Year: 2014

In response to my inquiry regarding what plans that they have for implementing projects that demonstrate an interest in further developing the local arts community, council member Debra Dorst-Posada, who is a former San Bernardino County Museum Commissioner and current Museum of History and Art liaison, pointed out that “The City of Ontario has a long record of support for developing the local arts community through the activities of the Museum of History and Art, Ontario, as well as support for cultural groups operating in the community.” The City was instrumental in relocating the Chaffey Community Museum of Art to its site across the street from the Museum of History of Art. Dorst-Porada emphasized that their close proximity is “an excellent foundation to build on the synergy of these two cultural institutions.” She stated a goal of developing a community of live-work spaces where an arts community flourishes, including the full gamut of Art Walk activities, etc. that are characteristic of a downtown arts center.

Changes to the Ontario art scene include a new director of the Museum of History and Art. Executive Director John Worden has a visual arts background. After receiving an MFA degree in Photography in Rochester, New York, he became a visual arts curator at Pyramid Arts Center. Later, he served as the director of a rural arts council in Wayne County New York, where he worked on a major heritage tourism project. Before relocating to Riverside, California, Worden also worked for a planning consulting firm that specialized in public/private partnerships. In reference to his experiences as one who relocated from New York to the Inland Empire, John Worden stated, “I served as Executive Director at the Mission Inn Museum in Riverside for the last 16 years, and am especially proud of the exemplary educational and cultural programs provided there….I was attracted to the position here in Ontario by several key attributes: the Museum is devoted to art as well as history; Ontario’s audience is diverse; and along with the Museum’s high credibility and the track record of City Council support for cultural activities, I see great potential in reaching out and serving the community.”

Mayor Paul S. Leon is pleased that the museum has been “actively increasing its programming activities” and “reaching out to community audiences.” On Saturday, February 1st, I attended an event that was held to celebrate a combination of Chinese and Mexican heritage. According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, 2014 is “The Year of the Horse.” Also, “El Caballo”—“The Horse” is highly significant to Mexican folklore. Thus, the viewing of the traveling exhibit El Caballo: The Horse in Mexican Folk Art and Chinese New Year activities at the museum conveniently overlapped. El Caballo opened January 30th— the day after the New Year began, and will remain until March 10th of 2014.

According to the mayor, “The museum is also administering the City’s new request for proposals process for a public art mural project at Ontario Town Square – a plaza that will serve as another venue for cultural activities, being developed in historic downtown, near the Ontario City Library.” He said, “We are delighted to offer this opportunity for the selected artist to convey the identity and character of the Ontario Community.” The March 7th deadline for art submissions is nearing, and interested persons are urged to view the City website’s BidsOnline portal and/or contact the Purchasing Department at (909) 395-2012 for more information.

The arts community of the Inland Empire is being revitalized and bolstered to an unprecedented level through the support of various entities. An advantage of being a relatively unsung arts community is that local residents have the opportunity to be pioneers by becoming involved and helping to carve out the in-progress artistic landscape.

Sharon A. Pittman can be reached at sharon.pittman@inclusiveexhibits.org

Esther: What are some art initiatives and upcoming events you are currently working on?

Gail McCarthy: Our current projects are Art on the Lake, which is going into its 15th season, and the Artwalk Festival. Art on the Lake is a summer arts program in August, and the Artwalk Festival, Tim’s project, is in July. Both recently moved to the new Bartlett Events Center and what was only a parking lot before, now accommodates the sizable events. The City came through with sufficient electricity and water needed for two great shows.

Tim Breunig: The Arts Festival has been improved upon with the addition of a main stage where we can now have bands perform, and the city of Big Bear Lake put in about 4.5 million dollars worth of new improvements and renovations to the Village Events Center just about last October. The Village is the heart of Big Bear Lake’s shopping and dining, but also is the new site for the two art festivals. The city put in all new streets, sidewalks, lighting, landscaping and trees- really a lot of money into the infrastructure. We’re looking to be a better partner and have a better partner in the city, like many communities do.

Jeff Mathieus: We also have the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra performing this weekend and in March. They are a group of 110 musicians in grade school and this is their second year performing at our Performing Arts Center. It’s a free event for the community and a good example of the type of programming we have here.

Esther: How would you describe the arts community of Big Bear Lake?

Jeff: Locally, there is Big Bear Theatre Projects, Big Bear Strings, which is dedicated to the youth, and have been to Carnegie Hall and Europe. The Young American Dance also recruit local talent. To take a community and be able to express it the way Big Bear does is very unique. We have a finger on one or two things to touch on all of the expressions of art, and it’s not just importing in, but really about fostering and celebrating the local. We have a wide spectrum of the arts (dance, music, theatre, visual arts, crafts). There is a jazz component every year as we have the Jazz Festival on the Lake, and there is the Starlight Festival, among many more. We try to provide different stages to the community; we have a converted movie theater – The Cave, Big Bear Discovery Center, Knickerbocker Mansion, and the Performing Arts Center (PAC).

