Press release form Toni Robin Public Relations on tomorrow’s unique art event in San Diego.

MEDIA ADVISORY
NEA Public Forum, March 13, 2 pm

March 13 is a big day for our arts and culture community.

Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), will make San Diego the first California stop in his national tour promoting the NEA’s “Art Works” initiative. Landesman is touring major American cities to promote the role of art in creating vibrant communities and spurring economic development. Learn more about Art Works here. The chairman’s public schedule will be posted in the Newsroom on the NEA web site at www.arts.gov

NEA ART WORKS FORUM
SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2 PM
Mandell Weiss Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse
2910 La Jolla Village Drive
Free Parking and Directions

Please RSVP directly to Toni Robin, tr@trprsandiego.com, 858.483.3918

MEDIA is invited to attend a public forum featuring Rocco Landesman and some of our community’s most engaging leaders who will share how Art Works here in San Diego. This is a chance to hear remarks from one of our nation’s leading arts advocates and a vigorous defender of arts funding.

The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture is thrilled and honored that San Diego has been selected and provided this opportunity to showcase our vibrant arts and culture community.

Toni Robin
public relations / marketing
964 chalcedony street
san diego, california 92109
www.trprsandiego.com
e: tr@trprsandiego.com
t: 858.483.3918
c: 619.997.3918

From the official press release:

MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL APPOINTS TWO TO THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO
COMMISSION FOR ARTS AND CULTURE

January 25, 2010 – San Diego, CA – Mayor Jerry Sanders announced the appointment of two new Commissioners to serve on the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture. “We acknowledge and appreciate these individuals and their willingness to give their time, talent and expertise to serve the City of San Diego,” said Sanders.

Larry Baza is a professional arts administrator with more than 32 years experience in advocating for the arts at the local, state and national level. He was recommended by Councilmember Marti Emerald and will replace Claire Anderson.

Baza has served on the boards of various non-profit arts organizations and provided his expertise as a panelist for arts commissions and foundations. In his professional career, Baza has directed and managed San Diego arts organizations and businesses including Centro Cultural De La Raza, Sushi Performance and Visual Arts, Fingerhut Gallery and Community Arts of San Diego.

His wealth of knowledge and experience includes affiliations, consultancies, site visits and panel participation with various arts organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, California Association of Local Arts Organizations, Chicano Federation of San Diego County, National Association of Latino Arts and Culture and the San Diego Community Foundation.

Currently, Baza is a partner in Noel-Baza Fine Art Gallery in Little Italy. He lives in North Park.

Todd Figi has a long and distinguished career as an arts and culture patron, advocate, entrepreneur and civic leader. Through his career in the art, gift and design industries, he became affiliated with many business and trade organizations and was recognized as a leader and generous donor including being named Man of the Year by the Young Presidents Organization and Man of the Year in the Gift Industry by amfAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research.)

His lifelong interest in the arts led him to be an avid collector of Latin American paintings, drawings and sculpture from masters including Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Locally, he has served on the boards of the San Diego Museum of Man and the Museum of Contemporary Art, where he served as President from 2008-09.

Figi was nominated by Councilmember Kevin Faulconer and will replace Courtney Ann Coyle. He lives in La Jolla.

The mission of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture is to vitalize the city by integrating arts and culture into community life while supporting the region’s cultural assets and showcasing San Diego as an international cultural destination. For more information please call the Commission office at (619) 236-6778 or visit the Commission website at www.sandiego.gov/arts-culture.

San Diego’s North County Times published this great summary of the Museum Month opportunity in San Diego this February with discounted admissions to museums of all kinds across the county.

Museum Month, allowing visitors to most museums in the county to receive half-off regular admission prices, began in 1989, and is going stronger then ever. Last year, more than 19,000 visitors took advantage of Museum Month — double the number of visitors only four years ago.

 
While you can find full details online at www.sandiegomuseumcouncil.org, check out this list of museum participants– we love the near universal participation in this promotion for improving access to our cultural treasures at a time when more potential audience members than ever are feeling the pressure to reduce expenditures on entertainment and enrichment.
 

Participating museums and historical sites:

Adobe Chapel Museum

Barona Cultural Center & Museum

Birch Aquarium at Scripps

Bonita Museum & Cultural Center

California Center for the Arts, Museum (Feb. 13-28)

Coronado Museum of History & Art

Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum

Heritage of the Americas Museum

La Jolla Historical Society

LUX Art Institute

Maritime Museum of San Diego

Marston House

MCRD Command Museum

Mingei International Museum

Mingei International Museum North County

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego – Downtown

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego – La Jolla (Feb. 21-28)

Museum of Making Music

Museum of Photographic Arts

Oceanside Museum of Art

Old Town San Diego Historic Park

San Diego (Quail) Botanical Gardens

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center

San Diego Air & Space Museum

San Diego Archaeological Center

San Diego Automotive Museum

San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum

San Diego Historical Society Museum & Research Archives

San Diego Model Railroad Museum

San Diego Museum of Art

San Diego Museum of Man

San Diego Natural History Museum

Tijuana Estuary Visitors Center

Timken Museum of Art

USS Midway Museum

Veteran’s Museum & Memorial Center

Water Conservation Garden

Whaley House

Women’s History Museum & Education Center

 
Way to go, San Diego museums and cultural institutions!

