Well, if I hadn’t actually gone looking at the Cultural Commons website yesterday on my own initiative, I would think maybe I was set up. After talking about how many partnerships failed yesterday, I come across a success on Artsjournal.com today.
Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) and the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte (NC) have embarked on a joint venture with both occupying same building. The result, called ImaginOn, is an organization that isn’t quite a library or a theatre, but a little of both with museum qualities thrown in.
There are separate areas for children, tweens and teens. The whole project is quite innovative and exciting and might provide a possible template for libraries (and theatres) in the future. Especially given that big performing arts centers don’t seem to be doing very well these days. Witness this story on Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and Andrew Taylor’s coverage of the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts’ decision to get out of the presenting business.
I have talked about how arts organziations desperate for their own survival have pooled resources to allow them to occupy the same building. But those organizations didn’t integrate themselves as well as these folks in Charlotte.
Also, according to the article, the groups started to explore a partnership back in 1997 before the opportunity to have a joint facility ever emerged.
The article also doesn’t hide the fact that the collaboration didn’t come easy. “But for all the shared, there were still plenty of differences, such as funding sources, governance, management, and organizational culture.”
My hat is off to these folks for overcoming these difficulties and recognizing what assets the other guys brought to the table.