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Writer and editor Home > Blogs > Brain Droppings > Archives > 2009 > September > 25 > Entry
A new Oregon arts incubator
Mike Ervin, the retired Dayton physician leading the latest effort to conceive a viable, creative future for downtown, is a guy with plenty of vision.
His idea for a bustling, thriving Oregon District, where he lives, is what led to its re-designation as the Oregon Arts District. His imagination, energy and, yes, generous underwriting has transformed the place. But even with the new galleries and other amenities along Fifth Street, Ervin knew there was something missing.
“We had already done a lot for the visual arts — it’s brimming over. But we hadn’t done anything for the performing arts, and I wanted to do it in a way that hadn’t been done before. There are so many cool, emerging groups in Dayton right now, and we wanted to interact with them and support them with no preconceived ideas.”
He generally felt there a need for an inexpensive space that could be home base for some of those upcoming groups, and he was willing to help turn the space he owns above Pacchia’s restaurant and coffeeshop into an “arts incubator.”
He found his catalysts: Rick Good and Sharon Leahy, the brains behind Rhythm in Shoes.
The couple who founded the famed Dayton dance troupe were starting into their final season and looking forward to what come next. As Leahy joked the other day, “Why not spend our last year with all the extra challenges we could think of?”
They agreed to move Rhythm in Shoes from the Metropolitan Arts Center on Main Street and into the Pacchia space, and to manage the new incubator. In about two weeks, they got the space — about 2,500 square feet, last home to a defunct country radio station — cleaned up and ready for prime time.
Leahy proudly shows it off: a rehearsal space complete with drum kit and dance floor, a costume/prop room, offices, a chat room, four sound-proof rooms that can be used for music classes. Leahy is planning dance lessons, from hip-hop to salsa, tied in with what’s going on downstairs at Pacchia.
Others are getting involved. The Zoot Theatre Company, “Dayton’s new puppet and mask ensemble,” is there. Michael and Sandy Bashaw of Puzzle of Light are considering giving music lessons and doing some work there. Leahy has some local performance artists on the hook, too, and is putting out the word for more.
“This could be a staging place for performance art out in the district,” she says, imagining dancers, buskers, jugglers and actors spilling onto the street. “We want to help all these small grassroots groups, because that’s how Rhythm in Shoes got started.”
So far, the incubator lacks a name, though Leahy is toying with “The Hop,” for “House of Passion,”or the “OA,” for Oregon Arts. Ervin is paying the bills for the first year, he said, so Leahy can “concentrate on the creativity, without having to worry about the dollars for now.”
“This is a crucial time in Dayton,” he says, “and I don’t think this has been done before — but Sharon has such excitement, creativity and vision, that I think she can help this town get to the next level.”
Leahy is already looking for the right person she can start mentoring to lead the incubator as a long-term, sustainable project. “That young person is out there,” she says. “Be proactive in finding us.”
Just look up and find the window where they’re dancing.
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