春水堂视频

For much of history, going back to the Roman Empire and earlier, the arts depended largely on a patronage system, through which royals, nobles and other wealthy people commissioned or sponsored theater, paintings and more, often to bolster their political ambitions or social standing.

In the Western world, that shifted first to a more egalitarian kind of patronage鈥攕elling tickets to a mass market鈥攊n recent centuries. By the late 20th听century, public funding of the arts became an important source of support.

All those models still exist. But in the 21st听century, entrepreneurship has become increasingly important, especially to emerging young artists, a fact recognized by arts programs at the University of Colorado Boulder. For example, the College of Music created an Entrepreneurship Center for Music and the听听encourages students to take outside courses that will help them succeed as working artists.

鈥淚鈥檓 always seeking out opportunities and strategies so I can earn at least part of my living by being an artist,鈥� says Arithson, finance manager for the Denver-based nonprofit Mile High Youth Corps.

Arithson, long interested in the use of puppetry in theater, has done everything from design puppets for Boulder鈥檚听and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, to present workshops on campus and perform at small local venues.

Her most recent project,听Never Again the Same, is a shadow-puppet play co-created with Emily Saavedra and based on an urban retelling of听Little Red Riding Hood听by Boulder native, Naropa University graduate and author听. Schantz narrates while Saavedra and Arithson create shadows behind the screen.

Inspired by the mechanics of classical shadow puppetry such as the Indonesian Wayang, the creators used ordinary objects to tell the story.

鈥淲e use found objects, household objects, plastic, glass, a condom, other materials, and our own bodies to make images and convey metaphors,鈥� Arithson says.

Since the summer of 2014, the three artists have found different ways to fund the project and present it to audiences. On Aug. 30, they produced the play at Boulder鈥檚 Trident Booksellers and Caf茅. On Halloween they performed the play for a theater class at CU-Boulder through a program-fee grant. And March 27-28 they will perform at Kakes Studios under their new company name, Splintered Light Theatre, as part of听.

鈥淲e鈥檝e come at it from a lot of different angles. With the Trident, we thought about things like the cost of the venue and marketing strategies, since we weren鈥檛 working with a lot of funding,鈥� Arithson says. 鈥淕rant funding is competitive in a different way. It鈥檚 sort of like making one big sale as opposed to a bunch of small ones. We鈥檝e used a strategic mix of ways to go about it.鈥�

Emily Harrison (PhDThtr鈥�12), who co-founded Square Product Theatre in 2006 with CU-Boulder grad Jess Buttery (BAThtr鈥�10) and actor Michelle Moore, sees Arithson as a true small-scale artist-entrepreneur.

鈥淎ndryn听is an artist very much focused on the process of making art, which in theater is a bit unusual in this country because of the restraints artists deal with as far as resources are concerned: time, space to work听补苍诲听funding, primarily,鈥� Harrison says. 鈥淪he focuses on one project at a time, giving herself time to develop the work听and create something really visually evocative.鈥�

Arithson applauds the CU-Boulder theater department鈥檚 growing emphasis on entrepreneurship. And as with anything in the professional world, she says, being an artist is ultimately all about relationships.

鈥淔or theater students, I would urge them to really foster those connections while they are in school. That was one of the most valuable things I got from the theater program aside from the education,鈥� she says.

鈥淚 met Emily Harrison through the department and we got an opportunity to perform for a class through (Assistant Professor of Theatre)听.鈥�

If You Go

Never Again the Same: A shadow puppetry retelling of Little Red Riding Hood for adults
Written and narrated by Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
Performed and designed by Andryn Arithson and Emily Saavedra
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, March 27 and Friday, March 28
奥丑别谤别:听, 2115 Pearl St., Boulder
Tickets: $7-$10
More info:听听补苍诲听

Clay Evans is director of communications for CU Presents.