Monday, March 22 @ 10 AM there will be a special meeting of the Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee at City Hall to discuss the Department of Cultural Affairs current budget. Tom LaBonge is the chair of the committee and he has been a great supporter and friend to the arts in LA for a long time. Full agenda for the meeting is here.
The only item on the agenda is the proposal by Councilmembers LaBonge and Hahn “instructing the Department of Cultural Affairs contract with the Grand Vision Foundation to operate the Warner Grand Theatre if there is a gap between the selection of a permanent operator or the Department cannot continue to operate the facility.” This is a good thing. The Grand Vision Foundation has already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore the theatre, has its own facility on the same block, an excellent staff, experience with the theatre’s operations, etc… I’ve been bitching that the Warner Grand should be run by an outside non-profit for years, so I’m seeing the potential public-private partnership between the DCA and Grand Vision as a win-win for the City and for the community that the Warner Grand needs to serve. So I’m advising anyone in attendance to support that motion, it’s well thought out and in the best interest of the Warner Grand.
Outside of that motion, this meeting is your opportunity to keep the pressure on the City to support the DCA’s budget as much as is possible in the current crisis.
Last night, I attended a grant workshop for the Cultural Exchange International program, which will hopefully support the project that I went to Seoul in December to research. Olga Garay, the head of the DCA, chaired the meeting, and the promise of the program in the current funding cycle and future funding cycles was counterbalanced by the uncertainty of the Department’s staff cuts and future budget. We have the vision to grow the arts in LA, but the support necessary to express that vision is definitely under threat.
Big thanks to Edie over at LA Eastside for directing this my way.