The Art of Harmony

                                                                    The Rewilding of Patagonia

The Old English Dictionary: Harmony concord, accord, agreement, peace, peacefulness, amity, amicability, friendship, fellowship, comradeship, solidarity, cooperation, understanding, consensus, unity, sympathy, rapport, goodwill, like-mindedness.

I have long thought of our Planet Earth as a living breathing being. Like humans, it has its ups and downs throughout the millennials of existence. The Holocene (“entirely recent”) epoch, which began 11,700 years ago after the last major ice age in which we now live within has been harmonious most of the time for humans to thrive and evolve.

I look at images of our Planet Earth as taken from the space station, and the wonder of the creation of this tiny speck in the cosmos, it is truly a work of art in comparison with the other planets in our solar system. No where else in our planetary system are there the spectacular and beautiful life forms in our oceans and on land. There are no artists which can produce art that would compare with the Art of Nature.

After reading a new book published this year about Doug Tompkins, an environmentalist who lived and breathed his love of “beauty” of our world, my thoughts were of how our present cultures are in direct opposition of being in Harmony with our Planet Earth. We are, All, artists in the way we paint our daily lives. Do we paint our day with the brushes of garbage, pollution, excess of wants, or, do we paint our day with the brushes of buying only what we Need, and can use without creating the garbage of pollution. Doug Tompkins painted with his brush by creating National Parks in South America.

Drinking water from plastic bottles, instead of water fountains like we used to do, pampers for babies instead of cloth dippers fill our landfills. Huge cars and trucks with more horsepower than is needed to take us on frivolous trips which have no imperative to be harmonious with Nature, is our “Right” to do without thinking of the consequence of each act. Do we look at each day and wonder how we can be in harmony with our planet Earth, and use the brushes of harmony with Nature for the endurance of the human species? The Planet Earth will be here long after our species dies off due to the brushes of greed and wants, and our human existence will not suffer the continuous creation of garbage, because we believe it is our “Right”, this Life Style of Western Culture.

A million bottles a minute...Humanity paint brushes for the Planet Earth.

The Art of Harmony with Nature should be our primary concern and needs to be the predominate brush with which we paint our days. Our art works will determine the continuation of our Human Species or Not. Understanding, in the above definition, is the most important of all of the synonyms. If we do not understand the consequences of our painting in our daily lives, the pictures of Harmony of Art with Nature will not be in our Museum of Human History.

The Paint brushes of Doug Tompkins

 

“El Corazon Park should be More than Hotels, Condominiums,

and Sports facilities

...it should shine with the Sole of our City”

THE VISION ~ THE PARK ~ THE CENTER

Twenty five years ago Oceanside was a beach town of pizza parlors, laundries for uniforms, and girlie shows. It had no attributes of the fine arts or cultural arts. There was a large open green parcel in the center of town and the Brooks theater was in disrepair. Then something wondrous happened. The Arts came to Oceanside. In the beginning, the alley across from City Hall was an alley filled with the unwanted and unwashed elements of nightly assignations of those who haunted the alleys of the forbidden. This is where it all began. Artists Alley came into being in the building affectionately known as the Art Building. It has from 1992 housed many artists who have come and gone, and now has survived with a Flower Shop, a Fashion Jewelry shop, an Escape Room and other establishments which are retail in scope. From the nucleus of Artists from Artists Alley combined with the Oceanside Cultural Foundation, the Oceanside Museum of Art was born. Thus, changing the face and future of our City. We now have a cultural soul.

Today, we are at transformational point in the visioning for the Arts in Oceanside. We look to a new and wondrous place which is now in the beginning stages of development. A new point of potential cultural opportunity which could be in El Corazon situated in the Heart of our City of Oceanside. Located between in the North, Mesa Drive, Rancho de Oro, to the South with Oceanside Blvd., to the West by El Camino Real, this 465 acre of land is in the beginning stage of development by Sudberry Properties. The Senior Community Center and the new Aquatic Swim Center are fully developed and the sports community and Senior Citizen Center are open to all.

There are currently 18 soccer fields which are used on an ongoing basis by the The SoCal Sports Complex opened in 2014 on 54 acres at the city’s 465-acre on El Corazon property. The current plan calls for the development of residential, retail, and a hotel perhaps two. There seems to be flexibility for purpose in the undeveloped parcels.

