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Fine Arts Presence Can Impact
Suburban Development
(UCR Journalism students covered the seminar and here is one student’s story)
By Sherry MaeEser, Journalism Student, University of California, Riverside
The second in the Randall Lewis Seminar, “The Paris Opera House and the Role of Cultural Institutions in
City Development” took place on UC Riverside’s campus May 19. The seminar featured a talk and visual
presentation by Christopher Mead, concerning the construction and history of the Paris Opera House,
and the impact that architecture can have on a city’s cultural aspect.
Mead, Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico, received his undergraduate degree at UCR.
Mead began his presentation by discussing the intricate structure and layout the Paris Opera House,
which served to reflect both the changing modern times and the impact of a class conscious society.
The overall cost of the building at the time was $33 million francs and its architect was Charles Garnier.
Garnier, as Mead revealed to the audience, came from the poorest slums of Paris. Like his fellow members
of the ascending middle class, he saw the Opera House as a monument to the Bourgeoisie, rather than
to the Royal or Imperial governments which sponsored earlier architectural monuments. He designed the
viewing levels according to class, the highest class only having one stair to climb, while the less
wealthy had a few more stairs to climb to get to the “cheap” seats, as Mead put it.
Along with the presentation, Mead connected the construction of the Paris House and the effects it had
on its community and to the reconstruction occurring for the Culver Center for
the Arts in downtown Riverside.
The remodeling is meant as a way for the university to create a bigger presence in the community and to
increase the cultural presence of the fine arts within the Inland Empire.
“Overall, I agree the institutions and structures of the city do influence its culture,” said Sarah
Chambers, a third year Creative Writing major.
The seminar included a panel discussion and dialogue with the audience. Its members were Ellen Estilai;
Executive Director of the Riverside Arts Council, Toby Miller;
Director of UCR's Film and Visual Culture
Department, Mead, and Patricia Morton, associate professor and chair of the
Art History Department, and
the Faculty Director of the Barbara & Art Culver Center of the Arts.
California, said Estilai, is behind almost everyone in terms of art funding (even behind Guam). Along with
funding, the panel also discussed new methods that the fine arts community is taking to make it more
approachable to the population.
During the discussion, the panel took questions from the audience, such as how they could go about attracting
broader audiences. Estilai recalled how the symphony had advertised a "Bad Boy Beethoven"
program by featuring Harley Davidson
motorcycles (even putting one on stage
during the concert). This proved to be very
successful in attracting a larger audience.
“I think it was a wonderful dialogue of the power of art to transform communities,” said Estilai.
Overall, the panel concluded that it was very important that
the community not disregard the importance
of art and its impact on community
development.
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When people hear the word “sustainable,” there’s a tendency to think of scientific tree
harvesting, or plastic bottles recycled or electricity generated from the wind machines
in the San Gorgonio Pass.
Many of these issues echo in today’s suburbs, whether the cultural institution under discussion is a
Culver Center for the Arts (Riverside), an Edward Dean Museum (Cherry Valley) or a minor league baseball park (Lake Elsinore).