BRIEF: Assets of Mutual Interest with the Issaquah School Board, Performing Arts Center at Issaquah High School

Submitted to help prepare for the special meeting with the Issaquah School Board, April 25, 2024 ‘Items of Mutual Interest’


This brief provides background on:



The challenge of space and creative constraints


As an Arts Commission, our role is to support and encourage visual and performing arts in and for the community. We are here to help advise the City Council on arts policy, programs, funding and placement of art. It is easy to see the need for the Arts Commission to advise on the funding and placement of a sculpture or a mural. I’d like you to consider the challenge of placement when it comes to the performing arts. 


Creative choices are made by conductors and directors in relation to space. The place for a performance defines the size and scope of the work that can be produced, the number of artists that can participate, and the number of seats that may be filled. 


The selection of a work to perform hinges on the quality and capacity of the space. Factors include the size of the performance area, acoustics, equipment such as mixing boards, microphones, speakers and lighting, and seats for an audience of arts enthusiasts. Capacity informs the economics, from the cost to produce and perform, to the price of the ticket, and the number of tickets that can be sold. These are all ‘creative constraints.’ 


Creative constraints impact participation and engagement


As an example, the Issaquah Philharmonic Orchestra has more than 60 members. In order for the entire orchestra to practice together, they must secure a space to hold that many people, and all of the members’ music equipment. 


Due to space constraints, the Issaquah Philharmonic Orchestra does not practice with a percussion section. They practice in a church located between the Community Center and the High School. The space does not have storage for drums and percussion equipment. It is time and cost prohibitive to move, set up, tune, and take down the percussion instruments for every practice. 


This is a creative constraint that requires compromise. To be able to play, the orchestra made the choice to reduce the size of their orchestra, cutting the percussion section from regular practice. To perform for the public, they hire professional percussionists to join them at the performance. 


These constraints limit their capacity to come together as a complete orchestra, and as a creative community. An orchestra works together to learn a piece of music, practicing timing, rhythm and cadence as they follow the lead of the conductor. But a key part of their team, and the sound, is missing. The conductor and the members of the orchestra do not experience the full impact of the piece until the public performance.


There is a perception that performance space is unavailable or out of reach in Issaquah


Performing arts groups including the Issaquah Philharmonic Orchestra, Master Chorus Eastside (formerly Issaquah Choral), Issaquah Dance Theater, and The Original Black Dog Theater are all based in Issaquah. These groups have been creating and performing for decades. The problem is - they’re not performing regularly in Issaquah. 


Instead they perform in Sammamish, Renton, and Bellevue, at venues such as the Skyline High School Performing Arts Center in Sammamish (Issaquah School District), and the Renton High School IKEA Performing Arts Center (Renton School District).


These organizations need enough space to accommodate the large number of artists that make up an orchestra, a chorale, a theater cast or a dance group. (Issaquah Dance Theatre produces the Nutcracker annually at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. The venue has 410 seats, an orchestra pit and dressing rooms for up to 75 artists)


These groups also need enough seats to accommodate the hundreds of arts enthusiasts that attend their performances. Issaquah Philharmonic's average audience size is 350. 


Is there space to support these artists, and increase access to art in Issaquah?


The Performing Arts Center at Issaquah High School is an award winning project funded by an $84 million dollar bond for the complete reconstruction of the high school. 


The Performing Arts Center includes seats for an audience of 600, an orchestra pit that can hold up to 70 musicians, a fly system that allows for multiple backdrops, a set shop, greenroom with 6 makeup bays, sound equipment, rigging and lighting, and a 100-seat black box theater. This resource is larger than Village Theatre by over one hundred seats (Village Theatre lists ‘nearly 500 seats.’)