City: Santa Clarita
Position Seeking: City Council

Question 1: Please share a meaningful experience you had with art (visual, dance, drama, music, media arts) while growing up and its impact on you.

When I was a teen in Chicago I saw the play West Side Story and was so enthralled by the fabulous and fantastic musical score and dancing that I studied voice and dance and became an actor. To this day music and drama remain a major part of my life which I share with others and broaden their perspective of the arts. I will see West Side Story wherever it plays, bringing others with me. I no longer act but remain a member of S.A.G./A.F.T.R.A. I completely support this in our schools, both high school and college.

Question 2: What do you believe the role of City Council should be in developing and supporting the region’s arts and cultural infrastructure?

I feel that all city councils in all areas should support, through their schools, the arts of theater, painting and everything that goes with it. I am a part time interior design high school teacher with the Hart school district in Santa Clarita and I am currently working on creating a class teaching set and stage design which will include scenic design. I feel that there should be a financial line item in the cities budget for funds from the city to the region’s arts, specifically in the local college’s and theater companies.

Question 3: What’s your vision for the city? What role, if any, does art and culture play in advancing that vision?

If I were on the city council I would work on the city becoming a partner in bringing about the development of the arts so that this would become part of our culture like the theater district in Los Angeles. We do have a local theater on Main Street and an arts committee, but we need to bring it more to the forefront of our cities culture. Theater is a great tool for entertaining and learning from the classics to musicals to dramas. To see and learn from these cultures is to refine the mind, emotions and taste. When you add entertainment and art you add to the drama, unity and harmony of culture. My vision is go forward with all the arts as mentioned above.

Questions 4: A recent report by the Otis College of Design found that 1 in every 6 jobs in LA County supports the creative sector and economy in Los Angeles County. If elected, how will you aim to ensure the continued vitality and growth of the creative economy and the artistic community that it supports?

By having a city commission who’s sole purpose is to bring this type of information to the table and show that quite simply, that this is a culture for our city and its citizens. I went to Otis College of Design in the 70’s and support this report that you must have a creative sector that does in fact add to the community. All communities should have a creative artistic district along with being in the schools. Like studying history, the arts is also history. Where would we be in our learning process if we didn’t have Renoir, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Rubens,Whistler, Shakespeare, etc.