Is this a performance space or a wedding venue? Exposed brick. Hardwood floors. Industrial piping. Tall ceilings. Blackout Curtains. Huge dance floor. Live Band. Flashy outfits. Extensive lighting and sound system. 200 person capacity. The building is kind of falling down, but there is lots of parking. In another city, this venue could be a cool indy theatre space and an occasional wedding venue. In Grand Rapids, the hyperinflation of the wedding industry means this space comes with a hefty price tag and with the average cost of a wedding being upwards of $30,000, only weddings garner the ideal combo of price and effort. High price, zero effort for the venue.
The demise of the independent performance spaces
The other day, I saw that another independent event venue in West Michigan is under new ownership. The Harris building was a top spot for collaboration. Many creatives held performances, put on workshops in the basement, and used their spaces on Third Thursdays to come together and create. We saw that space as a hub in the arts. As a freelance theatre producer who has been desperate for spaces to do shows, I learned of a potential sale in May of 2023. At that time, I was looking for both rehearsal and performance space. Even after following up, I heard nothing after that in-person conversation, and it now makes sense why.
Not wanting to believe that a space so beloved by the creative community could befall a dreaded matrimonial pivot, when I spied a billboard over 131 showing The Harris as a wedding venue, the sad reality began to sink in. Further distressed to see the post from the beloved Mortals Death Cafe, who shared that they were not comfortable with the direction the new ownership was taking. I would peace the F out too.
In the wake of the pandemic, Grand Rapids lost an important pillar of the community with Dog Story Theatre closing its space on Jefferson. While that space did not become a wedding venue, we feel the lack of its presence. The work that this organization did to create affordable access to rehearsal and performance space has been nearly insurmountable. Countless productions were mounted over the years, and numerous people were deeply impacted by the works performed on the stage of Dog Story Theatre. Thankfully, momentum is building for Dog Story again with a new space and goals to reopen in the near future. Click here to view Go Fund Me.
ETA: After publishing, I learned that Little Space Studio will no longer be operating out of the first floor of the Harris Building as well.
From Dying City to Cultural Hub
When I came to Grand Rapids in 2008 as a bright-eyed 17-year-old college freshman at GVSU in Allendale, it was not the artistic metropolis you know today. Rather, it fit the criteria for a dying city. I remember wandering down a deserted Monroe Center Mall when the old Theatre Marquee stood dilapidated, the ticket window boarded up, where now the City Flats Hotel and Ballroom is located. Two years later in 2010, with the onset of the first Art Prize, we began to see a drastic shift in the landscape of the downtown sector. Over time, inexpensive properties were purchased and renovated, like the aforementioned City Flats. Two years later, our fair city turned it around, rebounding to one of the top growing cities in the country.
In addition to being a highly desirable destination wedding location, today, our fair city is one of the only cities in the state of Michigan to experience population growth. We see this with our housing crisis. The stories from peers who are trying to buy a home for less than $250k are dismaying at worst and harrowing at best.
With the influx of new people to the city, they are expecting all the benefits of big city life, with the amenities and charm of a small town.
If Grand Rapids is to deliver, we must improve the infrastructure and access to expand the entertainment industry. Inroads to the Acrisure Riverfront Amphitheatre are in the works. In Burton Heights, The Four Star Theatre is undergoing a capital campaign to renovate and restore this venue to become a community hub for art and culture. HistoryGrandRapids.Org has a record of 144 cinemas and theatres in the area since the founding of the City in the late 1800s. With Urban Renewal, many of these have been demolished or renovated and in 2020 only a few remain. Most notably, Wealthy Theatre and the Civic Theatre.
The Wedding Industry's Impact
Since 2010, the number of people flocking here to get married for the aesthetic Instagram pics and the status of the Blue Bridge Background has gone up drastically. The cost to get married during Art Prize goes up significantly just because of the popularity of the event.
According to The Knot.com in 2022, the average cost of a wedding was $30,000. I wish I had $30,000 to produce a musical. That would go a long way towards a fantastic show.
$8,000 Venue (performance & rehearsal space, insurance)
$3,000 Costumes
$3,000 Show Licensing & supplemental resources
$12,000 people power (staff, on-stage/off-stage people)
$1,000 Marketing/Advertising
$3,000 Misc things I'm forgetting
Many of the theatre spaces that have been renovated will often be used for weddings due to demand, garnering a very high price. Knowing the total budget for a small theatre production is often less than $10k, these venues are off the table. Not to mention, that the quote generally is only for the space and does not include anything else. If you've planned a wedding in West Michigan, you understand.
Getting Creative
When the average venue has a rental charge of $8,000 for 4 hours, you start to have to think outside the theatre to make it happen.
The spaces that are willing to support independent productions are often unexpected. The creative efforts of this community are inspired. We've seen Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Co performing in the Park. #BAM Talent has performed at Wealthy Theatre and also held a Broadway Bootcamp in Wealth Theatre's Annex. Ebony Road Players frequently partner with places like the Public Museum and Wealthy Theatre for their performances. If you’re familiar with the Grand Rapids theatre scene, you have no doubt seen the work of Betka-Pope Productions who have been innovating in the entertainment field for the last several seasons. They have brought sold-out performances to The Pyramid Scheme, Midtown GR, and the Golden Age above Creston Brewing Co., in addition to their Ghost Tours and Trivia Nights.
Countless others are creating and innovating in places around the community so they can share their artistic endeavors.
The Arts vs. Capitalism
A country that is economically unstable cannot preserve its culture. And in the US, it is bleak.
