Cultural Arts Commission could be restored, thanks to volunteers' renewed efforts

Editorials

In our view Aug. 8: Cheers & Jeers

Cultural Arts Commission could be restored, thanks to volunteers' renewed efforts

Saturday, August 8 | 1:00 a.m.

Cheers: To Vancouver City Council members for considering a resurrection of the Cultural Arts Commission that was disbanded in 2005. City Manager Pat McDonnell says he will present more details to the council soon. "I think one of the reasons why the cultural committee faded is really a lack of resources to implement things," McDonnell said.

Now, though, local volunteers are becoming more active, especially in studying outside funding. Llewellyn Rhoe, founder of the Arts Equity theater at Sixth and Main that now is used by Magenta Theater, offers Portland's Regional Arts & Culture Council as an example. That group receives money from the National Endowment for the Arts and other sources and uses it for grants to artists and arts organizations.

Kudos also to Joel Littauer, who certainly has done his homework as a board member of the Southwest Washington Center for the Arts, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Children's Opera. Littauer uses Palm Springs, Calif., as an example. There, the city closes its primary street on Thursday nights for entertainment, art and food sales and other activities.

That same type of block closure is being considered for an undetermined portion of Vancouver's Main Street to showcase the First Friday Art Walk series.

We hope the city takes the momentum generated by local volunteers and uses it to restore the Cultural Arts Commission. It would not only be a great way to help revitalize downtown Vancouver, but also would help elevate the quality of life for all of Clark County.

Vancouver may revive cultural commission

Vancouver may revive cultural commission
City also considers closing Main Street for First Friday Art Walks
Thursday, August 6 | 9:10 p.m.
BY JEFFREY MIZE
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

Vancouver is moving to revive its dormant cultural commission and close a portion of Main Street in downtown for First Friday Art Walks.

City council members supported both ideas as a way to inject support into the arts during a brief discussion Monday night.

Mayor Royce Pollard said he envisions an all-volunteer cultural-arts commission, to succeed the group that was disbanded in 2005, consisting of arts supporters and representatives of arts groups, with the city providing a liaison to answer any questions but no financial support.

Council members questioned who would serve on a commission and how it would interact with existing arts groups.

"I would be interested in learning more about it," Councilwoman Jeanne Harris said, "particularly if it brought the arts together under one umbrella."

City Manager Pat McDonnell will return to the council with information on both ideas.

"I think one of the reasons why the cultural committee faded is really a lack of resources to implement things," he said.

Vancouver, unlike Seattle and other cities, does not have "a percent for the arts" program, which requires 1 percent of public money spent on building projects be used for public art or other aesthetic features.

Arts and downtown business interests seem to back both proposals.

Llewellyn Rhoe, who founded the Arts Equity theater at Sixth and Main streets in space that today is used by Magenta Theater, doesn't believe the latest city effort will be a false start.

"There's great support from the Vancouver's Downtown Association," he said. "Although we probably can't discuss the details at the moment, we think we have the funding for the actual startup for the arts commission here in Vancouver."

Rhoe said Vancouver lacks a group similar to the Regional Arts & Culture Council in Portland, which receives money from the National Endowment for the Arts and other sources and distributes it as grants to artists and operating support to arts organizations.

Without some agency acting as a financial conduit, the community essentially is giving up money that could flow here, he said.

"It's just about like writing a welfare check to Portland," Rhoe said.

But politics also are creeping into the arts discussion during an election year.

Councilman Tim Leavitt, one of two candidates challenging Pollard, put out a statement Tuesday saying it appears Pollard is "having a convenient change of heart" about supporting the arts.

"It's clear we have a wealth of local artists, performers and culture right here in our own community," Leavitt said in his statement. "But unfortunately, there has really been no interest over the past 14 years to nourish our local vibe."

Pollard, when told of Leavitt's comments, conceded, "I am not a great connoisseur of the arts, but I always have seen the value of the arts to a community."

"Only recently," he said, "have I heard anything out of his (Leavitt's) mouth that, 'I'm going to reinstate the cultural commission.'"

Joel Littauer, a board member of the Southwest Washington Center for the Arts, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Children's Opera, said he hosted Pollard in his home for two meetings with arts supporters during the past month.

"We showed him how supporting the arts would benefit the city of Vancouver," Littauer said. "After the second meeting, he became convinced of the value of the arts for the community, both culturally and economically."

Closing Main Street in downtown is seen as a logical step toward promoting art galleries and other downtown merchants.

Littauer said he has been to Palm Springs, Calif., for its Thursday night Villagefest where the city's primary street, Palm Canyon Drive, is closed for entertainment, art and food sales and other activities.

Rebecca Ocken, executive director of Vancouver's Downtown Association, said her group would like to have music and dancing on Main Street, with restaurateurs offering outdoor dining and retailers setting up on the sidewalk and spilling into the street.

Organizers still don't know what portion of Main Street they would like closed.

"I'm not sure we are that far along, to be perfectly honest," Ocken said. "The idea was to close a section of Main Street and provide nodes of activity. …Because if we close it down, we want to make sure it's really active."

This week's First Friday Art Walk will feature galleries, restaurants and other attractions stretching from 12th Street south to the West Coast Bank, 500 Broadway, which will host a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday.

Galleries will be open 5 to 9 p.m.

Friday's Art Walk is part of the two-day Art in the Heart event.

Jeffrey Mize: 360-735-4542

Royce is our choice. Do Something Patriotic and Support the Arts

A small group of artists have been advising Mayor Pollard on art issues over the last several months in preparation for the upcoming mayoral election right here in America's Vancouver.

Mayor Pollard believes that it is time to reconstitute and recognize a new arts commission. The Mayor's requests are that the commission represent all the arts, that we promote the arts center and that all aspects of the city be represented on the board (not just artists, but community people who support the arts as well). The all volunteer "working board" as envisioned would be initially charged with securing funding by taking advantage of the state, federal and private foundations sources.

Among the other ideas we have been discussing is an idea that all of us believe will help boost the 1st Friday Artwalk. The Mayor loves the idea of closing Main Street to vehicular traffic for First Fridays. As part of closing Main Street to traffic, we want to encourage the downtown restaurants to host "luncheons with the artists" where visual and performing artists can meet "the art curious and patrons" and get together around the month's artistic offerings. 1st Friday gets to be an all-day event that benefits all of downtown.

We have the mayor's endorsement to move forward. He told us that he now fully recognizes the importance of the arts to the community and he's behind us 100%.

We've reached our first plateau. On to the next.

Included in the "Mayor's Kitchen Cabinet" are:

Joel Littauer who is a board member of both VSO and SW Center for the arts.
Jennifer Corio who is a part of Women who Weld. She worked on "Wendy the Welder" and "Pillars of Fulfillment" at the WSU-Vancouver campus

Dave Frei of Cobalt Designworks is an artist who currently has work in both Moses Lake's and Puyallup's public sculpture gardens.
Randy Wagner art patron and art activist.

John Bangs a veteran of Governors Kulongoski's and Kitzhber's campaigns
Llewellyn J. Rhoe founder of Arts Equity

We encourage you to download a window sign and support the mayor.

Want to talk with us about why we think Mayor Pollard is the best choice to support the arts in America's Vancouver over the next four years?

Then join us August 7th from 8 to 10 pm after the 1st Friday Artwalk at The Salmon Creek Brew Pub located at 108 W Evergreen in the historic downtown district of America's Vancouver. The event is free, but beer is up to you.

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