Community members can help shape the arts master plan in Santa Clarita by completing an online Arts and Entertainment Survey or by attending a public Arts and Entertainment Summit at 6:30 p.m. on Mon., April 6 at the Santa Clarita Activities Center, officials said Monday.

Excitement has been building since the Santa Clarita city council approved the development of a new Arts and Culture Master Plan for the city last summer and now the planning has finally begun, according to a news release. As part of the process, arts supporters and community members have several opportunities to speak out and have their voices and opinions heard.

First is an online survey of about 25-30 multiple choice questions, according to a news release. City management is hoping for 2000+ respondents, so do your part; take the survey and forward it to your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors.

The survey can be found via a link on the Santa Clarita Arts website here, according to a news release. The survey will only be live through April 13, so don’t wait; act now.

In addition, the consultants, along with city staff will host a town hall style Arts & Entertainment Summit at 6:30 p.m. on April 6 at the Santa Clarita Activities Center, according to a news release. Attendees will have the opportunity to contribute in greater detail by exploring issues in smaller issue oriented groups.

The Summit is open to all interested parties, but RSVP’s are requested for planning purposes, according to a news release. Please mark your calendars and RSVP here.

What is the Arts Alliance? Who is it for? Who should participate?

The short answer? Everyone. The Art Alliance is a grassroots arts advocacy network. We welcome the participation of individual artists from all disciplines, arts administrators, arts educators and arts supporters who may not participate directly but believe in the powerful impact of art on the community and want to see more of it in our town.

If that describes you, then please follow us on Facebook and join us to see how you can contribute to the effort. Please spread the word by forwarding this newsletter to other Arts supporters in Santa Clarita and encouraging them to join us too.

Arts Alliance 1st Year Recap

The Santa Clarita Arts Alliance was co-founded last February by David Stears, Executive Director of the Santa Clarita Shakespeare festival, and Stephanie O’Connor, who holds a Master’s Degree in Arts Management from CGU and a Certification in Arts Advocacy Leadership from Arts For LA.

The Alliance was off and running right out of the gate, producing a Focus on the Arts Forum for the City Council Candidates for last year’s municipal elections. All 13 candidates attended and responded to questions about the relevance of the Arts in the community and the role of the creative economy in Santa Clarita.

Last fall advocates began gathering to discuss the needs and specific challenges of the community and what the role of the Arts Alliance could be. Discussions developed a consensus that the work of the Alliance should focus on participation, outreach, support and education, or POSE.

Recent gatherings, with the upcoming Arts master planning in mind, tackled how to align the messaging from the Arts community for maximum effectiveness. Participants concluded the most important message was that  to build our vibrant, creative community we need to further the development of the local arts infrastructure to expand opportunities for participation in Santa Clarita.

Future meetings will identify specific strategies and tactics that the Alliance can use to support this goal.