I am at the age that death comes to visit on a more or less
regular basis. But today I ask myself, why do we wait to praise those who are
valuable in our lives until after they pass?
My friend and colleague Jim Gilliam just survived an operation that will
give him many more years of life and I want to take this time to celebrate the
great things that he has done for our arts community already.
I am very much a now and future person and my memory for
past event has always been sketchy, but I believe my beginning interactions
with Jim were when he joined me and Naomi Nussbaum and John Eger on our quest
to bring back the SD County Commission for Arts and Culture. I do have some
records which go back to 2014 when we visited every single county supervisor to
push our case. We were eventually joined
by Daniel Foster who was at that time Director of the Oceanside Museum of Art.
Eventually, we formed the North County Arts Network as an advocacy group and we
successfully threw our weight behind the formation of that commission in 2022. I
am now chair of that group and both Jim and Naomi are active board members.
In 2014, Jim was Arts Administrator for the city of
Encinitas (2005 -2022) and was an expert in all things music as a choir singer
himself (currently with the La Jolla Symphony Chorus, Prescott Chorale, and San
Luis Rey Chorale) and a member of the Consortium of Southern California
Chamber Music Presenters. In 2012, he founded the city’s Music by the Sea
series, which featured performances by award-winning musicians at the Encinitas
Library. iPalpiti which showcases the best of the best had a run in Encinitas
every year until slightly after he left that post. He was largely instrumental in
campaigning for the Pacific View Arts Center. He started Arts Nights and a
series of visual art exhibitions not
only in the new library in Encinitas but also at City Hall and the Community
Center.
Once the Encinitas Friends of the Arts (EFA) was formed, he
helped Naimeh Woodward, the EFA chairwomen, make the Day of the Dead the epic
event it became. He participated in all of their Passport events featuring a
wide array of different cultures. He is now on the board of EFA and I serve as
an advisor to that board. With Jim’s help the sculpture pads with local SD
artists featured are installed in a number of locations in Encinitas.
Jim ability to work with policies and to communicate in an
effective persuasive and endearing manner, made him the ideal choice for the SD
County Commission of Arts and Culture and he was soon elected as their chair.
His previous work with government helped this group enormously to start to come
to grips with the challenges
facing a newly formed commission. But this committee has already devised a
strategic plan, made suggested changes to the Public Art Policy, constructed a
budget, participated in a capacity building program put on by Arts Matters,
facilitated a Prebys grant for additional funding for the arts and mentored a
number of youth commissioners within the committee.
I know Jim had a life before San Diego including Arts
Administrator for the City of Santa Ana, Executive Director of Imagination
Celebration of Orange County, and Director of Development for Pacific Chorale He
received a bachelor’s degree in church music from Vanguard University and holds
certificates in fundraising, choral conducting, and the Kodály method of music
education. I know little about music, but we trusted Jim to help Hillel Katzeff
when he joined the EFA and started the Cardiff by the Sea Music and Art Salon.
This sold out in less than 2 days and was so successful that another salon will
be held in December.
Jim Gilliam had to miss that first performance, which was a
great pity, but hopefully he will be back to full strength soon and eventually
find his rightful place back in the heart of the arts.
