We
Grieve
The Arts and
Culture Commission of Contra Costa County (AC5) has lost a revered
colleague.
Karen
Jepson Ciraulo, the commission’s managing director, was fatally
injured on April 1 in a traffic accident in Gallup, New Mexico,
where she and her husband, Ben, had been vacationing. He suffered
serious injuries and is now facing the prospect of an extended
period of recovery.
“We are
deeply saddened over the untimely death of not only a colleague
but a friend, a person with a deep passion for the arts,” said
Bob Rezak, AC5 chair. “Her enthusiasm and spirit inspired
us all. Our prayers continue for her husband.”
In tribute to
Ms. Ciraulo, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors adjourned
its April 3 meeting in her memory, as did AC5. Board Chair Gayle
Uillkema noted that Ms. Ciraulo, 31, was involved with AC5 for
a number of years, first as an intern during her graduate studies
in arts administration, and then as interim director for a year
in 2002-2003. In 2003 she left AC5 due to her husband's pending
(and eventually unrealized) work move to New Mexico. AC5 Commissioners
were delighted to welcome her back as managing director a year
ago.
Ms. Ciraulo brought
an interesting arts background with her to AC5. Her undergraduate
degree was from CalArts in Southern California in character animation.
She worked for 5 years in Los Angeles in commercial art on television
animation projects for Warner Bros. Her work in commercial art
left her feeling unfulfilled professionally, and she wanted to
do something where she could be part of a community rather than
the entertainment industry, which led her to pursue graduate work
in arts administration.
Ms.
Ciraulo had also been teaching art in Brentwood, where she and
her husband had been planning to move from their home in Dublin. Memorial
Fund
Ms. Ciraulo’s parents, Jim and Rosemary Jepson, plan a celebration of
her life in July. Meanwhile, they have designated Friends of AC5, the commission’s
nonprofit support group, for those who wish to make memorial contributions
in her memory. The Jepsons very generously started the memorial fund with a
gift of $10,000. “ In the next few months, AC5 will determine an appropriate
use of the donations—one that perpetuates Ms. Ciraulo’s memory
and legacy,” said Rezak.
Contributions
may be sent to:
Friends
of AC5
1236 Escobar Street
Martinez, CA 94553-1293
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AC5 Seeks Nominations for
Annual Arts Awards by June 30
The Arts and
Culture Commission of Contra Costa County (AC5) is accepting nominations
for its 10th annual
program of honoring individuals and organizations
whose work
in the arts over a sustained period of time has had a significant impact on
the county’s culture.
The program, “Arts Recognition Awards: A Celebration,” was initiated
in 1996 shortly after AC5 was established. Since then, 50 individuals and organizations
have received awards and commendations.
Nomination forms
are available from AC5 (ac5@ac5.org) or (925) 646-2278. The AC5 Web
site is currently under reconstruction.
Should the work be completed
in time, the nomination for will be posted on the site: www.ac5.org
Individuals
and organizations may be nominated in the performing, visual, literary,
education, administration and philanthropic arts fields.
The deadline
for submitting nominations is 5 p.m. June 30. Honorees will be announced
in July.
The awards ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 16
in the Willows Theatre in Concord.
AC5 is grateful
for a grant from Wells Fargo Bank to fund the event, which will include
entertainment
and a reception.
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Two
Contra Costa Arts Groups
Awarded Grants from NEA
Two Contra Costa organizations
are among 133 California non-profit arts groups that will share $4,294,000
in grants awarded by the National Endowment
for the Arts.
- The
East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, based in Richmond, will receive
$47,000 to support “Call and Response” and a series
of special performance events. Multicultural resident dance, music,
and theater companies will perform at Bay Area locations.
- Los
Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center in San Pablo received a $20,000 grant
to support a community heritage project. The project is a multigenerational,
multidisciplinary, and multifaceted program of arts training in
traditional Mexican music and dance.
Elsewhere,
the California Arts Council in Sacramento was granted $953,000 to support
what the NEA
described as “partnership agreement activities.”
