The City Council approved a proposal presented by City Council Member Tim Ben Boyston to create a one percent For The Arts. The council will need to create the necessary material in order for the community to become more involved.
Essentially, when a city creates a one percent For the Arts, it means that when developers ask for city permits to construct various kinds of buildings, they will need to have the cost assessed for their building permits. When the figure is determined, the developers will pay the city one percent of the assessed figures.
This will be a major step towards getting the city to focus towards the future in supporting the Visual and Performing Arts. Public art will be greatly supported and with the help of visiting artists we can create environmental gardens with sculptures for serene sitting places throughout our community.
There will be many choices that can be considered and a budget will be set up for amounts to be spent annually. Exploring Art and its place in the city environment will help make Santa Clarita a place people will want to come and visit.
The Economic returns in creating venues that will attract visitors will make the one percent For The Arts a very beneficial endeavor. Cities throughout the nation have created this process for the arts.
At this time Santa Clarita does not have any place to hold art exhibits, traveling music performances and theatre productions other than The College of the Canyons Performing Arts Center and it is not owned by the city. Additional opportunities will now be possible to create sites to hold visual and performing arts for the public. It indeed will take time to make this policy permanent and not be eliminated by developers who do not wish to have this reality.
The real question is, why hasn’t art been a part of the vision for Santa Clarita?
The city’s Master Plan over the past 20 years has included transportation, safety, parks, sports complex, housing, malls, roads, police and fire protection, schools, education programs and traffic guidelines, all to enrich the residents of Santa Clarita. What was not included were plans for developing visual and performing arts programs. Now the city will have to consider a new Cultural Arts Plan to be created in the months to come.
For more information contact Jaylene Armstrong, retired art educator from Madison Wisconsin, at 661-255-3050.