UPDATE: Naturalization Ceremony at Pavilion

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I was pretty excited to hear there was so many new US citizens being sworn in this time around they had to have a bigger venue, so they chose the Great Hall at the Pavilion which is an excellent venue for it.

But I heard an interesting rumor, the Pavilion charged rent for the ceremony. I’m assuming if that is true, the Feds paid the tab. While I understand they have to have staff work these events, if they are during the day, isn’t the staff there already anyway?

What I also found interesting is that the Pavilion gets ‘some’ Federal money, so they turn around and charge rent?! The Pavilion is also subsidized by local taxpayers and is a city owned building that receives millions each year in operational and maintenance funds.

So if the rumor is true, my question is, is the Pavilion so hard up for money they have to charge for such an event? Oh that’s right, this is the same entity that also charges admission into the VAC, even though they could get sponsors to cover those expenses.

UPDATE: There were several volunteers working the event, but I still have not heard if the Feds had to rent the place. Since the Pavilion has taken over the Orpheum, the city has to pay rent if they want to use it.

Weekend Picts • June 1, 2019

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Another shot of the Arc phase I being placed

Got to go into the Pavilion galleries for free on Saturday (the only time I go) the piece below was the best. The Pavilion also had a huge fail and instead of having their FREE concert outside on Main they moved it inside and hardly anyone attended. Apparently they wanted to celebrate 20 years but didn’t want any extra expense of having equipment outside. Lame.

There is a great view of the prison from the Levitt Stage. I wonder how many performers will ask about the castle on the hill?

The Pavilion celebrates 20 years

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Not sure if many people knew this, but I was the lead usher of the Great Hall for the first 4 years the Pavilion was open. I still remember my interview in the Great Hall with then House Manager, Jeff Venekamp. It was exciting and over the years I have supported the place with my own brand of criticism. I met many amazing artists and performers, including George Carlin, Bill Cosby, Weird Al, and helped Carrot Top with some of his material. I even had drinks with Richard Weisman (epic art collector) at the Top Hat, oh, and the Violet Femmes. I even witnessed a famous jazz singer belt out a very large fart, in which she replied, “The pure mention of soda pop gets my gas gauge a goin”. I can’t even count the number of dancers I saw naked or near naked.

I also had my first solo art exhibit at the Pavilion and contributed to Arts Night where I won the people’s choice award one year. In recent years I met Rosanne Cash at a meet and greet.

I have always maintained that the city needs this place, but has always fell short on welcoming the whole community. In recent years charging to see local and regional art at the arts center was a huge mistake by the Pavilion and went against the promise of keeping the gallery free to the public.

While the Pavilion has brought in many great shows (My most memorable were Drums and Tuba, Wilco, Bulgaria, Late Night Cathecism, and the opera ‘Carmen’) it still has yet to embrace everyone. Oh, and the management and politics behind the place are atrocious which have tried to destroy many great peoples’ careers and lives and continues to this day.

After 20 years, I will confess we still need the Pavilion, but I think it is time we hit the reset button, it could be so much more if we would just allow it.

Why is Smith’s name included in return address

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So a friend shows me this the other day. It was a fundraising letter from the Pavilion. We were both curious as to why Smith felt the need to include his name on the return address. If it is some kind of marketing strategy, we are both confused by it’s purpose.

Why wasn’t the Sioux Falls City Council in on the Pavilion/Orpheum contract negotiations?

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First I want to say that I am NOT opposed to the Pavilion running the Orpheum, if you look at the financials of SMG running it over the past 5 years (DOC: Orpheum Theater Mgmt Transition Presentation – Council.pdf) you will see that the place has lost almost a cool half-million a year. Not sure why it is so expensive to run a place that is empty two-thirds of the year? I also find it funny that the operating losses come out now that the Pavilion is running the joint, go figure*.

But what has me puzzled is why wasn’t the City Council in on this? Shouldn’t they have either initiated this contract change or at least approached by the Pavilion instead of the Mayor’s office? They could have had open discussions about it at work sessions or in the public services committee meetings. What bothers me is that this contract negotiation was cooked up behind closed doors with the mayor with only the city council being aware of it. With SMG and the Pavilion running publicly funded facilities, this should have been an open negotiation. Instead it was pre-packaged behind the scenes to receive the council’s rubber stamp.

I’m still wondering when our council will start acting like a real legislative body?

*Makes you wonder how badly the Events Center is bleeding money if they allowed the Orpheum to take such a big hit for years.