You are invited to meet Philip Morris, the CEO of Proctors Theatre, a non-profit theatre and arts center located in downtown Schenectady, NY.You are invited to meet Philip Morris, the CEO of Proctors Theatre, a non-profit theatre and arts center located in downtown Schenectady, NY.
Mr. Morris will be visiting the “Introduction to the Creative Economy” class that meets in Smiddy 112 at 9:25 on Thursday, March 9th.
Mr. Morris is a self-proclaimed “community entrepreneur” who loves to imagine the possible and build the bridges from imagination to reality. He will talk about the Proctors’ role in launching a resurgence of the vitality of Schenectady’s downtown using a combination of arts, grit, compassion, and blue-sky thinking. If you are curious to learn about how the arts can be a catalyst for economic and community development, Mr. Morris’ presentation is a “must-see.”
Proctors’ mission: through arts and community leadership, to be a catalyst for excellence in education, sustainable economic development and rich civic engagement, to enhance the quality of life in the greater Capital Region.
More about Proctor’s:
In 1977, volunteers formed a grassroots campaign to save a crumbling theatre from becoming a parking lot. They founded a non-profit to restore the theatre and impact the community. By 2002, Proctors presented approximately 60 shows a year on a deserted downtown block.
In response to the community's dire needs, in 2004 Proctors did the unexpected – it expanded. Proctors rebuilt its stage house to accommodate larger touring shows. It expanded education programs and built a new black box theatre, and constructed Marquee Power, a low-carbon district energy system to co-generate heating, cooling and electricity for most of the neighborhood. Downtown came back to life, with new businesses, restaurants and hotels.
Now, more than 650,000 people visit Proctors each year, attending more than 1,700 events. From touring Broadway shows to intimate concerts, from spelling bees and dance recitals to the winter farmer’s market, Proctors is a living room for the region and a haven for arts of all kinds. Restoration of the historic theatre nears completion, having won national and state awards for the painstaking efforts to return the jazz-age theatre to its former glory. The heart of downtown Schenectady is pumping again, through an intense commitment to partnerships and collaboration for mutual benefit, in the belief that “we are only as strong as our neighbors.”
Proctors collaborates with others in many ways. Its education programs serve 35,000 children in the region through in-school, after school and summer programs, along with a formal internship program and special educational presentations. Marquee Power, the district energy plan, heats and cools more than one million square feet of the neighborhood. Proctors collects trash for its neighbors and provides them with broadband internet. The regional Tickets by Proctors helps other arts organizations by providing them with free ticketing services. In 2016, a collaboration with neighboring Schenectady County Community College will result in a new arts education center on an unused floor of the Proctors facility. This partnership will create what may be the country’s only college theatre program residing completely within a working theatre.
When tensions between social service clients and businesses developed, Proctors formed a partnership with City Mission, a local homeless shelter, to create the Downtown Ambassadors program. Proctors now hires Mission clients as downtown concierges. They direct traffic, greet and assist patrons, and help people crossing the street. The income and job training provides a powerful stepping-stone in escaping from generational poverty.
In 2010, Proctors entered into a unique management agreement with Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany. Proctors assumed all administrative functions, as a way for Capital Rep to reduce its operating costs and keep its doors open. Since then, Capital Rep has redoubled its commitment to developing new work for modern theatre. Its education programs have expanded to reach more than 10,000 students in the area, with touring productions and in-school residencies.
Through a commitment to best practices, win-win strategies, novel partnerships and diverse mixtures of people and projects, Proctors has transformed its neighborhood and the region.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20170307144305772