Serenbe Stories

How The Serenbe Institute Drew John Graham In

March 09, 2020 Serenbe / John Graham Season 2 Episode 7
Serenbe Stories
How The Serenbe Institute Drew John Graham In
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Monica Olsen (1s):
Hey guys, it's Monica here. I wanted to tell you about a new podcast that I've started with my very good friend, Jennifer Walsh called Biophilic Solutions. Our last season of Serenbe Stories, Building a Biophilic Movement, was so popular that we decided to dedicate an entire podcast to it. Every other week Jennifer and I will sit down with leaders in the growing field of biophilia. We'll talk about local and global solutions to help nurture the living, social, and economic systems that we all need to sustain future generations. More often than not, nature has the answers. You can find Biophilic Solutions on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and follow us today so you don't miss an episode.

Monica Olsen (41s):
All right, now let's get back to Serenbe Stories. Serenbe is a place where people live, work, learn, and play in celebration of life's beauty. And we're here to share the stories that connect residents and guests to each other and to nature. This is Serenbe Stories.

Monica Olsen (1m 23s):
We are so glad the Nygrens incorporated art into Serenbe and today's guest was a major part of making that possible. We're going to talk with John Graham, the founding executive director of the Serenbe Institute, about the importance of funding the arts, how Serenbe Institute is engaging the Metro Atlanta area, and the future of art and culture in this community and beyond.

Monica Olsen (1m 43s):
But first, Serenbe Stories is brought to you by The Inn at Serenbe. The Inn is nestled in the rolling countryside of bucolic Serenbe, where guests can walk on the 15 miles of trails through preserved forest land, the wildflower meadow, and the animal village.

Monica Olsen (1m 56s):
You can relax by the pool, hot tub, or in rocking chairs on the wraparound porch, play on the croquet lawn, swings, and in-ground trampolines. Connect with nature and each other all while staying in luxurious rooms on The Inn grounds or within the community of Serenbe. Book your stay today at serenbeinn.com

Monica Olsen (2m 13s):
Well, I want to welcome everybody back to Serenbe Stories. Today we are here with Steve Nygren and John Graham, but wanted to introduce, say hello and welcome both of you. 

Steve Nygren (2m 23s): 
Welcome John. 

John Graham (2m 24s): 
Thank you, Steve. Thank you. 

Monica Olsen (2m 25s): 
In John's 30 year career, he worked in higher education at Southern Methodist university, directed development efforts for several arts organizations; including the Florida Philharmonic, Oregon symphony, and Seattle symphony,

Monica Olsen (2m 38s):
He also consulted with Seaside, Florida on their arts feasibility study and came to us as a consultant years ago and never left. 

John Graham (2m 47s):
That's right. 

Monica Olsen (2m 49s):
So wanted to hear your Serenbe story and really start with the question how did you first find out about Serenbe?

John Graham (2m 58s):
Steve found out about my consulting company, the Tomlinson-Graham group, and we met for breakfast somewhere in town at the crack of dawn, as I remember, but it's tough.
 
Steve Nygren (3m 10s): 
Probably. 

John Graham (3m 11s): 
Probably. And we talked about all of the planning for art culture and the environment that had gone on in the initial stages of the development of Serenbe. And there were lots of plans for a variety of artistic and cultural activities, like a pottery center and a bunch of other stuff like that, but they were just sitting there. There was nothing being done with them. So my firm was engaged by Steve to come in and take a look at all of that planning and try to figure out how to effectuate some of the stuff that could be and should be, and also to develop a mechanism for doing it because there was no, there was no organization.

John Graham (3m 54s):
And that's where the idea for the, the Serenbe Institute for art culture and the environment came from. 

Monica Olsen (3m 59s):
And Steve, did you have the Institute concepted already or? 

Steve Nygren (4m 3s):
We had concepted the Institute in that we wanted to have a permanent funding source because I mean, restaurants in Midtown and being on some of the arts boards, I realized that many of these creative people were having to worry about staying alive in the next year or the year after that. And so we wanted to bring some sort of foundation. And so when we set up our CCRs, whatever those stand for, I was just thinking about that. But our, our, our regulatory, we instituted a 1% transfer fee to support the arts and environmental planning. And it's a 3% on the non developed land.

