First Friday

Interview Issue: Cindy Funkhouser

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Photo: Bill Hughes

Cindy Funkhouser

Co-founder, First Friday; owner, the Funk House antiques store

Interviewed June 22 at the Funk House

First Friday has gone from a few hundred people in the early days to a few thousand now. What would represent the next step in its evolution, and how would it get there?

The next step of its evolution started last month, and it had to get there because there’s no money. So due to a severe cut in our funds from the city—about an 80-percent cut—and the fact that it’s very hard to get sponsorships; I mean, I’m banging out sponsorship packages for people daily, and it’s very hard—we had to take it back to where it’s just on the sidewalks [instead of closing off Casino Center and Colorado, as before]. Now we have this great new streetscape, so that’s helpful; we have 10-foot sidewalks on each side.

So that is the next evolution. It went pretty well; we had, we figured, between 3,000 and 4,000 people, and they seemed to enjoy it. We just have to reeducate them to stay off the street.

If the economy hadn’t gone so bad, how much do you think would be different?

I think it would have continued to grow. We were trying new things, like having a different curator for the outdoor artist spaces each month. That was having a nice effect, because each curator brings their own group of artists, so people got to see a lot of different kinds of work. We were trying to improve the quality of the music, bring different kinds. There would have been a lot of things going in that direction.

So you think the city would have continued its support?

Oh, absolutely. I’m sure they would have done probably what they did last year.

Do you feel as strongly about First Friday as you did seven years ago, when it started?

I would say that I do. I’ve been pretty sick the last two years, so it’s kind of taken its toll. I’ve really just started feeling quite a bit better in the last month; I’ve been back to work about six weeks. So I haven’t had the energy, but I’m starting to feel that come back. And it’s just as exciting to me—it has the same effect on me to see an artist excited to be showing or selling as it did seven years ago.

What’s the biggest challenge putting on First Friday month-to-month?

Getting enough funds to do it, and the logistical issues of doing it.

What do you mean by logistical issues?

Well, we have to place everyone who’s going to be on the sidewalks. We have to license them with the city. We have to get sales-tax permits for each and every one of them. We still have to have Porta-Potties, so we have to figure out where those are going to go. We have to have the trolley route scheduled. Those types of things.

On an average day, how much time is spent doing that as opposed to running your store?

In general—answering a lot of calls, e-mails and working on sponsorships—I spend no less than six hours a day on First Friday. The Funk House doesn’t get a lot of me.

A lot of arts organizations never transition beyond the early stage when they’re dependent on the energy of one or two key figures. First Friday still seems to ride mostly on your shoulders. Do you foresee a time when it won’t require you to work six hours a day on it?

I would like to see that time. Right now, because of this depression, a lot of people who were willing to invest a lot of time are now very tied up in their own lives. And we all believe that our lives are more difficult than anyone else’s, and we’re all just trying to get by and make things work. It’s like one of my artist friends said, she’s redefined success as survival. It’s no longer about being up anywhere or making a lot of money, it’s about survival.

We’ve found the same thing with our board, that a lot of them are very involved in just trying to survive. I do hope that eventually our board—I think there are 11 or 12 members now—will be of a size and with the amount of commitment needed that I would be able to do less. It’s not at that point at this time.

How do you think you are seen by the Downtown arts community?

I don’t know. People who talk directly to me usually are very thankful, and appreciative, and feel like they were inspired by me. But I do hear a lot of things on the other side, where people think I’m too difficult or too straightforward—

“Control freak” is what I’ve heard.

I’m tenacious! What they don’t realize is, decisions are made by that 11- or 12-member board; things are voted on. We also have a First Friday committee that has city members, which meets quarterly, and things are voted on there, and suggested to the board. So while people want to say “control freak,” they’re just uninformed, basically.

How’s a business like the Funk House do in this economy? At a time when people can’t afford high-end stuff fresh out of the showroom, this seems like the kind of place that might benefit.

You might think that way, but it’s not really the case. This is still a city where more of our business comes from tourists than locals. And since we’re seeing a large decrease in the amount of tourists, my business has decreased as well. A lot of people come in and they’re like, “We’re in a recession; aren’t you going to sell this to me for 50 percent off?” And I tell them, “No one told the mortgage company.”

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