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HomeMy WebLinkAbout0 - 2010-2011 Annual ReportCultural Arts Services Library Services Department City of Newport Beach To: Mayor and Members of City Council From: City Arts Commission Robyn Grant, Chair, Newport Beach Arts Commission Date: November 22, 2011 Re: Annual Report FY 2010 -2011 On behalf of the members of the City of Newport Beach Arts Commission, I am pleased to present our Annual Report for FY 2010 -11. The Arts Commission, established over 38 years ago, acts in an advisory capacity to the City Council in all matters pertaining to artistic, aesthetic, historical and cultural aspects of the City. Our mission is to promote and support a wide range of accessible cultural programs, activities and facilities to address the needs and interests of residents and visitors in the Newport Beach community. We have prepared the following report to bring you up to date on our recent activities. 2010 -2011 COMMISSION OFFICERS: Commissioners: Chair: Robyn Grant Carole Boller Vice Chair: Robert Smith Wendy Brooks Secretary: Rita Goldberg Gilbert Lasky Christopher Trela 2011 -2012 COMMISSION OFFICERS: Commissioners: Chair: Robyn Grant Carole Boller Vice Chair: Robert Smith Arlene Greer Secretary: Rita Goldberg Gilbert Lasky Christopher Trela CITY STAFF: Cynthia Cowell, Library Services Director Jana Barbier. Cultural Arts Coordinator CULTURAL PROJECTS AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS ■ Performing Arts Programs The Performing Arts Committee assists the cultural arts office to audition and secure talent, promote and produce the summer Concerts in the Parks Series, the Shakespeare by the Sea theatrical productions and when applicable, arts lectures, workshops and performances. 2010- 2011 Committee Members: Gil Lasky, Rita Goldberg • Concerts in the Parks The City Arts Commission began the Concerts in the Parks summer concert series in 2001 to bring the community together with free outdoor musical performances in Newport Beach park settings. Between 500 - 2000 people attend each concert. The Arts Commission has hosted many Southern California bands in all music genres including performances by such esteemed musical organizations as Pacific Symphony and the Russian National Orchestra. During the summer of 2011, two free concerts were presented in Newport Beach parks; The Showcase Singers performed at Grant Howald Park in Corona del Mar in July and Gregg Young & the 2nd Street Band played at Bonita Canyon Sports Park in August. • Shakespeare Festivals Showcase Singers The City Arts Commission celebrated its 10th year hosting Shakespeare by Sea during the summer of 2011. The traveling group of actors (and set builders) has provided Shakespearean play performances at the natural amphitheater at Grant Howald Park in Corona del Mar since 2002. • Cultural Arts Museum Tours In 2011, Shakespeare by the Sea presented "King Lear" and "Much Ado about Nothing" at Bonita Canyon Sports Park. Through the years, the Commission has sponsored performances of Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Richard lll, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew, Antony and Cleopatra, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost, As You Like It and Julius Caesar. A stage, lights and sound amplification are provided by the City Arts Commission. In 2009 -10 the Arts Commission and Cultural Arts Office began a new program called "Museum Tours." The tours have almost all sold out and community members, as well as arts - minded people have traveled via motor coach throughout the southland to cultural institutions. To date there have been two tours to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), as well as tours to the Getty Museum, Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, and the Norton Simon Museum. On October 7, 2010 a `Tea and Tour" was coordinated to The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, with a private docent tour through the Chinese Gardens, followed by English tea in the Rose Garden Tea Room. 3 On September 22 a private tour of the European Collections and catered lunch was arranged for participants to the Norton Simon Museum. This winter (February 16) a tour to the Autry National Center is on tap. Tours generally cost $75. per person. ■ Public Art Programs In 2010 -11 the City Arts Commission considered several new public art installations including a Centennial Memorial Statue of Ronald Reagan that was privately paid for and then installed at Bonita Canyon Sports Park. Currently, the City Arts Commission is working on accepting a "Skydivers" sculpture that was created in the 1960s for Fashion Island. The sculpture was removed from Fashion Island by the Irvine Company. Peter Walker of Peter Walker Partners presented a lecture on public art in Newport Beach in February of 2011. Almost 200 citizens attended the almost hour and a half lecture sponsored by the City Arts Commission at Central Library. The crux of the lecture, which focused on some of Mr. Walker's most interesting and famous installations throughout the world, was on appreciating the natural features of each site. Titled "Landscape and Art: In, Of, and For" Walker spoke to the interaction between community members, city leaders and artists in obtaining art for public spaces, and how this art integrates with the environment. 