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It's been a decade of discovery!
“Ten years of one-of-a-kind experiences that enrich your life and inspire your soul, that’s what we’re celebrating” said Steve Carignan, executive director of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. The GBPAC is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the 2009-2010 season.
The milestone allows a time for reflection about what the Gallagher-Bluedorn means to the campus, the local community and all of Iowa and what it can mean in the future. Completion of the GBPAC was greatly anticipated and the partnerships it took to get it built have played a large part in its success. The building is the site for more than twice the number of performances and events than was initially expected, many of those hosted by the University of Northern Iowa School of Music and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, the two other biggest users of the building.
The $23-million facility was a major component of the UNI Foundation’s “Students First” campaign. The building, inspired by 19th century opera houses, has three performance spaces and can seat 2,000 for simultaneous events in three halls. All three spaces are acoustically sealed from the others and no patron is further than 100 feet from the stage.
Nearly 300 Artist Series performances have been offered in the last decade. Remember Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain, “RENT,” Itzhak Perlman, “Chicago” or Joan Jett? “We’ve worked hard to bring internationally-recognized performers and performances to UNI and we’ve been able to do it because we have a world-class venue,” said Carignan. “We believe the campus and the community deserve high-end entertainment and they’ve supported us.”
The GBPAC has been recognized as one of the leading centers for performing arts education in the country, and has been a partner for the past six years with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. This partnership provides professional development for teachers and integrates the use of the arts in teaching across the curriculum.
A collaboration with the Iowa Arts Council allowed the GBPAC to develop a robust teacher outreach program to expand and enhance learning for greater student achievement. Creative Classrooms will offer 10 workshops this academic year in topics such as animal folklore, West African culture and history, the Underground Railroad and the association between math and music.
Thanks to an eight-year partnership with Allen Hospital and ongoing support by the Friends of the Gallagherh-Bluedorn of the “Buck a Kid!” program and the Kaleidoscope Series, the 250,000th child will enjoy a school-time performance during the anniversary year. “Kaleidoscope days are my favorites to be in the building. I love to see kids excited by the performing arts,” Carignan said.
It isn’t only the local Cedar Valley community and surrounding schools that can take advantage of the GBPAC’s programming. The success of the Kaleidoscope program and the Artist Series has led to on-the-road shows. The coming year will see performances in Waterloo, Red Oak, Spirit Lake, Fairfield and Oelwein.
The GBPAC’s service to the state will be a big part of the next few years. Satellite partnerships for performances, developing arts infusion curriculum for teachers and providing professional development in the arts for educators all will ensure that the arts don’t get left behind in Iowa.
“We’ve planned a special season for our anniversary, some old favorites as well as new inspirations, and some special birthday events. I invite everyone to come for a visit, either in Cedar Falls or where we’re visiting,” he said.
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