ARTS COUNCIL LETS NONPROFITS THRIVE IN CONEJO VALLEY.Byline: P. Catherine Shanks
The shanks and tattlers are wading bird species in a number of genera characterised by a medium length bill and long, often brightly coloured legs. Community Columnist More than 50 community-oriented, nonprofit arts organizations are thriving with the help of the Arts Council An arts council is a government or private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing events at home and abroad. of the Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both Southeastern Ventura County and Northwest Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It was discovered in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, and eventually became part of the Rancho El Conejo land grant by . For 30 years, through a number of cooperative programs, the umbrella organization
An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions, who work together formally to coordinate activities or has encouraged and supported visual and performing arts in the Conejo Valley. The council serves as a multifaceted administrative resource Administrative resource is the ability of political candidates (and parties) to use their official positions or connections to government institutions to influence the outcome of elections. and networking agent for its member groups. ``Virtually every nonprofit arts organization in the area is a member,'' said Margaret Travers, the council's director of public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most . The federation, as it is known, comprises the voting membership and an all-volunteer board of directors that establishes policy and direction for the group as a whole. The Arts Council of the Conejo Valley was chartered in 1967 and incorporated two years later. At the end of 1969, the infant group had a membership of 13 arts groups. The original focus was to publicize local arts activities by getting the word out to the community by distributing a calendar of events. Additionally, the council provided a forum in which the cultural organizations could meet to deal with common concerns. Today the council publicizes federation activities through its bimonthly bi·month·ly adj. 1. Happening every two months. 2. Happening twice a month; semimonthly. adv. 1. Once every two months. 2. Twice a month; semimonthly. n. pl. ``Arts Scene'' calendar. The council also prints a resource guide to the arts and keeps Conejo Valley residents up-to-date by way of a newly developed Internet site and a 3-year-old television show. ``Arts Scene'' makes mass media out of the melded collection of organizations and events. Hosted by Georgeanne Lees and Chad Smith For other persons named Chad Smith, see Chad Smith (disambiguation). Chad Smith (born 25 October 1961, Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.) the drummer of the American alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. , the interview-based television program gives member organizations another kind of platform for demonstrating and displaying their respective cultural offerings. ``We interview the movers and shakers and the people who are producing,'' Travers said. She added that prospective guests are enthusiastic about appearing on the television show, and members frequently request opportunities to talk about their work. Program growth has enabled the council to offer a broader range of benefits and services to its members, including insurance, low user fees for Arts Council Center facilities and assistance in obtaining grants or establishing nonprofit status. The council works with the city of Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. , the Conejo Recreation and Park District, the Conejo Valley Unified School District Conejo Valley Unified School District or CVUSD is a school district in Ventura County. It serves Thousand Oaks, California and its subsections Newbury Park and Westlake Village. , the Thousand Oaks Arts Commission and the Gold Coast Performing Arts Association to promote arts appreciation and community participation in cultural programs. Though member organizations may be the most immediate and direct benefactors of all the council offers, representatives feel that everyone benefits from Arts Council programs. ``Anyone interested in maintaining the arts profile in the Conejo Valley can contribute,'' said Joseph Montague, the council's director of membership. He said the base of nonvoting council contributing members has grown by 3 percent this year. The contributing base is made up of a cross-section of businesses and residents. ``The people who contribute are ones who feel we're doing something worthwhile,'' Travers said. Some of the important Arts Council programs are an in-school instrumental program for children through sixth grade, a summer concert and performing arts series, the popular Thousand Oaks Arts Festival An arts festival or art fair is a festival that focuses on the visual arts, but which may also focus on other arts. Arts festivals in the visual arts are exhibitions. and an annual visual arts visual arts npl → artes fpl plásticas visual arts npl → arts mpl plastiques visual arts npl → show at the Thousand Oaks Community Gallery, next to the Newbury Park branch of the Thousand Oaks Library. A multidisciplinary arts fair is the newest program in the lineup. The first Arts Faire in the Gallery took place on several dates during June. It featured 22 workshops, classes and demonstrations, musical performances and fun activities for the whole family. ``Some of the events were huge,'' said ``Arts Scene'' host and council president Lees. ``The juggling really brought them in. Who could guess!'' Also new this year is the transformation of the Arts Council Center patio room into a gallery space for community arts exhibits. Travers said hundreds of people pass through the center and through the patio room. The Arts Council plans to work aggressively to expand its membership base in the coming year. Other goals for the organization include the development of a re-granting program for member organizations and earthquake damage repairs and building renovations for the Arts Council Center. THE FACTS Arts Council of the Conejo Valley Edwin Janss Jr. Arts Council Center 482 Greenmeadow Ave. (805) 381-2747 Arts Scene TV Show TCI (Trustworthy Computing Initiative) An umbrella term from Microsoft for its efforts to improve security in Windows. TCI was announced in 2002 after viruses such as Code Red and Nimda had succeeded in attacking numerous Windows computers. Cable Public Access Channel 8 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Internet Web Site www.conejoarts.org |
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