Art Theatre
126 W. Church Street,
Champaign,
IL
61820
126 W. Church Street,
Champaign,
IL
61820
8 people
favorited this theater
The Park Theatre, as it was originally known, was opened in late 1913 by a local businessman, B. H. Cooper, in downtown Champaign.
However, the Park Theatre didn’t have it’s ‘official’ grand opening until several months later, when a pipe organ was installed to accompany the epic spectacle, “The Last Days of Pompeii”.
In 1929, the Park Theatre began to show sound films, and not long after, Cooper sold the theater to the LaSalle-based Alger Theatres chain, who ran the Park Theatre as a ‘poor cousin’ to Champaign’s two largest and much more ornate theaters, the Orpheum Theatre and the Virginia Theatre.
From the late-1940’s on, it would mostly screen B-grade Westerns and comedies. The Park Theatre was closed in 1958.
The Art Theater Guild reopened the Park later the same year, renaming it the Art Theatre, to put the focus on the films which would now be shown there — foreign and industrial features, the first being “The Red and the Black”.
For another decade, the Art Theatre would be the premiere house in the Champaign-Urbana area for alternative fare, including an Ingmar Bergman festival, revivals of such classics as “Citizen Kane” and “Beat the Devil” and, in 1967, a series called ‘Underground Cinema’ which featured avant-garde works by Andy Warhol, Maya Deren and Bruce Connor on Friday and Saturday nights.
Urbana-native Roger Ebert would call the Art Theatre the place he ‘learned about the art of film’.
However, by 1969, the theater’s ownership switched to adult films. The Art Theatre remained a porn house until it closed in 1986.
On New Years' Day 1987, the Art Theatre was bought by John Manley, Ron Epple and Tom Angelica who renovated the run-down theater and reopened it as a venue once again for foreign and art features. The partners decided to change the theater’s name to the New Art Theatre, to break with the assocation the Art Theatre had with adult fare for so long.
The New Art closed in February of 2003, but later reopened, once more showing foreign and industrial films. It was then owned and run by the same owners of the historic Lorraine Theatre in Hoopeston.
In December 2009, new owners took over and it was renamed Art Theatre once more
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Article from News-Gazette 12-27-09
Art Theater’s new owner plans changes, welcomes input
By Melissa Merli
Sunday, December 27, 2009 7:00 AM CDT
CHAMPAIGN â€" Movie lover Sanford Hess is taking over ownership of the only art-movie house in Champaign-Urbana. He has a lot of ideas but no preconceived notions.
And he’s open to input about what
he is renaming the Art Theater, currently Boardman’s Art Theatre.
I’ve found that people have not held back on giving me their ideas,“ said Hess, who takes over the single-screen venue on Jan. 1 from Greg Boardman, a Vermilion County native who has operated it since 2003.
“So many people have such good feelings about it. People tell me all their memories and experiences,” Hess said.
Hess, who moved to Champaign a year and a half ago from Chicago, appreciates the input as well as the kind of movies, mainly independent, that Boardman has booked for the theater through the end of this year.
The final one is the Coen Brothers' “A Serious Man”; Boardman also booked for Christmas Day “The Bicycle Thief,” the 1948 Italian neo-realist masterpiece directed by Vittorio De Sica.
Hess, who takes over as of Jan. 1, 2010, will show “Me and Orson Welles” the first week. The 2008 release, directed by Richard Linklater, is about a 17-year-old boy who becomes embroiled in the behind-the-scenes machinations of Welles' first production in 1937 at the Mercury Theater.
The second week the Art will show the critically acclaimed “The Messenger,” released last month, and directed by Oren Moverman. In it Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson are soldiers who knock on doors and tell people their loved ones aren’t coming back from the war.
As for the complex area of distribution, Hess is working with a professional film buyer. Hess has no prior experience running a movie house but sees that as allowing him to think outside the box. He plans to continue showing independent and other films usually not shown elsewhere.
He also plans to increase the variety of films shown at the Art, as his tastes are all over the map.
Hess, 38, admits to a fondness for popcorn movies and was looking forward to James Cameron’s “Avatar,” a blockbuster that opened last weekend. Though he said it would not be in his best interest to show the same fare as do multiplex theaters, Hess is considering some mainstream fare for the Art, particularly when the University of Illinois is not in session. Hess also loves horror movies and would like to show them at late-night screenings.