Bank Introduces Program in
Support of Non-Profit Groups
Wells Fargo Bank
has launched “Sharing
Advantage,” a program
that will provide $300 grants to non-profit organizations, including
those associated with the arts, when individuals close home loans through
the bank. When you buy a home with a Wells Fargo home mortgage, the
bank will make a $300 donation to a non-profit of your choice. Details
are
available from Harris Warren at (935) 287-6503 or harris.warren@wellsfargo.com.
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Survey
Finds Bay Area Nonprofits
Are Showing Signs of Improvement
After two years of declining
donations and increasing demands for services, the Bay Area's nonprofit
sector is stabilizing revenues, service, and
staffing levels, while
maintaining strong volunteer support,
This
is the conclusion of the United Way of the Bay Area's third annual
Nonprofit Pulse Survey, which revealed:
- In
the face of government funding cutbacks, 36 percent of respondents
that receive public-sector support
reported a drop in government funding
in 2004, but 39 percent of nonprofits
that receive gifts from individuals reported an increase, and 34
percent that receive donations from
corporations and foundations also
reported
an increase.
By comparison, two years ago, 60 percent of nonprofits surveyed indicated
that both institutional and individual giving were down. And while
organizations saw employee cutbacks during the last two years, 69
percent said they maintained
or increased staffing levels last year. And volunteer and in-kind
support continues strong,
with 83 percent of respondents saying that they stayed the same (44.8
percent)
or increased (38.5).
- Overall,
46 percent of local nonprofits surveyed reported an increase in total
revenues in 2004, while 22 percent said revenues remained
steady.
At the same time, 71.9 percent reported that their financial safety nets,
as measured
by their reserve funds, are in jeopardy: 28.2 percent of respondents
said that they do not maintain reserve funds; 5.8 percent have depleted
their reserve
funds; 21.2 percent have begun to tap reserve funds; and 16.7 percent may
need
to do
so in coming months. In an effort to strengthen their financial base,
38 percent said they had allocated more resources -- staff and/or dollars
-- for fundraising.
- Seventy
percent of the organizations surveyed projected more demand for
services in 2005, mirroring an upward trend from the previous
three years.
In response
to increasing community needs, 32 percent plan to add new services
in 2005, while 86 percent will maintain (46.7 percent) or increase
(39.1
percent)
the level
of services they already provide. "Bay Area charities are
weathering the storm, showing just how resourceful and adaptive
they can be in
the face of
adversity," said
Anne Wilson, CEO of United Way of the Bay Area. "They are
addressing challenges head on – diversifying their funding sources
and exploring
creative, collaborative ways
to address the increases in service demand."
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California
Ranked As a Leader
In Arts-Industry Employment
Nearly 3 million
people -- representing 2.2% of all jobs in the United States -- work
in the arts,
according to a new survey by Americans for
the Arts. The report states that arts companies, organizations, and
related businesses now exist in all 435 Congressional districts, lending
credence
to the position maintained by many arts advocates that the economic
power of America's "creative industries" should not be underestimated.
"Creative Industries
2005: The Congressional Report" is a follow-up
to a similar study conducted by the nonprofit organization in 2004.
Compared to last year's figures, the total number of arts-industry
jobs fell slightly
-- from 2.99 million to 2.97 million. Yet the aggregate number of
arts-related businesses grew dramatically, rising to over 578,000 from
548,000. The
report also discloses that 49 Congressional districts each have at
least 10,000 "arts-centric employees" working within them,
with more than half of all Congressional districts containing at least
5,200
arts-related
workers.
By combining data
from Dun & Bradstreet with what Americans
for the Arts calls "geo-economic analysis," the report
tracks and maps the presence of arts-related entities in six creative
industries:
performing
arts; museums and collections; visual arts and photography; film,
radio, and TV; design and publishing; and arts schools and services.
Both
commercial and nonprofit companies and organizations were included
in the tally.
New York City and
California dominate the top ten districts with the greatest amount
of arts-centric employment.
