Performing arts center opens doors

The Bigfork Playhouse Children's Theatre's latest endeavor, an after-school performing arts center for Bigfork youth, opened its doors earlier in September with a handful of children from Swan River School and Bigfork schools among the first beneficiaries of its programs.

The center officially opened Sept. 15, in the space formerly occupied by the Flathead Industries Thrift Store. However, things have gotten off to a slow start with relatively few youth taking advantage of the facility.

The center's coordinator, Bigfork Playhouse Children's Theatre director Brach Thomson, said he believed this is due largely to the fact that many area young people do not yet know the center is open or what it has to offer.

The center is particularly targeted at middle school age students.

Thomson conceived the idea for a performing arts center a couple of years ago, when he realized that most of his theater kids had to travel to Kalispell to take voice, dance or music lessons. Thus, when the Flathead Industries building became available, he envisioned using the space to provide those services locally.

"I'm pretty excited about the location," he said. "It's close enough that kids can walk here right from school."

In fact, the center is located on Grand Drive, just a few hundred feet from the edge of the Bigfork Elementary School.

With the help of Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts director Walter Kuhn, who purchased the property until Thomson could secure the necessary funding for the center, Thomson's vision took shape and gradually morphed into the reality it has at last become.

To date, only three main groups are utilizing the center's space, but Thomson anticipates that a number of programs ranging from dance lessons to keyboard classes will soon be up and running.

At present, two Bigfork Playhouse Children's Theatre choirs practice in the center's basement, while a portion of the upstairs is being used by LEAP for after-school tutoring.

The LEAP after-school program has until now operated out of Crossroads Church. Although LEAP continues to be headed by Kathy Gaiser, LEAP's lead person at the performing arts center will be Michelle Nollan.

The after-school sessions, which currently take place Tuesday through Thursday of each week, provide the older kids with a place to do homework and work on a variety of projects together, away from the younger children.

Among those projects, Nollan said the kids will work with robots, cooking, computers and art, with an underlying emphasis on the arts since that is the center's focus.

"The main thing is to keep kids off the street, more than anything else," Thomson said. "We just want to give them a place to go and give them something that they can do after school. We're giving them structure without structure. If they sign up for it, they do have to be here, but there's no cost for the kids. It's all covered by LEAP."

And, while only smaller groups have been coming thus far, Nollan said she expects to draw larger crowds when winter sets in.

Thomson said he anticipated that the same would be true of all of the center's programs.

While LEAP's after-school program is free, there will be a cost associated with the other programs offered at the performing arts center.

Thomson said the reason for this is that each of the teachers will essentially be sub-contractors who will lease space from the center.

Already, two dance teachers are in the process of setting up regular dance lessons at the center and will bring their current students with them.

However, Thomson said he is looking for more teachers, both for dance and for other arts related programs. Ultimately, he hopes to have the center open and providing its programs six days a week.

Thomson intends to convert the floor of the main upstairs room and possibly install a moveable partition wall to better accommodate dance classes.

The room that looks into the dance area will likely be utilized as a sound room since it seems to have been designed with that type of use in mind.

One of the downstairs rooms, where Thomson will be teaching keyboard methods, has been equipped with six keyboards that were purchased through Friends of Bigfork Schools (FOBS).

Thomson taught keyboard methods in Reno, Nev., prior to settling in Bigfork with his family. He has since looked forward to doing so again and plans to arrange each workshop into four-week sessions. The first one should begin in early October.

Another room, adjacent to the open space where the two choirs practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, will serve as Thomson's office — his first since Reno.

Thomson said he is looking for more kids to join the choirs and welcomes anyone who is interested to give it a try without the risk of being obligated or losing money.

Once they are sure they like it and want to continue, they can sign up and pay their tuition.

Bigfork Elementary School's music teacher has also committed to teaching piano and voice lessons at the center and will bring 20 students with her when classes begin next week.

However, some of the center's space remains unassigned and can be modified to for the types of classes that will be taught there.

"I'm just excited that it's here and that it's happening," Thomson said. "I hoped that we would open the door and the phone would just be ringing off the hook, but that's just me being idealistic. I do think it's something that is needed here, and what I hope to do is give opportunity to kids to participate in these types of programs who otherwise wouldn't do so because they have to go to Kalispell. I figure it'll take me until Christmas to really get the doors open more often."