It’s a Thursday evening high on a hill in Devou Park at the Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington. Dozens of people sit on blankets and lawn chairs outside to enjoy the summer concert series.
Judy Bailey and Mary Iott are Northern Kentucky residents who appreciate Behringer-Crawford’s summer concerts and the exhibits dedicated to the history of Northern Kentucky.
“The music is almost always good. People are friendly. Food is good. It’s just a nice summer experience,” said Bailey.
“Well, they offer a lot of hands-on things for kids to play with and do. And this is a hidden gem in Northern Kentucky that not that many people know about, “ said Iott.
Mingling with the concert crowd is Assistant Director of the 76- year-old museum, Sean Mendell. He said non-profits like the Behringer-Crawford are always looking for creative ways to attract new members. And this summer, Mendell said there’s been an uptick in memberships. Concerts are just one of the activities the museum offers.
“One thing I do like about the concerts is local musicians come together to help support our program. So, all the funds that we raise at these concerts go to support our education programs. We have education outreach programs where we go into schools. We bring a traveling suitcase where we bring the artifacts to the kids. We have school groups come through here. We also have another program we just launched this year called Curators in Training. And that program is a workforce development program where we work closely with schools like NKU where students come in, and they can create, design, and implement an exhibit working alongside of us,” explained Mendell.
Mendell believes collaborating with other Kentucky arts organizations like the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center and Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center is valuable.
That collaboration is part of Communications Manager Mary Jane Calderon's work.
“I do all the social media for the museum. So, we do something called Curators Chats, and these are chats with different places and people that are of importance in Northern Kentucky. So, I’ve partnered with other arts organizations such as Baker Hunt and The Carnegie, and we have gone to their locations, videotaped with them, with our curator, having what we call a chat just discussing about what they’re doing, and what their history is. And we try to help each other out,” explained Calderon.
Down the hill, in the heart of Covington, a cast of characters including Broadway’s Josh Walden rehearses for The Carnegie’s production of La Cage Aux Folles.
Walden sits at the makeup table wearing a pale pink robe and red high heels as he rehearses a song.
“I’m playing Albin and ZaZa and choreographing the show,” explained Walden.
The Carnegie has grown in the last four years, said Executive Director Matt Distel.
“I think the theatre is the sort of most forward part of our program. It is kind of the most public piece of it. The one that people think of. But we are really three pillars. We are the theatre, we’re a gallery, and we’re an education program. So, the theatre is something that I think of as probably an economic driver for us. We are over four times our ticket sales where we were in 2020-2021,” said Distel.
While the gallery hosts only two art shows a year, Distel said there are other interesting activities held in the space.
“When we open our next theatre show, La Cage Aux Folles, we’re transforming the gallery into an immersive experience that is connected to La Cage Aux Folles. So, picture San Tropez in the summer, and beach cabanas and that kind of thing. So, pre-show and intermission, our theatre guests will get to enjoy that space,” said Distel.
He credits staff like Tyler Gabbard for some of the Carnegie’s success. Gabbard is the producing director of theatre at the Carnegie.
“This idea of coming together, being in a room together, seeing real live actors breathing in front of you. There’s kind of nothing like it. It’s really hard to get that feeling anywhere else,” said Gabbard.
Both the Behringer-Crawford Museum and the Carnegie get financial support from organizations like the Kentucky Arts Council and ArtsWave. Rachael Parker is Director of Northern Kentucky Creative Placemaking at ArtsWave. She says the role of ArtsWave is to be the engine for the arts in the Greater Cincinnati region which includes Boone, Kenton and Campbell Counties in Northern Kentucky.
“We know that the arts have a seismic impact on our regional communities. We did an impact survey with the Cincinnati Regional Chamber from 2019 to 2022, and we found that Cincy Arts contribute over 1.6 billion dollars to the economic impact of our region. When we think about that in a broad sense, of course, that’s artists being hired, venues being reserved, guests coming into town. We know there is such a ripple effect to arts impact here in our region. So, when we say Cincy, it’s Greater Cincinnati region which includes Northern Kentucky, the 400,000 people living there,” explained Parker.
Parker said ArtsWave doesn’t support Northern Kentucky’s Baker Hunt Cultural Art Center financially, but they partner in other ways.
“We try to engage them as much as possible. They just have not needed the financial support some of our other organizations do,” said Parker.
I took a trip to Baker Hunt’s campus, which includes two homes built in the 1800s as well as a few other buildings. Community relations director Charity Rust-Jordan gave me a tour of the campus.
“So, this is the mansion, and this is the home that our founder originally moved into,” said Rust-Jordan.
On this day, there’s a lot of fun and activity while summer camp is held and the children learn how to cook a special pasta dish.
Alex Noel is the Executive Director of Baker Hunt. He said Baker Hunt provides a ton of art classes, kids camps, cooking classes, free concerts and lectures. He lists a few ways the cultural art center receives financial support.
“Individual donors, we have businesses that donate. We have grant funders. We have endowment funding,” explained Noel.
Noel said summer camp enrollment is up about 30 percent over last year. But he said on the whole enrollment is down a bit.
“It is a slight reduction. And so, we see that mostly in our longer classes. So, our eight-week and our four-week classes. So, people aren’t necessarily as able to commit to a slightly higher fee or registration payment, but for a one-time experience or other classes, like those reduced-rate kids’ classes, those we’re seeing some regular participation in,” said Noel.
Despite increased prices on just about everything, arts organizations like Baker Hunt, The Carnegie and the Beringer-Crawford Museum hope to continue providing enjoyable arts as they work to attract new members.
--