“How can you be a college town and not show midnight movies?” he asked.
He has no plans to show 3-D movies soon, but eventually will buy a digital projector that would be 3-D compliant. “I would be an idiot not to,” he said.
Other programming
Hess has ideas for other programming as well. For example, he would like to schedule group discussions, comparable to book clubs, for certain shows for moviegoers who want to stay and talk about what they just saw.
He would like to make the theater available for film festivals, among them those sponsored by University of Illinois departments. He wants to give the Art a strong local flavor by showing films and shorts by Illinois filmmakers.
He wants to further emphasize the movie house as a local business by playing, between screenings, recorded music by area musicians and to project between shows images of art by local artists.
No structural changes
He has no plans to make structural changes, saying the theater and the equipment, including surround sound, are in great condition.
Hess has no plans to remove some seats and replace them with tables and lounge chairs, though he has applied for a liquor license.
He plans to serve alcohol and coffee drinks and to expand the food menu to include fresh baked goods from Pekara, a downtown Champaign bakery and restaurant, and specialty popcorn.
And good news for Boardman’s employees: Hess plans to keep those who want to stay.
So why does Hess want to take over the Art Theater, or any movie house?
“Why not? Wouldn’t you want to have a movie theater for yourself? I’ve been trying to have my own business. I love the movies. I love going to the movies. You’re supposed to do what you love, and I decided to pursue this.”
Hess said he’s walking into a good situation as the Art is in great shape and boasts a loyal following.
Hess will rent the theater at 126 W. Church St., C, from building owner David Kraft. Boardman, who lives in California, decided not to renew the lease after this year ends, as Kraft had upped the rent.
“David has every right to seek more rent than what he was getting,” Hess said, noting the development of downtown Champaign as one reason, “and Greg had every right to end the lease.”
Hess noted that Boardman did a great job picking movies for the Art but, living in California, Boardman rarely had the opportunity to enjoy the theater in person.
Hess plans to be present as much as possible, though he wants to spend time at home, too. He and his wife, C-U native Elizabeth (born Belber) Hess, have a 3-year-old son.
Ebert weighs in
Hess plans to continue on a half-time basis his position as a corporate employee at a software company, a job he’s had for 16 years. Hess said he was surprised and flattered by Ebert’s comparison of himself to Paul Allen, a co-founder of software giant Microsoft.
Hess sees differences, though. “I’m approaching this as a business I operate as opposed to a luxury investment,” he said.
Ebert wrote recently in his online journal that Hess follows in the tradition of Allen, who renovated and operates the giant screen Cinerama in Seattle. The theater at the Art is not a giant one and cannot accommodate 70 mm films. The nearby Virginia can, Hess noted.
Ebert, an Urbana native, was delighted to learn that the Art Theater will continue, as it’s where the famed movie critic first saw “Citizen Kane” and the films of Ingmar Bergman, John Cassavetes and many others.
“For 11 years I’ve operated my annual Ebertfest a block away at the renovated and historic Virginia theater, and over those years we spoke more than once with Greg Boardman about incorporating the Art into the festival. I still hope it can be done,” Ebert wrote.
Hess said he’s amenable to working with Ebertfest.
The critic also wrote that the Thunderbird movie theater, now the Canopy Club in Urbana, close to the UI campus, is still usable as a movie house.
“It’s my dream that someday it will be operated in connection with the proposed Ebert Center for Film Studies at the University of Illinois,” wrote Ebert, who has pledged $1 million for the center.
“But for right now, the saving of the Art is the big news. How many nights I drove my ‘54 Ford across town, parked in the free lot at its side, and walked in to drink black coffee and discover the world of the cinema. For me it is a shrine.”
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Wait, did the former owners get the Rialto across the street?
Per Greg Boardman’s newsletter posted above on 12/1/09:
“While I would have loved the challenge and I love large, old, single-screen theatres, unfortunately, the owners of the Rialto Theatre did not feel the time was right for them.”
Oh my bad
A recollected history (with many missing parts and subject to revision) of the New Art Theater in downtown Champaign, Illinois.