From the official press release:
Movers & Shakers 2: Who’s Who in the San Diego Visual Arts World
Local Artists Portray Local VIPs

Reception: Thursday, Jan 21 from 6:30 to 8:30pm
Show continues until Saturday, Feb 6, 2010
Art Expressions Gallery: 2645 Financial Court, Suite C, SD, 92117
Exhibition hours: Monday – Friday 9am-5pm, Saturday 10am-5pm
Info: Patricia Frischer 760.943.0148 or Patricia Smith 858.270.7577

Visit the Movers and Shakers website for Artists and Movers and Shakers biographies as well as VIP views of their visions for the future of the visual arts in San Diego in Part One and Part Two of this project. The website is sponsored by SDVAG. Part Two will be completed by January of 2010 and on display at Art Expressions Gallery. We are delighted to present a Catalog of Portraits of Part Two.

List of Artists with Movers and Shakers 2

James Aitchison – Anita Edman, Director, Solana Beach City Hall Gallery
Joseph Bennett – Irène de Watteville , Board member Synergy Arts Foundation and Tile Heritage Organization
Nancy Bergmann – Carolyn S. Mickelson, Chair of the City of Oceanside Arts Commission, Vice-President of Oceanside Museum of Art, President, Creative Designs, Inc.
Jenifer Broomberg- Ian Ashley
Ashley Blalock – Carol McCusker, Ph.D., Curator of Photography, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego
Alberto Caro – Ernest Silva Professor of Visual Art, University of CA, San Diego
Josue Castro – Deborah Klochko , Director, Museum of Photographic Arts
Petyr Cirino – Mollie Kellogg , Coordinator, UU Art Guild and Bard Hall Gallery
Renee Corwin – Dottie Stanley, President, Patrons of the Prado
Marianela de la Hoz – Pierrette Van Cleve, Director, Van Cleve Fine Art
Mireille des Rosiers – Sharon L. Gorevitz, Producer, Talmadge Art Show and Corporate Development Executive, KPBS, Steven Nossan, Director, Front Porch Gallery and Creative Director, Studio Masern Claire Slattery Vice Chair, Board of Directors, San Diego Art Institute
Ellen Dieter – Andrea Chamberlin, San Diego Art Department, Tim Field, President & CEO, San Diego Art Institute, Kerstin M. Robers, Director of Admin, San Diego Art Institute
Max Dolberg – Jerry Waddle, Ducky Waddle’s Emporium
Shahla Dorafshan – Andrea Chamberlin, San Diego Art Department, Tim Field, President & CEO, San Diego Art Institute, Kerstin M. Robers, Director of Admin, San Diego Art Institute
Renee Bonorand Fleming – Ron Jessee, Visual Arts Coordinator, Region 9 VAPA Lead, San Diego County Office of Education
Will Gibson – Abraham P. Ordover, Owner The Ordover Galleries, Solana Beach/SD Natural History Museum
Vero Glezqui – Rachel Teagle, Executive Director of The New Children’s Museum
Brian Goeltzenleuchter – Teri Sowell , Director of Exhibitions and Collections, Oceanside Museum of Art
Michael C. Gross – James Skip Pahl – Director, Oceanside Museum of Art
José Alfredo Gutierrez – Jimenez Julio Rodríguez Ramos and Cecilia Ochoa V. Co-Director, Entijuanarte
Michèle Guieu – Lynn Susholtz, Owner, Stone Paper Scissors and Art Produce Gallery
Becky Guttin – Ron Newby , Curator, The Bronowski Art & Science Forum
Norma Brown Hill – Erika Torri, J oan & Irwin Jacobs Executive Director of the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
Georgia Hoopes – Robert C. Wright, Founding Member Wright & L’Estrange
Suda House – Jennifer Spencer
Jeffery Laudenslager – Patricia Frischer, coordinator, San Diego Visual Arts Network
Ron Lemen – Sebastian Capella, Master teacher
Vanessa Lemen – Jim Gilliam, Arts Administrator, City of Encinitas
Mary Margaret – Paul Vauchelet
Kelly Mellos – Debra Turner-Emerson, MBA, Executive Director, St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center
Richard Allen Messenger – Andrea Chamberlin, San Diego Art Department, Tim Field, President & CEO, San Diego Art Institute , Kerstin M. Robers, Director of Admin, San Diego Art Institute
Irina Negulescu – Sandi Cottrell, Managing Director of Mission Federal ArtWalk and Art Walk on the Bay
Herb Olds – Mark-Elliott Lugo, Library Curator, San Diego Public Library/Visual Arts Program
Stathis Orphanos – Charles Bronson, Vista Art Foundation
Julio Orozco – Luis and Gerda Ituarte, Consejo Fronterizo de Arte y Cultura (COFAC)/Border Council of Arts and Culture
Tony Peters – Patti and Coop Cooprider, art collectors and advocates
Lee Puffer – Karen McGuire, Curator of Exhibitions, City of Carlsbad’s William D. Cannon Art Gallery
Deanne Sabeck – Ted Washington, Pruitt Igoe and Puna Press
Cheryl Sorg – Angela Carone, Arts and Culture Producer at KPBS
Jennifer Spencer -Suda House
Dottie Stanley – Vicky DeLong , Executive Director Bonita Museum & Cultural Center
Michael Steirnagle – Joanna Bigfeather
Kim Treffinger – Gerrit Greve, Arts for Healing and Board Member, Synergy Art Foundation
Fritzie Urquhart – Joni Miringoff , Co-Founder of ArtSplash
Brian Weisz – Kathy Rubesha, Board Chairperson, California Center for the Arts Escondido
NC Winters – Melissa Inez Walker, Director, Distinction Gallery and Artist Studios

