Thursday, February 2, 2012

Closing

Opera Piccola (“small works”) is closing, almost twenty-four years after I founded it. So, what should we say about endings? We've all heard the phrases that comfort our goodbyes. Parting is such sweet sorrow. To everything there is a season. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

We began as a tiny group (3 actors, 2 serving as unpaid 'staff') that did short “gigs” in the Bay Area, meeting around dining room tables, fueled by pots of tea while our children crawled, climbed and snacked around us.

Gradually, we received local, state and federal arts grants, as well as service learning grants and youth development grants. We premiered six full-length original multicultural shows, adapted 2 operas for children, created five special shows (e.g. “What Shall We Do?” for Breast Cancer Action) for community non profits, and brought elegant four part a capella holiday music to thousands of Bay Area residents on city streets. We provided arts education for more than 100,000 K-12 students, and professional development for over 100 classroom teachers.

And we grew. We grew until we had as many as 75 artists teaching or performing in our public school classes or community shows. From a bookkeeper (Margaret Arighi) as “staff” we grew to have an education Coordinator, an Executive Director, Bookkeeper, Grant Coordinator, Artistic Director and numerous consultants. Beginning in 2008, funding shrank for non profit arts organizations, arts providers in schools and co-payments for our inexpensive shows. We close as an inevitable result of changes in the economy and the way arts services are delivered. It's time for a change, to move on to new ways of thinking about sustaining the arts and arts organizations.
This brief history fails to capture what our 'small works' but mighty company managed to achieve. I treasure two main things from my 22 years as Founding Artistic Director: people (all ages!) and the art work itself. I cannot find the words to summarize the thousands of magical hours connecting with children and teenagers, watching them blossom, encouraging them to express what's in their heart/minds. And how many excited hours planning with teachers, artists, staff members, not to mention sharing personal stories and encouraging each other through hard times.

Why have I saved hundreds of original student poems, scripts, photos, recordings, videos, as well as scores of scripts, photos and recordings of our traveling shows? I love each one. How lucky I am to have known, seen and heard each person, each painting, each poem, each show, each song, each dance, each rhythm, each voice, each spirit!

What remains of the role played by Opera Piccola? I'm not certain. A collection of some of the students' poetry donated to the Oakland Public Library? A video posted on YouTube? An art piece to decorate a bare wall at a senior center? Perhaps an anthology of plays for urban youth written by our students. However, I am guessing that our most important legacy sits in the hearts of our students and audiences – the ones who found something that lit a flame inside. They will continue to create and imagine a better world.
We hold artists
Outside the box
Of the solar system
Dreaming the other
Side of the worm hole
Sipping the Milky Way
Calling us past our
Unique heartburn