This is our forum for each of us introduce ourselves to the rest of the Arts community in South Pasadena, and share ideas large or small about what we want our newly forming independent Arts Council to do!
Our second group meeting will be late May or early June, so get the ideas a'blogging so we can talk about them at our next gathering of creative minds!
On this blog leave comments and tell us about yourself, how you participate in the visual arts, performing arts, musical arts or supportive arts and what you think the most important thing an arts council can do to enrich the lives of the citizens of South Pasadena and help the arts in these hard economic times survive and thrive!
Lissa Reynolds / Artistic Director / Fremont Centre Theatre
Thank you for taking the initiative, Lissa, for such an important cause. I have two offers for the arts community.
ReplyDelete1) Show Off Your ArtI produce the show "Inside Private Lives" (LA Times "Critics' Choice) Sundays at 7pm thru May (and possibly extending). It is a perfect opportunity for you to exhibit your art or play your music before and midway through our show. We have a beautiful venue at Fremont Centre Theatre. Let's get together! Contact me at kristinstone@InsidePrivateLives.com
2) Bring a Friend to South PasadenaWe'll give you two tickets for the price of one. Just use the promotional code "Twofer" when purchasing your ticket to the show at www.InsidePrivateLives.com
Hope to see you soon!!
Dear Lissa:
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your wonderful creative energy! An Arts Council is imperative to our community! As the President of the South Pasadena Preservation Foundation, we welcome the opportunity to work with you for the enhancement of our city. I hope we can have a synergetic relationship. Our May 9 Eclectic Arts and Music Event is going to be fantastic and I hope you will help spread the word so we have a great turnout!
Kindest regards, Tiona Wierman, President
South Pasadena Preservation Foundation
So glad to see the blog up and running. Looking forward to the next meeting!
ReplyDeleteLynne Heffley
Congrats to Arts Council for your fine start. Want everyone to be aware of the following event.
ReplyDeleteSouth Pasadena Public Library and the Friends of the South Pasadena Public Library are proud to join forces with the Arroyo Vista Inn and the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce to present nationally known Jack McCarthy (“The Standup Poet”) and Gypsy’s Kiss, an Orange County-based Celtic band. The free, not-to-be-missed event will be presented on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in the South Pasadena City Council Chambers at 1414 Mission Street. The event is suitable for all ages and no tickets or reservations are necessary. However, due to limited seating, only 100 audience members will be able to personally experience McCarthy’s poetic magic. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and fans and other enthusiasts are encouraged to arrive shortly thereafter.
I am very excited about the idea of the Arts Council coming to fruition thanks to Lissa's efforts. South Pasadena has a rich heritege, but only recently has there been a community-wide effort to promote the arts. If can collaborate and share resources, I believe our efforts will enhance our quality of life and make So Pas an even more desirable destination for visitors. We need to revitalize ourselves and what better way than with the arts.
ReplyDeleteLet me kmow what I can do to help.
I'm so excited we're moving forward to our second South Pas Arts Council meeting this Saturday. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it - but I'd like to post this idea:
ReplyDeleteSouth Pasadena's Interactive Hands-On Arts Fair with theater, dance, painting, music...etc!
I don't know if this has been done before since I'm new to town, but I think it could be fabulous. Being new to town, I'm looking for work. Help out a starving artist! I'm available for...well, anything!
karensommers26@gmail.com
Have fun Saturday!
Hi Lissa and all you fab artists and lovers of same.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I can go to the meeting Sat the 13th (although any small amount of time I can visit the Burke Triolo Studio, is time in heaven).
I have a vision that the website would be a place for anyone to go and just click on a tab that is within their interest. Things like: local artist listings, where to find a particular type of art, hire a face painter for your party, commission a muralist, have a purse custom made at Sew Joe, stores in town that carry art and/or supplies, who has art birthday parties for kids/adults, who has classes, and so on. Like a directory, but more visual than just listings.
I would love to see this website ultimately have a 'click-through' from many merchant's websites, and especially from the City of South Pas and Chamber sites. The website will only be successful if it is easy to remember "pick a good name here" and if it is accessible from other websites. i.e. I would put it on my site to open in a separate window so they can be back on my site after they exit the arts site.