Don’t miss the 100th running of Ray at Night starting right now in San Diego’s North Park. Founded by Gustaf Rooth of Planet Rooth Studios and recently written up in the New York Times, this monthly event defines urban San Diego’s homegrown arts scene. Check out their website for more info at rayatnight.com, even if it does still show November’s featured artist.

I’ve noted before that the San Diego News Network has developed a solid art & culture reporting practice for San Diego. This week’s review of the “Automatic Cities” show at MCASD La Jolla establishes them further as a thoughtful critical voice on what’s happening in San Diego art.

SDNN contributor Larry Herzog is a Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in City Planning at San Diego State University and brings a provocative twist to the “art” review by probing at the deeper issues raised in the show from a broader-tham-the-art-world perspective. Nice editorial choice and great article, check it out:

“Automatic Cities: The Architectural Imaginary in Contemporary Art” is a dazzling display of fantastic urban scenes and forms culled from deep in the psyches of 13 invited artists and one artist collective. On view through January 31 in La Jolla at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the exhibition indirectly forces us to face up to the reality of our failed American urban environment.

At a time when city building has screeched to a halt in the midst of a raging recession, visitors to MCA may pause to consider the visual condition of southern California.

Bleak images come to mind: monotonous American suburbs, spread across the great bulldozed flatlands, curving subdivisions neatly lined with bloated McMansions, pastel shaded, stucco condominium complexes dotted with “for sale” signs, and strip malls anchored by mega stores and chain outlets. Endless and repetitive blots of mind-numbing sameness bounding from region to region, like an infectious disease….

Read it all: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-12-10/things-to-do/automatic-cities-at-mcasd-prompts-question-is-the-american-cityscape-insane#ixzz0ZOWpbvn3

So you are planning a vacation with your teens and want to be sure they do more than lay on the beach and text their friends back home.
Consider an arts and culture tour of San Diego designed with teens in mind.
 
Most all San Diego arts organizations have special programs designed for ages 11-17. To make it more fun, hop on the Old Town Trolley and make the tour itself an adventure. When the ride is as fun as the destination, your teens are sure to stop tweeting and start exploring.
 
Kid-friendly arts and culture venues throughout Balboa Park and Downtown are accessible by the Trolley. Get started in front of ARTS TIX at Horton Plaza and check out that evening’s half-price Theater, Music and Dance tickets.
 

Arts & Culture Venues for Teens Visiting San Diego

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center/IMAX Theater- features more than 100 interactive science exhibits in five galleries, as well as major traveling exhibitions.

• San Diego Model Railroad Museum – featuring the largest indoor model railroad display in the world.
• San Diego Natural History Museum – exhibits for the naturalist or environmentalist in your family. Learn about the diversity of Southern California and Baja California
• Read more great art stuff for teens in San Diego here.

 
Also, several museums have specialized programs designed for that hard to please age. The San Diego Museum of Art has the Teen Art Café, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego teen programs are designed by teens themselves and the New Children’s Museum Teen Studio is only open to ages 11 and older.

A nighttime option is to invite your teens to “see themselves” on stage by attending performances by the ultra-talented youth from the San Diego Youth Symphony, Eveoke Dance Theater, J*Company, or San Diego Junior Theater.
 
Check the full article at SanDiego.org for links to addresses, phone numbers, opening hours, and of course, links to the websites of these (and more) San Diego arts & culture destinations.

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