Steve Nygren (4m 47s):
And so we had that idea and we had been talking about the various things as John said, but how do we bring that forward? So we had a funding source and we had ideas, but we were struggling. And that's what led me to John and his partner to start, how does this all happen? And I think that led to then a six month contract.

John Graham (5m 9s):
Right. Right. And then I moved in. 

Steve Nygren (5m 13s):
That's right. 

John Graham (5m 14s): 
Working over the store as it were. 
 
Steve Nygren (5m 17s): 
He drank the Kool-Aid as they say. 

John Graham (5m 18s):
Boy, did I ever. I mean, this community would not be nearly what it is today if Steve hadn't had the vision to put that property transfer fee in place, because if it weren't there, any kinds of artistic and cultural activities would be out there having to raise money before they could do anything, or if an opportunity came along, there would be no money to be able to take a chance. And we've taken some big chances and two or three of them have paid off really well. Yeah. 

Monica Olsen (5m 54s):
Right. Right. So when you came in, had you done, I know that you, tell me a little bit about your background before you were at Serenbe. How did you get into the arts in the beginning? And...

John Graham (6m 4s):
Yeah. I went to, I fell into a job at the Seattle symphony in 1971 where I became what we would now call the development director, but the title then was director of finance or something like that. And so I was in the symphony business for, in Seattle for eight years. And then I went to Portland to manage the orchestra there for eight years. So I spent the first 16 years of my career in those two orchestras. Then I moved to Dallas to teach arts management at the graduate school at SMU. 

Monica Olsen (6m 36s): 
I didn't know that. 

John Graham (6m 38s): 
And I also spent a time there as the university's development director. The university president took me to lunch and said, I'd like for you to come up to the front office and I'll make you a star, right? 

John Graham (6m 50s):
So I said, okay, I'm reminded of what Albert Speer said about Adolf Hitler. It's really difficult to recognize the devil when he has his hands on your shoulder. But I did that for two years and finally got out of it and went to manage the orchestra down in Miami Fort Lauderdale Palm Beach. At the end of 27 years of that business, I looked in the mirror one day and said, I don't want to do this anymore. It's a young person's sport managing orchestras. It really is. Because of the time and the effort and, you know. So I started up a consulting company. When in doubt, consult, right?

John Graham (7m 30s):
And so my business partner and I, Tom Tomlinson, began consulting down in south Florida. And he then moved up to Atlanta to take over the executive directorship of the project to build the new concert hall for the Atlanta symphony. So he was up there and I'm down now in Florida. And we're working here with Steve and the commute was getting really bad. So I'm just going to move to Atlanta. And we were having a meeting in the Blue-Eyed Daisy of a group of people who would eventually become the initial board of this Institute. And I saw on the bulletin board there for rent townhouse, Serenbe, and I thought to myself, Hmm, why should I live in Atlanta when I can live here?

John Graham (8m 17s):
So I went to Steve and I said, you know that townhouse, where is it? And he pointed straight out the window and said, it's right there. It of course the one right across the street from the Daisy right next door to his home. And so I moved there for year and we set up the Institute. Then I built a townhouse up on, on Selborne Way and sold it in 17. And now I'm a very happy renter. So yes, I love it. 

Monica Olsen (8m 42s):
I love it. How did you, when you came to us, had you done anything of setting up an arts organization? You'd obviously managed them, but like for a community that like a very odd.

John Graham (8m 53s):
Yes. We did a number of, of consulting projects that the objective of which was to create some kind of a, of a not-for-profit organization that would foster art and culture. And we didn't, until we got here we hadn't had any that involved the environment. So we were able to work in basically in small communities to bring together people, to actually set up an organization like that. So, yeah.

Monica Olsen (9m 27s):
And had that, so the Institute, so your group actually set the Institute up from,

John Graham (9m 31s):
We started from scratch with we, we came in and talked to everybody we could talk to. Including people who didn't live in Serenbe, we had people who were out and around and it became obvious that the only thing, everybody had great ideas, the only problem was there was nothing with which to make them real. And so that's how then we ended up creating this Institute and it's the, it's the 501C3 and the rest is history, as they say. 

