Tuesday, May 22, 2012

House Industries co-founder hosts local AIGA talk

Posted by Evan Berke on Tue, May 22, 2012 at 2:00 PM

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The American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA) is bringing another high-profile speaker to their Charleston chapter on Thursday when the co-founder of Yorklyn, Del.-based House Industries, Rich Roat, gives his talk, "An Emotional Alphabetical Emulsion Of Mixed Media."

Founded in 1993 by Roat and Andy Cruz, House Industries has an esteemed reputation for their extensive typeface collections and inspiring product design. “We have a whole bunch of things going on in the company,” explains Roat. “Right now, we’re trying to dip our toes into consumer-type products. We’re doing things from alphabet blocks for children, to flower napkins for interior designers, and right now we’re working on a set of archive boxes — really generic, mundane things but our goal is to make them look really cool.”

Roat will be sharing company stories and perspectives, as they are one of the world’s leading type foundries (font design/creation). This presentation is part of a series of events hosted in Charleston by AIGA and will be held at Blue Ion (301-B King Street, above the Apple Store) from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

AIGA members get in for free and admittance for non-members is $5. All proceeds go to AIGA and drinks/snacks will be provided. For more information visit the local branch's website.

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Friday, May 18, 2012

YALLFest 2012 lineup announced

50+ YA authors will descend on the city in November

Posted by Erica Jackson Curran on Fri, May 18, 2012 at 3:00 PM

YALLFest, the young adult book festival hosted by Blue Bicycle Books, is still months away, but the lineup has already been revealed and the buzz is spreading. The Hollywood Crush blog at mtv.com reported on the initial announcement, which tells you a thing or two about how trendy the YA scene is — not to mention the caliber of authors set to descend on the city the weekend of Nov. 10.

Pseudonymous Bosch (the Secret Series) has joined Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz (co-authors of Beautiful Creatures) as an event organizer, and they've invited 48 of their fellow YA authors to the event. Some new names that should be a big draw for young readers are Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments), Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Trenton Lee Stewart (The Mysterious Benedict Society), and Kathy Reichs (Bones).

Blue Bicycle's Jonathan Sanchez says the response to the festival has been huge, in large part because of the lure of the Holy City. "It's the big draw," he says. "People love coming to Charleston. Writers are very sociable, and they really like coming together and seeing the town. It's the perfect venue because it's old and haunted." Find out more at yallfest.org.

Topics: Books

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Monday, May 7, 2012

CBT attempts to allay concerns with extensive statement

Moving Forward

Posted by Erica Jackson Curran on Mon, May 7, 2012 at 3:00 PM

Charleston Ballet Theatre officials have kept pretty quiet as news of both internal and external issues have spread around town, but today they released a statement in an obvious attempt to quell any fears about their potential closing. The company hopes to regain its footing through a number of actions, some planned, some already implemented.

Perhaps most significantly, they've established a new board of directors, which will allow them to once again meet the requirements to qualify for funds as a nonprofit. The four new members include new board president Belinda Cole, who served as the board secretary for 25 years; vice president O'Neal Compton, who's also an actor, writer, and filmmaker; secretary Hannah Gillard, who works at Wells Fargo; and treasurer Joshua P. Cantwell of Young Clement Rivers. The board will be restructured into working committees that will present budgets to the full board.

They've also outlined fundraising goals for 2012 in a Major Gifts Initiative that includes four objectives: school outreach, collaborations with local musicians, local cultural partnerships (with the Gibbes, Children's Museum of the Lowcountry, etc.), and increased marketing efforts.

Starting May 15, Joseph Kelly (who was previously on the CSO's board of directors) will serve as the CBT's Director of Artistic Operations. According to the release, Kelly will liaison with the CBT board and artistic staff, present artistic programming budgets, and bring recommended financial plans to the board to help create CBT's annual budget. He'll also integrate CBT dancer concerns into the plan by giving them a shareholder stake in the final budget. The release states that all internal staffing with be evaluated and staff replacements will be made if necessary. They're also seeking a new director of operations.

As for the company's taxes, which have been reported to be in arrears, the statement reports that they're "fully committed to complying with these payment plans in order to address these issues in an expedient manner." Find out more about the company at charlestonballet.org.

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Monday, April 23, 2012

One week in, Wicked is already shattering records

No One Mourns the Wicked

Posted by Erica Jackson Curran on Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 4:00 AM

Wicked just wrapped up week one of its two-week run at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center, and, as expected, the show has already broken box office records. Tickets sales in the first week exceeded $1.1 million with more than 14,000 guests attending the show. We loved it, and we know we're not the only ones.

Rachel Chesser, the PR and Marketing Director at Charleston Museum, shared her love of the show on City Paper's Facebook page. "The costumes — hands down — were my favorite part," she said in an interview. "They were absolutely stunning. So steampunk with stylized bustles and bold, rich fabrics. And, such variety and attention to detail on the garments. I would love to see behind the scenes of their wardrobe department ... This was one of the best musicals I've experienced — up there with Spamalot, Evita, and Chicago."

The PAC's Alan Coker assures us there are still some good seats left, but if you have the time, you should try your luck with the ticket lottery we wrote about last week; it worked for Chesser. "The lottery was just as easy as the article in CP mentioned," she says. "We arrived at 5:30, put our names in the bowl and waited until 6 to see if we had won. The majority of the people (maybe 25-30) walked away winners that night. It added another element of fun to the evening, for sure."

Topics: Theater

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Monday, April 16, 2012

More problems revealed for Charleston Ballet Theatre

Can they recover?

Posted by Erica Jackson Curran on Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 1:00 PM

We gave you another in-depth article on the local dance community last week, but the Post & Courier just came out with an update that's worth taking a look at as well. Focused on the Charleston Ballet Theatre, Adam Parker's article calls into question the organization's ability to recover from all of the issues they've faced over the past few years. Some interesting points:

"Contracted dancers expecting to receive a final paycheck on March 30 didn't get it for lack of funds when the city of Charleston held up its quarterly grant payment of $12,500," the article says. CEO Jill Eathorne Bahr explained in an e-mail to dancers that the company would have to enlarge the board in order to get the necessary funds from the city.

But there's a reason many of the board members have resigned. Parker got his hands on some board meeting minutes and reports, "At a Dec. 14 board meeting, then-president Charles Patrick distributed copies of an article from The Nonprofit Quarterly titled "Not Paying Your Taxes? Your Board Could Be Personally Liable," according to the meeting minutes. 'Charles wanted to make clear that the board understood the IRS's position,' the minutes state. 'In a nutshell, the IRS will pursue not only a charity's assets but also the personal assets of individuals who were directly or indirectly associated with a nonpayment of taxes.' The ballet was known to have a balance due to the IRS of $23,612.67 at the time, according to the minutes."

The Coastal Community Foundation's George Stevens points out that the issues with the CBT's board affects the community as a whole. "The board is supposed to represent the interests of the community ... So what's breaking down here is the relationship between society at large and the nonprofit organization," Stevens said.

Bahr continues to promise something big for the future of the company, but, as we reported last week, some in the local community are hoping for a completely fresh start.

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