SUMMER 2011

ArtsAdvocate
The
KERN COUNTYS CHAMPION FOR THE ARTS

Thank you to our Art Walk Sponsors and Supporters

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KERO-23/Azteca America Bakerseld Magazine KERN Radio PG&E Bike Bakerseld Downtown Business Association Participating Organzations Adobe Krow Archives Art Shop Club Gallery Art Start Arts Council of Kern Young Audiences Arts4Learning Bakerseld Art Association Bakerseld Community House Bakerseld Downtown Business Assoc. Bakerseld High School Theatre Thespians Bakerseld Jazz Festival Bakerseld Museum of Art Buena Vista Museum of Natural History California Art Education Association (CAEA) Central Area Desert Area Resources &Training (DART) Frontier High School Drama Booster Green Arts Grupo Folklorico Imagine Ballet Company Kern County Library Foundation Kern County Youth Mariachi Foundation Kern Film Workshop Kern Scottish Society Shafter High School Drama Club Society for Disabled Children South High School Rebel Theatre South High School Studio Art Spotlight School of Arts Stars Theatre Stewards of Hart Park Stop the Violence Sweet Adelines Young Artisans Society Young Authors Fair: Student-Made Books
Guests visited and enjoyed their dinner under the beautiful painted umbrellas that were later auctioned off.

Year End Fun(d) Raiser Honors Founding Member, Camille Gavin

asta Primavera Al Fresco was a favorite fund raiser of the Arts Council of Kern and was brought back this year thanks to the generosity of Betty and Milt Younger, who opened their home for the special event. A dedicated committee of board members and staffBetty Younger, Nancy Clark, Anthony Goss, Andrew Fishkin, Kari Hunter and Laura Wolfe worked on the event for several months. During a committee meeting, while talking about publicity, the decision was made to honor Camille Gavin as part of the event for her wonderful service to the community. She was a founding member of the board of the Arts Council of Bakerseld (later renamed ACK Kern) and has been a longtime advocate for the arts, through her columns in The Bakerseld Californian. In addition to honoring Camille, an Italian Buffet and Pasta Bar was offered to guests. The food was donated by the owners of The Mark, a new restaurant opening in September in the Arts District in downtown Bakerseld. Wine was donated by Pierre and Della Freeman and board member Lynne Hall. A number of volunteers plus staff members of the Youngers provided set up and clean up. Ticket sales, other gifts and a portion of the umbrella sales will benet the Arts Council of Kerns programs for 2011-12. A highlight of the event was the live auction of six painted umbrellas. The artists created beautiful and vibrant umbrellas that were enjoyed by all during the event and then auctioned off. Most of the proceeds went back to the artists as part of the Arts Council mission to support working artists. In addition to fun and fellowship, the event raised about $5,000 for Arts Council operations and was the perfect way to close out the year.

Camille Gavin accepts her award for being a founding member of the Arts Council of Bakerseld (now Kern) board of directors and a lifelong arts advocate.

ACK Board President Cathy Butler (L) and Board Member Jorge Guillen (R) helped to honor Lifetime Board Member, Betty Younger.

Umbrella artists Al Mendez, Iva Fendrick, Michelle Stone, Linda Osburn, Allison Beitzell and Judy Wolford Deems.

ART AS VOCATION

MESSAGE FROM THE INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Laura Lollar Wolfe

Jill Egland

Happy Summer

Kern Film Workshop

Makeup artist Gai Mitchell prepares Christopher Dydek for his role in the spring cycles production, Gangs of Bakerseld. The lm was a prequel to one produced by an earlier cycle.

