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Source:
Richard Martin, 785-532-6425, rpm@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Cheryl May and Levi Wolters, 785-532-6415,
media@k-state.edu
Thursday,
November 30, 2006
Public
reception set for Monday, Dec. 4, 2006:
LONG-TIME DIRECTOR OF K-STATE'S McCAIN AUDITORIUM TO RETIRE
MANHATTAN
-- The man responsible for enriching the cultural environment of
Manhattan and Kansas State University for the past 20 years as director
of McCain Auditorium is retiring Dec. 31.
Richard
Martin, long-time organizer of the McCain Performance Series, will
be recognized 4 p.m., Monday, Dec. 4, at the K-State Alumni Center
with a reception in his honor. The event is open to the public.
The
Performance Series, now in its 36th season -- the 20th under Martin
-- is intended to "entertain, enlighten and, in some cases,
challenge you to hear and see things differently than you normally
do," Martin said.
Martin's
journey to K-State took many twists and turns.
Following
graduation from Central High in Memphis, Tenn., Martin received
his bachelor's degree in Slavic languages and literature at the
University of Chicago before attending graduate school at Columbia
University from 1962-1967.
Following
his stint at Columbia, Martin taught Russian at Pennsylvania State
University for five years before taking the opportunity to go to
Russia as the associate director for the Cooperative Russian Language
Program at Leningrad State University. After just one semester Martin
was promoted to resident director, putting him in charge of 30 American
students of Russian in the semester program and 150 in the summers.
"It
wound up that when it came time for somebody to be there for the
fall and spring semesters of the second year, there was no one else
available but me," he said. "I was there for three summers
and four semesters. I had the longest tenure of anybody at that
job. The American universities considered it a hardship post, although
I was having the time of my life."
Martin
returned to the States in August 1974 and found employment in his
field hard to come by.
"The
real enthusiasm for Russian peaked, I guess, shortly before I came
back from Russia," he said.
Following
a brief stint with the IRS, he returned to Penn State in 1976 as
the assistant director of the Artists Series.
"I
had gone to Artists Series events when I was a faculty member there,
and I have been going to the performing arts since I was about 7
years old," Martin said. "I went to concerts as an undergraduate
in Chicago, and as a graduate student in New York, and I went all
the time in Russia. So when a friend of mine at Penn State called
me to tell me that that job had opened up, and would I like to apply,
I said 'Yes, what do I do?'"
After
10 years at Penn State, the last two in charge of programming the
Artists Series, Martin was hired to fill the vacant director position
at K-State. With it, he inherited not only programming duties, but
operation of McCain as well.
Martin
said there was an adjustment period from Pennsylvania to Kansas
from both a geography and population standpoint.
"I
think one salient difference between the two places is that the
administration here is more encouraging of the arts than the administration
was at Penn State. I think both President Jon and Mrs. Wefald have
been very proactive in providing an environment in which the arts
can grow and flourish."
Working
within his allotted budget, Martin considers many things when plotting
the Performance Series every year. While the bigger, more popular
acts may draw the bigger crowds, McCain holds only 1,791 people,
making it difficult, even with a sellout, to cover the expenses
of presenting a popular performer.
Martin
said he does have hopes of a bigger and better auditorium or multi-purpose
theater on the K-State campus in the future but it will be after
his time.
In
retirement, Martin and his wife, Ariadna, whom he met in Russia,
hope to move back to Pennsylvania. Ariadna is a specialist in the
Russian language. Together they enjoy concerts, theater and dance.
Martin
plans to do some translating from Russian to English, and to do
some volunteer work in retirement.
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