The New Art Theater building was bought in 1983 and the New Art Theater business opened with Turtle Diary in 1984 or ‘85. John Manley (1955-1991) bought the building and renamed it The â€New“ Art Theater in order to distinguish it from the former business, The Art Theater, which had been showing porn. Art Theaters were once popular throughout the country, showing independent, art, and foreign language films. Eventually, many Art Theaters began showing XXX-rated films, until VHS players and the home porn video market put the “Art†theaters out of business. The former Art Theater in downtown Champaign had been closed for several years prior to John Manley purchasing the building.
Tom Angelica, John’s business partner and former college roommate, helped John renovate and manage the building. They renovated the four apartments upstairs, fixed up the small business site on the ground floor next to the theater, and found and repaired the needed film projection equipment for the theater. John contracted with Ron Eppel to book films. Ron initially ran the New Art Theater business. Tom and John eventually took over the theater business from Ron, who later died.
The building’s ownership transferred to Warren Manley (John’s father) when John died in 1991. Warren Manley was not particularly interested in the theater business, but his wife, Lois Manley absolutely loved the New Art Theater and did her best to find ways to support the business until she died in 1998.
In the mid 90s, a small group of local film lovers self-named “The Friends of the New Art Theater” banded together to help Tom Angelica raise money for new seats with an “adopt a seat” campaign, and “An Evening with Roger Ebert” (an event that eventually became the Ebert Film Festival). Bravo, Inc. was very much a part of that group and highly important to its success. Carle Oncologist David Graham and then film student Craig Fisher were significant in the success of the “Friends” initiative. There were many others involved in the “Friendsâ€, but I’ve forgotten their names (sorry). The Friends of the New Art Theater raised $14,000 in “An Evening with Roger Ebertâ€. Mr. Ebert donated his time and showed a world premier of the film Mighty Aphrodite. The Krannert Art Museum donated its space for an Ebert Gala Gathering that took place before the film premier. We served food and wine in the School of Art and Design Link Gallery, where there was also an exhibition of the Seniors in the School of Art and Design Painting program at the time. Betsy Hendrick (Hendrick House) donated the elegant catering. After the Gala at the Krannert, we then all went to the New Art for the film premier. Nancy Casey from the UIUC College of Communications assisted in coordinating and advertising the event. Tickets sold for $40.00 apiece and included the Gala gathering at the Krannert Art Museum, the film premier at the New Art, and a presentation after the film by Mr. Ebert with audience interaction.
Warren Manley sold the building to David Kraft in 2001. Tom Angelica continued to run the theater business until Mr. Boardman assumed the theater business. Mr. Boardman also had the Lorraine Theater in Hoopston, Illinois. The Lorraine Theater was a highly popular theater business, showing first run films, and a much beloved destination, drawing people from a 100 mile radius to that small town just to go to the Lorraine. I remember when Twister premiered, The Lorraine had an overturned VW Bug strategically placed in front of the theater with huge tree branches sticking out of the car, and (dry ice) smoking from the car. Word was that the Illinois State Police received several calls from people who thought there had been a tornado in Hoopston.
It would be wonderful to see the New Art Theater continue to exist. I have never met Mr. Kraft or Mr. Boardman, but central Illinois film lovers owe them both a bit of gratitude for taking the financial risks they have in keeping this wonderful theater open all these years. Tom Angelica, John Manley, Lois Manley, Warren Manley, Ron Eppel, and the “Friends of the New Art Theater†should also be remembered fondly as events unfold concerning the future of the New Art Theater.
I fantasize that someday the City of Champaign might buy the New Art Theater or that a savvy group of film lovers would form a 503©, buy the building and continue it’s now amazing 28 year legacy of showing independent, foreign, and art films in an era of cracker box multiplexes.
Elizabeth Manley Delacruz (John Manley’s sister)
Former popcorn pusher at the New Art Theater (in my spare time)
Associate Professor of Art Education
School of Art + Design
University of Illinois at Urbana
Night-time photo from their website: http://www.thecuart.com/images/arttheater.jpg
I love that shot!
A Couple more 2007 photos of the Art Theatre.
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Hello, all. It has been fascinating to learn about the history of the Art Theater in all of the above posts.
I just discovered the existence of the Art Theater thanks to a lovely photo by nick512 on flickr.
I visited the website and it seems as if the new owner has a lot of wonderful ideas on how to run a theater and develop an audience!
(I worked as a film programmer and movie theater manager for many years in New York City.)
This video tells the Art history and shows rare images;
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