The
Dawn of a New Day
Yesterday
at the by-monthly meeting of our Arts Commission, there were actually
people in the audience. How many times in the past years have I
sat in the Council Chambers and no one was there but the Commission
and Staff. What a wonderful feeling to have the Community come up to
the lectern and have a passionate dialogue which they care about as
Stakeholders in our Arts Community.
There
were two board members from the Oceanside
Museum of Art as well as the New Executive Director Maria
Mingalone, Main Street
Oceanside represented by Gumaro Escarcega, My favorite Union
Tribute newspaper columnist, Lola Sherman, Oceanside
Cultural Arts Foundation board members, Dmitriy
Demidov – Vice President,
Ann Mortland OSAF Secretary,
and others from our Oceanside Community.
I
am happily optimistic about this new change for our Arts Community and
I believe that it has a lot to do with the Commission's new liaison from the City
council Jerry Kern. A champion for our Art Museum, the enthusiastic
supporter of last summers Phantom Gallery, a continuing presence at
the Muramid Mural Museum, and
an advocate for funding for the Commission.
His warm and friendly presence at our Meetings will generate the
perception for our City's commitment to the Arts as an economic driver for our business Community.
There
was lively commentary from those in our audience concerning the
participation of a Steering Committee to have a Stakeholders contribution of concerns and visions with the chosen Art Consultant who will be developing a Master Plan
for the Arts in our City of Oceanside. We are hopeful that the
Stakeholders in our City who have spent decades in creating events for the Arts, Supporting the Arts with their time, money. Blood, Sweat
and Tears will have a voice in our City's unique needs in the
implementation of a policy that will define our image in the Art
World Regionally, Nationally, and Internationally for years to come.
We
all look forward to this new and vigorous participation in the coming
year. It does take all our collective efforts not just voices to make a difference for
our vision of Oceanside to become an Arts Destination on our North
Coast of San Diego County and Beyond!
