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.
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
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.
1 comment:
At the Monday August 3rd city council meeting two major developments occurred. The first is that the council is working with the Vancouver Downtown Association (VDA) to close part of main street for the 1st Friday Artwalk starting in September. View last nights council, click http://www.cityofvancouver.us/cvtv/cvtvindex.asp?catID=3&folderID=2296
The second which is potentially one of the most important developments in the artistic community, Mayor Pollard and the City Council instructed the city manager to initiate the process of restarting of the Cultural Commission that has been on the books since 1997. To view the document click or paste this link http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:L8BtEB8v4foJ:www.mrsc.org/GovDocs/V35CulPlan1997.pdf+pam+brokaw,cultural+commission&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us
Both of these are huge to the ongoing and organic development of the arts community here in Vancouver.
Mayor Pollard and what appears to be the majority of the council 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.
Through the VDA we have developed a plan for the initial funding of the commission. More details will be available in the near future on both the structure developed in conjunction with the city managers office and the funding.
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