Art Partnerships Stimulate Syracuse Economy

SYRACUSE, N.Y., Nov. 15, 2009— -- Economic development is usually associated as bringing new jobs to a community, often in the form of new building construction. But from now until January in Syracuse, it is also about art. Local arts and culture organizations are collaborating for the first time in years as the city's Everson Museum of Art hosts "Turner to Cezanne," a traveling exhibit from the National Museum Wales.

So far, the Turner to Cezanne exhibit has been in Columbia, S.C., and Oklahoma City. After Syracuse it will travel to Washington, D.C., and Albuquerque, N.M.

"Anyone can get an exhibition that has really fancy names, but it's how you use that exhibition that's proof of the pudding, and the way we're using the exhibition here is by forging very deep partnerships and collaborative efforts," said Steven Kern, director of the Everson Museum of Art.

Kern reports that tickets are being purchased by people in New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia – a nearly unprecedented reach for the local arts community, and something a single organization would have had trouble doing on its own.

"It's changing the way we do business here in Syracuse, and we're recognizing that it's to the benefit of everybody, including the community that comes away with far more," said Kern.

Exhibit Bypasses Large Coastal Cities

The exhibit contains 53 masterpieces from the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist periods with works of such famous artists as Cezanne, Monet, van Gogh, Turner, and Pissarro. One of the highlights is Renoir's "La Parisienne," which depicts a woman in an elegant blue dress, standing tall with a cheerful expression on her face. The painting hangs prominently on a wall all to itself. Other familiar works include J.M.W. Turner's "The Storm," and Paul Cezanne's "The Francois Zola Dam."

The gallery is laid out in a typical arrangement: white walls, polished wood floors, and partition displays in the middle of the rooms. It actually is rather ordinary-looking, until you look at the artwork itself. Displayed in elegant frames, the simplicity of the gallery lets the paintings speak for themselves.

The art on display is part of the Davies Collection at the National Museum Wales. While renovations are completed in Wales, the collection is touring America with the help of the American Federation of Arts, a nonprofit that helps initiate and organize art exhibitions. It was the goal of the museum in Wales and the Federation to get this exhibition into the heart of America, which meant bypassing normal venues, such as New York City.

Artists Collaborate to Create Buzz

Local organizations collaborating with the Everson include the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the Syracuse Opera, and the Syracuse Stage. All are performing pieces connected to the Impressionist movement and the exhibit. An ensemble from the Syracuse Symphony performed in the Everson's atrium at an opening night gala, which attracted 400 to 600 people before the show opened to the general public. The Syracuse Stage, a local theater group, commissioned an original one-person play called "Woman in the Blue Dress." It portrays the life of Henriette Henriot, an actress at the Theatre de L' Odeon in Paris and a model for Renoir in the 1870s. The performances have continued nearly every day at the Everson.

"All of the arts organizations have agreed that this has created a tremendous buzz, and has created a lot of interest from people who may have not had interest in these organizations in the past. So, we're realizing that it really makes a lot of sense," said Padma Patil, director of marketing and communications for the Syracuse Symphony. Patrons who bring a ticket from one event to another receive a discounted admission price.

The Syracuse Downtown Committee sees the potential for collaboration. Anticipating the particularly large turnout that "Turner to Cezanne" is expected to draw, the committee worked with downtown restaurants to offer discounts to customers with tickets to the exhibit. The program is called "Dinner with the Masters" and runs the length of the exhibit until January. Showing an admission ticket gets you a three-course meal for $25.

Bringing 'Life Out to the Streets'

Doug Adenau is the manager of The Mission, one of the 17 downtown restaurants participating in "Dinner with the Masters" and only three blocks away from the Everson. Adenau reports that at least 28 people took advantage of the discount in the first three weeks – good numbers, he says. The collaboration "helps bring life out to the streets," Adenau said.

While monetary evidence of the exhibit's success is not yet available, word is definitely getting out. Visitors have come from Rochester and Buffalo, as well as Florida, New Jersey and Costa Rica.

In the visitor's book in the gallery, patrons report having heard about the exhibit from newspaper articles and advertisements, or television newscasts. Visitors from Massachusetts, Montreal and Ottawa said they heard about the exhibit from local media. In the book, people described the exhibit as "excellent" and "extraordinary" -- many commented they'd like to see more exhibits like this in the future. One person wrote he hadn't been to the museum since a tour in fifth grade, finally drawn back by this display.

Sharing Success in the Art Community

Spike Herzig, the president and owner of the Herzig Group, which promotes tourism, was recruited by the Syracuse Conventions and Visitors Bureau and manages several overnight package deals tied in to the exhibit. He says that he didn't know what to expect, having never personally put together a package like this in Syracuse, and that he's very happy with the results. In just over the first month of the exhibit, he's partnered with four local hotels and has handled 61 reservations for 122 people. Herzig says he's surprised that many Canadians are among those who have made reservations.

The concept of a shared success among local businesses seems to be a bit of a recent revelation in the Syracuse art community. Timothy Bond, the producing artistic director at the Syracuse Stage, remembers his surprise at the lack of partnerships when he first came to Syracuse in 2007. He had been involved in several collaborative efforts as an artistic director in Seattle in the early 1990s. Bond says the arts are a definite economic engine within the community.

"When an audience comes to see a play at Syracuse Stage, they generally go to a restaurant before, or go for drinks afterward," Bond said. "If they're coming from further out of town, they might stay at a hotel for a night. That's all money flowing back into the economy."

ABCNews.com contributor Nathan Bense is a member of the Syracuse University ABC News On Campus bureau.