In an effort to assist local art enthusiasts and community
leaders to promote the arts in San Benito County, Al Maitland, CEO
of the California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies, paid a visit to
Hollister Thursday with some tips on how to form a working, viable
arts council.
Hollister – In an effort to assist local art enthusiasts and community leaders to promote the arts in San Benito County, Al Maitland, CEO of the California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies, paid a visit to Hollister Thursday with some tips on how to form a working, viable arts council.
CALAA is a statewide organization designed to help with the birth of county arts councils and city arts commissions, and provides grants and other programs once the local organization is up and running.
Planning Commissioner Mike Smith invited Maitland to attend a meeting of people who responded to Smith’s attempts to resurrect an arts council, designed to unite and support the efforts of local artists and artistic organizations.
While San Benito County enjoyed an Arts Council that thrived for 20 years, it was disbanded in 2001 due to financial woes. Without an arts council to write grants, no money has been available to local artists.
“We need to promote the arts we have in this community,” said Annette Giacomazzi, founder of the local YMCA. “And what we have to offer is unique, because unlike San Francisco or LA, we’re still a rural area.”
In order to suggest how best to go about the business of organizing an arts council, Maitland asked several questions to assess the needs of San Benito County, as well as its strong points, and offered suggestions as to how best to utilize such an organization once it is established.
“There is enough anecdotal evidence from other counties to suggest that San Benito County can sustain the arts through tourism,” said Smith. “Cultural tourism is the best way to promote economic development without taxing our infrastructure-which frankly, has become a big issue.”
Economic development was a high priority for the those present. Despite the best efforts of several local agencies, downtown Hollister remains quiet most days, and attempts to revitalize downtown through dining and shopping exclusively has met only modest success. According to Maitland, such conditions are not unusual.
“Every successful downtown revitalization program is partnered with the arts,” he said. “Imagine if you did for the arts what this community does for sports. Where would you be today?”
In order to get a county arts council on its way to incorporation as a private non-profit, Maitland suggested forming a task force of interested citizens from a range of artistic disciplines, who would go on a retreat to determine what the priorities of the Council would be. These might range from raising funds for a performance facility to promoting arts education in local schools. Smith believes such a task force will be formed by mid-October.
“We are going to involve all the local arts organizations,” he said. “But we hope they will approach us sooner than us approaching them later.”
Kathy Johnson, community programs director for DMB and Associates, cited an artist’s focus group that the firm recently sponsored. The group determined that the number one need of local artists is a “go-to guy” to coordinate and support local cultural events.
“As it is, our local arts organizations are competing against one another,” said Smith. “There’s no communication, and for weeks on end there is nothing going on in town. Then all of a sudden, three different groups are doing the same show over the same weekend.”
Maitland suggested that the arts council do an analysis of what locals are willing to spend on cultural events, as well as look into forming marketing partnerships with neighboring counties in support of the arts, which he says have been very successful for other communities in California.
“I think it’s very obvious that we have the land to do something good for the arts here, and we have the need,” said City Councilman Brad Pike. “It’s time to marry the two together and let our community know why this is important.”
“You can have a living arts lab here on Main Street,” said Maitland. “It’s about interest in culture, and the preservation of this community’s history and lineage, and that’s something that matters to everyone.”
Those interested in the formation of a county arts council can email [email protected]
