Where art thou, 661Arts?

Alright, so we know what you’re thinking: Where did 661Arts go?

Right?? We were thinking the same thing.

ANYWAY, we’re back, but we’re making some changes – hence, the current bare, and minimal (but oh-so-pretty) site layout. So, hang tight and expect to see some consistent updates in the very near future.

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High School Musical LIVE! at Canyon Theatre Guild

Disney’s smash hit musical will come to life on the CTG stage in February!  All of your favorite characters are back as the kids at East High get ready for summer and their first summer jobs! It’s an action-packed, fun-filled, song and dance –filled experience for the whole family. This popular sequel is even more fun than the first High School Musical and the high-energy cast brings it all to life at the Canyon Theatre Guild.  High School Musical 2 runs from February 6 through March 6, with performances every Saturday at 8:00pm, Sundays at 2:00pm and Saturday matinees on February 27 & March 6 and one Friday evening show on March 5. Ticket prices are $12-$15 for Juniors/Seniors and $15-$17 for Adults.  Reservations through box office

For more information, please call (661) 799-2702 or visit their website.

Art Stop Project

On October 3 and 4, 2009, the Santa Clarita Festival of the Arts, sponsored by Lockheed Federal Credit Union, will highlight a spectrum of artistic talent in Old Town Newhall.  This exciting free outdoor festival will be located along Main Street between Lyons Avenue and 5th Street.  All weekend long patrons can watch street painters, visual, digital, and multimedia artists create works of art, from a beginning conception to the final masterpiece.

The Festival of the Arts seeks to commission ten artworks for the Art Stop Project, an Art in Public Places program.  In the month of September, the chosen artworks will be featured in ten transit bus shelters throughout the City of Santa Clarita, as well as, be included in the advertising efforts of the upcoming Festival of the Arts.

Artists using a variety of medium including photography, paint, multimedia, etc. are encouraged to submit existing or new works based on the theme, “Watch Art! Create Art! Live Art!”  Artists may submit no more than two (2) existing or new artworks for consideration. Download an application at http://www.scfestivalofthearts.com/project.asp.

Canyon Country Public Art RFQ

The City of Santa Clarita has big bucks to spend on a public art project at the entrance to Canyon Country Park.  Arts and Events office staff are hoping to take an unsightly, boring plot and make it just slightly more sightly through the commission of a $30,000 piece of art.  The proposed site sits next to a very plain stretch of Soledad Canyon Road, which parallels Highway 14, and while the work would be fairly visible to passing motorists, it would rarely be viewed up close by the public.

Artists must use the funds to design, fabricate, transport and install the work.  Spread the word – the application deadline is March 16th.  Find the PDF here.

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City’s Art Think Tank – “Art Tank”

The City of Santa Clarita is thinking about the visual and performing arts, and wants to know what you have to say.  Jeff Barber from the City’s Arts and Events office is holding two upcoming sessions dubbed “Art Tank” to ask the following question of all who care to answer it, and to help form a vision for local arts: How can the public in the SCV become interested and intrigued by art?  There have been three previous meetings geared toward the same topic, but new and fresh perspectives are sought.  The next meeting will be held at City Hall in Suite 100A on Tuesday, February 10th from 6:30 – 8:30pm; another will be hosted during the daytime-ish hours of 4:30 – 6pm on February 18th, this time in Orchard room A.  Mark your calendar and tell your friends.  Light refreshments will be served to counter the heavy art talk.  For more information, call Jeff at (661) 286-4078.

Public Art – Sculpture in the Mall

Oh my god, so like I was talking to Becky who just heard from Kendra that Jerrod’s brother’s girlfriend’s best friend Mackenzie totally saw robots being quarantined near the food court at the Mall? Ok so like that is just SO wrong because there are totally towns in like the Iraq, and such as, that don’t even have Malls, or robots, or like, whatever, anyways. I was like ‘no way,’ and then she was all ‘totally,’ so I was totally like ’shut. up.’ So I went to Pinkberry for lunch today, and on my way back to A&F, I checked it out and it’s totally TRUE. The Mall cops must have totally shut them down and, like, disincapacitated them cuz they were not even moving. I know, you’re like ‘pics or it didn’t happen,’ so…

EDIT: So, apparently this is actually Public Art, condoned by Westfield Valencia Town Center and instigated by the City of Santa Clarita. The show is titled “Torched Whimsical Welding” and the artist is local sculptor Dianne Foderaro, who is the first to show work in the newly designated Town Center Art Space. The exibit will run through March 8th. Totally. Click to see photos.

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COC PAC MOU – WTF?

That was really very confusing.  I’m talking about the Santa Clarita City Council meeting tonight, not the headline of this post which is also somewhat confusing if you haven’t been paying attention to what has been going on between the City and Colllege of the Canyons regarding the Performing Arts Center Memorandum of Understanding.  What the dickens went wrong?  The City Manager and the folks at COC had a little talk a while back, and even though Ken Pulskamp had already basically changed the city’s relationship status to ’single,’ apparently the COC Board of Trustees does not feel like breaking up just yet.  So for now, lets just say ‘it’s complicated.’  

The City Council decided to delay the decision to end the MOU so that the City Manager and COC can resume negotiations and come to an agreement.  Stay tuned.

Kite Exhibit at City Hall

On the first floor of City Hall there is a hallway.  Pretty, stale photos of city facilities had adorned the walls of the hallway for a long time, and for a long time there was a promise of turning the hall into an art exhibition space.  Finally, finally the “First Floor Gallery” is a reality, and the first exhibition of work is a collection of Japanese kites which have been meticulously crafted and decorated with colorful designs.  You can decide for yourself if the kites are art or not, but if you feel like viewing the show called ”The Kites of Kyushu,” visit city hall at 23920 Valencia Boulevard.  Photos of these works of kite are below, so click on.

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COC/COSC to 86 PAC MOU?

On the agenda for Tuesday’s City Council meeting is an item that is worrying many of the performing arts groups in the valley.  The council will consider ending the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that the City of Santa Clarita (COSC) has with College of the Canyons (COC) regarding the Performing Arts Center (PAC).  The current MOU guarantees the City and community  arts groups 32% of weekend days, which is great for local performing artists who pay a lower use rate, but does not allow the college to book as many acts at the higher market rate.  COC would naturally like to be able to earn more money to support the facility, and is having trouble under the current arrangement.  The City spent 2.4 million in the year 2000 to bring the number of seats in the space from 450 to 950, and while the current percentage of community use is laid out in the MOU, there is nothing to legally bind COC to those terms.  The question is – would the community benefit more from continued exposure to local performing arts groups, or from exposure to small outside acts like those in the PAC’s current lineup.  If you have something to say about the issue, show up on Tuesday and speak your mind. You can find the agenda item here, along with the MOU.

Call for Artists – First Floor Gallery

Artists of the Santa Clarita Valley are invited to submit work for an upcoming exhibit in City Hall.  The show is titled “Visions of Santa Clarita: Where the Good Life Takes You,” (Say, does anyone actually know what that tagline means?) and will be installed in the hallway of the ground floor – a.k.a. the “First Floor Gallery.”  This is the very first time the hallway has been opened up for the display of artwork by local artists, and the community will see many more exhibits as Jeff Barber at the City works to fill the space in coming months.  The PDF is not on their site, but you can grab one here.