-brow and lowbrow town. That's why theaters showing "art" films have never lasted long here.
New York it ain't. Hell, it ain't even Boulder."
I'm not blaming anyone here. I don't think it a lack of quality citizens, or anything like that. I think it is the isolation factor.
There are no towns in Oregon, for instance, that have our situation. Towns in the valley that are similar in size, or even slightly smaller than Bend, have some major advantages over us. From Ashland to Medford to Eugene to Salem to Albany to Corvallis to Portland -- all these towns are interconnected in ways that Bend isn't to anyone else. Colleges, interstates, major industry, proximity. All have synergistic effects, which amp up the possibilities.
In Bend, we have big plans, big ambitions. But often they fall on one person's shoulders, or a very small group that over time loses its cohesion.
We don't have any extra, so to speak. We may have enough to get something started, to keep it going for awhile, but we don't have any surplus energies to fall back on.
No one's fault. Indeed, it's impressive we have as much art as we do -- because of our tourist seasons, they are at least viable part of the year. We seem to attract people who want these things to happen, which is great.
But we also shouldn't be surprised when they don't quite hold up over time.
I'm somewhat sympathetic, in that when Linda was working there, it was clear the public really didn't support these efforts very well. Then again, it always seemed like an afterthought for Regal, and they didn't do much to support them.
There is another, persistent and consistent rumor I've been hearing for a long time, which I'm bursting to talk about, but which because of the rules of this blog (try not to publish "rumors") I have to hold off.
But if it happens, (we'll know one way or the other in October -- one way or the other, I'll either admit I was wrong, or we'll all know it) it's going to hit this town like an earthquake.
But if it happens, you can be sure I'm going to make a Very Big Deal out of the "culture and arts" myths in Bend. We like to believe we're big supporters of the arts around here, which I think is only true for "events" but not so much in the everyday sense.
In other words, we haven't had a really great history of supporting the arts, despite all the talk, in my opinion.
The arts that have hung around are always limping. Supported by other means, usually.
We want everything a big city has, but we don't really want to do the work, the daily support, and pay the price.
Ultimately, I think it comes back to the fact that the Bend area has between 150K to 200K people, which SOUNDS like enough to support the arts, but in fact isn't because we just don't really ever get any synergistic energy going.
Because we are isolated, without the infrastructure of a true university, and supported mostly by retirement and tourist industries.
As H.Bruce mentioned yesterday,
"Despite its pretensions to be some kind of highbrow culture mecca, Bend is, always has been and probably always will be a middle-brow and lowbrow town. That's why theaters showing "art" films have never lasted long here.
New York it ain't. Hell, it ain't even Boulder."
I'm not blaming anyone here. I don't think it a lack of quality citizens, or anything like that. I think it is the isolation factor.
There are no towns in Oregon, for instance, that have our situation. Towns in the valley that are similar in size, or even slightly smaller than Bend, have some major advantages over us. From Ashland to Medford to Eugene to Salem to Albany to Corvallis to Portland -- all these towns are interconnected in ways that Bend isn't to anyone else. Colleges, interstates, major industry, proximity. All have synergistic effects, which amp up the possibilities.
In Bend, we have big plans, big ambitions. But often they fall on one person's shoulders, or a very small group that over time loses its cohesion.
We don't have any extra, so to speak. We may have enough to get something started, to keep it going for awhile, but we don't have any surplus energies to fall back on.
No one's fault. Indeed, it's impressive we have as much art as we do -- because of our tourist seasons, they are at least viable part of the year. We seem to attract people who want these things to happen, which is great.
But we also shouldn't be surprised when they don't quite hold up over time.