Modern Studio Becoming Holler! Performing Arts Center

Update: Holler! Performing Arts Center, the former Modern Studio, has closed permanently.

To say that Knoxville’s local theatre and performing arts scene is evolving is something of an understatement—and the keyword here seems to be “local.” In the last several years, a number of new performing arts companies have joined the established mix of theatrical efforts and have seen success, suggesting that Knoxville has reached some kind of threshold both in terms of audience density and the cultural magnetism that attracts and retains performers and artists in the area.

One such example of Knoxville’s performing arts evolution is happening in the Happy Holler area of North Central, a general area already dotted with refurbished buildings that are finding new uses as event venues, cinemas, and exhibition and theatrical spaces. The building and organization that was Modern Studio is being re-branded and re-organized as Holler! Performing Arts Center. Its Official Launch Party, open to all, happens Saturday, June 9, from 7 PM to 11 PM.

Modern Studio, located in a revitalized building at 109 West Anderson Avenue just off North Central, was formed in 2017 by Burke Brewer and Victor Agreda, Jr., along with creative producer Carolyn Corley, as an open concept space, adaptable to a range of uses. During that time, however, the space found that its biggest draws were music and performing arts events, including usage by Knoxville Theatre Club’s JP Schuffman and Sara Gaddis for a number of their productions. As a result, Brewer and Agreda have decided to step away from the organization, with Knoxville Theatre Club and Corley assuming management as Holler! Performing Arts Center. The new organization, which will operate under KTC’s 501(c)(3) non-profit status, will continue to stage their own productions as well as make the space available to other performing ensembles.

“Knoxville Theatre Club’s rallying cry was to raise all boats,” Schuffman explains. “What’s good for our company is good for the community at large. Bring more audiences in, expose more people, create opportunities for artists to make art, locally. That was what the space had been about, but it would be best to focus in on that specifically and take the space from trying to be all things to all people to what has been most successful about the space and build it even further.”

To make the space more amenable to performing arts and to avoid the issues of constantly reinventing the basics, Schuffman explained that a multi-phase renovation to the physical space is planned over the next few months.

“Sara, Carolyn, and I know how much energy is spent and wasted having to start from scratch every single time on every production…we’ve spent years and years converting spaces into usable theatre spaces. So what we’re trying to do here is take a space and provide the basic needs so that when an artist comes in, they can spend their creative capital on their production.”

Working around events that have already been booked, the refurbishment will include a control booth with an upgraded lighting and sound system, and an expansion of the existing thrust stage into a 26-foot wide stage with entrances left and right and a better equipped backstage. The most noticeable alteration will be the addition of seating for 80 on stepped risers, a change that will dramatically improve the audience’s line-of-sight experience.

For their Grand Launch Party on June 9, Holler! has invited a large variety of local performers that Schuffman, Gaddis, and Corley have worked with in the past.

“Our lineup for June 9 includes theatre groups, music ensembles including artist-in-residence Wendel Werner, dance, spoken word, puppetry from Cattywompus, and vaudeville acts, with local featured artists, all followed by the 4th installment of our popular Theatre Slam.”

Schuffman feels that with both a name change and an organizational change, Holler! Performing Arts Center will draw a better focus from potential users and audiences.

“We want to let people know that we are moving toward a more performing-arts-centric space,  that is what you come here to do, and that you can expect a space that is more accommodating for that purpose. And, it’s Happy Holler. We wanted something that said ‘we are a part of this community, we want to be good neighbors and good business partners.’ Happy Holler is such a fantastic area. We want very much to be a North Knoxville hub.”