Oil Lamp Theater is hoping to ignite a love of theater in people of all ages at its new SPARK CENTER for the Performing Arts in Glenview. And that’s only one of their plans for the facility, according to Executive Director Jay Pastucha.
The SPARK CENTER is located in a 2,750-square-foot space at 1009 Waukegan Rd., Glenview, across the street from Oil Lamp’s performing space at 1723 Glenview Road. The SPARK CENTER, which Oil Lamp is renting, has two spacious studios for classes and camps, plus office space for the theater company’s staff. It also offers space for rehearsals.
The theater company already attracts people from a wide range of communities for its performances. Their statistics indicate that last year, its audiences came from 225 towns, with 40% of the audience members from Glenview and 10% from Chicago.
But the theater company has other goals, according to Pastucha.
“It comes down to where do we see our impact as an organization,” he said. “We saw a big lack in the area of arts education.” He added that was “a big drive for the space. Without this space, we would not be able to do arts educationthe way we want to do it.”
Pastucha noted that arts education develops a variety of diverse skills, including leadership, collaboration, and empathy. He added that another goal of arts education is assuring the longevity of the performing arts by nurturing a love of the art form.
They currently have two adult classes scheduled at the SPARK CENTER. “Story Performance!” runs until June 8 and costs $250; “Scene Study, Playwright Spotlight: Tracy Letts” runs
from May 14-June 11 and costs $200.
In addition, there are a variety of one-week and two-week summer camps for various age children on the schedule, including: “Olympians Ignite the Stage,” “Oz!,” and “K2Camp: Puppy Power!,” among others. All run five days a week with half-day one-week camps costing $275 and full-day one-week camps costing $490. Two-week camps cost $975.
They are working on ways to offer scholarships for families that can’t afford the classes or camps, Pastucha indicated.
He said that adding the office space is also essential because Oil Lamp hired three new full-time employees this year.
Because parking can be a problem in the area, Pastucha is pleased that the building has a parking lot. There are 12 spaces available to SPARK CENTER during the day when the businesses that share the building are open. After they close for the day, the SPARK CENTER has access to 24 parking spaces.
Oil Lamp is financing the new space as part of a comprehensive campaign they are starting.
Pastucha laughingly admitted that his goal isn’t to train future actors for Oil Lamp Theater.
“My goal is to make better humans,” he declared. “You don’t have to walk out of here wanting to be an artist, but if you have your imagination ignited and you have found some passion and
empathy in life, that’s what matters most.”
For more information about the SPARK CENTER, visit oillamptheater.org.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