Steve Nygren (10m 0s):
And so what I think about is, is, is we had these various disciplines and people coming in, I've talked about agriculture and the sacred geometry. And, and so we'd had these folks. And so we had a lot of ideas and it's sort of like, if you have a puzzle, but there's no frame, it is what it was. There were a lot of pieces, but we couldn't quite bring it into focus. And so John is the one who really came in and was able to do that. And so many things with Serenbe, we've just been so fortunate because it was idea of a symphony hall that, that brought Thomlinson-Graham to Atlanta, you know, chances are, we would not have found you down in south Florida. 

John Graham (10m 45s): 
You definitely would not have.

Steve Nygren (10m 46s):
And, and then Shelton Stanfill, who was retiring from head of the Woodruff arts center and had a huge history. They decided to move here. And so here I have these two great pillars with, you know, years of experience in the arts right here involved. And the two of them were really able to just take that and bring all of our dreams to reality. 

John Graham (11m 13s):
And to say that it was fun would be an understatement. 

Monica Olsen (11m 15s): 
Yeah. 

John Graham (11m 17s): 
It was great.

Monica Olsen (11m 18s):
And so you became the first executive director of The Institute. 

John Graham (11m 22s):
Yeah. We set up shop as it were at the beginning of 2006. And I became the, became the executive director and held that role until the end of 17. But during that period of time, we saw extraordinary growth in the property transfer fee revenues, obviously, but also in terms of the programming of the Institute as it moved forward. The great thing about the Institute is, because it has this property transfer fee, is that it can be very opportunistic and take advantage of things that fit the mission without taking undue risk and to be able to also facilitate and support and incubate if you will, arts organizations or artists.

Monica Olsen (12m 9s):
Yeah.

Steve Nygren (12m 10s):
And the, and word had gotten out that we had this transfer fee. And so some of the arts community is okay for, you know, a pot of gold. And so we had a lot of people trying to hand us their dreams, I think would be a way to say it, in various disciplines. And, you know, at that time we thought we could maybe afford a pottery studio and we'd had feasibility studies and determined that was a real need in Metro Atlanta. We could fill that gap. And, and there were various, in in fact I can think of three people that suggested we have a theater and we'd always send them to the John and Shelton team to see what this made sense of, you know, and so we had some folks that sound like they really know what they're doing.

Steve Nygren (12m 54s):
And then we had this young guy just finishing college. 

John Graham (12m 57s):
He was still in college. 

Steve Nygren (12m 58s): 
He was still in college. 

John Graham (12m 58s): 
He was finishing, he was still at the university of South Carolina.

Steve Nygren (13m 1s):
And John could tell you that story, but it was, you know, I could always count on them to say, ah, here don't judge the book by the cover there there's depth here. And you know, do you want to tell the Brian story?

John Graham (13m 14s):
Yeah. A young man by the name of Brian Clowdus who was finishing his MFA in directing or acting at the university of South Carolina, sent a note to info at Serenbe I think it was, and said my, my family and I come to Serenbe quite often, and we love it. And I'd like to talk to somebody about maybe starting a theater company there. Well, that ended up in my inbox. So we met for coffee at the Blue-Eyed Daisy, and I was immediately impressed by the fact that he was bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to go and all of that. And we talked about what he thought he might like to do. And I said, okay, give me a business plan and some outline of, of what you, what you propose.

John Graham (13m 55s):
And then I will take it to the board of the Institute and see if they'll support it. Well, theater was clearly in the mission of the, of the Playhouse or of the Institute. So I took it to them after Brian's, apocryphally probably Brian's, Brian went home and Googled business plan and they, the board was impressed. So we took him under our wing so that he did not have to get his own 501C3 or any of that stuff. Provide all the administrative support. And so the first season in 2010, the budget was $41,000.

John Graham (14m 37s):
We gave the theater 14,000, we the Institute. So Brian had to go out and get the rest. And he also had to go out and create a, sort of a quasi board of volunteers to support his activities. The first season, it took place in the, in the courtyard, behind the Blue-Eyed Daisy, because that that's where we were. And in the second year, people began thinking we really need to build him a theater. At which point he said, no, I've decided that what we've got here is that it's outdoor site-specific and we'll work that way. Well, that created a whole new character for theater in Atlanta, as a matter of fact.