Gail: In the Village we have The Gallery for visual artists as well, and of course the summer Art Festivals are important. What is interesting is that because we are a resort destination, every week we get a very different crowd coming through, wo we try to offer a bit of everything.

Esther: What do you want to promote and accomplish in your community through the arts? What are some trials or obstacles that you anticipate and how will you approach overcoming them?

Jeff: There is a vibrant “off the hill” presence in Big Bear Lake, many people own second homes here and one of our goals is to get them involved with the arts here. We are also interested in having more off the hill theatre projects.

Tim: We want to enhance the relationship with the city and create an awareness and engagement campaign, not only with residents but with a lot of second homeowners. There is a huge marketplace for such a small town to encourage people to participate on the same level. In terms of programs now, the public arts program has been seeking space for the traveling exhibits throughout the season. We are also interested in an arts garage concept that is multi-purpose, that can have a kids art camp, summer programs to keep local kids engaged throughout the summer season in ways they don’t get in the school season. An arts garage would be perfect for the local feel. And finally, we are interested in getting corporate sponsorship for the arts here. We have the capacity to not only be a larger art presence, but to become an art destination as well.

Gail: We would like to work more with Arts Connection, for a larger picture, as well as with the city. We want to sort of reinvent ourselves and have more opportunities to branch out. We have the space for residencies, a small budget, and lodging for artists who would be interested in staying 2-4 days to teach classes. And in terms of visibility and awareness, for example Knickerbocker Mansion, one third of the people who live here don’t know about it. For some locals it can take 22 years of living here before finally going there.

PERFORMING ARTS CENTER of BIG BEAR LAKE

We continued our conversation at the Performing Arts Center, where Erica Stephenson, finance supervisor of the PAC, joined us. Erica pointed out PAC’s unique 360 degree rotating stage which is capable of having three different sets at the same time, a detail that allows for high production programs. The recent technical upgrades to the venue included a fog machine donated by the Arts Council, new mics, and programmable digital light and sound board. The care and excellent maintenance of the PAC spoke volumes about the dedication of the city and the Arts Council.

Gail: It just strikes me, that since 1988 when this space was completed, it’s basically been very forward thinking people, because everything that you’re capitalizing on now was basically here, just waiting to be expanded and added to, and put into use.

Erica: We have a full movie screen that is used for our popular international film festival. We also have a horrified film festival for that genre. Locally, we hold pageants, high school awards shows, and school talent shows. Just a myriad of productions. The salvation army has a camp and then they get to come here and be on a stage and let their families come and see what they have learned, and so it’s really a good opportunity for our local youth, especially in a small town, to get a state of the art in theater to perform on to see if it’s something they want to pursue in school. So we are really proud that we can offer that to our local youth (with the PAC).

Jeff explains the other stages they offer in the community and why.

Jeff: To have multiple stages throughout the community is important because this (Performing Arts Center) is very daunting and very large. And while there may be a solo speaker like a Steve Jobs type to come here and command a stage it’s very difficult, and with our smaller productions we want more intimacy. That is why we have the recital hall, the outdoor amphitheater over at the Discovery Center, and why The Cave and the entertainment venue that it is really complement what we have here. The PAC can hold and does hold 100, 120 people on a stage with a major production, large cast, and has the technical capacity to bring a lot of props in here, but we need to match the right performance with the right venue. We feel so lucky that we have a large venue like the PAC to accommodate, but at the same time it’s really a holistic arts community because of the multiple stages and opportunities.

Esther: You mentioned that you have an International film festival, how often do you try to bring outside, down the hill talent, and how is that incorporated into the local arts community here?

Jeff: What’s beautiful is that especially in the last seven or eight years, it’s not so much bringing in off the hill as it is germinating, growing something within the hill. Big Bear Film Festival has a lot of folks that work for dreamworks that live here. Our folks that are major screen actresses like Shirley Jones and others that live here. We want to do something here in our own community, and we want to do what is related back to Big Bear. Giving the example of the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra coming here this weekend. it’s a product really of what we have here with the Big Bear Strings. More and more of what we have is indigenous to the folks that are here, and we will develop.

Tim: No doubt it would be one of our goals to create the venue, create that kind of opportunity for that type of thing to happen where people come to, and think of, Big Bear as not only a recreational destination, but as a destination for the arts. All genres across the board, and creating these visual art festivals, media and film festivals.  During the last year we added a music component to the art festivals to attract regional indie, acoustic, folk country, and jazz talent to come to Big Bear and play for our visitors. Because we are about visitors, and entertaining and creating a great experience for our visitors and enhancing the rich cultural environment for the folks that live here as well. How many visitors do we get?

