February 2 – June 19 FAST FORWARD 2009: Selections from The Berkus Family Collection - Channing Peake Gallery

June 8 - Sept 18, 2009: Iron and Plastic: Alternative Photography-Betteravia Gallery

The Storefront Gallery Project has begun! Check out three new window installations of art and poetry at 915 State, 1223 State, and at 27B E. De La Guerra. This project is a collaboration with the County Arts Commission, the Downtown Organization, the City Redevelopment Agency and the Santa Barbara business community. For more information contact ferri@co.santa-barbara.ca.us or jrose@sbdo.org.

Artists Unite to Fight Effects
of the Economic Downturn

Collaboration Meeting Called For Monday, June 15th
at Contemporary Arts Forum in Paseo Nuevo Mall

The economy got you down?  What do artistic types do about it?

America’s nonprofit arts have been hit as hard, if not harder, than other areas of the community by the economic downturn.  With ticket sales falling and contributions through foundations and grant support dwindling, how can the arts be sustained in Santa Barbara?

That was the challenge put before an ad hoc volunteer committee assembled under the guidance of Ginny Brush, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission.  Meeting every other week for two years, this group of artists, arts administrators, local business people and community leaders looked at a variety of plans and potential solutions that might keep the arts alive.

The conclusions reached by the committee and the formation of the new Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative (SBAC) were announced at the Santa Barbara County Arts Symposium in April in the form of a Strategic Plan.  It is a plan that borrows from several different historic models.

“Basically, we are saying it is time for all artists and arts lovers to join together as collaborators, and begin supporting each other” said Roderick Hare, chairman of the SBAC advisory board.  “Working together, the arts in Santa Barbara will be stronger than any one artist working alone.”

“As the regional arts agency, the County Arts Commission is dedicated to promoting and preserving Santa Barbara’s vibrant art and culture and especially providing support for those area artists that live, create and perform here”, states Commission Executive Director Ginny Brush. “One of the goals of this year’s Arts Symposium was to provide information and working sessions for individuals and organizations to brainstorm, share ideas on new ways to collaborate to sustain the arts community while adjusting to dramatic shifts in demographics, technology and the economy.”

All involved in the formation of the SBAC agreed that the problems all artists are facing in this environment can be a strong catalyst for change.

“There are resources we should be sharing.  There is cooperative marketing that would help all of us save money” said Albert Ihde, Producing Director of SBT: The Santa Barbara Theatre “Will the current economic crisis turn the tide and bring us all together?”

The SBAC is a new, nonprofit association of artists, arts workers, and arts lovers from all disciplines (performing arts, visual arts, literary arts, etc) united to sustain the arts in Santa Barbara County.  Working in collaboration, this dedicated group plans to provide:

• Develop a grants program to benefit individual artists and arts workers

• Web-based forum to facilitate collaboration, centralized event schedule, etc.

• Promoting the arts/monthly Arts Guide to donors and sponsors

• Cooperative marketing and Resource Sharing

• Mentoring

The SBAC will hold its first working session on Monday, June 15, from 5 to 7 pm, at the Contemporary Arts Forum (CAF) in the Paseo Nuevo Mall.  Ian Smith, President of the CAF Board of Directors and another member of the SBAC Advisory Board says “We’re inviting everyone who cares about the arts in Santa Barbara to come and learn more about this important effort.”

The SBAC believes that our community needs to find new ways to fully sustain the arts in any economic environment. Financial support is critical but it needs to be raised from new and innovative sources.  We cannot continue to go to the same well.  We need to develop and grow new audiences for all forms of art.  And we need to find ways to share valuable resources.

While there are currently no plans to charge dues for membership by artists and arts workers, the SBAC supports the “give what you can, do what you can” approach to generating support for the Collaborative.

            The organizational structure of the SBAC will be collaborative as well.  Active members will vote for representatives to serve on a Members Council. This council will oversee other committees that will plan and execute the work of the Collaborative.

“We encourage everyone interested in following up on the conversation started at the Arts Symposium to come to this meeting and get engaged in this grassroots effort, invites Ginny Brush and members of the Arts Collaborative Advisory Committee.

            For additional information, please go to Facebook and check out the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative fan page or call Ginny Brush, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission at (805) 568-3992.
Press Release