City Hall room, exhibit to be dedicated in Boyer’s memory
The city of Santa Clarita is scheduled Monday to dedicate a room and art exhibit in memory of former mayor and city founder Carl Boyer. The room dedication and art unveiling are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at City Hall, in the former Century Room.
Boyer helped to create the city incorporation committee, and when Santa Clarita did become a city in 1987, he was elected as one of the first City Council members. Boyer went on to serve as a council member for 11 years, during which he completed two terms as the mayor of Santa Clarita in 1991 and 1996.
Boyer’s service to the community went beyond the borders of Santa Clarita, fueled in part by his passion for travel, education and promoting the welfare of others. In 1992, he spearheaded the creation of the Santa Clarita Valley International Program and the Santa Clarita Sister Cities Program, in particular, to connect Santa Clarita and its residents to the rest of the world.
Through these programs, the city of Santa Clarita was primed to foster international partnerships with communities abroad and promote international good will and cultural understanding. Boyer played a major role in the formation of Sister Cities’ relationships with Tena, Ecuador, in 2001 and with Sariaya, Philippines, in 2003. Boyer led various local and international collaborative projects in these two countries, as well as in Nicaragua, India and the Amazon, making a difference in the lives of people he met in the process, both in Santa Clarita and abroad.
The Carl Boyer Room will be home to a permanent art installation featuring seven pieces of artwork that represent winners of the Young Artists and Authors Showcase, an annual art contest facilitated by the Sister Cities International program. Of the seven pieces of artwork, three are local winners of the Santa Clarita Sister Cities Showcase, one piece is from Sariaya, which was a finalist in the international contest, and the final three pieces are from other Sister Cities organizations that were winners and finalists in the national contest.