Kintsugi and the Arts Center

There is an ancient Japanese art form called "Kintsugi", which is the process of repairing broken pottery with powdered gold. When a vessel breaks or shatters, it is not considered a waste or irreparable. Instead, Kintsugi treats the breakage and its subsequent golden repair as part of the history of the object, rather than something to disguise. The jagged lines are beautifully unique to each broken vessel, and once mended with the powdered gold, the final piece is stronger than it was before. In fact, the vessel becomes even more valuable due to its imperfections that cannot be replicated. It is not simply "good as new" with Kintsugi; it is "better than new." 

For those who have been following the journey of the performing arts center in Frisco, you may feel that the project has shattered to the ground and come to an end. When I wrote about the performing arts center exactly a year ago, it certainly was a different project than it is today. (You can read that blog here.)

However, though it may appear that the project has broken, I firmly believe in the power of Kintsugi to breathe new life. Rather than looking at the past as a waste of time or viewing the project as irreparable, we can choose to pick up the pieces, embrace the flaws, and artfully mend it into something stronger and more valuable than it was before. 

How?

I have several ideas, and you probably do too. 2023 will be an opportunity to re-envision this project, sharpen our pencils, and get questions answered. I mean, A LOT of questions answered. Here are just a few I have in order to make a data-driven decision on how to move forward:

• WHY: What is our "Why?" Why are we doing this project? What is the reason for its existence in Frisco? What problem are we trying to solve? This should inform everything we do. 

• WHO: Who are the consumers (the audience)? Who are the creators (the performers)? Are they locals only, or can Frisco support regional and national creators? Who are the private partners, and what do they need to get involved? What is the institutional makeup? Who are the proven experts that will help guide us? 

• WHAT: Now that FISD is no longer programming 50% of the calendar year for this project, what does a calendar year look like at the Frisco Performing Arts Center? What art forms can be supported? Is there room for greater advanced technology? Which local, regional, and national groups would be ready to sign on the dotted line to perform if this facility opened tomorrow? A performing arts center with no audience is not a success, so we must have a robust programming calendar. 

• HOW: What is the business plan? What is the M&O (maintenance and operations) plan? What is the real cost to build? What is the shortfall? How do we build for growth? How do we make it a commercially-viable, sustainable facility that will benefit the citizens of Frisco 30 years from now, not just today? We don't want to make the mistake of a building a facility that is obsolete the day it opens. 

These questions just scratch the surface, but in order for this project to be a true success, we must answer them all and more with data, research, and experts. We cannot proceed based on preference, politics, or passion. Instead, I propose we proceed with Kintsugi, learning to embrace flaws, imperfections, and brokenness as part of the process. In the end, we will have a project more beautiful than we ever imagined, and it will be uniquely ours.