There\u2019s no such thing as free Sushi. Sushi Performance and Visual Art, East Village\u2019s maverick visual and live arts venue, is finding that its Pay What You Can program, wherein all tickets to performances in the 2009 season have been sold on a donation-only basis, is leaving its house full but its bank account empty. Funded with a grant underwritten by the Irvine Foundation, the program was begun to expose a wider range of people to Sushi performances. Though Sushi broadening both its audiences\u2019 minds and demographics, the donation arrangement has not provided the revenue anticipated. “Art isn\u2019t just for those with money,” said Steve Silverman, president of the Sushi board of directors. “But what\u2019s been happening is that there isn\u2019t enough money to cover all of the costs, and people are taking advantage of it.” As an example, Silverman said he saw one man contribute a roll of dimes at a recent show. A release about the program recommended that donations begin at $15. Silverman said that the average donation is approximately $10 per ticket, not nearly enough to cover operating expenses and paying the performers, some of whom are recognized national acts. Silverman acknowledged that Sushi made an error by not putting any restrictions on the plan. All the shows, with the exception of the group\u2019s three season pre-opening shows, have fallen under the program. The program has no restriction on seating positions. “Our goal is to finish the [budget] year flat,” said Indra Gardiner, Sushi board member. “If we could get to zero, that would be fantastic.” Sushi\u2019s annual budget is $270,000. This year is the inaugural season in Sushi\u2019s new home, a 3,000-square-foot restored warehouse at 390 11th Avenue in East Village. The space is also available for rent for events, which helps defray operating costs. Sushi was established in 1980 to provide a place for alternative voices in the contemporary arts through music, theater, film, spoken word and visual art. It\u2019s hoping to finish the season on a high note with the return of the Red Ball, its signature vaudeville-cirque bash, Saturday, June 13 from 7 p.m. to midnight. Historically one of Sushi\u2019s premiere annual events, the Red Ball has not been held since 2006. The evening will include an entry by Zirk Ubu, a circus performer collective including stilt walkers, fire dancers, clowns, performance artists and sword swallowers. Tickets are $75 per person and $125 per couple. A limited number of $35 student tickets will be available at the door. The event is for those ages 21 and older. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit sushiart.org or call (619) 235-8466.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s no such thing as free Sushi. Sushi Performance and Visual Art, East Village\u2019s maverick visual and live arts venue, is finding that its Pay What You Can program, wherein all tickets to performances in the 2009 season have been sold on a donation-only basis, is leaving its house full but its bank account empty. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11556","_seopress_titles_title":"Sushi: Less bang for your buck(s)","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11556,11593,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-downtown-news","category-no-images","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}