Greetings!
What makes a healthy art scene and what can SMAC do now in this new economy to help develop and nurture it here in Sacramento? These two questions have been in my mind since being appointed SMAC's Interim Director and as I've begun to meet with key stakeholders in the arts, culture, business, and political communities. Certainly, funding and opportunities for artists and arts organizations are basic and critical components of a vibrant arts scene, but it clearly takes more than these ingredients to make an arts community thrive. Using Curator Renny Pritikin's "Facets of a Healthy Art Scene"for inspiration as well as a recently released Americans for the Arts study about Sacramento art and cultural organizations and their audiences, staff and the Commission will be exploring the answer to these questions in the coming months. We will also be setting up a series of workshops as well as written documentation showing and explaining the results of the Americans for the Arts study. As the summer ends and fall begins I find it difficult to choose which performance, exhibition, or event to attend each week. This weekend I am looking forward to seeing the Tony Award winning play Red at the B Street Theater. The play explores the creative process of one of the last century's most influential and complex artists, Mark Rothko. Then there was Chalk it Up! at Fremont Park last weekend (you can still stop by the park and see dozens of chalk drawings through the month) and... Read more> Shelly Willis Interim Executive Director, SMAC |