By Dr. Daniel Barnard
Former Director
UTB-TSC Arts Center
When the Arts Center opened its doors in 2010 on the UTB-TSC campus, the quality of life in the Rio Grande Valley was made richer through the availability of high-quality performing arts in a spectacular venue with acoustics that are as pure as any other hall in the country.
Over the next three years, students at UTB's award-winning music program were able to rehearse and perform in a professional environment, the Patron of the Arts Series continued its long tradition of value and quality, and the Signature Series hosted more than two dozen internationally known performing artists, most who had never performed in this area before.
Among those artists were Broadway shows, modern dance companies, musical artists including Lila Downs, Ladysmith, Black Mambazo, Mariachi Vargas and Ramsey Lewis, plus family programming like Imago Theater's Zoo show.
In addition, the venue hosted a significant number of rental shows including several telenovela stars and numerous local dance companies.
For three years from its opening it was my distinct pleasure to serve this region as director of the Arts Center. I was able to witness firsthand the way the community came to embrace our efforts and to become daily more aware of the vital role that a vibrant presence of the performing arts can have on the quality of life for a city.
I wish to publicly thank the residents of the Valley for supporting our shows with an unprecedented 75 percent attendance average. Thank you also for the many local business owners who invested in our programming as sponsors, even in a difficult economy.
And on a personal note, I wish to thank all the countless individuals who welcomed my family and me into their hearts and homes, allowing us the rare joy of participating with them in this rich cultural life of the Valley, and establishing friendships that we will cherish even as we move on to our next assignment as associate dean of cultural arts in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
While there are may things I could say about the UTB-TSC separation, let's focus on the present rather than the past. And this is much is clear: After years of waiting, for three years Brownsville residents were able to enjoy world-class performing arts in a world-class venue without having to travel. But now, with all due respect to the Patron of the Arts Series, that access is gone.
\By choosing not to hire a professional director and establishing usage policies rooted in pettiness and incompetence, TSC's practices have created an environment that is not just unfriendly but downright hostile to attracting potential renters who might wish to bring performing artists into Brownsville.
One local arts organization told me that their quoted rate to rent the Arts Center was more than double what they had paid for the very same event in the previous year. For Patron of the Arts events, UTB is forbidden access to the box office until a half hour prior to each show. Give me a break.
Why did TSC want the Arts Center so badly if it has no intention of using it to benefit the community whose tax dollars and countless individual contributors are paying for it? What once stood as a shining example of Brownsville's coming of age as a cosmopolitan city now stands as a sad reminder of what we once had.
(This article first appeared in the Brownsville Herald on Sunday, May 3.)
6 comments:
Is he just upset because he doesn't have the cushie job any longer?
"coming of age of a cosmopolitan city"? You must be thinking about McAllen.
100% right. the PAC is more than tsc can handle. They can't even afford to keep the air condition on. I went to a event there recently and it was horrible. Dan and his staff did a great job with that facility. The faster tsc goes away and is replaced by a viable alternative, the better it is for this community. Also, all the people that donated to build that place have been ripped off. The corporations that gave money were ripped off and grants given should be paid back by tsc. Tamalie Tech is back. Discusting.
How interesting. Sounds like Dr. Barnard is wanting to blame TSC. He leaves out the fact that he was a UTB employee and that UTB let him go. Also, the music events he refers to were part of a entertainment series that belonged to UTB and UTB decided to discontinue that series. Sounds like sour grapes that UTB preferred the student focused Patron of the Arts Series over the Signature Series under his guidance. UTB does have access to the arts center and are focusing on the students in the music programs. In the end, I think UTB made the right choice in placing student education as a priority over keeping Mr. Barnard in an cushy job.
The disregard for human and capital assets by the TSC Board is alarming and continues.
Every job in academia is cushy. Especially at under performing schools in brownsville. You do not have to be any good to teach there. Any warm body will do.
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