New York's 14th Congressional
District, represented by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat, leads the
country,
supporting 119,320 arts
employees in 8,033
arts-related businesses (of which 14,377 employees and 1,137
businesses are performing arts–related). Activity in the
film/radio/TV sector is even more impressive, with 29,016 jobs
and 1,230 businesses. Taking second place
is New York's 8th District, which is represented
by another Democrat, Rep. Jerrold Nadler. It supports a total
of 81,969 arts employees and includes the area that encompasses
Times
Square.
The study found 1,604 performing arts–related businesses
supporting 18,647 employees in the district, with an additional
1,573 businesses
supporting 13,778 employees in the film/radio/TV sector.
Five
Congressional districts in California -- the 30th (in third
place with 64,512 arts jobs), the 29th (fifth place;
37,831 jobs),
the 28th
(sixth place; 33,816 jobs), the 8th (eighth place; 28,047
jobs), and the 33rd (ninth place; 22,499 jobs) -- dominate the remainder
of the
top ten; all are represented by Democrats. Minority-party
members
also represent Illinois' 7th district (fourth place; 44,709
Chicago-area jobs),
Pennsylvania's 2nd district (seventh place; 31,304 Philadelphia-area
jobs), and Georgia's 5th district (tenth place; 21,798 Atlanta-area
jobs).
Robert L. Lynch,
president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, said the study's purpose
was to strengthen the bare-knuckle
fiscal case
for supporting
the arts in the public and private sectors. "The arts
have become an economic and employment powerhouse throughout
the nation," he
said. "This study shows, in addition to the intrinsic
value of the arts, that arts-centric businesses contribute
significantly to
local
economies in all U.S. Congressional districts."
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State Assembly Committee Tables Vote on
Proposed Surcharge to Support Arts Council
The California
State Assembly’s committee on arts, entertainment,
sports, tourism and Internet media tabled action on a proposed one-percent
surcharge on arts and entertainment tickets to support state funding
for the arts. An aide to Assemblyman
Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), who made the proposal, had asked for a
delay in a vote to allow time to build
support, provide
for further discussions, and address objections.
Leno plans to reintroduce the proposal next year. It would have levied
a 10-cent charge for each $10 paid for admission to movies, concerts,
plays, theme parks, museums and other events.
Leno estimates the
surcharge would raise at least $23 million a year for the California
Arts Council.
The agency’s budget dropped in
the last four years from more than $30 million to $3.2 million, thus
ranking California the lowest in the nation, per capita.
The California
Chamber of Commerce and an association of movie theater owners in
California, opposed the proposal. They argue it would hurt
business.
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Bay Artists Forced to Spend Less Time
On Their Art, Ford Study Shows
A recent study by
Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) of the Ford Foundation
found that in the Bay
Area, 63 percent of artists earn
less than $7,000 a year from their art, and 78 percent work more than
one job. As a result, the study found, artists spend less time on their
art than they did 15 years ago.
NEA
Chair Cites Agency’s Accomplishments in
Address Before Congressional Subcommittee
Dana Gioia,
chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, appeared before a
House of Representatives subcommittee in March in support of
President Bush’s budget request of $121,264,000 for the agency.
“Through a
series of important national initiatives of the highest quality such
as Shakespeare in American Communities, NEA Jazz Masters, Operation
Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, and Challenge America:
Reaching
Every Community, the NEA has achieved a level of public service
and national coverage unprecedented in its history,” Gioia
said. “Supporting
arts and arts education programs of the highest quality across the
entire United States, the Arts Endowment now reaches both large and
small communities
as well as rural areas, inner cities, and military bases - successfully
combining artistic excellence with public outreach.”
As part
of the NEA’s goals and accomplishments, Gioia singled
out the following programs for special attention:
- Shakespeare
in American Communities: Shakespeare for a New Generation
As the Arts Endowment completed its initial Fiscal Year 2004-2005
national tour of Shakespeare in American Communities (which
reached 170 cities
in all 50 states), the agency was asked by the National
Council on the Arts and by members of this subcommittee
to make this
innovative and
acclaimed venture a permanent program. The NEA has
responded by establishing
a national program that brings professional theater
to American high school students - Shakespeare
for a New Generation.
