Santa Clarita Mayor Bill Miranda shared a few of his suggestions on how the city can go from “very good” to “great” in its arts programs, offering his insights on how and where the city might grow during a recent public meeting.
Miranda’s comments came during a Sept. 24 study session with the City Council, the Arts Commission and city staff, which was intended to discuss the progress on the city’s previous arts master plan.
Miranda discussed the potential for the City Council and Arts Commission to be more involved in the arts-planning process, the potential for a bigger venue and how the city’s recently acquired William S. Hart Park can be a “crown jewel” in these efforts.
The city recently hired consultants to lead the effort on a new arts master plan for Santa Clarita, which is expected to guide the city’s arts priorities until 2035.
Ahead of the making of a new plan, the city’s study session looked to wrap up the previous plan, noting the progress on 54 of the 61 recommendations made in the previous master plan.
One of the few recommendations not addressed was “the creation of a standing City Council Arts Committee, which was not deemed warranted as the communication between the City Council and the Arts Commission has been very successful with annual meetings and informational events,” according to Phil Lantis, the arts and events manager.
While the commissioners and council members generally shared their gratitude for the staff’s efforts, Miranda said that, in addition to his gratitude, he had some notes on how the process might be more inclusive.
“I want to make sure that city staff and the Arts Commission are working in conjunction. We pick these arts commissioners because they’re great talents. Every single arts commissioner brings to the table unique talents,” Miranda said. “It’s very important to me, as a City Council person, and I’m sure for the rest of us, that they be included — not at the end, but the beginning of some of these plans. OK, I just want to make sure that’s going to be done or being done.”
Miranda also said the City Council has some valuable community experience as well, alluding to Councilwoman Marsha McLean’s community theater experience, and threw a playful barb at Councilman Jason Gibbs, saying that he auditioned for a play, once.
Miranda also cautioned city staff away from only getting local perspective, in response to Lantis’ comments about community feedback, which indicated the desire for a regional draw wasn’t there.
“I beg to differ, because you’re talking to local performers,” Miranda said. “Talk to regional performers, and they’ll tell you, they would come out here to entertain … if you had a 2 or 3,000-seat venue.”
Carrie Lujan, director of communications for the city, declined to respond to Miranda’s comments when reached by phone Monday.
David Ian Stears, a local leader in the theater community, attended the study session and felt there was some validity to the demand for a larger venue, but also said he liked the planning process as it is and felt there was plenty of opportunity for input. Stears serves as executive director of the Shakespeare Festival, chair of the theater department at College of the Canyons and vice president of the Santa Clarita Theater Center.
The center is a nonprofit working to build a local multistage venue for theater, and said a venue much larger than what’s being planned already would be a tall ask. He also mentioned a previous feasibility report the city commissioned that indicated the cost of operations on a larger 5,000-seat or so venue wouldn’t pencil out for the city.
Stears said he frequently sees Arts Commission members at community events, so he sees them providing support and input.
“I kind of like the process as it is now. I think that the City Council, certainly, they have their input into almost anything, and it’s because of our size and the way our city works,” Stears said. “You know, a lot of that turns operational very quickly. You know, when somebody says, ‘I think we should do this.’ And I think people are pretty responsive to that.”
Michael Millar, chair of the Arts Commission, didn’t feel there was a disconnect between the City Council, Arts Commission and city manager’s office, which he felt has improved over the life of the commission.
An original member of the commission since 2009, he said in a phone interview Tuesday the city’s long-range plan has been to make Santa Clarita a regional destination for the arts, adding the arts have figured much more prominently in the city’s planning discussion since the commission’s formation.
When asked about the unaddressed Arts Committee suggestion, he said sometimes when things aren’t looked into it’s because “there isn’t really any energy in that direction.”
He also said he was really looking forward to the new arts master plan, which consultants are expected to bring to the commission and then City Council for approval in January or February.
Miranda said the city needs to “think huge,” with its new master plan, mentioning Hart Park, which the city just took over from the county, as a place with a great deal of potential.
“We can make that park a regional destination, not just a museum, a Hart Museum, the Hart Mansion, the museum pieces down below — but make it a place where we have so many activities, so many things going on, that it would be the North L.A. County, destination for culture and arts,” Miranda said.
“As long as you don’t use the word ‘county,’” said Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste, referencing the change in ownership.