Lastly, I think the committee (which I would love to be on) should consider selling ads to local entities within the art world to help pay for the cost of the site. The committee would decide what kind of ads would be acceptable, not unrelated stuff.
That's my 'can't make it to the meeting' input.
Dear Lissa and other Fab Artists,
ReplyDeleteWe are looking forward to this meeting since we missed it.
My kids and I have been thinking about the idea similar to Karen's. My kids said at one of the Art Fair?Festival in South Pasadena, if they can try all different kinds of art, performing art and etc., they can explore themselves and think about what they can do.
We are planning on coming. See you there! We are all excited about So Pas Art Council meetings.
Time well spent at yesterday's Arts Council meeting - terrific energy (thanks, Munyungo for the jumpstart). Amazing collective resume of talent /experience. Very beautiful space!
ReplyDeleteThis group is something we have a responsibility to participate in; and a rich resource to for us to be fed by -- win-win!
Thanks, Lissa, for the catalytic juice!
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteThank you for inviting me to the meeting. I also want to thank Lynn Olsen, Kok Young and my wife Anisa for reminding me to attend. As stated in the meeting, there was a tremendous pool of talent in the room.Very creative, intelligent people with a lot of background, experience and exeprtise. There is seed money to begin to "map" the resources, ID folks, events and build a data base to connect people in SP and outside SP. Techonology is a tool that can be sued to create a synergy and e-commerce based as well. I look back on the Saturday and I see a Guild, a Colony, a Council of integrated individuals by artistic discipline, craft, interest, administrative, clerical, legal and other backgrounds. I see a community in every sense of the word who at some point by organic gardening will meet in the same patch, nurture each other and grow, of course with the proper care. As shared earlier, there is orgainzation going on and it is a getting to know each other period. No rush to marry right away. Let's talk. Let's convene. Let it unfold in a directed manner. Our needs are our own and yet they are the same and together it may well be a shared community experience . Lastly, when the colonist met the indigenous people each were a community unto themselves. They shared experiences up to a point. However, within each group, they took the best of their skill sets to grow a community. There were no non-profit groups then, but there were skilled people in both "communally" based groups.So Assocation, Guild, or Craft Organization can work within a construct will not impede the strenghts of the group's growth and or its life. Thanks again for the opportunity to participate.
Ernest
One purpose for the Arts Council would be to take an active role in promoting the education and social welfare of South Pasadena's children and youth by advocating for accessible, high-quality arts programming in partnership with other community resources and supporting an expanded presence and integration of the arts into the So Pas school district.
ReplyDeleteA major function of the organization should focus on advocacy for the arts. it should develop a plan for financially supporting arts related programs and activities in the community.
Re: Proposed mission statement.
ReplyDeleteI started with the Pasadena Arts Council mission statement since we have a commonality in purpose and edited it to fit our uniquenessas follows:
The South Pasadena Arts Council supports and promotes the arts in South Pasadena. The mission of the South Pasadena Arts Council can be accomplished by:
Developing an increased appreciation and participation in the arts among community members and organizations.
Facilitating and coordinating communications among the arts and the community at large.
Advocating for financial support for the arts and arts education from public and private funding sources.
Encouraging community support for the local businesses and organizations engaged in the arts.
Recognizing community members who show outstanding promise or make significant contributions to the arts.
Maintaining a financially viable and independednt Arts Council.
Carrie Adrian
I cannot make the Mission Statement Meeting on Saturday,
ReplyDeleteAugust 1. Here are my thoughts:
WHY A SOUTH PASADENA ARTS COUNCIL?
• The city of South Pasadena embraces the Arts: Visual and Applied; Theater, Music, and Dance
• The city of South Pasadena has a tremendous number of artists who reside here.
• The city of South Pasadena has a burgeoning growth of venues to showcase the Arts.
• The city of South Pasadena has a large population of art appreciators and supporters.
WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE SOUTH PASADENA ARTS COUNCIL?
Promote art and performances in South Pasadena to attract people within our city and outreach to others in the whole region. Before and after the viewing the art and performances we want everyone shop in our fine stores and dine in our great restaurants.