- NEA
Jazz Masters & Jazz
in the Schools
Our expanded NEA Jazz Masters, which honors this distinctly
American musical form, has been another notable
success. We have expanded
the lifetime achievement fellowships from 3
to 6 artists per year, redesigned
the award ceremony, and added a 50-state tour
as well as television and radio programming. The new awards ceremony
has achieved enormous
status
- not only being widely covered by the press
but
also being
televised. This increased coverage not only
benefits the distinguished individual
artists being honored but also the art itself
by bringing jazz heightened public attention in the media.
In 2006 the
jazz program will have an important new component
- NEA Jazz in the Schools.
This new program will provide high
school
teachers
with
excellent material on jazz - including
DVDs, CDs, posters, and an interactive
Web site - to use especially during
February, Black
History
Month. This
program will both introduce millions
of students
to the pleasures of jazz and will explain the art's
positive role in American
social history.
- Operation
Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Another recent NEA innovation has been to provide
programs of high quality for military
personnel and their families.
For the first
time the NEA
is providing significant programs
created for the nearly four million Americans serving in the military,
recovering
in military hospitals,
or living with their families in
military
communities.
Last year the NEA and the Department
of Defense partnered to bring
free Shakespeare
performances to military bases.
Currently the NEA is offering Operation Homecoming: Writing the
Wartime Experience.
- Reading
at Risk
The NEA has recently strengthened its
commitment to important
civic roles - providing accurate
information on the arts,
arts participation,
and
arts education to the American
public. The agency now issues a series of surveys
and studies to assist
American
artists,
arts
managers,
educators, librarians,
journalists, civic leaders, and citizens in understanding
the issues affecting the
arts. Our 2002
assessment of U.S. participation
in the arts - conducted in
partnership
with
the U.S. Census Bureau
- found that of all the
arts disciplines the most dramatic decline had
been in the area of reading
of literature by Americans.
The NEA is now developing several significant
programs to arrest or reverse
the decline in American reading.
Although
the Arts Endowment
cannot change
the current trends by itself,
the NEA can play a catalytic role in bringing
both
public and private
support to bear
on addressing
the
issues. In
Fiscal Year 2005-2006 the
agency will introduce new programs of high quality,
broad national
reach, and public accessibility
designed
to promote literary reading.
- Challenge
America: Reaching Every
Community
Finally, the recent program
that best exemplifies
the Arts Endowment's
increased commitment
to combining artistic
excellence
with the
broadest public accessibility
is the dramatic evolution of Challenge America,
which the agency has
redesigned and renamed
Challenge America: Reaching
Every Community.
Congress initiated
Challenge America in Fiscal Year 2001 to support arts
education
and outreach
projects, especially
in underserved
communities.
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Arts Around the
County
Band Forming in East County
BRENTWOOD – With a history that dates back
to the 19th century, the East County Community Band is being revived
under direct or Bruce
Stuart. More than 40 musicians have joined the band, which consists
primarily of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments. The band
is a collaboration of the Brentwood Arts Commission, Parks and
Recreation Department, and the Liberty Union High School District.
The band
has scheduled its debut performance for September.
New
Director for Arts, Cultural Foundation
ANTIOCH – Diane Gibson-Gray has been named executive
director of the Arts & Cultural Foundation of Antioch. The foundation
is a non-profit organization that runs several successful programs
in
Antioch, including
the Rivertown Art Center, the Lynn House Gallery and the Summer
Concerts Series.
Former
County Arts Leader in New Post
RICHMOND – Trustees of The Arts Council of Princeton have
appointed Jeff Nathanson, a former Richmond
arts leader, as the nonprofit
community arts organization's new executive director. Nathanson,
49, is an arts
professional with curatorial and arts-administration expertise.
