ST Spot Yokohama's challenge started with a small theater!

The place where plays are born
File.9　ST Spot Yokohama
Koichi Imai (editor/writer)

Did you know that there is a small theater called "ST Spot" in the basement of a building in the business district at the west exit of Yokohama Station? It has been open for over 30 years and has produced many artists, including the world-renowned playwright and director Toshiki Okada (Chelfitsch).
The theater is run by the NPO ST Spot Yokohama. With the mission of "utilizing the power of art in modern society," the organization has teamed up with Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama City, and others to carry out a wide range of activities. In this article, we will focus on some of their lesser-known activities.

ST Spot is run by the ST Spot Management Committee, a voluntary organization formed by citizen volunteers in 1987. Since becoming an NPO called ST Spot Yokohama in 2004, the organization has expanded the scope of its activities.

"The fact that we have nurtured a variety of artists was widely known within the artist community, but was hardly known in the local area. We felt that ties with the local community would be important in the coming era, so we decided to go beyond just running a theater and become an organization experimenting with art within the local community, with the mission of 'utilizing the power of art in modern society.'" (Chairman Ogawa Tomonori)

With limited operating funds, they turned their attention to the Kanagawa Voluntary Activities Promotion Fund 21, a collaborative project between Kanagawa Prefecture and an NPO. They proposed a project to "build new educational activities using art," and sent artists from various genres to schools to give "visiting lessons." Over the course of five years, they say they learned how to collaborate with people from a wide range of genres.
Since then, this project has continued to this day in collaboration with Yokohama City as the Yokohama City Arts and Culture Education Platform.

"There were around 20 schools involved in the collaborative project with Kanagawa Prefecture, so we contacted all of the schools, listened to their requests, and matched them with artists. We even accompanied them on the day of the event. It was a rich and enjoyable experience, but it would have been difficult to expand our activities on our own. So we asked local halls, specialized museums (Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall, Yokohama Museum of Art), art NPOs, and others for their cooperation. Currently, 38 organizations, including us, are serving as coordinators, and this year we are carrying out projects in 146 of the approximately 500 elementary, junior high, and special needs schools in Yokohama City." (Tanaka Mami, Secretary General)

"With projects like this, it's important not to narrow it down from the start by asking, 'Is it theater? Is it music?' Anything is fine as the starting point. For example, if someone says, 'I want to bring out the energy in children,' dance might be a good idea, or we could do something with music. By proposing a variety of ideas, we aim to lower the barrier to art," says Ogawa.

The results of this project will lead to the "Regional Cultural Support Project - Yokohama Art Site" and the "Project to Develop the Foundation for Artistic and Cultural Activities in the Welfare Sector."

*Yokohama Art Site 2019 Kick-off Meeting

The Yokohama Art Site Regional Cultural Support Project, which began in 2014, is a project that provides various forms of support for community building through art, art festivals, and the creation of unique works of art in Yokohama, all of which are taking place throughout the city. The support provided ranges from screening grant applications, holding hearings to improve systems, and creating public relations magazines.

The challenge here is the definition of art.

"What is art? It's a very difficult definition. There is edgy art, festivals are a kind of art, and activities to build a community through art with foreign children could also be art. There is no clear answer, so we can't make a judgment without looking closely at local activities, and we won't be able to discover anything new or hidden," says Ogawa.

They have been trying various things, such as holding discussions on the theme of "What is Yokohama's local culture?" In 2019, they received 47 applications, of which 29 were accepted.

*Implemented at: Yokohama Municipal Shikinomori Elementary School / Artist: Anna Totori (dancer/choreographer)

Since it was decided that Tokyo will host the Paralympics in 2020, there has been a surge in initiatives relating to people with disabilities and art.
ST Spot Yokohama has teamed up with Kanagawa Prefecture to carry out a "Project to Develop the Infrastructure for Art and Cultural Activities in the Welfare Sector," which involves collaborative workshops between artists and people with disabilities, research and study sessions, and site visits aimed at creating new works. Since carrying out artistic activities in welfare facilities was unfamiliar, the first step was to hold study sessions where people working there could talk to each other. They are also conducting research to cover a wider area of the prefecture.

"The people at the welfare facility are doing a great job, but there's a limit to what they can do within the facility, and the atmosphere becomes stagnant. That's why I think it's important to have people from outside come in and provide stimulation and freshen things up. In the future, I'd like to see other halls and cultural facilities become hubs for these kinds of activities as well," says Tanaka.

*Implementing facility: Liaison Kasama, a facility for supporting people with disabilities / Artists: Dui (artistic unit), Junpei Katsumi (PARADISE ALLEY BREAD&CO)

I believe that by repeatedly trying new things with these activities, ST Spot Yokohama has made a significant contribution to opening up art to the city and helping it to take root.
Finally, Mr. Ogawa talked about what he values.

"Theaters are theaters, and they continue to operate freely. While we must strike a balance between public interest and the public interest, we are careful not to take away the artists' fangs as a place for creation and presentation."