Oh, my goodness we finally have a new city council member. His name is Dante Acosta. He won with a large amount of votes after the two incumbents received the votes to keep their seats on the City Council. Now we need to see how Mr. Acosta feels about the “arts” in Santa Clarita.
I hope he will be able to read the study that was commissioned by the City of Santa Clarita that reported we could support a medium size conference and convention center. Of course this would not be a total art center, but it could welcome the arts as a way of producing not only economic growth, but a healthful exploration of the creative spirit. The goal of this kind of exploration would fill the needs and desires of tens of thousands of city residents who participate in art events. Basically, I hope Mr. Acosta will learn there is a need to enhance the attractiveness of our entire valley. The city does not own an art gallery, we do not have an art museum, and there are few private-owned art galleries. We have a performing arts center owned by the College of the Canyons and this does provide many good theater productions.
The commission had the idea of a, art park that would function on multiple levels. The art park would be the centerpiece of a marketing campaign that would promote the City of Santa Clarita as a number one destination point for state and regional music and art conferences and festivals. My question is, what happened to all of this planning that involved many arts groups? The city Arts and Events personnel, The City Business Development Departments, the five Arts Commissioners and Arts Commission Venue Committee plus a city sponsored art survey all participated in the planning as a commission.
Obviously the effort all of this planning is not coming to fruition yet, but when and why not?
Jaylene Armstrong is a retired Art Teacher from Madison, Wisconsin, a former National Art Education Association Western Region Vice President and President of Wisconsin Art Education Association. For more information contact Jaylene at 661-255-3050.