The California Arts Council (CAC), which is headquartered in
Sacramento, holds its board meetings in different cities throughout the state.
In December, it was Oceanside’s turn and a number of us attended for a variety
of reasons. I wanted to make sure that
the CAC was aware that we are trying to bring back the San Diego County Arts
Council*. Others were recipients of
grants like the Oceanside which got recognition as an official cultural
district which comes with a two year stipend. They were there to demonstrate
how they used the money and how appreciative they were of the award. Other
organizations wanted a chance to be seen by this important state board.
Although I could not stay for the entire meeting I was very
impressed with the chair of the CAC, Nahomeh Lindo. She served as an
independent museum consultant for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Oakland Museum of California, specializing
in African-American cultural history. Her work is as a photographer,
printmaker, and painter. She transfers her photographs on to textiles. A native
of Philadelphia, Lindo received her M.S. from Pennsylvania State University. She
was appointed to the California Arts Council by Governor Jerry Brown in October
of 2014 and reappointed in February 2017. From April 22, 2016 to January 25,
2018, Lindo served as Vice Chair. On January 25, 2018, she was elected 21st
Chair of the Council. Her current term expires on January 1, 2021.
Lindo spoke about the wonderful Increase in public funding
toward goals of shared ideals and identity. This funding has enabled the CAC to
grow and broaden scope instead of just surviving. She seems especially
interested in promoting National Health programs for the healing arts. Social
and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults
understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show
empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make
responsible decisions. It seems that grants that incorporate these sorts of
goals will be favored because as she commented, “Every voice matters.”
The thrust here is for the arts to work with other
government and non-profit agencies. In this regard and many others, the CAC is
seen by other states to be an art council model. We are not just talking at the
healing arts, but STEAM with the sciences, veterans, emerging leaders of color
and native Americans. I was so impressed that every Indian nation in California
was acknowledged and thanked at the beginning of this meeting.
My personal hope is that Larry Baza, a long time San Diego art
activist and current vice chairman of the CAC will step smoothly into the
chairman position at the beginning of 2021. At that time, our hopes are to have
at least three county supervisors in favor of a SD County Arts Council.
* I am Patricia
Frischer, founder of San Diego Visual Arts Network. I got my master’s degree in
Art in the early 70s from CCAC in North CA. Art Education was in good shape at
that time and the market for art was strong. I left America to work in the arts
in London England for the next 30 years and returned 20 years ago.
San Diego County is larger than Delaware or Rhode Island. We
have 18 incorporated cities. There are also 18 Indian reservations, 16 naval
and military locations and a whopping 64 unincorporated areas. What I found
when I returned was the wild west!
I asked at the MOCA for a guide to the arts and they laughed
at me. Eventually I found a very rich population of arts and culture here but
it took work….tremendous teamwork that resulted in the SDVAN directory and
events calendar where we promote the 2500 visual arts resources of our site.
There are other strong county wide umbrella arts
organizations like Synergy Arts Foundation that aids artist in needs, The
Performing Arts Leagues, San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition plus of
course the city of SD Commission for
Arts and Culture, 5 or 6 other paid city arts administrators and some good volunteer
city commissions. There is now a North County Arts Network and organizations
forming in the south and east countries.
I, along with many of my colleagues, am an advocate for
bringing back the SD County Arts Council as a state local partner for the CA
Arts Council. At the most basic level we need some sort of Chamber of Commerce
for the Arts and a way to promote the arts as an economic driver. We need someone
to wake up every single day whose job it is to administer the Arts in San
Diego….County Wide.
