I am writing in response to Mike Smith’s column about
re-starting a version of the San Benito County Arts Commission. I
moved to the county six months before the Board of Supervisors
abruptly disbanded the commission on a Tuesday morning while I was
at work. In spring 2002, Dan Reyes convened a meeting of arts
organizations, advocates, poets, musicians and artists in the
county to discuss the formation of a Cultural Council that would
broaden the late Arts Commission’s mandate to include the
significant historical resource groups in the County.
Editor,
I am writing in response to Mike Smith’s column about re-starting a version of the San Benito County Arts Commission. I moved to the county six months before the Board of Supervisors abruptly disbanded the commission on a Tuesday morning while I was at work. In spring 2002, Dan Reyes convened a meeting of arts organizations, advocates, poets, musicians and artists in the county to discuss the formation of a Cultural Council that would broaden the late Arts Commission’s mandate to include the significant historical resource groups in the County. I stated three wishes that night:
A Master Directory of Cultural Organizations
A Master Directory of Venues for Cultural Events
A Master Calendar of Cultural Events
Three years later, I still dream of seeing those documents to help nurture community, creativity and economic development in San Benito County. Please let me elaborate:
A Master Directory of Cultural Organizations:
In 2000-01, the City of Hollister Redevelopment Agency lent $30,000 to a non-profit organization to fund a feasibility study for a Center for the Arts (visual as well as performing) in Hollister. I don’t know any of the people involved and only know what I read in the Free Lance, but my understanding is that the study analyzed current and projected activities/needs of the local arts community, available facilities, the need for and preferred size of additional facilities, site requirements, and estimated costs of construction and operations.
When the study concluded that an arts center was not feasible for our community (and probably that the corner of Fourth and San Benito was too small/inappropriate), the Board announced that they dropped the concept. I applaud the board for acting in a proactive manner to develop a facility that could strengthen a variety of local businesses (not just eating/drinking establishments, numerous studies throughout the US have shown that arts activities typically have an economic multiplier effect of one arts dollar generating $8 of spending in other local businesses; the San Jose Mercury News frequently repeats summaries of such studies). I believe the board also demonstrated sound judgment in not just arbitrarily picking a site and hoping a facility might fit, or starting capital facility fundraising until they had a neutral assessment from experts in the field.
The feasibility study contained detailed survey information provided by local artists and organizations that could be instantly turned into an arts directory incorporated in the Web sites and informational materials of the Chamber of Commerce and cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista. But because the study was paid for by a private entity, even though the source was a loan of public funds, the study is not public information and is not available to the public. I wish the Hollister Redevelopment Agency would forgive the loan so we could get the report and use the information in the directory. The information is not available anywhere else – check the City’s Web site under “About Hollister” or the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce under “Clubs and Organizations.” If you moved here and wanted to sing in a local chorus, would you know to look for the Oriana Chorale in the Chamber’s Business Directory under “Arts and Entertainment?”
A Master Directory of Venues for Cultural Events:
My impression is that the feasibility study also contained a chapter on existing arts facilities/venues with details about seating, sound system and rental fees that could turned into a guide to special events facilities. Since Godzilla and I have the same birthday, I attempted to rent the Premiere Theater for a semi-private showing of the original 1954 Godzilla movie, but they never called me back with a quote. Then I thought I might sponsor a free community concert with Juanita Ulloa, a female mariachi based in Oakland, but it was too hard to organize, stumbling around calling the manager of each facility separately to get basic information. Why does Hollister make it so hard to spend money? The City has precedent for paying for studies they don’t use – like the Downtown Hollister Urban Design Study. I saw beautifully illustrated concept plans in full color on the front page of the Free Lance, so I mentioned the study to the consultants preparing the Hollister General Plan Update. The Director of Community Development at the time, said it’s not a policy document because it was never adopted by the City Council. So we paid umpteen thousand dollars for a report to sit on a shelf and have the General Plan consultants stumble around with design guidelines for downtown? If we get beyond egos and forgive the loan for the Feasibility Study to get our hands on the facility information, I think we could painlessly create a Special Events Guide like Napa wine country has.
A Master Calendar of Cultural Events:
We have some wonderfully talented local theater groups as Bob Valenzuela frequently reminded us. Am I the only one going nuts that we have no shows in town for months and then there are three plays on the same two weekends? On Saturday Feb. 19, I went to a cultural event in San Juan Bautista with world class poets, songwriters and musicians, including Hollister’s own Neruda, Joe Navarro, and composer-guitarist Bruce Gilsenan (in www.concorazon.net) for an accessible $10 ticket fee including a killer buffet donated by all your favorite restaurants in SJB. The only place I saw any publicity about the event in Hollister was a hard-to-read black-and-white photocopy taped on the door of a store that I had never gone to in 3.5 years until two weeks ago, when my daughter decided to take guitar lessons. While writing this letter, I was stunned to learn that the San Benito Chamber of Commerce Web site has a Master Calendar of Events. But if they haven’t publicized the availability of the calendar, how do organizations know how to post their events and how do the people who whine that “there’s nothing to do in Hollister” know to look at it?
I’m not sure if Mike Smith was hinting about constructing an Arts Center or physical facility that we don’t have the funds to operate (one phone call to Morgan Hill would tell you what the expenses are; why not support the YMCA’s future community center to ensure it has any arts facilities we lack?). I do think it’s important to have an umbrella cultural organization with 501c3 status in order to accept and disburse grants, but I don’t think the County government necessarily has to provide oversight – community organizations have successfully formed under the sponsorship of the San Benito County Community Foundation.
Jennifer Coile, Hollister
