From painters to poets, singers to sculptors, actors to
musicians, members of San Benito County’s quiet arts community can
band together next Wednesday to make their voices heard.
Hollister – From painters to poets, singers to sculptors, actors to musicians, members of San Benito County’s quiet arts community can band together next Wednesday to make their voices heard.
Arts activist Mike Smith and Community Foundation for San Benito County Executive Director Gary Byrne will host an introductory meeting on April 20 for anyone in the area ready to team up to support the local arts. Eventually, this could lead to the formation of a local arts committee and even an arts center, according to Smith.
“The important thing now is to really introduce artists to one another and develop a vision for the arts in San Benito County,” said Smith. “I’m pretty confident now that we have the leadership skills and organization in the community to move this forward and make a good effort for artists to meet and complement each other.”
Creative souls haven’t had an outlet to do just that since the county’s arts council was dismantled about four years ago, Smith said. But now, if enough people are interested and ready to roll up their sleeves to support the local arts, Smith and others say it’s time to bring artistic advocacy back to the forefront.
Step one is getting everyone together, and if all goes well, step two could be bringing Hollister a long-awaited arts center.
“There’s a lot of wonderful artists in our county, and there’s always been a need for an arts center,” said Byrne, who has offered to help gather funds through the Community Foundation to support Smith’s project. “The Community Foundation is really open to helping the community in any way to grow, so when Mike (Smith) asked if we’d be interested in getting involved, our instant response would be a yes.”
Laurie Venturini, the president of the board for the Oriana Chorale choir, said interest in forming an arts committee among members of that group was high, and added the ultimate goal of establishing an arts center would be a dream come true for Oriana and other local groups.
“Finding venues to perform in … we know very well they’re hard to come by. We usually end up singing in churches or in the mission because there really isn’t any place that has the acoustics or the seating,” Venturini said. “Also it’s getting very expensive to put on performances, and it’s our thought that maybe with a group, there would be some kind of blanket funding that would help everybody, not just ourselves. It’s becoming so much more expensive for directors and musicians because we want to put on a really high-quality performance for the community, but we don’t want to raise ticket prices.”
If an arts committee does get off the ground and starts actively lobbying for an arts center, Byrne said, the foundation would volunteer as a “fiscal agent,” acting as a channel through which residents could donate money to be specifically ear-marked for the center.
“I’ve definitely heard from donors in the past that if there was a center like this, they’d love to put some donations towards it,” Byrne said.
Everyone’s welcome to come to the meeting Wednesday whether or not they’re artists, Smith said. In fact, non-artists are encouraged.
“I would like the education community to take an interest and get involved, the youth in our community, and senior citizens … . Clint Eastwood’s over 70 years old and he’s still making movies,” said Smith.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
