INTERVIEW WITH JIM AND CAROL BANMAN AT UKARIA CULTURAL CENTRE, MARCH 2024
WITH PAOLA NISCIOLI
Tell me about your first visit to UKARIA
Jim: We had been hearing about UKARIA but had never made our way up to UKARIA. We saw two of our friends one night at another event and in the course of the conversation, UKARIA came up. They had tickets for the next night but couldn’t attend. They said would you like our tickets and we said sure. It was a Sunday afternoon with Stephen Hough so that was our first concert.
Carol: And we were hooked!
What made you decide to give your first gift to UKARIA?
Jim: Well, there are two significant things that occurred that made this happen for us. One, our friends giving us tickets to come.
Carol: And our experience being here that afternoon. I think it was just the magic of the place and we were so impressed and blown away by the beauty, the sound, the intimacy, all of it, it’s just so unique.
Jim: At a similar time, we had had a dinner with some friends and the whole discussion around philanthropy, particularly in the arts, came up. One friend has done quite a bit over the years and we had been talking quite a bit that we wanted to do something more. This discussion got us going. The combination of then going to UKARIA and seeing a very special place that we wanted to be able to support made it all come together.
Why do you enjoy giving to UKARIA?
Carol: I enjoy it because I feel like you can give money to so many cultural organisations - there are a lot of opportunities to give money to the arts that are well worthwhile but I feel like this is a very personal gift. We see that gift being put to work in such a beautiful way. And I think the generosity of Ulrike Klein and her family has set the tone and the stage for everybody else. It’s amazing generosity here and to be able to be part of that feels very personal. It’s more about being involved in the venue, in the family here at UKARIA - just the opportunity to see a gift being used in such a wonderful way.
Jim: I don’t know how to express it - all the things that are positive about UKARIA are because of its small scale and that allows our contribution to mean more.
Carol: There’s also a connection with our background. I worked in two small start up companies in the San Francisco Bay area before we moved to Australia and it’s that same sort of mentality, if you work in a small company you personally can have a much bigger impact. This holds true even on the giving side, you can make a bigger impact and be part of this organisation that is doing such wonderful things on a boutique scale.
When you sit in the concert hall, what feelings come to you?
Carol: Peace. Just looking out the window if you’re here during the daytime. Birds flying by and you have beautiful music and it’s peaceful.
Jim: I come from a family where my mother was very musical, she directed choirs, taught piano, Saturday morning there would be some musical on the reel to reel. So every time I am sitting in the audience and am waiting to then hear these amazing artists, I think, I wish my parents could be here, my family in California, to experience what we’re experiencing. I feel like I’m connecting back through to my family.
What do you wish everyone knew about UKARIA?
Jim: Just that it’s such a special place in the Adelaide Hills. There are still so many people who have never been and who are arts patrons but they have just never made it to UKARIA.
Carol: I think it’s a bit like us, we always wanted to come up here and just never got around to doing it because we were coming from the McLaren Vale area and the distance seemed too great. But it’s actually a beautiful drive through the hills. We’ve brought friends with us to various concerts and try to promote it as much as we can to our circle of friends. It’s just such an amazing place that you can’t even describe it unless you come and experience it for yourself.
Jim: When we come and we see the artists, there is often some comment during or at the end of the performance about this being a very special place. Where I see it even more is when we’ve been here for a dinner when the artists have been invited as well. You sense they see it as a very special place. Here they can be part of the family and they get to have a personal experience as an artist that they don’t get when they are on the road.
Carol: I think the Twin Peaks facilities too must be amazing for some of these artists – you land in the Adelaide Hills, the beauty, it’s just restorative being here. And then it’s everything: this absolutely beautiful concert hall, the beautiful mini-concert hall they have at Twin Peaks and a nice home accommodation. For people travelling like they do, it must be such a great experience, it’s not just staying in another hotel.
What do you hope to accomplish through your philanthropy?
Carol: It’s supporting the ongoing effort. Just being able to know that the venue is continuing and that the program is continuing to be able to bring in world class artists and support creative endeavours with these people. Supporting people to come up and create work. I think it’s all just fantastic.
If you were talking to someone about giving to UKARIA, what would you tell them?
Jim: Again I go back to what I said earlier; because it is a boutique organisation, I just feel like our contribution means more than if we just make the contribution to one of the large organisations. I think we get more satisfaction because of what is happening at UKARIA. And in line with this, I think throughout all of this, it’s really the enrichment of our lives. We feel that since that first concert, our lives have been enriched. And we feel like without UKARIA, there was a missing piece. We have a very good life and we feel very lucky but it is that intangible aspect we get which in many ways has become very tangible. What we’re experiencing at UKARIA has really the enriched our lives.
Carol: The team that Alison and Ulrike have put together to run this program, everybody is just so amazing. It is like coming up and being among friends and family, that’s how I feel.