McKnight Center reaches 5-year milestone, offers school districts more educational opportunities

Jan. 17—The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University has one mission — to inspire and transform the lives of individuals through "artistic excellence, shared creative experiences and impactful learning opportunities."

In the past five years, they've done just that.

"We're having a wildly successful year," said Mark Blakeman, the inaugural Marilynn and Carl Thoma executive director of the McKnight Center. "By almost every measure of success, it's the best season that we've had since our opening."

Now in its fifth season, the McKnight Center has hosted world-renowned artists and musicians — from its three-year partnership with the New York Philharmonic to Country Western artists such as Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks — and many others.

"We've sold more tickets this year at the halfway point then we have in any other season in their entirety, and that's because we've had more sold-out performances than we've ever had," Blakeman said.

"The interest from the community at large and from OSU has never been stronger ... It's really nice that the community is embracing what it is that we're doing artistically."

Partnerships and residencies — such as the New York Philharmonic, the musical drama "The Buddy Holly Story" and cast, and the opera singer and OSU graduate Sarah Coburn — have allowed artists to become a part of Stillwater and build relationships.

"What's special about it is, it's designed in a way that those artists get embedded in our community," Blakeman said. "... A lot of venues aren't doing that."

Not only has the McKnight Center brought an annual economic impact of about $5 million to Stillwater and inspired business owners to open restaurants in town, another reason for its success is the ability to bring big-name artists to a relatively small community, Blakeman said.

"We are very fortunate to be able to bring a number of artists to the McKnight Center that typically don't come to smaller communities," Blakeman said. "And that goes back to the vision that the McKnight family had for the quality of programming that they hope to see at the Center, and also to Burns Hargis, who really was the one who believed that Oklahoma State University needed to elevate its performing in fine arts — and the McKnight Center is a piece of that."

The 1,098-seat auditorium is typically not a venue where most artists would perform.

"To be able to see these amazing artists in this really intimate setting, we feel like is part of what separates us from other venues around the state of Oklahoma and the region," Blakeman said. "... It's like you're having a conversation with people that are on stage."

Another big reason for the McKnight Center's success is its collaboration with artists to provide educational experiences for students — both at OSU and in the school district.

This semester, about 12 OSU students will have the chance to go to New York to study under musicians from the New York Philharmonic. They will observe rehearsals, attend concerts and perform themselves.

"We strive to get all of our artists to participate in learning opportunities," Blakeman said. "It doesn't always happen, but more often than not, it does."

He said they serve about 6,000 students a year for a variety of education programs such as master classes that are open to the public, Young People's Concerts and residencies such as with the New York Philharmonic.

Within one four-day residency, the McKnight Center offered 30 events, including 16 master classes for every instrument in the orchestra and a Young People's Concert.

"We have a strong partnership with Stillwater Public Schools," Blakeman said. "Our commitment to them has been to serve every student in every grade every year."

One of those opportunities is called "Link Up," a partnership with Carnegie Hall for third-fifth grades. The McKnight Center uses the curriculum provided by Link Up to train music teachers to take music into the classroom themselves. Students then participate in a concert by singing, playing a recorder or dancing with an orchestra.

"It includes them, they become a part of the performance," Blakeman said.

Blakeman said this spring, SPS will participate in that performance again, although it's not a public performance. Enid Symphony will be joining the students.

"We're starting to reach out to other school systems," Blakeman said.

He said Cushing Public Schools would also be participating in a Young People's Concert. They have also begun working with Perkins-Tryon Public Schools to start testing out programs.

"We are looking for opportunities to expand and maximize the efficiency of the education programs that we're doing for PreK-12th grades," Blakeman said.

Another goal the McKnight Center is focused on this season is getting more tickets into the hands of OSU students.

Guests who are unable to attend a specific performance can call the box office and donate their tickets back to be assigned to a student. The McKnight Center keeps a database of students who have shown interest in free or low-cost tickets.

"More people are now notifying when they can't attend," Blakeman said.

He said they employ about 80 OSU students at the McKnight Center, including the entire usher team and those who work at the box office, on the stage crew, event crew and in the food member service. Many of the graduates have gone on to get jobs in the performing arts field.

For more information on upcoming events and ticket prices, visit mcknightcenter.org.