The “Fit for the Future” was held on October 16 at the Hyatt with city council officials discussing the annual” State of the City” planning for the future with residents, business owners and community leaders attending the meeting. The meeting gave us a “behind the scene’s look” of the city’s current projects and priorities for building Santa Clarita’s local economy.
Topics were the city’s public library, open spaces, and city wide beautification projects including public art. The city council approved the chosen consultant to oversee the Master Plan for the Arts in Santa Clarita and agreed to the salary of $75,000 a year for the work the consultant will be expected to do. Right away the consultant will be looking at all past data about how the arts have been developed in Santa Clarita. People who are art advocates will be interviewed for their ideas and concern about how all of the arts should be, could be integrated into the community’s involvement.
I definitely want to talk with the art consultant and encourage the idea of developing an art center to provide a place for all of the arts. The Arts Commission has plans for future public art projects and these plans will be considered after the consultant has created the major recommendations the city has asked the consultant to follow. All of this takes time for the consultant to investigate data and history so it may be January before we hear the consultant’s recommendations for the “Master Plan for the Arts in Santa Clarita”.
We can hardly wait to hear what the consultant recommends.
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.