Creative Alliance engages community in Highlandtown A&E District

Drive along Eastern Avenue in Baltimore’s Highlandtown section and you’ll see an art-deco marquee glowing atop the Patterson Theatre, one of the community’s cultural landmarks. The Patterson closed in the mid-1990s and remained dormant for eight years. In 2003, following extensive renovation, the location re-opened as a multi-discipline arts center – the Creative Alliance at the Patterson.

The Patterson Theatre was built in 1930. In 1958, the theater closed temporarily when a fire ripped through its interior. It continued to show movies until 1995. Today, the revived Patterson houses two art galleries, a 180-seat flexible theater, a classroom, media lab, offices and eight live/work studios for artists who reside there.

Margaret Footner, executive director of the Creative Alliance, says part of the renovation plan was to “re-build the marquee as an exact replica of the original.” It must have worked. As the marquee was being installed, she says, an older woman walked by and commented that “it was like seeing an old friend.”

Footner is a recipient of a 2009 University of Baltimore Distinguished Entrepreneur Award, a yearly tribute to the entrepreneurial achievements of University of Baltimore graduates. She is also one of the three co-founders of the Creative Alliance.

Fells Point origin
The arts organization emerged out of a Fells Point rowhouse eatery that Footner owned. “We had an eclectic menu and we served local food,” she says. The small restaurant also had an art gallery that showed the work of local artists.

“There was not a lot of appreciation for artists in the area at that time,” she says. “We had an idea about showcasing local artists – it’s what Baltimore needed.” In 1995, the Fells Point Creative Alliance was established. One of the other original co-founders, Megan Hamilton, is still with the organization as program director. The other, Dan Schiavone, runs a Highlandtown art gallery.

During its early years in Fells Point, the Alliance presented art exhibitions, poetry and fiction readings, workshops and art lectures. Footner says the Alliance was often looking for performance venues. It secured two outside locations – one at a former Moose Lodge in Highlandtown and another at an old trolley barn in Fells Point.

Perry Sfikas, a former state senator and a board member of the Alliance, “was the one who (in 1998) turned us onto Highlandtown,” Footner says. Sfikas, along with Sen. Barbara Mikulski – both residents of Southeast Baltimore – were considering ways to revitalize Highlandtown. The conclusions of a consulting firm led Sfikas to push for an influx of artists and arts-related enterprises into the community.

“It was like a light bulb that went on,” says Footner. “What about establishing an arts center in Highlandtown?” Community leaders involved in the redevelopment plan embraced the concept and the Patterson Theater emerged as the choice for the center’s location. From that point on, she adds, “we were on a high-speed journey to make it happen.”

Fundraising campaign
Footner remembers a flurry of fundraising activity during the five-year period that preceded the opening of the Creative Alliance at the Patterson Theater. “Before you knew it,” she says, “we were in front of the governor (Parris N. Glendening).”

The Alliance acquired funds through a grant from the Department of Business and Economic Development, as well as from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A capital campaign received donations from an assortment of private companies and foundations. And, ongoing support from the Arts Council, she adds, has been critical for the success of the Alliance.

“We also partnered with the Southeast Community Development Corporation (SCDC) – a viable organization that had a structure and endowments,” she says. “We had nothing – we were just a group of volunteers.” SCDC operates the Highlandtown Arts & Entertainment District, one of the larger units in the Maryland State Arts Council’s A&E District program.

Two years before the Creative Alliance relocated to The Patterson, it moved from Fells Point to Highlandtown – into a former Pep Boys auto parts store on Conkling Street. The Alliance was able to consolidate its offices, gallery and performance space at a single location, while bolstering its ties to Highlandtown.

It was about that time, Footner says, that Richard Florida’s book, The Rise of the Creative Class, came out. Florida described how the emergence of a new social class – made up of creative individuals representing nearly a third of the nation’s workforce at the time – was essential for redeveloping cities. “It legitimized what we as artists were doing,” she says, “and what we could do in Highlandtown.”

Basic goals
The Creative Alliance continues to promote a thriving arts environment in its community by adhering to six basic goals, she says. They are:

Footner says it’s imperative for the Alliance to work on refining these goals, especially in a challenging economic climate. She notes that last year the Alliance hired a bilingual community program coordinator in order to focus on outreach efforts. The Alliance is also fortifying its programs for kids, she says.

And, despite the recession, Footner says the Alliance is selling more tickets to its events this year compared to a year ago. “Our programming is great, more people know about us and they appreciate what we offer. The value is there – people know we’re a good deal.” She mentions that one of the Alliance’s SalsaPolkaLooza! – a free street festival for families – is July 25.

As for the Fells Point café where the Creative Alliance got its start, Footner says she had sold it to one of her chefs. “I miss the great food and our great customers – not the restaurant business, though.”