It used to be that if you needed help – with your rent, your gas bill, your grocery bill, or your abusive spouse – figuring out whom to call for that help was nearly as complicated as the problem itself.FORT WAYNE – Arts United announced Friday the establishment of a universal ticket office that might become a one-stop shop for most arts and entertainment happenings in Fort Wayne.
The office, in the Arts United Center at 303 E. Main St., will be open for business today during the Taste of the Arts festival.
Arts United Executive Director Jim Sparrow said he’s not sure yet what the regular hours of the ArtsTix Community Box Office will be, but his estimate is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.
The online component of ArtsTix can be found at www.artsunited.org.
Links to ArtsTix on the individual websites of the participating arts organizations should appear soon, Sparrow said.
Five Arts United member organizations are participating in the ArtsTix program initially. They are the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre, the Fort Wayne Ballet, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Fort Wayne Youtheatre and the Fort Wayne Dance Collective.
Sparrow said additional organizations and events should be added later.
The goal of ArtsTix is to make ticket-buying more convenient for patrons and more cost-effective for arts organizations, he said.
In a few years, the ArtsTix office will be a place where people will be able to buy packages of bundled tickets and receive discounts that were never available before, Sparrow said.
“One thing that’s obvious (to managers and directors of area arts organizations) is that your patrons are not just your patrons,” he said. “They go to other things.”
The ArtsTix office also will provide upsell opportunities that did not exist before, Sparrow said.
“Someone coming in to buy tickets for a Philharmonic performance will be able to see what is coming up at the Civic,” he said.
Sparrow said ArtsTix could conceivably become an official Ticketmaster outlet at some point as well.
ArtsTix was made possible through $100,000 in startup funds from Sweetwater Sound, Sparrow said.