John Graham (15m 20s):
And so the second season came along and it was a smash hit. And then he began doing his main work out in the woods.

Steve Nygren (15m 32s):
And then at the other end of the spectrum, when the contemporary group decided to leave the Atlanta ballet because of the Institute, we were able to catch this professional group and keep that group in Atlanta. So I think those are two, we have many units now in the Serenbe Institute, but that, that shows you one that was really grown then and another professional that found the Institute as the place they could. 

John Graham (15m 58s):
He's referring to Terminus, the modern ballet theater. And in, in two years ago, there was a change of artistic leadership at the ballet, Atlanta ballet. And in ballet, you know, artistic directors have very, very specific criteria for what it is they want. 

Monica Olsen (16m 15s): 
Of course. 

John Graham (16m 17s): 
So in the process, he decided not to renew the contracts for five principal dancers. And so they got together and started talking about creating their own dance company. By happenstance, a member of the Institute board had been hired by the ballet to give diction lessons to a couple of the dancers because in one particular ballet production, 

Monica Olsen (16m 44s): 
I don't know if I knew that. 

John Graham (16m 46s): 
They had to, they had to speak, well, dancers don't speak.

John Graham (16m 50s):
So in any event, she was up there and she was coaching one of those dancers who told her about what they were trying to do. Well, a bell went off in her head, light went off in her head and she came back to the Institute board and said, here's an opportunity. What do you think? Well, let's pursue it. So we sat down up in Atlanta with the two, with the principals, all of the dancers actually and sat across the table and said, what is it you need? And everything that they needed that they couldn't do, we could. So we said, okay, come home. So now they're a major force in dance in Atlanta. And they do a lot of their own choreography.

John Graham (17m 32s):
They bring in guest choreographers and they have a good partnership with Kennesaw state, the dance program up there and their performances down here, out of doors, have been spectacular.

Monica Olsen (17m 45s):
Unbelievable. I mean, on the level of anything that you would find internationally or in New York. 

John Graham (17m 50s): 
Right. 

Steve Nygren (17m 51s):
And so people many times think that the Institute and the art programming is for Serenbe or the area, but, but we are a force in Metro Atlanta, and even the Southeast. 

John Graham (17m 59s): 
That's correct. 

Steve Nygren (18m 1s): 
And I believe for the Playhouse that that little budget is now approaching 2 million, I believe. And 1% of the ticket sales come from our zip code and there is a good number that come from outside the state of Georgia. 

John Graham (18m 14s):
Yeah. It's amazing how many people come down here from even the Northern suburbs of Atlanta to come and enjoy the Playhouse. And when the Playhouse is operating, it would be hard to get a reservation at one of our restaurants here because they're packed.
 
Monica Olsen (18m 30s): 
Very true very true. 

John Graham (18m 32s): 
But of course at 7:30, they all go away.

Steve Nygren (18m 36s):
The residents know you come at 7:30 for your
 
John Graham (18m 38s):
Right, residents come at 7:30. Yeah. 
 
Steve Nygren (18m 41s): 
And you know, and there's the artist in residence program and these various things. And so in addition to, to giving money and the stability, it's the attitude that arts and artists are important. And it's that respect that a lot of communities do not really give the art community. 

John Graham (18m 60s):
Right. I mean, the way in which this community has adopted, if you will, the Playhouse and Terminus and the artists in residence program is one of the things that makes it work. We've learned that we can't do anything successfully if there isn't a resident here willing to go to the wall for whatever that organization is. So you get at the Playhouse Sandra Storrar and Garnie Nygren and you get at AIR, Janice Barton. And so it's, it's clear that for us to succeed in serving not only Serenbe, but to also serve communities outside of Serenbe, we have to have that local, that local intense leadership.

Monica Olsen (19m 45s):
Right.

Steve Nygren (19m 45s):
And we found that out. We've had some failures, such as the photography studio. 

John Graham (19m 49s):
Yes, we, we, we, we tried a photography studio the same time that the Playhouse was, was up and running and were approached by some extraordinarily competent professional theater or professional photographers. And it seemed like a good thing. So Steve was kind enough to let us make this piece of the office down the hall here, a, a real photography studio with dark rooms and enlargers, and was all the traditional media. And the plan was that these are these photographers from Atlanta, they would come and they would utilize the facilities and help pay for it.

