Gene Jenneman Shifting Focus at the Dennos

March 25, 2016

Rumors fly fast in northern Michigan. Lately, one of the rumor mill’s favorite subjects has been the Dennos Museum’s longtime Executive Director Gene Jenneman; the grapevine says he’s stepping down. While Jenneman is definitely looking toward the future, his next step is merely a shifting of roles, not an entire changing of the guard. We talked with Jenneman to learn what he’s been up to as he hands over the reins for (only!) the Dennos Concert Series and to hear about the final concert he’s chosen to produce with a band that has come to mean a lot to him.

ALPENA TO TRAVERSE

Jenneman has been at NMC since August of 1988, when he was hired to work with architect Bob Holdeman to help design and oversee the building of the Dennos Museum Center, and then to serve as its director.

“I had little interest in working in any other facility after building the Dennos, as I had what I considered the best facility one could have,” Jenneman said.

Yet, the directorship at the Dennos wasn’t a job he thought he would necessarily get; he believed they were looking for someone with a master’s degree in art history. Jenneman had a Bachelor of Arts in the physical sciences — initially interested in astronomy — and his goal had been to run a planetarium, which he did at the Jesse Besser Museum in Alpena, his first job out of college. While there, he also accumulated the experience of curating art exhibitions for several years. Later, he worked as director of a historical museum and planetarium in Erie, Penn.

MODERN MASTERWORKS

Since the beginning, Jenneman has been acquiring a long list of accomplishments with the help of what he calls a “great staff of dedicated people.”

“No one could do it all by oneself, including me,” he chuckled.

He considers his first win the opportunity to design the Dennos with Holdeman, gracing the museum with its welcoming entry and gallery spaces. He also credits the NMC presidents with allowing him free rein.

“I’ve been able to accomplish a lot because of the confidence the presidents have put in me, without second-guessing what I would do,” he said. “I’ve been free to take risks and know that I had their support.”

Dozens of exhibitions have come through the Dennos since it opened, but Jenneman considers the greatest experience hosting the bulk of the modern collection from the Detroit Institute of Arts when it closed its galleries in 1997 to install a major Egyptian exhibition.

“They were going to spread a few examples around the state in museums and store the rest,” Jenneman explained. “When asked if we were interested in a few works, I said, ‘no, I want it all. People in the larger downstate metro areas have much more access to the caliber of works the DIA holds, but there is no opportunity to see work like this in northern Michigan unless we show it.’” It cost the Dennos $60,000, but they hosted “Picasso to Warhol: Masterworks from the Collection of the DIA” right here in Traverse City. Subsequent exhibits from countries worldwide have cemented the Dennos’ status as a museum of exceptional note not just in northern Michigan, but across the entire state and throughout the Midwest.

MUSIC DISCOVERY

In addition to the visual art exhibitions and the establishment of the museum itself, music is another place where Jenneman has made a big mark on the Traverse City cultural community.

The roster of performers from Jenneman’s time producing concerts at the Dennos reads like one from a much larger city: L.A.’s Street Drum Corps, Esperanza Spaulding, Dervish, The Golden Dragon Acrobats, Matthew Ball, Shemekia Copeland, The Second City, Tab Benoit, Enter the Haggis, Great Lake Swimmers, Kuniko Yamamoto and The African Guitar Summit — and, that’s merely a sampling.

The musicians that have passed through the Dennos have made even more of an impact on Jenneman’s own life.

“Of all the performers I have been able to bring to Milliken, there are four that stand out to me that I consider great discoveries and feel a personal connection to,” he said. “Bob James and the Angels of Shanghai, which was the catalyst that would connect me with China and Asia; and, of course, Bob later loaned the Dennos his 9-foot Steinway piano and had his most recent concert here become a live CD from Milliken. Then, Kiyoshi Nagata and his band of taiko drummers (Nagata Shachu) from Toronto, the African Guitar Summit from Toronto, and Hanggai.” (More on them later.) “I’ve always strived to book acts that delight and surprise people,” he added. “Otherwise, why bother?”

CHANGING ROLES

The music department is where Jenneman’s role is about to change. He’s going to be busy overseeing a nearly 9,000 square foot-expansion on the east side of the museum that will include classroom space, an improved loading dock, storage, two new galleries dedicated to the museum’s permanent collection and a sculpture garden.

The expansion is made possible by a generous $2 million donation from Diana and Richard Milock, who have asked that the permanent collection galleries be named for Jenneman. This unexpected windfall for the museum changed Jenneman’s plans, as he had been pondering stepping away from his job just last summer.

“Last year, I was not intending to be sitting here talking to you,” he laughed. “I guess I have to be careful about saying what my actual plan is, as every time in the past I thought I had the plan, something has come along to change it!” Rather than retiring now, Jenneman is going to pass along day-to-day curation of the concert series to Milliken Auditorium manager and audio engineer Jack Conners (all concerts will still go through Jenneman for approval); so that Jenneman can focus on the museum expansion.

“Jack has been working in the music department as adjunct faculty and he’s an excellent soundman,” Jenneman said. “So I am taking the opportunity to pass this work to somebody I have confidence in. I plan to give him a couple of years to make the concert series his own. It’s not that I’m going to ignore what’s going on [at the Milliken]; it’s just time to let someone else shine.”

ONE MORE SHOW

When asked what makes Conners uniquely qualified to put together a full concert season, selecting performers and bands and weaving them all together as skillfully as need be, Jenneman’s answer is quick and self-deprecating.

“What makes me qualified? It’s a matter of having a sense of what the public would like to hear and figuring out what the role of the museum is within that. There are so many venues now in Traverse City, so we’ve leaned toward styles of music that aren’t widely booked elsewhere. Jack has lots of connections in the music world and he’s a natural fit for this. So I’m looking forward to watching him generate new ideas.”

Before Jenneman’s role changes, he’s overseeing one last show from one of his favorite acts, Hanggai.

“I’ll admit I’m a groupie of theirs,” he laughed.

Jenneman is bringing Hanggai, the folk music group that blends traditional Mongolian styles with more forward sounds including punk rock, from Beijing to perform the final concert he’ll oversee before turning production over to Conners.

HANGGAI HOLIDAY

“I first encountered this group at a visit to the World Music Institute in New York City in 2009,” Jenneman said.

He managed to get the band to come to the Dennos in the fall of that year.

“They spent three days here and fell in love with the area, as everyone does, of course,” Jenneman continued.

After-show drinks at Right Brain Brewery cemented his fast friendship with the band and he visited them the following year in China.

“Our friendship has grown and continues to this day,” Jenneman said. “And since their first performance here, Hanggai has grown to be one of the great touring bands from China and won the equivalent of The Voice on CCTV in China in 2015. We are fortunate to have this amazing band return to Traverse City and I am fortunate to have them be my last booking for Milliken as producer.”

Once the concert series is transferred to Conners, Jenneman said his next goal will be to see the expansion completed and the museum’s new spaces up and running.

“Once that is up and operating smoothly, I’ll consider the time of my leave,” he said, “but, for now I remain the executive director with all the challenges and opportunities it brings.”

Jenneman plans to delegate more and more to his staff, allowing them to showcase their talents so that, when he does depart, the transition is as seamless as possible. But don’t expect him to vanish from the Dennos entirely.

“It can become somewhat of a busman’s holiday to try and experience the range of offerings here when you are engaged in it everyday yourself,” he said. “I often say that, once I do retire, I will finally have some time to really discover all that Traverse City has to offer!”