$5 Million Arts Funding Increase Awaits Governor's Signature on the State Budget

The California Legislature included a $5 million increase in funding for the California Arts Council, its first in 11 years, and it now awaits final action by Governor Brown.  After more than a decade of ranking 50th among the states in arts funding, California's arts community sees this as an important first step toward full restoration of funding to past levels ($30 million+).

Santa Ana Arts Scene Boosted By New Additions:

Artist Studios at Logan Creative + MARCAS Contemporary Art Gallery + Artists Village Kiosks

On May 31, Logan Creative (exterior & interior views above) opened to the public in the Santiago Art District.  With 40,000 square feet of space, the former home of spiral staircase maker Bradfield Manufacturing Inc. at 1105 N. Santiago has become an affordable studio space for working artists in a variety of media plus an exhibition gallery.   Among the tenants already housed there are sculptor Bret Price, painter David Michael Lee and printmaker and curator Andrea Harris McGee.  Space is still available in the project, owned by Jack Jakosky, a Newport Beach-based retail developer who acquired downtown Santa Ana's historic Santora Arts Building a year ago. 

Adding to the excitement in Santa Ana is the opening on July5 of MARCAS, a contemporary art gallery at 305 East 4th Street, Suite 103, by curator Dana Jazayeri, who also owns the highly regarded As Issued Art + Design Bookstore in Costa Mesa's The LAB.  The inaugural exhibition, Corrective Course, includes the works of Dan Quintana, Alex Garcia, Nikko Hurtado, Matt Hurtado, Kevin Peterson, Jasmine Worth, JoKa, Adrian Dominic, Shawn Barber, Tom Haubrick, Sylvia Ji, Michael Mararian, Steven Daily, Olivia, Nicomi Nix Turner, Ekundayo, Jason Gallo, Gabe Larson, Laurie Lee Brom, Gustavo Rimada, Brendan Monroe, Victor Reyes, Remio, Cryptik, Travis Louie, Albert Reyes, Zach Johnsen, Bwanna Spoons, John Casey, Tomi Colgin (monstre), Julia Sonmi Heglund, Lucien Shapiro, Jade, Troy Coulterman, Adam Feibelman, Andres Guerrero, Amir H. Fallah, Colt Bowden, Lettercatsigns, Karen Hsiao, Ben Eine, Bob Dob & Dan H. Cook.

Additionally, the downtown Artists Village will soon have four kiosks obtained by the City of Santa Ana to help provide information and promote dining and small businesses, according to the Orange County Register.

Orange County School of the Arts Breaks Ground on Expanded Facilities