A setback for D.C. arts and culture, years in the making

They had already decided on a Saturday night in mid-September, and they had a tentative program: an evening of George Gershwin, Kurt Weill and Daniel Schnyder, a Swiss composer and saxophonist whose music crosses just about every definable stylistic boundary, from jazz to world music to opera. It was going to be a hard-hat concert, performed in the raw, crumbling space of the 1869 Franklin School. It would showcase the possibilities of the historic structure and generate support for the renovation of the historic building.

It is the kind of edgy, unorthodox artistic event that new generations of Washingtonians, who no longer accept the premise that the nations capital is a cultural backwater, crave. But it wont happen unless the city reverses course on a decision made this week to end an agreement with the Institute for Contemporary Expression, which had partnered with one of the countrys most innovative music groups the Post-Classical Ensemble to present concerts at the long-vacant school at the corner of 13th and K streets NW.

Attracted by the large open spaces of the Franklin School, which would have also hosted art exhibitions, lectures and educational activities, the Post-Classical Ensemble signed on early as a resident ensemble at the proposed arts center. It was excited about finally having a proper home and increased presence in the District, where it hoped to build a new and more diverse audience than it might find at the Kennedy Center or other venues.

D.C. doesnt have a space that has the vibrancy, modernism, futurism, of a place like this, said Chris Denby, board chair of the ensemble.

The decision to scuttle the citys arrangement with ICE remains opaque. The deputy mayors office for planning and economic development first said that it doubted the ability of ICEs visionary founder, Dani Levinas, to raise sufficient funds to cover the costs but then backtracked. It suggested that Levinas planned to charge exorbitant admission fees, even though none of those details had been set in stone. Although it claimed to have conducted a top-to- bottom review of the agreement between ICE and the city, the economic development office never met with Levinas and never asked questions about his fundraising. When asked how long that review took and how many staffers participated in it, a spokesman offered this by e-mail: We took this process seriously and took the time necessary to make a decision that we believe is in the long-term best interest of all District residents.

Strangely, that decision was made almost simultaneously with the announcement of a new venture by the citys Commission on the Arts and Humanities, a Start Fresh innovation grant for up $100,000. This is designed to aid organizations that are creative, innovative and groundbreaking, with multi-disciplinary and multi-platform initiatives. In other words, organizations that plan to do what ICE was already gearing up to do. The coincidence of these two decisions, one forward, the other several steps back, suggests that not only does the new administration lack a coherent cultural program, there isnt even basic communication between its various offices.

This kind of fiasco is all too familiar to longtime observers of the citys cultural scene, and to people who live near the Franklin School and who have watched the city try for years to develop a coherent plan for it. Local advisory neighborhood commissioner Kevin Deeley, whose district includes the Franklin School, wasnt in office when Mayor Vincent C. Grays administration chose the proposal by ICE over three others (including a boutique hotel with rooftop restaurant, a technology center and a live/work space for tech entrepreneurs). But he likes the idea because the institute would be open to the public, increase foot traffic at night and weekends and offer cultural amenities in downtown Washington.

But it is the possibility of yet more years of delay, with the historic structure moldering yet further, that really frustrates him and his neighbors. There is no continuity between administrations, he says, and the result is a wasted resource.

Another administration comes along and the whole process starts again, and now were looking at maybe two more years before they can break ground, says Deeley. He is sending a letter on behalf of his constituents to Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, asking her to reconsider her decision. Other letters have come from the American Alliance of Museums (It is hard to imagine any better or higher use of this historic building than the one that Mr. Levinas has proposed, said Ford Bell, the groups president) and from civic groups. Dorothy Kosinski, who as head of the Phillips Collection knows a thing or too about the fundraising climate in Washington, said, I was disappointed to hear of the projects cancellation this week and lamented the loss of an organization that would demonstrate how contemporary art is a vital part of our economy and cultural ecosystem.

The school has been empty for seven years. In 2010, when Adrian Fenty was mayor, the city held a hearing to determine whether the school should be declared surplus and thus open for private development. A transcript of that meeting is telling. While there wasnt an agreement about exactly what the school should become, there was overwhelming sentiment that as a historic building with a long history of public service to the citizens of Washington, it most certainly should not be given up for commercial development.

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A setback for D.C. arts and culture, years in the making