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PROGRAM MATERIALS
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Spark
• SPARK Season 7: Episode 707: Kitka, Victoria May, Art & Economy
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• SPARK Season 7: Episode 706: Daniel McCormick, Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra, Jaime Guerrero
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• SPARK Season 7: Episode 705: Kerry James Marshall, Dan Hoyle, Ben Levy
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• SPARK Season 7: Episode 704: Bhangra Dance, Contemporary Jewish Museum
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• SPARK Season 7: Episode 703: Katherine Westerhout, W. Kamau Bell, Wil Blades
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• SPARK Season 7: Episode 702: Mary Sano, Ron Nagle, Sandow Birk
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• SPARK Season 7 - Painter Wayne Thiebaud
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• SPARK Season 6 - Political Cartoonist Mark Fiore
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• announcement release
• press release - season one
• press release - season two
• photos - season one
• photos - season two
• episodes - season one
• episodes - season two
• biographies - season one
• biographies - season two
• interview with series producer
• impact on arts community
• 2004 Northern CA Emmy Award: website
• 2005 Northern CA Emmy Award
• Spark marathon & pledge
• SPARKed: Spark Arts Education Partnership Program
• 2007 Northern CA Emmy Award
• SPARK Features Comedienne Margaret Cho
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• SPARK Goes Behind the Scenes of the SF Opera's "The Bonesetter's Daughter"
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Program Website
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PRESSROOM MATERIALS
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Media Usage Policy
photo & document rights,
uses, permissions
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PRESS CONTACTS
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Contacts for journalists and reporters only. For information about contacting KQED, please visit the Contact Us page. Please send press releases or news story ideas directly to KQED Radio Programs contacts.
Scott Walton, Executive Director of Communications
415.553.2145
swalton@ncpb.com
Meredith Gandy, Publicist
415.553.2116
mgandy@kqed.org
KQED News Tips
Have a news tip or a breaking news item?
Contact KQED News newsroom: 415.553.2361
assignmentdesk@kqed.org
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| Spark: Interview with Series Producer, Pam Rorke Levy |
What "sparked" you and your colleagues to create the series?
All of us who work on Spark are either artists or lifelong fans of the arts. And we know we're not alone. Many, many Bay Area residents pay a premium to live here, not just because the weather's nice most of the year, but because this is an extraordinary rich cultural environment, where art is being produced everywhere -- from the streets to the major performing houses.
When you look around the country, even in smaller cities, most communities have at least one television series covering the local arts scene. And these shows, once established, stay on the air for years and years, even decades, because the audiences rely on them as a trusted source of information. With all of the exciting art work that's being done here, we felt that it is important for the Bay Area to have an art series of its own -- one that would give our audience a taste of what's going on in their own backyard.
How is this program different from other programs in other cities that offer arts coverage?
From the very beginning, we knew that we didn't want to create an art show that would only appeal to people who already go to the theater, and already belong to the museums. In some ways, you could say that we're missionaries for contemporary art. We want to convert those who don't yet find contemporary art interesting, engaging or entertaining, by introducing them to the people and the process behind the art.
Our tactic is to engage our audience using good, old-fashioned storytelling. Our heroes are the artists themselves, and our goal is to reveal the conflicts and obstacles they overcome -- creative, logistical, economic or emotional -- to produce their art. By exploring the process, I think we give our audience the context they need to understand why that little dot on the wall might actually belong in the museum. Or the vocabulary they need to argue that it doesn't belong there!
How did BAVC become involved in the project? What opportunities has this partnership created?
BAVC has been involved with Spark since the fall of 2000, when we began development and fundraising together. The partnership works because the two entities are very different, bringing different strengths and skills to the table. KQED has the power of its distribution channels -- not just television, but also the Web, radio, and community outreach -- and a long history of producing high quality content. BAVC has strong ties with artists and arts organizations, as well as independent producers; and they have a wealth of experience with the new, low-cost digital video equipment that is revolutionizing both television and film production.
How has your own background played into producing this program?
I come from a family filled with artists, designers, architects, and musicians, and my early professional background is in art history and museum curatorship. In fact, my first job (that didn't involve typing or serving food) was at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, where I was in the independent study program as a curator-in-training. Shortly thereafter, I made the switch to documentary filmmaking and went to UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.
I've been producing television and film since 1979. I've produced, directed, and written many independent documentaries and plenty of programming for national cable. But I also spent a good 15 years working for local network affiliates KPIX and KRON, and of course, KQED. I got a taste of the role local television can play in a community. There's the potential for a higher quality relationship with the individual members of that audience. There's an opportunity to touch people's lives in a very direct way, either through the program itself or through community and educational outreach. I want to explore that connection further through Spark.
What has been the biggest surprise so far in working with artists and arts organizations on the program?
The arts community has welcomed Spark with open arms. Of course many of them see our program has a great way to reach audiences, so it's not surprising that they would want to work with us. But what impresses me is the level of support between arts organizations and artists, who are always quick to recommend other story ideas and organizations for us to cover. It's been said that the Bay Area art scene is just a collection of artists, most working independently, and not really a cohesive community. But what we're finding is that there's a kind of virtual network of artists, where there are just a couple of degrees of separation between a quilt maker in Marin and a ballet dancer in San Jose.
With our struggling economy and further budget cuts looming on the horizon, what do you foresee in store for the Bay Area arts scene?
The last few years have been a roller coaster ride for most arts organizations and individual artists in the Bay Area. The lucky ones -- those who hung on through a period of skyrocketing real estate values during the dot-come boom -- are now struggling to sell tickets and replace lost funding from foundations and corporations. It's a rare evening that I don't get a call from one organization or another, trying to close a budget gap.
What's amazing is how resilient and determined artists can be. In every story we do, we see belts being tightened; but at the same time, the prospect of shrinking resources seems to be forcing organizations and individuals to focus their efforts, and decide what really matters -- for themselves as artists and for their audiences and communities. If anything, this period of economic and political turmoil seems to be strengthening the resolve of artists to do meaningful work, which makes this a exciting time for all of us in the audience, and a particularly exciting time to launch Spark.
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