Hartford’s Real Art Ways, which announced a major expansion last year that is now estimated to cost $13.75 million, says fundraising prospects, so far, are encouraging, but it is possible the project may unfold in phases.
“It’s all going to depend on how much money we raise and how quickly we raise it because you can’t do it without the money,” Will K. Wilkins, executive director of the contemporary arts organization, said. “Part of it is, how do we potentially phase this depending on the money we raise.”
But Wilkins is undeterred about the expansion: “Number one: it is going to happen. We would like it to happen as soon as possible. But part of what Real Art Ways does is, we take chances with our programming but we don’t take chances with people’s money.”
Late last year, the 47-year-old RAW said it would purchase the building — a former typewriter factory built in 1917 — in the city’s Parkville neighborhood where it had leased space for more than three decades.
The $4.25 million purchase of 56 Arbor St., closed in December and was paired with the ambitious expansion plan, the largest in the organization’s history. The building purchase was funded with $1 million from the state, donations and a bank loan.
Long known for independent film screenings, cutting-edge art exhibits, performances and social events bringing together different communities from within city and surrounding suburbs, RAW’s vision for expansion seeks to build on those strengths.
The plans call for the addition of three movie screens, bringing RAW’s total to four. The project also is expected to include a dedicated space for the performing arts, a new café and more space for educational programs.
When the plans were announced, it was anticipated that construction could begin this fall. But, at the time, Wilkins also said the cost estimates and a construction timetable were still in the early stages.
RAW faces the challenge of fundraising as much of the $13.75 million as possible, but some part might have to be traditional bank loans.
Earlier this year, the State Bond Commission approved $3 million, but that still leaves a gap of nearly $11 million, an admittedly large number for an arts organization.
“What we’re doing is we’re focusing on foundations and individuals and government, all behind-the-scenes,” said Wilkins, who has led Real Art Ways for 32 years.
Wilkins said he won’t comment on large fundraising commitments until they reach a significant level because the capital campaign is in the “silent” phase. But Wilkins said he hopes an announcement will come in mid-to-late spring, and the campaign will go public.
“When we do make an announcement, the momentum will be apparent to people,” Wilkins said. “And we will be able to say, this is where we are at, this is how much money we’ve raised, this is how much money we have to go. C’mon people help us out.”
An anchor for Parkville
The fundraising comes at a challenging time, in the midst of an uncertain emergence from the pandemic, stock market gyrations, the highest inflation in decades, rising interest rates and worries about recession.
If fundraising is successful, RAW’s expansion has the potential to anchor a new wave of redevelopment in Parkville. Those include arts, cultural and entertainment venues, incubator space, the addition of new apartments and the opening of a full-service grocery store.
The Parkville Market, opened two years ago at the height of the pandemic, has become a destination. The market is now in the midst of an expansion to a second building nearby.
The city hopes to be a recipient of nearly $50 million from the state’s innovation corridor grant program, crucial to the city’s $250 million for the Parkville Arts & Innovation District. RAW is included as a project in the city’s application to the state.
As RAW pursues donations, grants and historic tax credits, it also is working with its architects to design the expansion, eventually determining the sequencing of the different components.
“The guiding principle is staying open to serve our patrons as consistently as possible,” Eric Ort, RAW’s fundraising campaign director, said, “even if that means phasing in the project or delaying the start.”
‘Incubator space for creativity’
The purchase of the 4-story, brick building on Arbor Street not only gave RAW control over the space, it also represents a move to diversify the sources of the organization’s revenue to include rental income.
But Wilkins said the rentals are still consistent with RAW’s arts-oriented focus.
“This is something that is going to be incubator space for creativity and for new enterprises and for new artists,” Wilkins said. “I think that identity is going to serve us very well in the long term because it really is the only building of its type [in the city] that has this identity.”
Wilkins said the building is fully leased, with a waiting list of prospective tenants.
RAW’s 990 form for the tax year ending Sept. 30, 2021 — before it acquired the building — shows the arts organization’s revenues were $2.4 million, compared with $1.4 million the previous year. After expenses, net revenues were $1.1 million, compared with $255,000 in the previous year.
Most of the increases reflect funds donated to RAW for the purchase of the building, the organization said.
Revenues from the movie screenings historically have represented 25% of the organization’s revenues, but movie attendance took a huge hit in the pandemic. The one cinema at RAW has 155 seats and is now open five-days-a-week, Wednesday through Sunday.
Audiences are returning, but slowly, Wilkins said. He noted a lack of alternative films produced during the pandemic and lingering reluctance of some to return to movie theaters.
According to RAW, movie attendance for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2019, was 30,759. For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2022, it was 11,708.
With fewer print publication reviews to push attendance, RAW is looking to social media and direct mail.
RAW also has experimented with offering films that might traditionally have run in the mainstream multiplexes, but it prefers not to go in that direction long term, Wilkins said.
“My feeling as to where movies are going to be for us in the future is that a lot is going to be event-oriented programming where you need to do some special event to get people to come to the movie theater,” Wilkins said. “And then, maybe word-of-mouth will begin to travel afterward.”
Wilkins points to the recent screening of “The Street Project,” a documentary by Hartford-based filmmaker Jennifer Boyd. The film explores how street design across America imperils pedestrians and cyclists.
The showing was followed by a panel discussion on the topic.
“We had a full house for that, with Jennifer,” Wilkins said, “and that was really nice.”
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
