Article Title: After Blow at the Polls, Pyralisk Regroups

Edition: April 2002
Category: General Interest
Author: Glennis Drew
Article:

The new Pyralisk, rising from the symbolic ashes of both the old location and the recent "burn" at the polls -- will not be a carbon copy of the old, organizers say. The new version will be bigger, cleaner, brighter, and much more inclusive. It will combine art gallery and theater in an innovative community space.

While obtaining the necessary funds to go forward with the renovations will take a little more time without the $41,500 they requested at the city meeting, members of the Board were buoyed by the number of votes it did get -- clear evidence that community support is not only "out there," but growing.

Of a $1,658,629 goal, over $650,000 has been raised to date.

When completed (some time in December 2002) the new Pyralisk project will house a 240-seat, flat-floor theater, a visual arts gallery, media-arts workshop, spacious lobby and cafe. There will also be an office suite on the second floor (already fully rented) that will bring in operating capital on an ongoing basis. Nicholas Hecht is hoping to open a portion of the space before the entire project is completed, possibly at the end of the summer.

As Daniel Hecht, one of the organizers told me recently, "The new Pyralisk is actually an entirely new kind of community entity. While the Pyralisk itself tends to focus on arts and humanities, the new facility is designed to provide the space and technical resources to support the activities of every arts, cultural, youth services, and community-oriented organization or group, and civic-minded individual, in the region.

The Pyralisk isn't intended to compete with, say, Onion River Arts Council, Lost Nation Theater, Washington County Youth Service Bureau, local schools, and similar organizations, but to support their work by providing ancillary space and a single roof under which to host projects. It's a place to do, to participate. It's intended to be a home for worthy community projects of every description."

Fundraising efforts currently in progress include grant writing, and solicitation of donors. Generous pledges are also chipping away at the balance due. The Pyralisk continues to sponsor events featuring local artists. These events do not raise a lot of money but they raise awareness of the Pyralisk name and its association with the arts, supporters say.

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