“If Seattle culture has a future, Teen Tix is at its heart”
Well, this is exciting news. We made the Stranger's short list for this year's Genius Awards in the Organization category. I think the best way to describe our general mood would be, just, y'know, ECSTATIC.
Here's the text of our Genius profile. There is a party on Friday, but (oh, the humanity!) it's 21 and over. Sorry friends. We'd love it if any ex-Teen Tixers (or Teen Tix supporters) who are now of legal age wanted to come and celebrate with us. Here's the info. And here's that profile:
We'll get back to work now. Thanks Genius committee! You made our year.
The profile (posted in full below) sites the fact that, by the end of 2009, Teen Tix will have facilitated the sale of over 12,500 teen tickets to the arts. So we just want to point out that it's YOU Teen Tixers, not us, who really deserve the credit. It's you - who've told your friends, who've served on our steering committee, who've written reviews, who've talked your favorite venues into joining, and who've seen tons of art over the last five years - who've made Teen Tix a success. You've proven that teenagers can be curious, engaged, invested, and discerning arts-goers, just like everybody else. You've plunged your flag into Seattle's arts community and said "we're here too!" And you've been heard. Congratulations.
And we would be remiss if we didn't take a minute to thank our incredible participating organizations without whom there would be no Teen Tix. It's important to remember how lucky we are. Not that many cities in the U.S. - heck, in the world - have such a large active community of young arts-goers and an arts community that is truly committed to welcoming them. In fact, hardly anybody does. Seattle is special. Our participating organizations make it special, and we love them.
"As the subscription generation fades into history, arts organizations have scrambled to find new, young audiences. Enter Teen Tix, Seattle's leading force for getting young butts into theater seats and museum halls, which lives in a little office in a musty corner of the Seattle Center House. Over the past five years, Teen Tix has cajoled local arts institutions into selling its members (13- to 19-year-olds) $5 tickets. Smart institutions, like Pacific Northwest Ballet, jumped at the opportunity. Less smart institutions dragged their feet. But Teen Tix persevered, and its members now have access to over 30 theaters, museums, etc. around the city: On the Boards, Seattle Art Museum, the Vera Project, Seattle Arts & Lectures, Northwest Film Forum, and so on. By the end of 2009, Teen Tix will have facilitated the sale of over 12,500 tickets (2,500 a year) to teenagers. In its most recent survey, 70 percent of Teen Tix members said they now attend the arts "more frequently" or "a lot more frequently" than they did before joining. If Seattle culture has a future, Teen Tix is at its heart. (Full disclosure: I sometimes teach a critical-writing class for Teen Tix members. But the organization's achievements far predate—and have nothing to do with—my involvement.) BRENDAN KILEY"
We'll get back to work now. Thanks Genius committee! You made our year.