2010 -2011: Robert Smith and Christopher Trela. ■ Visual Art Exhibition Programs The Exhibitions Subcommittee works with staff to request, select, install and remove artwork for revolving visual art exhibitions in City Hall and the Central Library gallery spaces; organize annual juried art exhibitions; and inventory, maintain and re -hang the City art collection as needed. 2010- 2011: Carole Boller and Wendy Brooks. 2010 Newport Beach Art Exhibition and Sale Artists, attendees and volunteers at the Newport Beach Art Exhibit and Sale reception in 2011. rd In 2010 and 2011 this program was highly successful with record numbers of artists participating. The event was held in the Central Library conference room and Bamboo Courtyard. This spring the Newport Beach Art Exhibition and Sale will take place on April 14 at Oasis Senior Center. The 2011 award winners in the Newport Beach Art Exhibition and Sale were announced at the reception by Mayor Michael Henn, and Commissioners Robyn Grant and Carole Boller. Soon after the exhibition, award winners were invited to display their art at Oasis Senior Center for 3 months. Award winners are: • First Place: Magie Smith - Fleisher • Second Place: Jane Shehane • Third Place: Casey Sullivan • Honorable Mention: Ed Hart Display Cases at Central Library • Six Judge's Choice Awards were given to Mutlu Ertac, Kay Halcrow, Ting -Ting Lee, Patty McSwain, Ferial Nassirzdeh, and Luis Antonio Vargas In 2011 many collections and exhibits have been shown in the Plexiglas cases that were built, including two displays of memorabilia related to Presidents' John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Additionally, library patrons have shown a holiday /Santa collection, a display of ceramic fish, and a display of English Royalty items. Art exhibitions in these cases have included a bronze display titled 'Mothers and Children ", and a Raku pottery and jewelry assemblage. 5 City Hall Exhibitions 2010 - 2011 Exhibition schedules for City Hall have been extended for up to 3 or 4 months and include art displays such as the City's permanent art collection, holiday displays, centennial exhibitions, Newport Beach Sister City student art exhibitions, CNB employee exhibitions, and individual artists. Cultural Arts staff is maintaining the cabinet in the Council Chamber lobby as well with quarterly displays. Currently this display features the Civic Center plans. In 2011 January/February/March — Miriam Drake April thru October —Tina Anjozian October — mid February, 2012 — Piernicola Cocchiaro Central Library Exhibitions /Receptions 2010 -2011 Due to the popularity of Central Library as an exhibition location, shows are scheduled for up to one year in advance. Exhibitions run for a duration of two months. Artists are provided with a date for an evening reception, and are allowed to bring additional works to be displayed at that time. In 2011 January/February — Stephanie Hager March /April — Mike Tauber May /June —Jerome Muller July through November, 2012 — Library, Ruth Hynds Collection Due to construction, Central Library displays (including cases) are on hiatus through 2012. ■ Imagination Celebration of Orange County Each spring the Cultural Arts Office coordinates an Imagination Celebration of Orange County family - festival at Central and Mariners Branch Libraries. Imagination Celebration has been spearheaded regionally by Arts Orange County for the last several years. ■ Cultural Arts Grant Program In 2011, Imagination Celebration was funded by the Friends of the Newport Beach Library and the event was free to the public. For the second year in a row, Hiep Nguyen provided a "Circle Painting" project where children and parents were invited to "connect, create and celebrate the arts' by participating in a community mural. Participants tried lots of intriguing art projects with circles as their theme. BACKGROUND: City Council Policy 1 -10 recognizes the importance of promoting culture and the arts within the City and establishes a Reserve Fund for Culture and Arts. The sum of $40,000 is provided annually for specific cultural or artistic planning or projects as approved by the City Council. The City Arts R Commission has the responsibility to review all programs and requests for support from arts groups and make recommendations for funding to the City Council for final approval. The Commission received written grant proposals from ten cultural organizations for funding of approximately $53,240 in free cultural arts programming for the Newport Beach community in fiscal year 2011 -12. After careful deliberation the following recommendations, totaling $40,000, were approved at the October 13, 2011 meeting: ExplorOcean /Newport Harbor Nautical Museum $2000 Sea Tales is now entering its third year of programming. On the first and third Wednesdays of each month 20 -25 children preschoolers, ages 2 -5, and their parents and /or grandparents embark on a new nautical /ocean themed adventure. Designed to engage children on a multi- sensory level, Sea Tales uses a variety of activities including storytelling, arts and crafts, music and touch tank exploration that introduces them to all the wonders of the sea. Stories are brought to life by a member of the South Coast Repertory Theater or a volunteer from