Arts community speaks out about Bethel Woods

Reaction is mostly positive

By FRITZ MAYER

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — When Bethel Woods Center for the Arts opened this summer, it instantly became the largest and most prominent arts venue in the county. But other arts entities have existed here for years, and in general the people who run those organizations said the overall affect of Bethel Woods would be good for the local arts community. Some said it’s too early to tell.

Norman Duttweiler, a producer and the driving force behind Forestburgh Playhouse in Forestburgh, said attendance was down a bit during the opening night of Bethel Woods, but that was to be expected. The Bethel Woods opening was “sort of the social event of the season,” he said. He also said that part of the drop might have been attributable to the ongoing recovery of the record flooding of the previous days. On the whole, however, he believes Bethel Woods “certainly won’t hurt,” and he said it will generally have a positive affect on the arts scene because it will bring more people to the county and those people will likely have an interest in the arts.

Duttweiler thinks the arts community could benefit with a bit of cross-promotion with Bethel Woods providing a space for arts rack cards inside its facility. The Gerry Foundation has nixed that idea, at least at the present time. “Perhaps in the future,” said Duttweiler.

Tannis Kowalchuk, one of the founders of the North American Cultural Laboratory (NACL) in Highland Lake, echoed the thought that bringing more people who are primarily interested in the arts to the area could only have a positive effect. She said the effect would not be too significant because the area is increasingly becoming a community defined by its commitment to the arts. “Our audiences tend to be very local and loyal,” she said, and NACL provides programs that are quite different than those at Bethel Woods.

One change that she is considering in the future has nothing to do with Bethel Woods, but has to do with the arts community in general. There are so many performances and events taking place in the summer months that arts lovers can’t possibly get to all of them. Kowalchuk said for next year she is considering moving the NACL Festival of New Theater into September or October to “extend the season a little.”

Elaine Giguere, executive director of the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA), is not quite as enthusiastic. She said of attendance at the DVAA gallery in Narrowsburg, “There was no spillover from the Phil Lesh concert, which was a little surprising.” She also said she’s concerned about people getting past the large traffic jams that occur on Bethel Woods concert dates. She noted that the heavily promoted Bethel Woods Jazz Weekend on July 22 and 23 takes place on the same weekend as Riverfest, which traditionally has been a successful and popular fund-raising event for the DVAA and others in Narrowsburg. She is concerned that the extravagant event at Bethel Woods will take some of the luster away from Riverfest.

But, because the situation is so new, she said it’s too early to judge the long-term effects of Bethel Woods on the local arts community.

Judith Pearce, who hosts the Weekend of Chamber Music in July at the Eddie Adams farm in Jeffersonville, said it’s too early to tell as well. She said she’s very busy now with her own festival and won’t really be able to form an opinion about the Bethel Woods question until the season is over.

Paul Austin, director of the Liberty Free Theater, said the existence of Bethel Woods may cause him to tweak his schedule a bit. For instance, he has guitarist Steve Carling scheduled to perform in the evening on Sunday, July 23, which is also day two of the Bethel Woods jazz festival. He said there’s not a conflict because the Bethel Woods performances are in the afternoon, but if they had been scheduled for the same time, he would have considered changing the time of his performance.

Generally, however, he does not see many conflicts between his operation and Bethel Woods. He notes that fans of the Goo Goo Dolls are not likely to want to see the kinds of productions he mounts.

Overall, Austin said that the rise of Bethel Woods is “entirely good for the community.” He said it puts artistic endeavors as one of the central features of the county, and that is “much better than casinos.”