Making a (SCENE)

For its part, the city seems to be treating the gallery as if this is a done deal. City Pulse reported in January that former (SCENE) Metrospace curator Tim Lane was leaving the gallery and had accepted other positions with the city. In an April 9 memo from Tim McCaffrey, director of parks and recreation, to City Manager George Lahanas, McCaffrey explained that the lighting and sound equipment at (SCENE) had been on long-term loan from “a private individual,” and that person chose to take the equipment back when he learned of the proposed deal.

The Keys in the City project plans to use the space to paint pianos through May, but beyond that no events have been scheduled for the space. Were this deal to fall through, the city would be saddled with a gutted, unstaffed venue.

“There would be a re-startup time,” McCaffrey admitted at an April 14 city council work session.

While this deal has been in the works for months, this work session was the first opportunity for community members to publically discuss the agreement with the principal players. McCaffrey was on hand to present the city’s side of the deal, and Chris Corneal, chairman of the Art, Art History and Design Department, and Janet Lillie, assistant vice president for community relations in MSU’s Office of Governmental Affairs, presented the university’s stance.

Corneal expressed enthusiasm for the deal, which represents a rare reach by the university into the north side of Grand River Avenue.

“We’re very excited about the opportunity,” he said.

Corneal described the primary mission of the proposed gallery space as community outreach, including plans for public workshops and K-12 educational programs.

The Council sought assurances from Corneal that the gallery would not “go dark” for extended periods, especially during summer months when university activities slow.

“We expect it to be a 12-month gallery,” Corneal said. He outlined a plan that would include a maximum two-week shutdown for annual cleaning and maintenance.

Both sides seemed amenable to a change in the lease that would allow either side to terminate the lease without cause, should either side feel the other is not holding up its end of the deal.

In response to the work session, the East Lansing Arts Commission met Thursday and agreed on a set of suggestions for the proposed deal. The commission serves in an advisory role to the Council, meaning it has no power to prevent or alter a deal. The commission plans to present these suggestions at the next work session Tuesday evening.

While the exact language of these suggestions may change, the broad strokes of these suggestions, as relayed by commission member Mike Teager, are as follows:

"Since the City maintains a substantial financial responsibility for (SCENE) Metrospace, the Arts Commission believes the contract should include language that guarantees availability of that space for use by city residents. In so doing, the contract shall: ensure that (SCENE) Metrospace will be open to the pubic year round, including summers; establish a community board to work with MSU’s AAHD to add the community input and perspective to the ongoing development of SCENE’s programming/curatorial calendar; ensure a review if scene goes dark with no activity for more than three consecutive weeks; and ensure a regular review so that the above items are adhered to."

The commission stepped away from a suggestion, outlined by Chairwoman Sarah Triplett at the work session, asking the city for a three-month moratorium to evaluate other options.

Teager’s biggest concern is with the way the city handled the matter. He feels the city wanted to get out of its responsibilities to the space, and budgetary issues were inflated to sell the deal.

“The city is painting a different picture,” Teager said. “There was never a plan for SCENE to be self-sufficient.”

He is also disappointed that the city doesn’t appear to have considered other options.

“Steps were not taken to save (SCENE) for city use,” Teager said. “No real remedy was sought before going to MSU.”

Teager cites the auditorium in Hannah Community Center as a space that city makes available to the public with a fee structure designed to keep it sustainable. While SCENE Metrospace did charge for venue use, Teager said, the fees were inconsistent and not designed with self-sufficiency in mind.

“It was done in an ad hoc manner,” said Teager.

While he is not happy with the city’s handling of the issue, Teager expects the deal to go through and is focused on striking the best compromise possible.

“It looks to be clear that the City Council plans to move forward with this,” Teager said. “We’re just waiting for the ink to dry.”