The Kern Film Workshops 20112012 series will launch in mid-October. Consisting of two nine-week cycles (one in the fall, one in the spring), the program provides adults with special needs the opportunity to explore lm as a possible career optionand in the process, strengthen the social skills and work behaviors necessary to succeed in any job environment. An actual movie production provides the structure of the nine weeks, which consists of production assignments, on-location shooting, some formal class time, and daily self-assessment. Sessions specically addressing the challenge of adapting to a typical work environment are held weekly, their message continually brought home in the day-to-day activity of creating a lm. The quality of productions created by the KFW has piqued the interest of local organizations in the market for lmmaking services, and is catalyzing the development of a related lmmaking enterprise. Clients have included New Advances for People with Disabilities (NAPD), the Arts Council of Kern, and Desert Resources and Training (DART). Kern Regional Center clients interested in participating in the KFW should contact their service coordinator and the Arts Council of Kern.

t the last board meeting, I likened my experience as Interim Executive Director to the episode of I Love Lucy, where Lucy and Ethel work on the conveyor belt in a chocolate factory. In the beginning, everything is under control and easy, but each time the belt speeds up, a new level of intensity is needed. By the end, it is pretty crazy and chocolates are ying everywhere. Although we are always busy at the ACK, the intensity denitely picks up in the spring. I am proud to say that thanks to the dedication of a great staff and board of directors, we completed our regular spring projects, added a new one or two, and kept all the chocolates on the belt. Please be sure to read each story in this newsletter to get the full avor of what the ACK is doing and how the staff works tirelessly to fulll our mission of arts access, advocacy, and education. Walk for the Arts highlighted each of these and was a great success in its second year. In addition to being a project and events-oriented few months, it is also the time we apply for continued state support and advocate for continued support from Kern County and the State of California. I am happy to report that the Kern County Board of Supervisors renewed our agreement to

be the State and Local Partner that can administer California Arts Council contracts for Kern County. There was no funding commitment from the county at that time. However, in meetings with each of our supervisors, we heard their commitment to doing their best to preserve funding for the arts at the same level as last year. While this is 50% less than ve years ago, it is enough to ensure that we can leverage the county funds to get more state, national and private funds.

Laura Wolfe accepts a check from Chevron Public Affairs Representative Adam Alvidrez. The $10,000 gift will be used to incorporate the arts into teachitng and science lessons for better learning and retention by junior high school students. Chevron has been an ongoing supporter of our arts in schools and other programs.

VISUAL ARTS PROJECTS

Nicole Saint John

2011-2012 Creating Community Artists Announced

he Creating Community program is a great success and the 2010/11 participating artistsChris McKee, Barbara Reid and Claire Putneywill graduate with a big bang at the their nal exhibition at CSUBs Todd Madigan Gallery in August. The exact date of the opening will be announced soon. The theme of the exhibition, Highwire Act, focuses on substance abuse, and the group is trying to make this a traveling exhibition so that we can deliver its important message to Kern County students: Drugs Destroy. This group of artists will

nish their year and pass on the opportunity to the new 2011/12 group which just was selected to continue the success and to create community. The incoming artists for the 2011/12 program are: Julia Heatherwick, award-winning artist who works in the encaustic medium; Nancy Putney, an experienced artist with a background as an illustrator; Linda Brown, who is known for her collages; Scott McDonald, a young and promising artist from Shafter; and Steven Martinez, a CSUB graduate who prefers sculpture as his medium. We look forward to mentoring these talented artists during the coming year.

ARTS EDUCATION

ACK Partnerships Impact Learning

Full STEAM Ahead With PG&E
Nicole Saint-John

Musician Outreach
Jill Egland
Since January, over 2,700 students representing 12 schools across Kern County have participated in the Musician Outreach Program developed as part of the Arts Council of Kerns House Concert Series. Young Audiences, Chevron, the Tafoya-Serrano Music Education Fund, and the booster funds associated with several of the schools have jointly sponsored the new outreach program. World music multi-instrumentalists Lisa Lynne and Aryeh Frankfurter launched the series in January. Joe Craven, famous for his ability to uncover music in found objects, followed in April. Mays artists were vocalist/instrumentalist Moira Smiley and cellist April Guthrie. I didnt really know what to expect, admitted one East High junior, speaking of Moiras and Aprils visit. But I learned that theres a whole world out there you could hear it in their voices. October will feature blues singer/songwriter Anne Weiss. Novembers artists are the Celtic duo, Willson and McKee. Decembers artist is to be announced.

he acronym STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and is an educational initiative to unite the four elds of study to create an innovative way for problem solving, applied science, and math. To turn STEM into STEAM, by putting the Arts into STEM, is not only a fun play on words or a simple way to add the arts to the school schedule. It also means that when the arts become a part of STEM, it opens the door for students to explore concepts in a new and different way. The arts support creative and critical thinking, help to build condence, and replace rote memorization with applied creativity. The STEAM concept was also this years theme at the 2011 Young Audiences National Conference in Indianapolis, and we here in Kern County took it straight to the task. With the generous support of PG&E, a group of junior high and elementary school students from the Richland School District in Shafter learned about energy and energy efciency.