the community. Following the performance, children participate in an arts and crafts project related to the day's theme. This is followed by an interactive activity such as singing, blowing bubbles or creating artistic drawings with chalk. Rounding out the experience is a trip to the Museum's touch tank followed by the opportunity to discover the Museum's galleries and exhibits. Baroque Music Festival $3000 The Baroque Music Festival will hire the full complement of professional musicians for a chamber orchestra to perform a concerto program at St. Michael and All Angels, an intimate instrumental program in Sherman Gardens, and as an orchestra to accompany the John Alexander Singers for the Finale Concert at Newport Harbor Lutheran Church. Local favorites, Landauer, Shostac, Arregui and Blumenstock will perform at Sherman Gardens. Specifically the Cultural Arts Grant will be used to contract Jolianne von Einem, Robert Diggins, William Skeen II and concertmaster Elizabeth Blumenstock to return to Corona del Mar in 2012 to form the core group of first chairs for the string sections and to re- establish a woodwind section for the performances. South Coast Repertory Theater $2000 South Coast Repertory Theatre has requested funding for "Theatre for Young Audiences' (TYA), an annual series of three professionally produced plays created especially for children. Since 2003, TYA extends the range of the theater's offerings and makes available to the community original, SCR - commissioned world premieres and existing adaptations of popular and classic children's literature. As the only professional youth- oriented theater company in Orange County, TYA's main purpose is to introduce the vitality and magic of professional theatre to all Orange County children, especially those in underserved areas. TYA is also a valuable tool in helping school districts meet the California Department of Education content standards for the Visual and Performing Arts and English- Language Arts at little or no cost to the schools. Every student receives a specially created program booklet. In 2011 -12 the plays Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smellsl, The Borrowers, and Jane of the Jungle. Southland Opera $3000 Southland Opera proposes to perform either assemblies of Adventures in Song and Story or Operetta! A World Tour in each of the six elementary schools in the city of Newport Beach or sequential workshops at one Newport Beach school. In the workshop series, Southland Opera will work with four classes of students and each class will be given six 45- minute, sequential sessions. In these sessions each class creates their own original song. At the end of the workshop series, the classes perform their original pieces for the school audience and attending family members. The elementary schools from which they will choose are: Andersen, Eastbluff, Mariners, Newport Coast, Newport, and Newport Heights. All performances and /or workshops will be completed before September 28, 2012. Festival Ballet Theatre $2000 Festival Ballet Theatre will bring its "Ballet to Schools" program to two Newport Beach elementary schools in November /December, 2011. Eight FBT company dancers will perform a narrated, abbreviated version of The 7 Nutcracker, tailored for children ranging in age from five to fourteen years. A program coordinator, with the assistance of the performers, will guide the students through an interactive lesson on how pantomime, music, and costumes tell a story and express emotions without words. Students will be taught appropriate ways to express appreciation for a theatrical performance. After the performance, students will converse with the professionals through a question- and - answer session. Students will view beautiful, professional quality costumes, Pointe shoes, and props up- close. Teacher's curriculum will be provided to encourage the educators to further interact with classes beyond the presentation. Newport Beach Film Festival $6000 The Newport Beach Film Festival is planning a one -day educational industry seminar program, similar to past seminars, to be held on the first Saturday during the Festival, tentatively scheduled for April 28, 2012 at a Newport Beach location. Past seminar topics have included directing, screenwriting, production design, cinematography, film music composition, animation, documentary filmmaking and special effects. Artists of past seminars include Aaron Sorkin (Social Network, West Wing), Elmer Bernstein (To Kill a Mockingbird), Steve Oedekerk (Barnyard, Bruce Almighty, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius), John Waters (Polyester), Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, City Slickers, Sleepless in Seattle), Bobby Moresco (Crash), Mel Stuart (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), Seth Gordon (Four Christmases), Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight), Earle Hagen (The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, M.A.S.H.), Mark Fergus (Iron Man, Children of Men, First Snow), Doug Atchison (Akeelah and the Bee), Trevor Rabin (Snakes on a Plane), Jeff Arch (Sleepless in Seattle), David S. Ward (The Sting), Cathy Schulman (The Illusionist, Crash), John Landis (Twilight Zone), and Judiann Makovsky (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). The