OPENING DOORS

by Jan Getz

When my husband, John, and I moved to Asheville in 2010, we were looking for ways to connect with the greater community.

I had ushered at the local university when I was in high school, and John and I had both ushered at our university when we were grad students. So, naturally, we sought out an ushering opportunity when looking to meet new people and learn more about the local arts scene.

That’s how we first came to the Wortham Center — as volunteers. As we grew to know and admire the staff, we continued to be impressed with the quality and variety of performances at which we ushered and attended. Eventually, we became donors, and, later, I was asked to serve on the board. Now, I serve as the board’s vice president. And through all these years, it’s been a grand experience.

John & Jan Getz

Having been both a participant in the arts as a dancer and an appreciator of the arts as an audience member, I can say that, without a doubt, these experiences have enhanced my life.

A painter and jewelrymaker, my mother introduced me to the arts at a young age — even offering art classes to the neighborhood kids in exchange for other moms teaching us things, like how to swim. She made sure my sister and I had both piano and dance lessons for five years. Then, we were allowed to choose to continue one artistic pursuit. My sister instantly chose the piano, and I instantly chose dance. My mother also put up monthly famous works of art over the kitchen table to discuss. She shared poetry and literature. She took us to museums and an artists’ series at the university where she and my dad taught. We saw Marcel Marceau, Andrés Segovia, plays, music, dance.

As an adult, I was able to combine my love of dance with my profession as a television producer to attend the Dance and Television Workshop at the American Dance Festival, with a scholarship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Getting to work with the production team for the PBS series “Great Performances: Dance in America” was truly life changing. I attended this amazing workshop twice, and then I put my new knowledge and skills to work with The Ohio State Dance Company and Dancentral when I was working at WOSU-TV.

It’s important to give young people the opportunity to experience performances that enrich their lives, open their minds and, potentially, influence their futures. So we were delighted to learn of the Wortham Center’s Y.E.S. Fund, the Youth Education Scholarship Fund that brings local children to the arts and the arts to local children in their schools — and, for several years, we’ve made an annual donation to the fund as holiday gifts for relatives.

Through all these years, it’s been a grand experience.

Now, with the pandemic and all of its challenges, we’ve increased our support of the Wortham Center to help keep the doors creatively and safely cracked open — until we can fling them wide again to artists and audiences.

Once we are through this period of hardship, I expect to continue to see a wide variety of high-quality artists from many genres and backgrounds bring their talent to our stages and spaces. The commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion will continue to be driving forces in the selection of artists. There will be opportunities for more start-up performers to gain an audience, using the two newer spaces. The flexibility of the Tina McGuire Theatre and the Henry LaBrun Studio will afford both local and touring organizations opportunities to create unique programs that can be site specific.

The Wortham Center for the Performing Arts is one of the entities that helps make Asheville the special city that it is. The commitment to be inclusive and present a wide variety of top-notch artists from many disciplines at affordable prices is an invaluable contribution to the artistic soul of our community.