Arts and the City Will be Topic of Panel Discussion at University of Richmond's Modlin Center for the Arts
February 26, 2003
Arts insiders and informed observers from Richmond, Cincinnati and Philadelphia will discuss the relationship between the arts and the city in a panel discussion on March 19 at the University of Richmond's Modlin Center for the Arts.
Kathy Panoff, executive director of the Modlin Center, will moderate the discussion, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Camp Concert Hall. Panelists will include Brad Armstrong, president of the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation; Jack Berry, executive director of Richmond Renaissance; Karen Lewis, executive director of Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts; and Rick Pender, managing editor of Citybeat Magazine in Cincinnati.
The program is part of the Urban Practice and Policy Forum for spring 2003 called "Soul of the City: Spirituality, Sustainability and the Arts," which examines the question of how cities can change to make people's lives more beautiful and rewarding.
The panelists from Philadelphia and Cincinnati represent cities that have already wrestled with the same questions Richmond is now facing as it begins design and construction of a new downtown performing arts center. Lewis's nonprofit organization has worked since 1993 with state and city governments and corporate and nonprofit organizations in supporting cultural development along North and South Broad Street in Philadelphia. Pender's Citybeat Magazine covers news, public issues and arts and entertainment of interest to readers in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. The mission of the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation is to enrich the quality of life in the Richmond Community. Richmond Renaissance is a corporation formed to foster economic development in downtown Richmond.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Modlin Center Box Office at (804) 289-8980.