Festival Seminar Series attracts a wide variety of people with a strong representation of students, seniors, film experts, avid fans, and novice filmmakers. Ages span from 13 to 80. The seminar program intends to serve approximately 600 people. In 2012, the Festival intends to expand its outreach to colleges and high school students. Newport/Mesa YMCA $1000 The YMCA focuses on strengthening communities in the areas of youth development, healthy living and social responsibility, believing that all children deserve the opportunity to discover who they are and what they can achieve. The 'Y' Fine Art Outreach Class will run for eight weeks, sixteen hours at Newport Mesa YMCA from April 17 — June 5, 2012. Subjects include (Month 1) Drawing I Pacific Northwest; Painting, Color Theory, Australian Aboriginal; Sculpture, Symbolism in Indonesian Masks; Ceramics, Latin American Vessels; (Month 2) Drawing II, Intro to Form, European Perspective; Painting, Watercolor Landscapes, Canada; Sculpture, Mosaic Tiles, Ancient Greek/Roman; Ceramics, Vases, China. At the end of the session the students will participate in setting up an art exhibition of their artwork at YMCA's multipurpose room._ proposes to premiere Dancing Marx on the shallow stage of the Lyon Auditorium at the Orange County Museum of Art on Sunday, August 5, 2012. In the past, the intergenerational modern dance company has been supported by two Arts Commission awards and presented Mavericks in 2003 with local surfers an Dancing With Ghosts in 2007 with member of the OASIS Senior Center in the casts. Though this production will not include residents in the choreography, company director /choreographer Keith Glassman will offer a 1.5 hour movement workshop for Newport Beach residents (in June) and an open rehearsal in May at the OASIS Senior Center Event Center. In the workshop, both young and old are invited to explore some of the concepts and elements that inform the humorous siblings' action and get an opportunity to safely experience the physicality involved in the comedians' humor. The City of Newport Beach Arts Commission is dedicated to providing a range of free cultural programming that enriches the entire community, especially children and families. The Arts Commission sponsors multidisciplinary arts programs funded by the Cultural Arts Grant Program such as arts lectures, public art projects, and visual art exhibitions in Central Library and at City Hall. The Arts Commission extends the range of arts programming by providing additional funding for the Concerts in the Parks series and the Shakespeare by the Sea festival held each summer. In 2011 -12 these funds will assist with the Newport Beach Public Library's Imagination Celebration events in May. N ■ City Permanent Art Collection The cultural arts office continues to inventory, organize, review condition, clean and repair the City's permanent art collection. The library's art collection (Ruth Hynds, etc.) is stored and displayed at the library. Artwork at City Hall is routinely considered for exhibitions and a major portion of it is displayed in City facilities and offices. In 2011, the City Arts Commission plans to review, recondition and reframe chosen work in storage, and eventually from City offices, for possible display in the new Civic Center buildings. In 2011, the City of Newport Beach was offered a collection of paintings by Newport Beach resident Elizabeth Wiltrout Longridge. The paintings were accepted by City Council as part of a larger estate bequest that included a donation of $50,000. These funds will be used in part to recondition approximately nine selected paintings from the Longridge collection for eventual public display. Other works in the collection were sold or donated. An additional portion of the funds may be used to recondition artwork owned by the City of Newport Beach that may be re- exhibited in the new Civic Center buildings. ■ City Hall Holiday Continuing an annual tradition, the Arts Commission decorates the holiday tree and reception area in the City Hall lobby each December. ■ Newport Beach Film Festival Seminars Since April of 2001, the Arts Commission has co- sponsored one or two -day programs at local venues, including Central Library, for the Newport Beach Film Festival's "Vision and Craft: The Art of Filmmaking." More than 1600 people attend the presentations, ranging from screenwriting and directing to digital film techniques. Additionally, the Commission cosponsored a program called "Meet the Programmers." This event gave filmmakers an opportunity to introduce themselves and their films to programmers from festivals across the country. ■ City Council Policies There were no revisions to the Donation of Art Policy (1 -11); the Art in Public Places Policy (1 -9); or the Financial Support for Culture and the Arts Policy (1 -10). ■ The Newport Beach Arts Foundation The Arts Foundation Liaison Committee works with this tax - exempt nonprofit corporation, which raises private funds supplemental to City appropriations to support, promote and extend the cultural activities of the Newport Beach Arts Commission. The Arts Commission assists in advertising the Newport Beach Arts Foundation's events including the very successful Art in the Park; 2010 Ex- Officio Members: Rita Goldberg; Carole Boller. 2011: Arlene Greer. g7