HERE - Hollywood Arts Council
Transcription
HERE - Hollywood Arts Council
Making A Difference in Our Community Through the Arts Promoting, Nurturing and Supporting the Arts of Hollywood 1978-2014 Celebrating 36Years of Service Mary McColl Executive Director Actors’ Equity March 5, 2015 ADVISORS Chris Barton Hudson Pacific Properties Dear Ms McColl, Shauna McClure Executive Director OFFICERS AND TRUSTEES David Warren Everyone benefits from the arts. Everyone should be exposed to the arts. The arts are for everyone.a These are not just statements. These words are among the guiding principles of the Hollywood Arts Council, a nonprofit organization whose mission for over 37 years has been to promote, nurture and support the arts of Hollywood. Board Chair Daniel Henning Vice Chair Steve Tronson Treasurer Patti Negri Secretary Nyla Arslanian President Emeritus Oscar Arslanian Pasqual Bettio Kamilla Blanche Nancy J Brown Drew Colquitt Joni Labaqui Matthew Leum Anastasia Mann Lindsay Merfeld Andre Miripolsky Susana Romo Lozano Rich Sarian Harvey Schwartz Marty Shelton Gil Smith Elaine Stein Anji Williams Julia Li Wu P. O. Box 931056 Hollywood, CA 90093 Phone: (323)462-2355 FAX: (323)465-9240 Through our programs offered elementary schools free-of-charge, we connect teaching artists to a community of underserved children, hungry for the arts. Our annual Children’s Festival of the Arts exposes families to a range of visual and performing arts in a free venue, open to all. Our membership events bring the community together while providing a platform for emerging artists to display their work alongside more established artists. Since ancient times, theatre has been a unique medium that provides an immediate and direct connection between artists and the community. In a large region like Los Angeles, theatres of all sizes are needed not only because there are so many actors who wish to refine and display their talents in a variety of roles; a range of theatres are vital to ensure a plethora of opportunities for dialogue—topical, controversial or provocative but always engaging—are available to all members of society. Small theatres are important too because the majority of individuals from diverse socio-economic backgrounds who populate our neighborhoods cannot afford to attend with any regularity, the largescale productions with equally substantial ticket prices. The Hollywood Arts Council views the proposed Equity changes of policy concerning the small theaters of Hollywood and greater Los Angeles area with consternation. We are concerned that the result of such changes would lead to a drastic reduction in the amount and quality of local theater. The cultural loss to our community would be profound, affecting the hundreds of productions staged annually in Los Angeles. The economic loss of all the businesses interdependent on that production output is calculable, but even without the numbers being run, we fear the overall impact on the city could be catastrophic. Small theatres are sometimes referred to as “sandboxes”, venues for professional artists to collaborate with creative directors in original productions written by innovative playwrights. Many consider small theatres as “stepping stones” where productions develop and find their voice before potentially moving to medium-sized and larger locales. The so-called “99-seat” theatres are nonprofit organizations where actors volunteer their time to build and showcase a body of work that might lead to other roles. Randall Baumberger Paramount Pictures Carol Connors Singer/Songwriter David Green Nederlander Organization Leron Gubler Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Art Laboe Original Sound Records Joan McCarthy Walt Disney Company Kate Linder Actress George Pennacchio ABC7 TV Maureen Schultz Capitol EMI Connie Stevens Actress Glenn Treibitz Hollywood Piano and our Elected Representatives Mayor Eric Garcetti City of Los Angeles Councilmember Tom LaBonge City of Los Angeles Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell City of Los Angeles U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky Los Angeles County www.hollywoodartscouncil.org Facebook.com/hollywoodartscouncil In this capacity, the actors and others who work in small theatres throughout Los Angeles are not unlike me and my fellow members of the board of trustees of the Hollywood Arts Council: people donating their time in order to make a difference in our world through art. After decades of bringing positive change to Hollywood, we are concerned that affordable, innovative live theatre may disappear from our community. If small nonprofit theatres are no longer able to operate—if actors are not allowed to volunteer their time within their own community—we will all suffer from this absence of art. We will have fewer ways to connect and communicate, less occasions to exchange ideas, limiting our chances to learn from each other. The arts would no longer be for everyone. Sincerely, David Warren Chair, Board of Trustees Hollywood Arts Council Partnering with other local nonprofit organizations through its “Stayin’ Live” initiative, the Hollywood Arts Council sponsored a series of town hall meetings that recently resulted in the LA City Council voting to designate the stretch of Santa Monica Blvd between Seward and El Centro, “Hollywood Theatre Row”