All of our hard work and the City of Vancouver's efforts toward a possible community arts center may be coming to fruition, but we can't do it without you! Your input can help ensure a successful outcome. Please take the Arts Center Community Survey and be entered in a chance to win a $50 Visa gift card!
ARTS brief is designed to intrigue you while sharing useful information, events, happenings, and current news related to arts growth in our region. If you love what you see here, please forward this to your friends and encourage them to join our email list and subscribe.
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Take the Arts Center Community Survey!
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605 E. Evergreen Blvd: Proposed Arts HQ site |
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The City of Vancouver and Historic Trust, with support from Artstra, are working on a concept to repurpose the Vancouver police headquarters building (located at 605 E. Evergreen Blvd.) into the Arts Headquarters, a community arts center that could potentially offer studio space, classrooms, a gallery, and makerspaces.
If you are an artist, maker, or interested community member, please complete one or both of the surveys linked below. Each survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete. At the end of each survey, you'll have the opportunity to enter a drawing for a chance to win a $50 VISA gift card compliments of Artstra!
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If you are a community member or maker interested in a community arts center, please complete the MAKER'S SURVEY.
Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your valuable feedback. Your participation is so greatly appreciated!
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Poetry Moves Invitational |
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Poetry Moves Season 10 poems are now on C-Tran buses. This latest group of poems highlights the diversity of voices among ten local area poets invited by Artstra to offer short poems to share with the riding public. Poetry Moves is an Artstra program developed in partnership with C-Tran.
Season 10 poets are Tiel Aisha Ansari, Genevieve DeGuzman, Tanna Engdahl, Hillary M. Marshall, Madeline Martin, Dave R. Muñoz, Álvaro Tarragó, Anand Tawker, Armin Tolentino, and Emmett Wheatfall.
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Shop art for the holidays
We are coming up on what should have been Open Studios weekend and many will miss that special opportunity to connect with artists. To say this year has been challenging is an understatement. Many local businesses and artists continue to struggle. Although our annual Open Studios Tour is cancelled this year, we can still enjoy art and shop art and, in doing so, support local artists and galleries.
Artstra is proud to support Artists Sunday, an art-focused shopping day celebrating artists and craftspeople while helping them sell more of their work. Think of it like Black Friday or Small Business Saturday but all in support of art!
How to participate:
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Buy from local artists and galleries on November 29. Shop from your favorite local artist or search for something new on the national Artist Sunday Directory. The best part is the adventure of finding something personal and unique.
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Follow the movement on social media. Leading up to Artists Sunday, follow Artstra's Facebook page where we will be sharing posts from our local artists. Many are holding special events online and in person. Please share your favorite artists with your friends, family and followers. Use the hashtags #ArtistsSunday and #ShopArt on social media.
We hope you'll join us and the growing community supporting passionate and talented artists on November 29!
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Salvador Brotons honored
Congratulations to Maestro Salvador Brotons, Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Brotons received Clark County Arts Commission's Lifetime Achievement Award for 2020 in an announcement on Sunday September 20 at VSO's Gala 2020 celebrating Maestro Brotons' 30 years leading the Orchestra.
At the virtual event, a statement read in part, "Maestro Salvador Brotons has been a gift to our community, offering generously his knowledge, passion, leadership and consummate artistry as a musician, composer, and conductor. [...] With his vibrant presence, he has enriched, energized, and inspired many with music that spans time and cultures."
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Many thanks to our supporters
Artstra thanks all who contributed to supporting the arts during the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington's Give More 24! day of giving. It was gratifying to see so many local arts organizations supported by our community.
The arts have had to adjust and take new approaches to reaching out and to surviving during this stressful time. Just because we are staying home to be safe doesn't mean we can't have art in our lives. The support that was shown during Give More 24! will go a long way to preserve the arts organizations and individual artists that will be here when we can all return to listening live music, going to the theater, dance performances, or visiting artists' studios as part of Clark County Open Studios.
And with the end of 2020 coming quickly, please keep the arts in mind when considering end-of-year charitable donations. There are so many ways to make sure art and culture thrives here in our community, and giving is one way to guarantee that when our isolation is over we can once again be in the audience, perform on the stage, and see art being made.
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Artist resources during the COVID-19 pandemic |
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Our all-volunteer organization works toward building greater arts awareness, rewarding creative excellence, and expanding arts accessibility. We are working to facilitate long-term arts development for Southwest Washington. We envision a stronger arts infrastructure that includes an art center and a community-focused performing arts facility.
Your support will help to make this vision a reality. Artstra's current programs include our annual Clark County Open Studios Tour and Poetry Moves, a collaborative effort that features the words of local poets on C-Tran buses. Both of these programs have already demonstrated the power of art in our lives to connect us, transform us, and fuel the economy.
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Five ways to support the cause |
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1- Donate
2- Declutter
Give useable items to Nifty and Thrifty at 6607 E. Mill Plain Blvd. And when those items sell, the money is split 50/50 with participating nonprofits. Just let them know your items are donated to benefit Artstra.
3- Shop
Link your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to Artstra using our code #84120. Just by using your rewards card number, and at no cost to you, every time you shop you'll help Artstra earn a quarterly donation from Fred Meyer.
4- Shop online
5- Volunteer
Artstra is an all-volunteer organization. If you have specialized skills, especially in fundraising, outreach and marketing, we'd love to talk with you.
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Editorial Policy and submission guidelines
ARTS brief is intended to be useful to readers by offering a curated selection of stories and announcements related to the growth of arts in our region. Submitted items should be newsworthy. This means that arts-related items for content consideration must perform well in at least two of the following five areas: timing, significance, proximity, prominence, and human interest. Please submit materials to artsbrief@artstra.org, no later than the 25th of each month. Note that submission does not guarantee publication. We evaluate each submission to determine how it fits our goals for ARTS brief and whether the item under consideration aligns with the mission and vision of Artstra. We do not accept materials that primarily have a commercial objective.
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About Artstra
Artstra is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization advocating for the arts in Clark County and southwest Washington. We envision a vibrant arts economy in our region, north of the Columbia River, with public/private investments and facilities that sustain artists and enrich community. Our mission is to elevate the arts, build greater arts awareness, reward creative excellence, and expand arts accessibility.
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