John Graham (20m 29s):
And that we would offer classes and people would, you know, we'd generate revenue. So a business plan was put together that turned out to be completely fallacious. I did it. I know nothing about photography. So remember, remember this going forward. And after about two years, it became obvious that those two premises upon which we had built the place weren't working out. So we finally just, you know, cut our losses. 

Monica Olsen (20m 58s): 
Right. 

Steve Nygren (20m 59s):
And that was a case where people outside of Serenbe tried handing us their dream. 

John Graham (21m 2s): 
That is exactly right. 

Steve Nygren (21m 4s): 
And we did not have the passion that grew from within the community. 

John Graham (21m 8s):
That is correct. There was never anybody here, even though there are many quality photographers here, but there was never anybody here who would take that on and make it theirs.
 
Monica Olsen (21m 20s): 
Right.
 
John Graham (21m 21s): 
Some people tried, but since they were dealing with a flawed business plan, it was doomed anyway.

Steve Nygren (21m 27s):
And that's why the pottery really has not stood up because there was not that passionate person. 

John Graham (21m 32s):
That's right. 

Steve Nygren (21m 33s): 
There've been some incredible artists and potters, but there was no one willing to own the center.

Monica Olsen (21m 39s):
Right. Talk a little bit more about the artists in residence as well as the fellows program. Cause I think both of those are really wonderful. I mean,

John Graham (21m 47s):
Artists in residence was the first initiative of the, of the Institute. It began in 2007 and it was fostered initially by Tom Swanston and Gail Foster, artists who lived here and had a gallery here. And so we began inviting artists in for a residency of, in one case of a year, and it became more and more popular. And what was happening is we were having to place those artists in people's homes or in their garage apartment or wherever. And it had a volunteer board, was not completely Serenbe people

John Graham (22m 29s):
There were some from Atlanta and it became obvious that we needed to organize and professionalize if we were going to go forward. So we hired our first executive director for the artists in residence program and another staff member. And it began to go forward. And the process is you can't just come and apply. There is a national advisory council made up of leaders in the various media and they nominate people. The nominations go to the Institute, go to the AIR board and they choose the ones for whom they will issue an invitation.

John Graham (23m 9s):
The residencies last from three weeks to a month to six months, depending on the artist, depending on what's available, it's a no strings attached. In other words, you don't have to go leave something. You don't have to leave a statue or a painting or whatever, but in choosing the artists, there is the hope that they are the kind that will engage in the community. And we've found that that is extraordinarily important, both in terms of them doing a workshops or a studio open studios, or sitting out in front of the Blue Eyed Daisy and talking people. That's the impact that the artists in residence program has on the community. For the artists,

John Graham (23m 54s):
If they want to go sit under a tree and look at their toes for two weeks, we don't care. It's uninterrupted time to recharge their creative energies is what it is. So we've had everything from musicians to spoken word poets who have been very successful here, a choreographer, a number of playwrights, you know, so it's across the medium.

Monica Olsen (24m 18s):
Well, we have a new executive director, Darren Wong, right? Who came from, I think most recently had started the Decatur book festival. So that's going to be a really great energizing future. Fellows is kind of fun. And, and tell me a little bit about fellows and Phyllis.

John Graham (24m 35s):
Well fellows, the fellows program is one of those that it's not one of the standalone units like AIR and Playhouse and Terminus. It's a program inside the Institute itself. And it brings in people of, of stature, people who have something significant to say on, on important issues. And we have a small committee that was initially chaired by Phyllis Bleiweis. So resident here who would go out and figure out who those were and invite them. And some of them have been amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Steve Nygren (25m 10s):
We had a conversation with Puck earlier.

John Graham (25m 12s):
Oh, did you? One of the, one of the fellows we brought in is a retired Marine Corps, Colonel fighter pilot named Puck Mykleby. They didn't call him Puck, they called him Colonel of course, but, and he was in the office of the chief or the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. And his focus was on identifying how self-sufficient communities can be a national security issue. That if we have a nation filled with, you know, self-sustaining communities, we can put up with a lot. Unless we're all just together. And so he was here for a while and then he eventually came on your biophilic board.