When we start to examine the systems, who has power, and who does not. We can see the imbalance of power very clearly in Grand Rapids. Folx that bought cheap property during the housing collapse can weather any storm and will charge whatever they want for their spaces. In my own search for an artistic home, real estate prices are upwards of $18/sqft per year (so like $4500 a month for something large enough to rehearse in.) HARD PASS. There are so many for sale/for rent signs throughout downtown. No one wants to touch commercial real estate right now, so that means weddings are a cash king.
We are at a time in history when people are doubling down and betting the house on capitalism. It's so easy to sell a rental of a falling down, waterlogged factory for nearly $10,000 to anyone who can afford the status of a "Grand Rapids Factory Wedding." The wedding industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, and for any city, the influx of dollars is attractive. For a one-night-only party, who can turn down money in this economy?
If we continue to put profit over artistic pursuits, the wedding industry's dominance will stifle freelance performing artists and our ability to expand the live entertainment opportunities in our community. In the end, eroding the cultural soul of Grand Rapids. When we choose profit over artistic creation, it ensures that the people who don't have the resources will continue to be silenced, furthering a cycle of artists who are impoverished and unhoused.
(Ask to see my wedding pix from my very own 2017 GR Furniture Factory Wedding. I am part of the problem and I'm calling myself out).
The way we feel about the arts in modern society is right there in the organizational title—Non Profit.
We have created an entire (dysfunctional) structure with redundant oversight from well-meaning individuals who know nothing about the creative process to govern arts organizations. The CIA Handbook on Sabotage should be required reading for all nonprofit boards.
In a society living through "unprecedented times," maybe more aptly, the end stages of capitalism, it is not an awesome place to be an artist. We see news articles about Steppenwolf in Chicago (2.5 hours away from West Michigan) reducing its staff by 12%. Renowned organizations like the MET Opera absorbed their guild that produced a prominent publication. The vast number of arts organizations evaluating the financial feasibility of a future season or closing entirely. The news is bleak. Performing arts or otherwise. The "will they/won't they" of our economic recession is exhausting. For queer folx, the parallel to times in the not too distant past is terrifying.
How did we end up here?
Today, the way the theatre world tries to solve the problem is with donor relations. The nonprofit industry as it stands now is a phenomenon that resulted from a 1969 tax act that established 501(c)(3) organizations and the term Not For Profit. Designed to encourage the uber-wealthy to clear their consciences of any wrongdoing by incentivizing giving through tax deductions for charitable giving. That has slowly ceased and arts organizations are scraping the bottom of the barrel for bequests from wealthy benefactors.
The question I didn’t know I was asking when I started writing this piece: Are the arts under-funded because boomers with disposable income are producing their own elaborate productions to showcase their accumulated wealth through the matrimony of their offspring? Is this creating a new facet to the art/entertainment industry or is this going to be a facet of end-stage capitalism in the US? The answer is a question for Freakanomics to explore.
If you can’t beat them, do we join them?
It's hard to overlook, however, the artistic opportunities weddings DO provide. A local band with performers being paid well to entertain a room full of guests. Local sewists who provide alterations for the perfect fitting garments. Floral artists who create captivating displays to delight the senses. An up and coming DJ spinning a set and learning how to connect with the crowd. This is art too. And is, right now, how this area is preserving its culture.
I can’t help but wonder what can the performing arts industry learn from the wedding industry? There are an undeniable number of parallels between the work that goes into putting on a live event either a wedding or a theatrical production. Are there things to be learned from this ballooning industry as it applies to the performing arts? An “if we can’t beat them join them” mentality?
What other options can we explore?
If we want to ensure that other aspects of our cultural soul are preserved for the next generation, expanding programs and investing intentionally in infrastructure that benefits all of our community will be imperative. What if we were able to create systems that directly put funding into performing artists' hands? Moving away from the nonprofit paywall for grant funding would be an excellent beginning. Few grants for individuals are available above $10,000 and have very specific regulations about use. By giving artists the money to create, they will create! If the solution to the problem is money- we can solve it.
In the absence of a Grand Rapids Arts Council, the organizations that are granting funding often, unintentionally, leave out the other artistic disciplines from the funding. And unless it explicitly says performance art, theatre, or music- the work it takes to apply for a grant is daunting and takes resources the average person does not have. It’s difficult to see large sums of money allocated for traveling pop art rentals from non-residents when there is so much potential in our own local talent pool.
Thinking beyond weddings, physical art, and music and the economic intersection of these areas. When I think about the transformational effect the investment in physical art has had on this area, What if the same investment was given to the independent performing arts organizations in West Michigan? (Preferably, the ones without million dollar endowments, no shade but y'all are good.)
A Vision for the Future
Here’s a free idea seed to plant! The city is required to allocate a certain amount of funding to local art. So, If the city had $500k to invest they could launch a pilot program to have a resident performance troupe that does summer plays, concerts, and other creative artist-lead collaborations and then in-school performances during the school year for all public school students.
Here's your potential budget:
$35,000 per artist (up to 10 people = $350,000)
$75,000 living expense/housing subsidy with Dwelling Place
$75,000 materials and resources
This troupe can work on creating performance art that is for Grand Rapids by up and coming local artists. The collaborative possibilities and partnerships are HUGE.
And, if the parks department had some more money laying around, they could build a public performing arts center with low-cost artist housing, what an innovative model that can become an industry leader in public performing arts programming. LOOK OUT NEW YORK CITY!
Other questions to ponder:
What would it take to make the theatre version of Art Prize happen in Grand Rapids?
How would that shift the landscape for the performing arts over the next decade?
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