Tateuchi Center - What it means for us ...

9:15 PM 0 Comments

A cold, gray, rainy morning in Bellevue. All set for our rendezvous, we walk into (what we think is) a relatively under-visited coffee shop. Aghast, we look at the crowds brimming over. No place to sit, let alone talk. Bellevue is growing! And how! All the more appropriate, given our topic of discussion today! We somehow squeeze into a nook, desperately wishing the people on the comfortable seats away. And then it happens, the plushest seats open up. We grab our coffees and smile. We are now in business!!

Moumita: So, let’s start at the beginning. What exactly is the Tateuchi Center? And what does it mean for the “east-siders”?

Alka: Tateuchi Center (www.tateuchicenter.org ) is a performing arts center – one of the finest of its kind in the country – with primarily two performance spaces. There is a 2000 seat main hall. The way it is designed you can seat 2000, 1500 or 500 people – the lighting and the acoustics is designed to adjust to the number of people. And then there is a 250 seat cabaret – it has movable seating – meant more for intimate, informal, interactive performances.

Sita: For east-side residents it means access to a world-class performing space and world class artists. Many artists that visit Seattle currently cannot perform on the eastside due to lack of an appropriate venue.

Moumita: How and when was this idea (of a performing arts center) born?

Alka: A group of people have been working at it for actually about 20 years, but it just hadn’t happened. Maybe, the time just wasn’t right then, and it is now…

Tateuchi Center - An artist's impression. Source :.http://www.tateuchicenter.org)

So, initially PACE [Performing Arts Center Eastside] was formed. PACE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit registered in 2002 with a mission of building the Center. Then Kemper Development Company/Betty and Kemper Freeman, Jr. donated the land a few years later and that made the dream real and momentum picked up. In June 2010 the center was renamed to Tateuchi Center when the Tateuchi foundation donated $25MM. PACE is still continues as the parent organization of the Tateuchi Center.

From L-to-R: Alka Badshah, Moumita Bhattacharya and & Sita Vashee

Moumita: So, how did you both get involved with the project?

Alka: I joined the board (for Tateuchi Center, then PACE) in 2006. After being involved with the board for about a year, I realized that this was a wonderful project and it would be great for the Indian community to get visibly involved in a project of this size. Then I started talking with other like-minded people and we collectively decided that it will be a worthwhile project to be involved with….raise funds for. And to organize a collective contribution from the Indian community, we formed ICE – Indian Community Eastside.

Sita: As far as ICE goes, it was Alka, Gillian (Fernandes) and me initially. We were first on board. And then we started looking around for who else might be interested in helping out. We started hosting meetings – recruitment drives, really – where we made presentations to people to join the ICE committee. And we recruited Mona (Nadkarni) and Manisha (Chainani). And later on Leena (Porwal) joined us.

Moumita: What was the primary goal or vision for ICE?

Sita: Immediate goal was to name a space within the Tateuchi center to honor the Indian community. Because we are a very large community in this area but we are really not visible. So this was a way to make the Indians stand out a little more and integrate into the local community, to leave a legacy for our kids. Also, this is a novel concept – generally most naming gifts are by families, foundations, or corporations.

Alka: Yes, and that was also the birth of ICE Group Gift Campaign. Our goal is to raise $1Million in funds for the Tateuchi Center. Initially most of the funds were raised one on one while talking to people. But then we did our fundraiser in September 2010 – Sparkle & Spice—Bollywood in Bellevue ( Press release) . The interest and applause was overwhelming. It was an evening dedicated to Bollywood – the mood, food, clothes and the performances (by Pratidhwani Dance) all matched up. More than fundraising, our goal was to educate – educate people about the Tateuchi Center, about what it would mean for people on the east side. And we are thrilled with the results!

Moumita: So what’s next for Tateuchi Center and for ICE?

Alka: Our goal, as I stated earlier, was to raise $1MM for Tateuchi Center. We are currently at 900K. So we have another $100K to go and are confident we should get there…soon, with the goodwill and support of the community.

Sita: As far as ICE goes, we are contemplating so many different options. We have received feedback from people saying they want to see the fundraiser happen every year. These are exciting times for ICE. Anything’s possible…