Jeff: Over the course of an annual period it is an excess of 3 million. And again, trying to capture and to have a variety of different offerings that are beyond sports and recreation, although we celebrate that too, but to tap into those who want to enjoy something finer. That’s the expression of everything that we have been trying to do here.

Be sure to check out the summer festivities starting in July with the 2014 Big Bear Lake Artwalk Festival!

http://bigbearlakeartwalk.com/about/

Arts and arts education have suffered severe cutbacks since 1975, when Gov. Brown, then in his first term, established the California Arts Council with the goal of inspiring public participation in the arts statewide. Much of this was done through competitive grant programs that helped build arts organizations, programs, leadership development, arts education in schools and awareness of the value of the arts.

When Brown left office in 1983, the Arts Council had a budget of $11.5 million, eventually reaching a high of $32 million in 2001. Since then, however, the Council’s budget has faced steady cuts. This year, the Council’s budget is about $5 million, which includes $1 million from the state general fund, $1 million from the National Endowment for the Arts, and $3 million from sales of the Arts License Plate. The agency also received $2 million in one-time funds from the Legislature for fiscal year 2013-14.

SEE MORE AT:

http://sd28.senate.ca.gov/news/2014-02-12-sen-ted-lieu-introduce-bill-increase-funding-arts-stimulate-%E2%80%98creative-economy#sthash.ZIMdKB5K.dpuf

Jeff Brown’s beloved children’s book, Flat Stanley—about a boy who, when a bulletin board falls on him in his sleep, is flattened and can now fold himself into letter size and be mailed off on different adventures—is transformed, by Timothy Allen McDonald, into an adventure for the whole family. While the original book was released in 1963, the musical has a modern twist, with nods to contemporary classics Harry Potter and Star Wars, in the use of props and in the music. An acknowledgment which visibly resonated with the target audience and instantly connected them with the characters on the stage.

“The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley,” though focused on family—Stanley, desperate for adventure and travel, realizes that what he really wants is to be with his parents and brother—sends another message which, given the constant reliance on handheld technology for entertainment, is desperately needed. The message, and here we border on cliché (but stick with me—it’s worth the trip), is that when children (or heck, we) delve into the realm of fantasy and imagination, adventure is always possible. This is not just the, “If you can imagine it, you’re there!” type of adventure either, but the idea that the audience has it within themselves to create and go.  Because when thisaudience member considered the choices the writers had made in regards to including Harry Potter and Star Wars, I couldn’t help but think about the creators of those two franchises—two people who simply imagined worlds and took us there to visit.

The MainStreet Theatre Company gives a knee-slapping performance replete with physical humor, outrageous costumes, and songs that had children singing and dancing in their seats.  The stand-out performance, however, was Michael Faulkner’s, who plays Stanley’s father.  Silliness (and the musical is silly) is often underrated. Or, it is misunderstood as something that anyone can execute easily, but that is definitely not the case. Faulkner changed roles and wardrobes several times over, and though each of his characters was intended to make the audience laugh, each did it a new way.  Contrary to what many believe, it is not easy to entertain children, but Faulkner was able to do it with ease and respect for his audience.

“The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley” runs through Sunday February 16, 2014, Saturdays and Sundays only, at the Lewis Family Playhouse.  Prices are $18.00 for general admission and $16.00 for youth. For directions to Lewis Family Playhouse and for information about this and other upcoming events, please go to http://www.lewisfamilyplayhouse.com/.

Photographing African heritage throughout Mexico, and using it as an integral component to understand what it means to be Mexican, the artist presents a different history, one, he assured me, is for the most part forgotten in favor of a heritage which places the narrative of an indigenous

heritage at the forefront. That narrative also becomes problematic, because for all the celebrating of an indigenous heritage, it is relegated to only celebrating that heritage in terms of history, the past. For these reasons Triedo has dedicated himself to documenting marginalized communities living in Mexico, be they indigenous, African, Russian, French, or Mennonite.

Alongside Treido’s exhibit, which has traveled the globe, is the work of renowned photographer William Nord, and artists: Charles Bibbs, Alva McNeal, Maurice Howard, Johnny Bryan, Adeola Aiyeloja, Diane Young, and Carmelita Acid-Hooks.

“Ebano” has arrived with perfect timing to celebrate Black Heritage Month and will be showing at the National Orange Show Art Gallery Fridays and Saturdays through March 1, 2014, except Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15. The exhibit opened on Saturday, February 1st with poetry by local poets Aaron Reeder, Elisa Grajeda-Urmston, Maurisa Thompson, Alex Avila, and Roshon Dodson. The event and exhibit were made possible through a joint collaboration between the Mexican Consulate, Carolina Zaragoza Flores, and Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, who represents the 47th District.