Among his many activities, he served as a member of the West
Windsor Arts
Council. During the past year, he served as its acting executive
director. He served for three years as director of the International
Sculpture
Center at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton. For about a
decade prior to that, he was executive director of the Richmond Art
Center,. Under
his leadership, RAC was cited as the top ranked mid-sized
arts
organization in the state by the California Arts Council.
Nathanson is a recipient
of an Arts Recognition Award from the Arts and Culture Commission
of Contra Costa County. While in California, Nathanson served
seven years
as a review panelist for the California Arts Council and
as either curator or director of three contemporary art galleries.
He
also
is a musician who has composed, performed and recorded professionally
since 1982. Music
Educator Receives State Award
LAFAYETTE - Bob Athayde, of Orinda, musician, jazz guru, longtime
visionary music director at Stanley Intermediate School
in Lafayette, and founder
and instructor of a thriving summer jazz camp in Lafayette,
has been honored by the California Music Educators Association.
He
was presented
the Don Schmeer/Byron Hoyt award for Band Educator of the
Year in California. The award honors excellence in instrumental
instruction and performance.
Athayde was the recipient in 2003 of an Arts Recognition
Award from the Arts and Culture Commission of Contra Costa County.
New
Assignment
WALNUT CREEK – Barry Gordon is the new assistant arts,
recreation and community services director for the city. His previous
position was president of the California Culinary Academy in San
Francisco.
Come
to the Cabaret
MARTINEZ – Plans are proceeding for transforming
a former auto parts store in downtown Martinez into the Willows Cabaret.
The venue
will feature family type programming, with patrons (up
to 198) seated around tables where they can enjoy food and beverages
while watching
the show. “We'll feature the ever popular
Nunsense series (all 6 of them) as well as other small
favorites like ‘Smoke
on the Mountain,’ ‘My Name is Alice,’ and Woody Guthrie's ‘American
Song.’
to name but a few,” says Rich Elliott, artistic
director. The Willows Theatre wikll continue in Concord.
Here
Comes the Sheriff
WALNUT CREEK - Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren Rupf
and a successful auction bidder –both of
whom are related–shared the spotlight with the
cast of the Diablo Light Opera Company’s
production of “West Side Story” at
the May 5 performance in Walnut Creek.
The
sheriff, nightstick and all, appeared as part
of a benefit, arranged by the Sheriff’s Posse,
for the Arts and Culture Commission of Contra Costa
County,
which purchased a block
of seats. Also on
stage
in the gym dance scene was Michelle Sharpes, who
successfully bid for the appearance at the annual
auction of the
Diablo Regional Arts
Association.
And their relationship? As Producer Ellen Smith
explained: “Coincidences
do abound. It turns out that she is the step-niece of the
sheriff. Her father and the sheriff are step-brothers.”
Commemorative Planned for Playwright O’Neill
DANVILLE - The Eugene O’Neill Foundation,
Tao House, is planning to unveil a commemorative art project
on September 28 in honor of the playwright who wrote
his last six plays in Danville. The commemorative consists
of a centerpiece and eight pedestals that will be installed
along a pathway in Front Street Park,
across from the Danville Library. Enameled playbills,
celebrating O”Neill’s
residency in Danville, will be mounted atop the pedestals
and will feature photographs of O’Neill and his wife
Carlotta, the Nobel Prize in Literature which he received
in 1936, Tao House, and scenes from productions of the
Tao House plays.
Accompanying the photography will be relevant quotations
from the plays and brief descriptions of O’Neill
themes. The centerpiece will be a sculpture in bronze letters
that spell a key passage from O’Neill’s classic
play “Long
Day’s Journey Into Night.” Michael Manwaring,
a noted Bay Area artist, is creating the design and execution
of the project. He designed the pylons on
Embarcadero Promenade along San Francisco’s waterfront.
Newsletter
in the Works
PITTSBURG - Los Medanos College and the City of Pittsburg
are planning a quarterly newsletter, one that will
include events
in the area,
to be mailed to residents.
Journalism students will produce the newsletter, the
first edition of which is anticipated this summer.
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