Steve Nygren(25m 56s):
That's correct.

John Graham (25m 57s):
Yeah. 

Steve Nygren (25m 58s): 
And continues to serve. 

John Graham (25m 59s):
That's great. He's a great guy. That kind of person was the kind that we turned up while doing the fellows.

Monica Olsen (26m 6s):
Tell me about, I know that there was an educator that came a professor and sort of what were the outcome of that

John Graham (26m 15s):
Early on one of the biggest issues for the, for the community was that there was no place to send their kids to school. So clearly that was a deterrent to young families coming and buying a residence here. And so the Institute pulled together a sort of a town meeting to discuss this, this issue. And we brought in two experts, one a professor of, of community education at the university of Michigan, and then a sociologist who's been coming to Serenbe for quite a while. And we spent a weekend talking about that and all the, all of the opportunities and, and, and what directions might it might take. And at the end of that, there ended up to be two groups of people, one group that said, we will take over trying to create a Montessori school because the one that, the one that we had had closed down and the other one said, we will work to get a charter school.

John Graham (27m 7s):
Well, it worked, We have both. Yeah. So, but it was because it was because the Institute was able to pull together the community in a conversation mode that we were able to deal with that. 

Monica Olsen (27m 20s):
Yeah. No, I think that's really interesting that more and more communities should think about having some type of arts and culture programming. I mean, the Institute to me is just such a mind blowing concept that you wish that every large development or, you know, I guess even a condo complex could have it. Right? You know, why not?

John Graham (27m 44s):
All you have to have- It, it will happen. It's very simple. All you have to have is Steve Nygren as the developer. 

Steve Nygren (27m 49s):
Well, it's, it's, it's an attitude. And what we, what we see is developments that are just developing real estate. And the differences from the beginning Serenbe was about developing community. And that's your real difference. 

John Graham (28m 3s):
Right. And I don't refer to Steve as a developer. I call him a town founder and that's completely different. 

Monica Olsen (28m 6s): 
Okay. Tell me about that.
 
Steve Nygren (28m 8s): 
Well, to me, a developer is somebody who goes out and builds houses and sells and then goes away, right? And they may be beautiful houses and beautiful communities and all the rest of it with amenities, the golf course and all that. But a town founder comes in and uses the development of real estate as the framework around which to build a true small town, a community. I was asked one time, you know what, what's it like living down there in that retirement community? And I said, well, it's fine by me, but you might want to ask the baby that was born six weeks ago kind of thing.

John Graham (28m 44s):
So if you look at Serenbe as a whole, it is much more than a development. It's a small town and it's getting bigger.

Steve Nygren (28m 53s):
And you are retired, but your circle of friends is, explain that range. 

John Graham (29m 2s):
Well, my circle of friends is, is extraordinary. I've made more good friends here than any place I've ever lived in my life, including where I grew up. And the majority of them are young enough to be my grandchildren. You know? If I was in a place where it was just people like me, I would kill myself. Or die of boredom first, whichever came first. So that's one of the great things about this place is that you can, you can enjoy that breadth of, of ages, of education, of professions, all of that here, that you couldn't in most other places,

Monica Olsen (29m 43s):
Right. Where you're sort of siloed or isolated in this one demographic. 

John Graham (29m 46s):
Right. Wherever I see active adult community, my skin crawls.

Monica Olsen (29m 53s):
Yeah, it's really kind of a terrible word. What things do you wish or, or, yeah, I guess that was the question. What, what things do you wish you would see the Institute have in the future? 

John Graham (30m 8s):
Well, we've got to build facilities. Every time somebody says they've got a great idea the first first question is where. And we've done a lot of planning and planning and planning and planning for facilities that would support the Playhouse and Terminus ballet and provide housing for Playhouse apprentices. And you know, that whole range of things and a big community building for performances and teaching, you know, that's about a $6 million project. So we have been pulling back now and recognizing that this is that proverbial elephant we have to eat one bite at a time. So the next, I think, where we are going next is an outdoor performance site that is covered, especially for the stage primarily, so that if it's drizzling, the dancers can still dance.

