Creative fusion: The Rotunda transcends art, culture

Behind the foreboding, cream-colored facade of The Rotunda lies a cultural sanctuary that is silently helping to foster the creative and artistic lives of not only Penn students, but also of the whole Philadelphia community.

And creativity takes on many forms.

The Rotunda's main room -- old and whitewashed with a wooden interior accentuated by arches on all sides -- gives a temporary asylum to them all.

On any given night, visitors that wander into the Rotunda will find one of the myriad of cultural events for which the venue has become known.

The visitor might stumble in on Sull Against The World, a local Philadelphia band, convulsing on stage and trying to galvanize the crowd with their hard and fast rock chords.

Or walk into a disconcerting slideshow account of the aggressive American foreign policy in Iraq and sit side by side with local political dissidents.

Or become submerged in an electric crowd head-bopping to the tempestuous atmosphere of the monthly hip hop show, The Gathering.

These snapshots as independent events are secondary to the cultural edifice that gives them the ability to publicly express themselves. What sets The Rotunda apart is the intentional emphasis it places on itself -- the driving force is the venue rather than the individual artists that perform there. In this way, it distinguishes itself from other well-known regional music arenas like the Electric Factory or the TLA.

"We want you to know that the Rotunda exists and that on any given night, you can walk in because it's either free or very low cost," says Andrew Zitcer, one of the program's founders. "And it's always going to be Philadelphia-based or connected to Philadelphia in some important way, and it will always be a level of quality that you can trust ... . We try to create an identity for the whole project rather than a show-by-show basis."

The Rotunda is now one of the primary cultural venues in the area, putting on up to four events every week and establishing itself as a genuine "community gathering place for arts and culture" while promoting "local music of global proportions." Zitcer admits that those are just catch phrases, but these catch phrases have come to symbolize The Rotunda's distinctive vision.

Although The Rotunda has sponsored a multitude of music shows ranging from hip hop and jazz to electronic and punk, it has evolved further to become a multifaceted and multidimensional cultural facility. In the past years, it has housed art exhibits, political forums, puppet theaters, dance shows and drama productions.

And those in charge do not shy away from innovation -- they are actively seeking new artists with experimental visions and cultural ideas.

The Rotunda's reputation has grown steadily over recent years, not only attracting crowds as large as 350 people, but also receiving favorable reviews from local -- as well as national -- media, being featured in both City Paper and Philadelphia Weekly.

But the origins of this project were more modest -- the idea sprung from an urban studies seminar led by Ira Harkavy in the fall of 1998. The collaborative community service seminar, which is taught every year, focuses on real-world problems in lieu of traditional academic research.

Zitcer, the recently appointed 40th Street cultural asset manager for the Department of Facilities and Real Estate, recalls how the project got on its feet.

Harkavy encouraged Zitcer to review a project proposal for a jazz club that previous students had not been able to get off the ground. Zitcer saw the inherent flaws in the project: Jazz clubs are not just created anew -- they need history and tradition to forge their unique identities.

Instead of abandoning the idea, Zitcer and the other students modernized it. The Foundation Community Arts Initiative, whose activities are now almost synonymous with The Rotunda, was the incarnation of students' desire to create a "21st century new model for a venue [that] would be a multiethnic, multicultural, multigenre community gathering place," Zitcer recalls.

The idea was launched with two pilot performances in the spring semester of '99 -- a hip hop show and a jazz show. Thus from the outset, the spirit of The Rotunda became inextricably linked to an all-encompassing, cross-genre experience that is still alive today.

"The concept, by that point, had evolved that it was going to represent Philadelphia local culture and music to promote engagement between Penn and the community and between audiences and Philadelphia artists," Zitcer explains.

Those two groundbreaking events were successful, and in the upcoming year, the fledgling project picked up steam, putting on weekly Friday night music shows. "We had everything from blues to jazz to rock shows to student bands to world music shows, spoken word, electronic music. And it was all free," Zitcer says.

The project slowly expanded -- one night a week became two; two became four.

It was only after Soul Coming -- a Homecoming music event in 2001 and 2002 that reunited recent Penn graduates who were now trying to succeed as professional R&B; and soul musicians -- that Zitcer realized that his vision had in fact become a reality.

Soul Coming was not only a success in its own right, but it also signified the larger success that the Foundation was having.

"It was an amazing feeling to have all the people coming back to Penn, and this thing which was just a dream on paper -- an imaginary idea that I had with my comrades in the seminar -- was now a living, breathing venue," Zitcer recollects.

During that time, Philadelphia native Gina Renzi got involved with The Rotunda, first as a part-time employee and then becoming the primary events coordinator and general manager. She is now in charge of all the day-to-day programming and organization of The Rotunda. With extensive previous involvement throughout the music industry, she was the perfect person to elevate the project to the next level. With her grass-roots promotion of the venue throughout West Philadelphia, Renzi has successfully spread the Rotunda's unique flavor.

It is now known not only for the diversity of its events, but also by the rarely imitated intimate atmosphere. The Rotunda is an alcohol- and tobacco-free environment that is open to all ages. Although the stipulation was initially set by the University, it quickly became one of the trademarks that The Rotunda prided itself on.

"There is an air to all-ages shows. And there is an air to free shows that you can't get elsewhere. Basically, you're saying no matter what your age is and no matter how much money you have in your pocket, you can get in. ... That's very important to me," Renzi says.

College sophomore Tim Fryett, who is now Renzi's assistant in helping her publicize and run the shows, stumbled upon The Rotunda without any prior knowledge of the venue.

Having experienced the uncommon environment of The Rotunda, Fryett now hopes that others will come and experience the art scene that lies beyond campus.

"The Rotunda presents a great alternative to the traditional Greek nightlife. There are a lot of students who, if [they] experienced this atmosphere, would certainly come back," Fryett says.

Although Penn artists take advantage of the Rotunda's space less frequently than their West Philadelphia counterparts, Monitor Report, a Penn modern rock band, has played there twice -- during a movie premiere and during the WQHS-sponsored Battle of the Bands, which it won.

And Penn musicians aren't the only artists using the facility.

The Five Suitors was the movie that Monitor Report opened up for. It was not a large production. In fact, it was "a student film that was written, produced and acted by Penn students, with its own soundtrack written and completed by Penn students," College junior Weston Cookler explains.

"The Rotunda not only funded us, but also gave us a great space to have the viewing in," Cookler recalls. The rapport seems to be more than a one-time thing -- Cookler and the others involved with the project plan to create another movie with the help of The Rotunda later this year.

But those involved aren't just basking in their successes. Renzi has grandiose plans for the future of the program that include a permanent art gallery, cafe, offices to be rented to community organizations, big film screenings and large auditoriums. There is only one thing that is restricting the fulfillment of those dreams.

"The building was already in place, now they have put the staff into place, now the next step is to figure out how to manage the physical renovations of The Rotunda," Zitcer says.

And University officials seem to be enthusiastic about the idea of possible expansion of the site, which is owned by Penn.

"It is a very expensive proposition to renovate the whole building. But there is a real dedication to the arts and culture by the University, as well as a real dedication to 40th Street," Real Estate and Facilities spokesman Tony Sorrentino says.

"Looking at the potential of [a] space like The Rotunda is a really interesting proposition and one that the Facilities and Real Estate Division is actively exploring."

But while the project is never going to be a static enterprise, it is already a dynamic place where individuality meets culture. And those involved know that the Rotunda can be a vital hub of the Penn community -- if only students would have the initiative to come at least once. "If you go to three shows that you never would have gone to before, and out of three shows you like one, that can change your life," Zitcer says.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.