Teaching artist Chela Brehmer, students of the Richland School District, and Laura Wolfe, Interim Executive Director.

Our teaching artist, Chela Brehmer, helped the students to explore how they personally can save energy and Be an Energy Hero. The students used their observations to create drawings and at the end of the program, the works were displayed in the schools cafeteria. The students with the most original ideas received a prize, and their art work will be printed as a PG&E poster. We appreciate the support of PG&E in bringing this valuable program to Kern County students.

Special Arts Program Funded By The Bakerseld Californian

Nicole Saint-John

hanks to a grant from the Bakerseld Californian Foundation and Young Audiences, we were able to train four mentor artists who are now able to go out into Kern County communities and teach Cartoon Crazy, an arts-supported literacy and life-skill workshop, to children on the autism spectrum. Children from the Ridgecrest area will be the rst after Bakerseld to enjoy the program this summer.
Below: Mentor artists at their initial professional development training day: Christine McKee, Bakerseld; Tamara Van Dam, Bakerseld; Marcy Holbrook, Ridgecrest; and Renae Ginther, Taft

Nicole Saint-John Presents at National Young Audiences Conference

Nicole Saint-John had the honor of making a presentation regarding the curriculum for Cartoon Crazy at the Young Audiences National Conference in Indianapolis in April. Her talk outlined all the elements of the program that were included in the 2011 grant request that earned a $5,000 grant from Young Audiences. Also, at the conference we connected with a program from Georgia that is interested in pursuing the curriculum and is seeking funding from a national company. Although we are one of the newest and smallest afliates, we are making an impact nationally.

Schools included in the Musician Outreach Program:

Bakerseld College, Bakerseld Camp Erwin Owen, Kernville Delano High School, Delano East Bakerseld High School, Bakerseld Elk Hills Elementary School, Tupman Kern High School District AIM Program, Bakerseld Lost Hills Elementary School, Lost Hills Mira Monte High School Bakerseld Parkview Elementary School, Taft Stella Hills Elementary School, Bakerseld Taft College Transition to Independent Living Program, Taft Taft Union High School, Taft Tompkins Elementary School, Tehachapi

2000 K Street, Suite 110 Bakerseld, CA 93301

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COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Kari Hunter

ARTS COUNCIL STAFF

Laura Lollar Wolfe Interim Executive Director Holly Bikakis Graphic Design Consultant Sue Deininger Public Relations Consultant Jill Egland Director of Special Projects Brittany Gonzales Student Assistant Kari Hunter Program Coordinator/Executive Assistant Carlin A. Jones Social Media Manager Nicole McKenzie Receptionist Nicole Saint-John Director, Visual Arts Programs Cathy Butler President, Board of Directors

Arvins Park Taking Shape

or the last six months, the Arts Council of Kern has been working with the City of Arvin and Pinnacle Engineering to create a signature park for the City of Arvin. Garden in the Sun is the name and the theme for the ve acre park that will feature art elements throughout. This park will be the rst of its kind for the citizens of Arvin. The Arts Council has had the pleasure of: surveying the residents to see what kind of theme they wanted to have featured in the park; commissioning Mike Willis to design the parks logo; designing a beautiful park entry with the local landscaping company, Landscape Development, Inc.; creating a call to artists for three major art elements in the indigenous

planting area; creating a mural wall with mosaic enhancements, that will be created in part by students and apprentices; and much more. The ground breaking is scheduled for mid-July. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with our partners on this project and will continue to bring you updates until the ribbon cutting.

Advocating arts education and access on behalf of all Kern County residents since 1977.

2000 K Street, Suite 110, Bakerseld, CA 93301 ph: 661.324.9000 / fax: 661.324.1136 e-mail: kernarts@gmail.com www.kernarts.org

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