This location is served with the good fortune of rail transit east, and north and south. It is five minutes from Interstate 5. There are two new hotels by Marriott directly across the Street on Rancho de Oro.

This land which is called a park has the potential to have elements not just for sport, but for the arts as well. There are abundant sites for large sculptures*, outdoor forums for drama, and for a magnificent venue of a Performing Arts Center. Drawing inspiration from the many facets of Balboa Park in San Diego, and the Orange County Performing Arts Center, El Corazon has the potential to be our Place in the Sun for North County Arts and beyond.

The Soul has many requirements for the Health of an Individual two of which are Sport, and the Aesthetic...The dynamic qualities of the arts influence our everyday lives perhaps more than sport as it permeates all aspects of our connected and intersected lives via the phone, computers, or television. The Arts impact all us whether visual, musical, or dialogue. Live performance is for our Youth the best of all entertainment offerings. Musical, whether it be classical, popular, rock, or jazz is the heartbeat of us all. And who can deny the emotional appeal of the spoken work of Shakespeare, or or the poet Maya Angelou, or the Broadway production of Cats. El Corazon has the capability to give to our City all of the above, and more. It can be a Southern California Center which would have Local, National,and International audiences for the Prformaning Arts..

It has been said, that the Arts should remain downtown in the center of our business community. The Art Museum is there as well as Artist Alley and the two small live performing theaters. There are however, very few artists or galleries in this district due to the expensive rental situation. The Eastern part of Oceanside where the majority of our citizens live is now becoming a desirable location for the arts. The Muramid Mural Museum is now to be located by the Mission, Ace, the Arts Community, Education non profit is  located next door to the Mission branch Library. Many artists live and work in Eastern Oceanside for the larger homes are adaptable to include a studio. The Star Theater and the Brooks Theater are located in the downtown district, and are well attended. They are small venues which are conducive to local productions and they fulfill this function very well.

This is Possible 

Nowhere in the downtown area is there room for a Center which provide the needed space for a Symphony Orchestra to perform. The large stage needed for ballet, or Broadway productions which cannot be accommodated with the small venues we currently have. Let's take a cue from the many great cities which have multiple art districts, many different venues with individual vibes that would speak to all of our many diverse communities. East Oceanside is rich with our City's history as the Mission and Heritage Park are located there. With the growth of the new art, cultural and educational venues coming to the fore, let's celebrate our good fortune with the knowledge that growth is a good thing, and we are fortunate indeed to have this incredible space known as El Corazon... Our Heart.

 Conceptual Drawings for a Preforming Arts Center...

 

Gift of a Dream...

This art form is one of fantasy and real life. The story of dreams, and the dancers of the Real. The two Dancers, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland, the most talented ballet dancers to ever perform in The Nutkcracker Ballet. They give the viewer the dreams of our youth, and the gifts of forever.

I watch this Video every year. The glorious music, the Christmas aura, the lovely visual effects, will last in the history of ballet as the best of the best. It matters not where you live, how young or old you might be, this perfection of the dance will enchant you and give you the gift of dreams...

Many years ago, when I lived in Orange County, I had the privilege of watching a rehearsal with Mikhail Baryshnikov at the Segerstrom Center of Performing Arts. It was the final dress rehearsal of the The Nutkracker Ballet. As I remember, in 1985, Orange County was a place where the cultural life for the Arts was just on the threshold of reality. The excitement was palatable, and the anticipation was so very electric in the air. We were going to be a place where real ballet was to happen.

Will it ever happen in Oceanside this eventful thing of dreams with the Dancers like Baryshnikov? It is a dream much like the vision of having a Museum of Art in Oceanside. That dream came true, can there be a place in our fair City for a Performing Center of Dream? There is a place called El Corazon, a park that could accommodated a Center for the Performing Arts...will our civic leaders be open to the dream? The Museum changed the Face of our Downtown. A performing Arts Center would change the Face of a Park called El Corazon, The Heart, Our Heart.

There are many kinds of Dreams, Children s dreams, Artist dreams, Teacher Dreams, Builders dreams, City Dreams. Our beautiful City on the Hill is a place with infinite possibilities, we have to share these dreams, and help make it happen.

As I watch the Nutcracker tonight, I will once again be the young dreamer of the many things possible...

Ruth Jameson

December 2, 2021