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No More Ticky-TackBACA Buckles Under, Reforms the Arts ShowBY JEANNETTE WALLSIn response to a recent surge of complaints and criticisms, the Brooklyn Arts and Cultural Association (BACA) is changing the entire format of its Brooklyn Heights Promenade Art Show by separating fine arts from crafts.After 11 years as a semi-annual exhibition, the show has, in the view of its critics, lost both direction and meaning. Charlene Victor, the association%u2019s executive director, concedes that %u201cthere were too many artists coming with too many exhibits.%u201d The large quantity of materials, she said, included commercial-oriented art and what some felt to be %u201c cheap%u201d craftwork. This, in turn, chased off the fine artists. %u201c It is the Only program we BACA ever sponsored that received adverse reaction/%u2019 Victor commented.If volumn of criticism is any measure, the show started to decline three years ago. To heighten the quality of artwork, the association began using a panel of artists to screen potential exhibits. This apparently, wasn%u2019t enough as the complaints continued.Victor%u2019s solution entails a geographic division of the crafts from the fine arts. The fine arts show would uphold the tradition of three-weekend spring and fall seasons on the Promenade. Rather than totally excluding crafts, a separate show would be staged three blocks away, at Cadman Plaza, in combination with other exhibits in a %u201c Leisure Time Exhibition.%u201d Building on the concept that crafts are a product of leisure time, Victor hopes to include music, sports and entertainment in the exhibition.The %u201cLeisure Time Exhibition%u201d would be held once, on the last weekend of the fine arts show. By being separate from the fine arts show, it would not reduce the quality of the show, but would be close enough so that each should help the other attract interest, Victor said.There will be no flea markets in the new exhibit%u2014%u201cTacky,%u201d Victor says; and no outdoor food vendors%u2014%u201c smelly and greasy,%u201d she says. %u201cIt (the food) can stay in the restaurants. Montague Street has some of the finest restaurants in the city, and there%u2019s no sense in bringing it all outside.%u201dThe Promenade Art Show would go back to the %u201coriginal concept%u201d of a modest-sized showing of high quality art work, said BACA Program Director, Chuck Reichenthal. The line specifying where craftwork begins and art work ends hasn%u2019t been drawn, he said, but the %u201cwheels are inmotion%u201d for reaching a decision.Official reaction to Victor%u2019s proposal hasbeen favorable. Planning Board Two voted unanimously in favor of it in its monthly meeting, October 12. The Parks Department ha%u00a7 agreed to work closely with BACA in supplying sporting activities through its program of sports mobiles.Adamantly in favor of the new look is George Silver, president of the Brooklyn Heights Association. Silver says the new leisure exhibit %u201c presents exciting opportunities%u201d and would help the fine arts exhibit recapture a good reputation. Complaintsby the Brooklyn Heights Association were among the chief reasons for BACA%u2019s change. Silver said Heights residents were dissatisfied with the litter, the increased traffic and the food vendors associated with the Promenade Show. Only recently, he said, did anyone realize that food vendors are not allowed on the Promenade at all.%u201c Somethng else that disturbed them (the public),%u201d Silver said, %u201c is the fact that these six weekends (three in fall and three in spring) present some of the best weather of the season. And the popular Promenade hasn%u2019t been accessible to them for theseweeks. I felt that a smaller-sized show would make it more pleasant for the residents.%u201d The Promenade Show traditionally runs from Remsen to Orange Street, occupying most of the Promenade.Victor adheres to the believe that %u201c if BACA is going to do anything, we want it to be the biggest and the best around.%u201d She says that since the crafts/leisure event will be extensive, it may become an annual event, while the fine arts show would follow in the semi-annual tradition. As of yet, a definite schedule has not been resolved.{%u25a0 %u25a0 I %u2022*.; 7 <.'* - ,< , > i V %u00bb f, . ; ; ; . .Unwamkap 9 1070 TISC OUneillV 11w i i i i h i i i v h i v i n . i u m u %u25a0 a