John Graham (31m 2s):
If they're uncovered and it drizzles and the Marley floor gets wet, that's it, to a certain extent, you know, they would, there needs to be a place where the Playhouse can run to cover sort of thing. So hopefully we'll be able to work on that and get it finished within the next two years, I would think it would be, it would be a combination project between the Institute and the development company, because the development company owns the land, you know? And so that's the next big thing. We haven't talked about the south Fulton area initiative, and I want to make sure we talk about that. 

Monica Olsen (31m 38s): 
Oh definitely. It's a wonderful program.
 
John Graham (31m 41s):  
If you look at, at, at the south Fulton Crescent, as it were below 20, below the, or out by the airport, they're hot, they're very underserved communities.

John Graham (31m 53s):
There's very little arts activity, very little arts education. And so we decided to do an experimental project to see if, if the Institute could somehow help meet those needs. So we began making contact with, you know, community centers and libraries and chambers of commerce and all of this to define who the constituency would be. One of the biggest ones is Grady hospital. So what we did was we then began mounting programs using the Playhouse and using Terminus and using a spoken word poet or something like that to begin to provide services to those communities.

John Graham (32m 36s):
The great thing about it is, is that it's to date is fully funded by grant money. So none of the operational money of the Institute goes into it. And that makes it, that makes it very attractive obviously, but that I think is one of the places where we have a real opportunity to make a significant impact outside of Serenbe.

Monica Olsen (33m 1s):
No, that's incredible. Are there future plans for other sites or other partnerships?

John Graham (33m 6s):
There's, you know, we have a staff member who on the Institute board or Institute staff whose responsibility is, is managing that program and beginning to identify additional partners. But Grady, I was in Grady one day and there's a cellist in the lobby. 

Monica Olsen (33m 24s): 
That's incredible. 

John Graham (33m 26s): 
Great, huge towering lobby. And it was fabulous. And people were gathered around. Many of whom had never seen a cello I'm sure. And it had an enormous impact. 

Monica Olsen (33m 37s): 
Yeah. It's incredible. 

Steve Nygren (33m 38s):
I talked to someone, they happened to be on one of the west side Marta stops and there was Terminus dancers. They get out and there is. So it's, it's really doing an incredible community service. 

John Graham (33m 50s):
Yeah. Yeah. I think one of the con one of the continuing challenges for the Institute has been from the beginning to make sure that the understanding and image of the Institute as what it is, is recognized by everybody who lives in Serenbe. And that imaging problem has been with us since the beginning practically. And so people move in and they go, oh, let's go to the Playhouse. They have no idea where the Playhouse comes from. And all of a sudden they hear about the Institute and say, well, I don't, I don't know what that is. Let's you know, so that's a continuing education inside the community to make sure that happens.

Steve Nygren (34m 36s):
And that's because the Institute, the, the, the transfer fee happens at the time of the closing. And it's just, you know, it's that document. So it's like one of those legal things. Yeah, no, you know, most people are glad to do it. And they realize that they're, that they are supportive.

John Graham (34m 51s):
To my knowledge there's never been a sale go south because of the transfer fee? 

Steve Nygren (34m 54s):
We've never lost a sale because of it. And I can only think of like two people that even complained about it. And I can think of at least five instances where people have given us more, because generally they put the stock in because it's a, it's a nonprofit that they can do it that way. And they always rounded it up to a considerable sum

John Graham (35m 12s):
Round them up rounded up to 10,000. That would be very nice. Yeah, I had a neighbor who bought a lot and paid the transfer fee on the lot. When he sold the lot, he paid it again as did the people who bought the lot. So it was a double whammy.

Steve Nygren (35m 28s):
He just liked, yeah. 

John Graham (35m 31s): 
He believed in what we were doing.
 
Steve Nygren (35m 32s): 
No, it's people get invested in more ways than one. They're required to invest and then

John Graham (35m 39s):
The issue is for them to know when they walk out of that closing, what it is they're going to get for that closing the transfer fee. One of the things that everybody has to remember is once that money goes into the institute, it's not anybody else's money but the Institute. If you want it to do something specific, you could come and ask, but you can't designate that you're going to use my transfer fee to do this, because that decision is made at the level of the Institute board. 

Monica Olsen (36m 12s): 
And that's why you have the board.

