Arts Venue Project Picks Up Steam in Search for Space
By Kristina Young, Executive Director, Arts Council Napa Valley
FRIDAY JUNE 25, 2010---Imagine a place where Napans of all ages can create and share their artwork and music. That's the vision that propels the Wandering Rose Venue Project, and with the help of community members and support from Arts Council Napa Valley it could start coming true this year.
"It's really important to us that there be a place that's substance-free and still vibrant and exciting for the younger generation to meet and work with older artists," said 24-year-old Napan Olivia Everett, a co-founder of the all-volunteer Wandering Rose arts group, which is sponsored by Arts Council Napa Valley. She pictures a gathering place that would be "half lounge, half studio, where people can just come to hang out and talk about ideas or sit down and do some work and practice."
Although the Venue Project aims to find a long-term home for the arts, Everett said the network is also looking for an interim location, perhaps an untenanted business space where Wandering Rose could set up shop for the next three to six months while continuing to scout for a permanent headquarters. "The dream of all dreams is that somebody will let us use their space for a really low rent, or as a donation," she said.
To fund the project, the Wandering Rose artists and their friends have been staging a series of benefits ranging from small concerts at Bloom Creative Hair Salon to the two-day "InDIYpendent Culture Faire," held in May at the former First Street location of JV Beverage Warehouse.
The weekend-long extravaganza was both inspired by and dedicated to the "DIY (Do It Yourself)" spirit of grass-roots creativity, with local artists creating new works out of everything from garbage to egg tempera paints.
Fire dancers, graffiti artists and rock bands also took part, as did many families with children who enthusiastically dove into activities planned just for them: painting with Napa artist Oscar Aguilar Olea, spinning discs on turntables, skateboarding in the parking lot, creating glitter globes. There were even belly-dancers.
The event's $5 admission fee was typical of a Wandering Rose production. Yet those five-dollar bills added up to $2,000 for the Venue Project fund. Napa's Community Foundation matched that amount with a grant, and Arts Council Napa Valley is contributing an additional $1,000.
The $5,000 raised so far is a good start toward securing a permanent arts space. "But this isn't the end by any means," Everett said. "We still need community support, and we still need those little donations: $5 here and $5 there is a lot to us, and can help keep us going."
For more information: www.wanderingrose.org, www.artscouncilnapavalley.org and the "Wandering Rose: A Venue Story" fan page on Facebook: http://tiny.cc/kom1w
Wandering Rose media and organization contact
Olivia Everett, olivia[at]wanderingrose.org
Community members, artists and musicians contact:
Paul Slack, slackbass[at]gmail.com
Spanish-language contact:
Julio Soriano, julio[at]wanderingrose.org
Arts Council Napa Valley contact: Kristina Young, kristina[at]artscouncilnapavalley.org
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