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BACA CelebratesAmong FriendsContinued from Page Iis all about,%u201d she concludes, %u201cthe promotionof people.\That commitment has taken BACA froma tiny band operating out of Victor%u2019s Flatbush basement twenty years ago trying toproduce art in Prospect Park, to a borougharts council with offices in BrooklynMuseum, a $750,000 annual budget, contactwith over 3,500 representatives of community, educational and business organizationsand most importantly, a presence in almostevery Brooklyn neighborhood. Itsworkshops, apprenticeships and competitionnurture the emergence of countless artistsin dance, music, theater, film, video andfine arts, who have performed and exhibited over the past 10 years at BACADowntown, the organization%u2019s performancespace and gallery.NEEDED DOORS OPENERThe growth of BACA can be seen throughthe eyes of Matthew Paris, Assistant supervisor of recreation for the Parks Department, who lingered in a quiet comer of thebar. During BACA%u2019s first struggling summer in the park, Paris was %u201caround withthe keys when they needed doors opened,%u201dhe says. %u201cI helped out, played piano,whatever.%u201d Now he%u2019s a BACA grant panelistwho helps out by helping to distribute between $1,000 and $3,000 to dozens of community art organizations.%u201cBACA could only have come into beingduring the 60%u2019s,%u201d Paris says, %u201cwhen thingscould come up from the grass roots, fromthe communities. The early years werecrazy idealistic times. Everybody workedfor nothing because they saw it as agive back to Brooklyn and a way to get arthappening for all people. There%u2019s alwaysbeen a strong commitment and valueplaced toward the working class and poor.%u201dThe times may have changed, but Victorstill preaches the %u201c60%u2019s%u201d sentiments thatgave birth to BACA. \artists and local communities as possible,but we never impose art on a community,and that%u2019s why it%u2019s beautiful.%u201d She tells thestory of choosing a sculpture for aneighborhood park, where residents got toview and vote or. the choices right alongsidejudges from the Metropolitan Museum ofArt.HOW MUCH THEY%u2019VE DONE%u201cWe never give something for nothing,%u201dshe continues. %u201cWe don%u2019t believe in charity.I/iok at all the artists who%u2019ve gotten achance through BACA, look at how muchthey%u2019ve done for Brooklyn, and for us. Manyof the kids we get started with workshopsand apprenticeships come back to runworkshops or perform in the communiites.We expect the same commitment from thekids that we give to them.%u201dThis grass roots commitment toBrookyn%u2019s culture is echoed by ChuckReichenthal, BACA%u2019s program and publicrelations director, who%u2019s been with theorganization over most of its 20 years.Pointing with a sweeping gesture to thespectacular skyline view afforded by therestaurant%u2019s waterfront location betweenthe Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, hesays, %u201cManhattan is the mecca, but I haveno problem with that. There have to begoals at every level, and they%u2019re all equallyvalid and valuable. If you don%u2019t havecultural programming reaching out to thecommunities, then you don%u2019t have LincolnCenter or BAM.LIKE HOW IT SOUNDS%u201cI remember one summer, we were doingShaw%u2019s play %u2018Don Juan in Hell%u2019 in the park.I noticed a group of kids hanging out duringthe shows %u2014 they were rough looking kids,and I couldn%u2019t figure out why they keptcoming. Finally, one day I went up to themand said, T think it%u2019s great that you%u2019re coming to the shows and I love seeing you here,but why?%u2019 And one of them turned to meand said, %u2018Well, we don%u2019t really understandwhat%u2019s going on, but we like the way itsounds.%u2019%u201d%u201cI know,%u201d Reichenthal concludes, %u201cthatsomewhere out there, those kids %u2014 whoaren%u2019t kids anymore %u2014 are involved withcultural work. That%u2019s the power of what wedo.%u201dIn the course of our 20 minutes together, adozen people drift in and out of the conversation, saying goodbyes, making plans fornext week%u2019s show in Brighton Beach or aTuesday night poker game.%u201cThat%u2019s what keeps you going,%u201d he admits. %u201cWe%u2019re all friends. And that%u2019s whatBrooklyn is all about %u2014 a wacky, personalcamaraderie, a down-to-earth feeling.%u201dFURTHEST REACHESThe presence and comments of many ofthe party%u2019s guests were testimony toBACA%u2019s borough-wide camaraderie. %u201cGointo the furthest areas of Brooklyn,%u201dchallenged Borough President HowardGolden, %u201cand you%u2019ll find BACA. AndCharlene and Chuck are always there,working with community-based groups,with people of all walks of life, minoritiesand the disadvantaged, to bring art intotheir lives and support struggling artists.%u201dMarsha Baird Johnson of the Bed-StuyRestoration Corporation, which is set tocelebrate its own 20th anniversary nextyear, thinks of BACA as a %u201csister organization.%u201d %u201cWe want the people of BedfordStuyvesant to recognize their contributionsto the arts and culture, especially the accomplishment of minority artists inBrooklyn,%u201d she says. %u201cOur goals havealways been intertwined with BACA%u2019s.Their support on every level has been invaluable.%u201d%u201cThey were there,%u201d adds Ted Gunn, %u201candwith Charlene and Chuck, being there is apower in itself.%u201dIT%u2019S AN HEROIC JOBOlga Bloom, founder and president ofBargemusic, which will celebrate its 10thanniversary next year, categorizes the relationship with BACA as one between%u201cfriends, allies, co-conspirators and welln i o u c i o . vvc i C n i . i . p i u g buC p lu C C u u V C , u i i uit%u2019s a heroic job. We just try to stimulatethat needed dimension in people. Anychoice and action involves an artistic decision %u2014 the more art people see, the morevalues improve. Without Charlene%u2019s workthere never would have been a climate ofacceptance for the barge.%u201dThe other side of BACA%u2019s camaraderiecame to life at BACA Downtown%u2019s BenefitCabaret on December 5. Master ofCeremonies Pablo Vela, veteran of severalBACA cabarets, set the tone with a smoothinternationalism, playful decadence andlilting romanticism suggestive of WeimarGermany. Pianist Donald Ashwander chimed in with Irving Berlin, Cole Porter andNoel Coward, enhancing the mood asPablo%u2019s American expatriate sidekick.Some of BACA%u2019s more well-known performance artists flocked to the nest for this occasion. Alison Rooney caricatured hotromance in %u201cStormy Flame,%u201d and nauticalsocial justice in %u201cCity Island,%u201d her portraitsshifting from clever poetry to somethingmore deeply human.Comedy mixed with stark social commentary in the performances of David Cale andthe Adaptors Movement theater. For thepurely comic, Danitra Vance arrived fromher performance in %u201cThe Colored Museum%u201dat the Public Theater to rock the audiencewith her interpretations of %u201cRomeo andJuliet%u201d and %u201cEinstein on the Beach,%u201d herupcoming performance at %u201cSLAM (SomeLittle Academy of Music).%u201dHors d%u2019oeuvres, pasta and sandwichesdonated by Heinzerlings, and Junior%u2019s inimitable cheesecake added to the cabaret%u2019sfestivities. When the audience joined Pabloand Donald for a chorus of %u201cTitanicFinale,%u201d changing the lyrics to a goodnatured joke on BACA%u2019s staying afloat overthe years, this offbeat celebration ofBrooklyn and its artists was complete.Celebrate...A C A FE) ON THE PARKDINNER %u2022 SUNDAY BRUNCH %u2022 COCKTAILSHOLIDAY PARTIES %u2022 GIFT CERTIFICATESProspect Park West at Ninth Street %u2022 Park Slope %u2022 768-3723:Page 24, TH E PH O E N IX , D ecem ber 11,1986