Steve Nygren (36m 13s):
And then we started publishing an annual report and that's been several years. And I don't know if we should, if we can link that. 

Monica Olsen (36m 18s):
Oh yeah, we can link to the current one, 

Steve Nygren (36m 20): 
Someone can see our annual report. 
 
Monica Olsen (36m 22s): 
Which is fantastic cause it shows all where all the dollars go, where, where they came in, where they go. Talks about all of the different units and programs. How many days of art they've had some of the highlights, how many customers, if grants have come in, as well as who the board is. So it's, it's a wonderful document.

John Graham (36m 41s):
It really is. I mean, it's important to remember that when we started the Playhouse, when we started AIR and we started the Playhouse, and then we took Terminus that they don't exist on the money that comes from the Institute. They get money from the Institute, but they are self-sustaining At their own level by going out and getting their sponsorships, their contributions, et cetera, et cetera.

Steve Nygren (37m 4s):
And many times it's earned income through the program. 

John Graham (37m 6s):
Right. To the program. Right. And so what we do with the property transfer fee then is provide a bunch, most of that back office stuff that they would have to have on their own if the Institute weren't there. They'd have to have their own accounting department, file their own taxes, do their own audits, HR, all of the rest of it. So the last time I looked the value of if you could call how you value that sort of thing for the, for those, for those units, which by the way, we now call divisions. 

Monica Olsen (37m 39s): 
Okay. Didn't know that. 

John Graham (37m 40s): 
Yes, well, good news. That it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $350,000 a year that they would have to pay if we weren't doing It.

John Graham (37m 50s):
Yeah. It eliminates duplication. And since The, since the Institute is one organization from a legal and tax point of view, it's audited as one thing. You can see the Playhouse and you can see Terminus and fellows and, and all of those, but it all comes out in the bottom as one organization. 

Monica Olsen (38m 13s):
Right. And each of those divisions each have their own board.

John Graham (38m 17s):
That's correct. And they're not legal boards in the sense of having the ultimate fiduciary responsibility. They're in effect, if you will, subcommittees of the big board of the Institute board, the fiduciary responsibility lies with the Institute board itself. 

Steve Nygren (38m 33s):
And for the Atlanta listers, it's very much like the Woodruff arts center. 

John Graham (38m 37s):
Right. In many ways like the Woodruff arts center with the decimal place four places to the left.
 
Steve Nygren (38m 44s): 
Today.

John Graham (38m 44s): 
Yes. You never know. 

Monica Olsen (38m 46s): 
That's right.

Monica Olsen (38m 47s):
Anything else you want to add that we haven't covered about the Institute?

John Graham (38m 51s):
I was thinking on the way over here, about the early days, and this can be a very funny place, you know, and I was trying to think of the funniest thing I can ever remember happening in here. And it was in the first season of the Playhouse and they were doing a production of a play called Ordinary Days. And Brian Clowdus was in it and it was in the play in the courtyard right by the fountain there. And he got up on the edge of the fountain to  deliver a monologue or something and he slipped and fell right in. Covered with little frogs, cause the place was filled with them, and continued as if nothing had ever happened. 

Steve Nygren (39m 34s):
The show must go on. 

John Graham (39m 35s): 
The show must go on. That is true. 

Monica Olsen (39m 37s): 
That's a great story. 

Steve Nygren (39m 39s):
Well, John, you have been just such an incredible both foundation and glue as we have built the Institute and the art program and you, your legacy will live on in many ways.

John Graham (39m 52s):
Well, as we occasionally say to each other, who'd have thunk it?

Steve Nygren (39m 56s):
Exactly. These dreams have become a reality. 

John Graham (39m 59s): 
That's true.

Monica Olsen (39m 60s):
Well, thank you so much for your time. 

John Graham (40m 1s): 
My pleasure.

Monica Olsen (40m 5s):
Thank you for listening to Serenbe Stories. New episodes are available on Mondays. Please rate and review the podcast and make sure to email your questions for Steve Nygren to stories@serenbe.com. You may even get to hear them on the podcast. More details about episodes and guests are available on our website, serenbestories.com.

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Orchestra-ting A Career
Building The Serenbe Institute for Art, Culture & The Environment