State's Re-opening Gives Hope to Arts Venues

Newsletter

April 9, 2021

News about and for Orange County's arts community

State Re-opening Plans Give Hope to Shuttered Arts Venues

The announcement last week by Governor Newsom that California will re-open on June 15, subject to the current favorable COVID-19 trends continuing, could not come sooner for Orange County's arts community after more than a full year of closure for most venues.

Casey Reitz, President of Segerstrom Center for the Arts, commented in this LA Times article on Monday: “This means Broadway shows will be back, artists, musicians and dancers will be back on our stages, students in our dance schools will all return to the studios here at the center, and, just in time to take advantage of the fine summer weather to open our plaza to full capacity for our outdoor events, movies, and concerts. We can’t wait to say welcome back!”

With the County's graduated status to Orange Tier, museums have begun re-opening and repeatedly-postponed plans for outdoor gathering events have been dusted off. OC Fair & Event Center announced that the annual Orange County Fair will take place this summer and South Coast Repertory and Mission San Juan Capistrano announced plans for performances of SCR's hit play from last season "American Mariachi" and the musical "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown!" to take place on the grounds of Orange County's most venerated heritage site.

Arts Orange County is busily updating its SparkOC.com arts calendar site, transferring events from the "Online/Virtual" category to the live event categories as organizations announce their plans.

Arts Orange County in the News

OC PUBLIC ART FEATURED IN ARTSOC ARTICLE FOR JOLIE MAGAZINE

In August, Joli Magazine Editor-in-Chief Rita Goldberg asked ArtsOC's Rick Stein for an article about where locals could view public art safely outdoors during the pandemic. The resulting feature appears in the first 2021 issue of the lifestyle publication. Goldberg's interest didn't just come out of the blue: she was Chair of the Newport Beach City Arts Commission when it debuted the Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park, a rotating installation of twenty large-scale works from around the nation in the 14-acre park managed by ArtsOC. Six sites are mentioned in the article, but there are now more than 800 works of public art throughout Orange County, according to an inventory maintained by ArtsOC. A directory of OC's public art may be accessed here.

LA Times: 10th Annual OC Día del Niño Festival Begins April 19 with Dozens of Virtual Events

Grammy Award-winners The Lucky Band (above) are just one of the many outstanding performances offered as Arts Orange County and Media Arts Santa Ana continue their collaboration in the presentation of this arts festival for children and families in celebration of the annual "Day of the Child" observed throughout Latin America. Last year's event was canceled just weeks prior due to the COVID-19 shutdown and is being presented virtually this year. Again, it is part of the OC Fair & Event Center's Imaginology and the annual Imagination Celebration presented by ArtsOC and the Orange County Department of Education. Read more here in the LA Times article .

Arts Orange County Seeks Your Input

IMAGES OF YOUR ORGANIZATION'S WORK

We have "renovated" our website, and wish to showcase examples of the many outstanding arts and arts education programs in our community by inviting you to submit images to appear on the website. Email your submission to Nicholas Thurkettle.