We want to create an active website that includes a calendar filled with all our art activities from Art Gallery Shows to Theater Performances to Music Concerts. The website would provide directories with information from Art Services such as resume writing to business seminars, as well as names and addresses of local artists.
We want people to communicate via the blog.
We want to initiate Art Festivals.
We want to implement Fundraisers.
We want to locate the pulse of our art community find out from each other what the priorities to achieve our goal will be.
Thank you, Waynna
I agree with Carrie's and Howard's comments verbatim. I'm sorry I can't make August 1 meeting.
ReplyDeleteThe South Pasadena Arts Council supports and promotes the arts in South Pasadena by:
Developing an increased appreciation and participation in the arts among community members and organizations.
Facilitating and coordinating communications among the arts and the community at large.
Promoting the education and social welfare of South Pasadena's children and youth by advocating for accessible, high-quality arts programming in partnership with other community resources and supporting an expanded presence and integration of the arts into the So Pas school district.
Advocating for financial support for the arts and arts education from public and private funding sources.
Encouraging community support for the local businesses and organizations engaged in the arts.
Recognizing community members who show outstanding promise or make significant contributions to the arts.
Maintaining a financially viable and independent Arts Council.
victoria
Award-Winning Actor Michael Broughton
ReplyDeleteto Bring “Jim Beckwourth” to Life at the Library
The South Pasadena Public Library, The Friends of the South Pasadena Public Library, and the Living History Centre, are proud to present a free one-act play for all ages. “Jim Beckwourth” stars Michael Broughton and was written by Mark Weston. The one-man play will be presented in the Library Community Room on October 15 at 7:00 p.m. at 1115 El Centro Street (doors open at 6:30 p.m.). No tickets or reservations are necessary. Refreshments will be provided by the Friends.
An explorer and adventurer who played a major role in the early exploration and settlement of the West, James Pierson Beckwourth was born a slave in Virginia in 1798. He bears the distinction of being the only African American of his time to record his life story. And what an amazing life he led. The autobiography he dictated to Thomas Bonner, a Justice of the Peace in California, The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth, Scout and Pioneer, and Chief of the Crow Nation of Indians was published in 1856. In a time when books were relatively uncommon, Beckwourth’s story was so popular that it enjoyed two American editions and was also released in England and France. Although some accused the book of gross exaggeration, many of the historical facts, such as those about pioneers, Indians, gold miners, fur trappers, and the Mexican-American War have been corroborated by historians. Nevertheless, it now seems truly remarkable that one man could have been so involved with so many of the major events of his day, especially since they occurred in areas stretching all the way from Florida to California.
Beckwourth’s mother was an African American slave and his father was Englishman who raised him as his own son. As a young man, Jim was an apprentice in a blacksmith shop and at age 17 he traveled west with an expedition to the Rocky Mountains, becoming a mountain man in the process. He was adopted into the Crow (Abrasoke) Indian Tribe and lived with them for 6 years. By his own account, he was named Chief of the Crow Nation until he left for the California Gold Rush. In 1850 he discovered Beckwourth Pass, which was an important breakthrough because it was the lowest mountain pass through the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. The lower elevation pass enabled those making the grueling trek to California in search of gold to avoid the treacherous Donner Pass altogether.
Beckwourth Pass was the best wagon road into the California Valley by far and saved countless lives. The Gold Rush boom town of Marysville agreed to pay Beckwourth for discovering the pass, but was never able to live up to its promise. Today, a park in Marysville bears Beckwourth’s name and a town in Northern California is named after him as well. The United States Postal Service issued his commemorative stamp in 1994 as part of its series on African American History. Others depicted in the series include Louis Armstrong, George Washington Carver, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson, Harriet Tubman, and Ethel Waters.
During the last 10 years, Michael Broughton has performed “Jim Beckwourth” more than 100 times around the country. In it he portrays 14 different characters. His virtuoso performance once earned him the prestigious AUDELCO Award in New York City for Best Solo Performance. In earning the accolade, Michael Broughton was selected over the legendary Ruby Dee.
that was the best one man show I had ever seen in 20 years!!!! fantastic to the actor!!!! just awesome compelling work!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree the actor is a force to be reckoned with....absolutely marvelous Michael Broughton is!!!!!!
ReplyDelete