Hope for the arts
TCA looks to re-establish itself in the small business arts economy
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the local, public and nonprofit art agency Tuolumne County Arts was generating exposure and momentum with a premier downtown office adjacent to the Sonora Inn.
But when the shutdowns hit, artists and visitors went back into their homes, and the renewed public outreach TCA had taken years to cultivate was blunted.
“I don’t think I understood how it would affect us. I mean it didn’t take too long though,” said Laurie Livingston, executive director of TCA since 2019. “Like other small businesses, we had to think of, how do we survive? How do we make money? How do we do our mission?”
The organization has hosted a range of art exhibitions, live music shows and Motherlode Makerlabs workshops since its move to the historic hotel in February 2018 from a sleepy, hilltop office next to the historic Sonora Dome.
It hosted its last public exhibition during the 2nd Saturday Art Night in March, a monthly event which allowed the group to promote local artists, fundraising events.
Like many other public organizations, it entered into a stasis for in-person events. In November, it moved into its new office at 21 N. Washington Street after it was vacated by the Tuolumne County Republican Central Committee. With a renewed focus on virtual and online education services, as well as a motivated campaign for grant funding, Livingston said the organization is poised for future success.
“We’ve been struggling. All small businesses have been struggling,” Livingston said. “But we have to be downtown to get locals and visitors to see other artists. I think there are
some really talented people here.”
In the schools, TCA has hosted local artists to record lessons and provided them to classrooms. She noted TCA has a contract with the state to pay artists for their teaching work and to enhance arts education in schools.
“There's a stretch there we had to make, but it's going to guide how we go forward,” she said. “There's more people in our community that can be reached.”
The move to virtual and techdriven art outreach was “terrifying and exciting,” she said.
Led by Educational Director David Simmerly, the program has allowed the development of an ongoing digital platform which can be used in perpetuity. Among the teachers included in the program are Diane Stearns, Sarah Cuthill, Cynthia Restivo, Kristin Fultin, Dana Spurrier and Peg Reza, Livingston said.
Hope Online, symbolized by a “hope” art installation spearheaded by TCA Board President Thomas Moraitis, brought together a group of artists and friends experiencing isolation during the pandemic. The installation was emblazoned with letters and has moved from the side of the Sonora Inn to Jamestown Elementary School.
Still, it has represented the struggle of the organization to shift to new platforms and remain relevant under the circumstances of the pandemic.
“There are artists that are just not working,” Livingston said. “The arts in California bring in a lot of money. It's an economy. And it's been decimated.”
TCA does not receive funds from the county budget, and Livingston said she does not expect them to.
“We're doing what we need to do to help ourselves,” she said, but added that it doesn't mean the county government can't act as a facilitator of grants, matching funds and as a funnel for support.
The organization received funds from the board for about three years, but they were never “sufficiently supported by the county government” since the organization's incorporation in 1978, Livingston said.
County Supervisor David Goldemberg, who was seated last week, said he has remained a staunch supporter of the local arts community, though it is unknown at this time whether it will come to fruition as any legislative action.
“It's healthy for the community, it's good for the folks that live here, our children in the schools,” Goldemberg said. “In the past, previous boards have not supported the arts to the extent I feel they should.”
Goldemberg said he is maintaining a line of communication with Livingston to see how the county could potentially provide matching funds in order to be eligible for state grants.
“Obviously we've been in tough budget times, and I can't make any commitments other than I am myself personally engaged in the arts,” he said. “I would like to see what we can do as a board. If we make an investment and they get additional funding, that would be great for the community.”
Goldemberg is the chairperson of the Infocus Photography Competition and Sale, which will be virtual this year.
Last week, TCA received a COVID expense reimbursement grant through the county. Livingston said she could not share the amount at this time, but volunteered that there were equipment expenses related to their shift to virtual platforms.
“We wouldn't have done that had it not been for COVID,” she said. “There was all the virtual stuff that we had to learn. It has shifted us in looking at different ways to bring the arts and gather together from really disparate places in the county.”
TCA has for long acted as a functionary and representative of local artists, both traditional and unconventional. Local artists weave through their programs, sometimes exhibiting in their space, volunteering in their educational programs or participating in community outreach projects. Among the groups under the auspices of TCA are the local community radio station KAAD-LP.
Some local artists like Judy Grossman are small business owners in the art economy.
“COVID was a cultural kick in the butt,” said Grossman, who owns Brush and Cork, a wine and painting business in Sonora. “Many of my friends that are self-supporting artists have been sidelined.”
At the start of COVID, Brush and Cork moved to novel Zoom parties, but then there was a sharp decline in participation during the summer months and Grossman opted to temporarily close for three months. In the wake of the first wave, Grossman bought sneeze guards for her tables and a special disinfectant gun to ensure the safety of the teacher and the guests. But with the next stay-at-home order, she had to return to Zoom events and provide three types of tickets for customers who may need canvases, paints or brushes.
“Some things work and some things don't, and it's all kind of a crapshoot,” she said. “People are going online and exploring their own creativity on their own.”
Among the annual events stunted and reconfigured during the pandemic was Poetry Out Loud, which has a successful storied history in the county over more than a decade.
“We're grateful we have an alternative way of allowing the students to participate and the program to continue, but it is clearly not an ideal way to share poetry,” said Holly Britton, who is in her sixth year as coordinator for the event. “The kids were so ready and able, we're glad they went ahead of us to learn and know the technology so they could make it happen.”
There were only 14 students who participated in the high school level event — significantly lower than previous years — which was held virtually on Tuesday.
The vast majority were from Summerville High School, though there were participants from Sonora and Tioga high schools.
Ten students (eight from Summerville, one from Sonora and one from Tioga) were selected to participate in the county level competition on Feb. 13.
Typically, the schools would compete separately and come together for the county level event. This year they were judged separately, but on the same day, due to COVID-19.
Their points reflected a readiness for the county level,” Britton said. “Next is state.”
The California Arts Council, the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment run Poetry Out Loud at a state and national level, but TCA helps host the event locally with the Sonora Area Foundation and Front Porch.
Tuolumne County has been represented twice in the national finals by Levi Lowe, then a student at Sonora Union High School. He won the state final in 2015 and 2017.
TCA is also spearheading a public campaign for local artists to apply for California Arts Council Fellowship Grants, which have submissions due by April 21.
The fellowship program will give out 130 grants to emerging, established or legacy artists in the state.
The state will award 70 emerging artist grants at $5,000; 50 established artist grants at $10,000; and 10 legacy artist grants at $50,000.
Livingston said she was there to provide guidance or advice for local artists who wished to apply.