The Bakersfield Museum of Art at 1930 R St. Photo by Jennifer Baldwin

Doug Davis serves at guest conductor at rehearsal of the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra in February. Photo by Jennifer Baldwin

Jeanette Richardson Parks, executive director of the Arts Council of Kern, introduces muralist Thomas Lucero, a former tagger who now makes public art legitimately, at a Stop the Violence mural unveiling in April 2010. Photo by Jennifer Baldwin

By Jennifer Baldwin

Two minutes is not a lot of time. For that reason, local arts activist Hester Wagner is organizing a meeting this Saturday morning, June 5, for any and all arts supporters to come together and plan their responses to $172,000 in proposed cuts to local arts groups.

The Kern County Board of Supervisors is holding a public comment session Monday night, June 7, at 7 p.m. for community members to voice their opinions on the proposed budget cuts. Speaking time will generally be limited to two minutes.

At stake is $83,000 for the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, $62,000 for the Arts Council of Kern, and $27,000 for the Bakersfield Museum of Art – cuts the majority of supervisors agreed to support at their last meeting in May.

The cuts aren’t much considering the millions the county needs to trim from its 2010-2011 budget. But they do mean a lot to the organizations, for which the county funding makes up 5 to 10 percent of their budgets.

“It’s about getting everybody on the same page,” Wagner says about the arts group meeting Saturday, set for 9 a.m. at The Empty Space Theater. “We also want it to be a forum for people to express ideas for better connecting the arts community.”

Even though the funding cuts are for specific programs, Wagner is pulling together people from across the arts – theater, music, visual, film and literary. She says by supporting groups like the Arts Council, Orchestra, and Museum of Art, there is a trickle down effect that enhances the arts community as a whole.

“Bakersfield has the potential to have a thriving arts scene. It would help give a reason for companies to come here and for people to want to stay here,” Wagner said.

Building a connection among local arts groups has been a goal of Wagner’s since she moved to Bakersfield a little over two years ago from New York (via Los Angeles). She relocated here to teach filmmaking to people with disabilities through Joey Travolta’s Inclusion Films.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been getting a feel for things,” she says. “I’ve met a lot of people that care about the community here but the overall sense is that things are the way they are and they will stay that way.”

But Wagner can’t settle for that. The county budget cuts have become the catalyst necessary for her to jump into local arts activism.

After the Board of Supervisors agreed to support the elimination of arts funding, Wagner was one of two people who started Facebook pages to “Save the Arts.” Her page is called Save the Arts in Kern County. The other page, started by Carlin Jones of the Arts Council of Kern, is Save Arts & Culture in Kern County!” Between the two of them, they have amassed more than 1,000 supporters.

And the support goes beyond the three arts organizations. Several Facebook fans also are rallying to save the Kern County Library from losing $883,000 in funding, which would close all but two library branches in Bakersfield.

Will the grassroots effort pay off? The answer has yet to be known. Supervisors will continue their budget hearings on Wednesday and Thursday next week, June 9 and 10. Representatives from the arts organizations all say that while they understand the county is facing a dire financial situation, and expect reduced funding, they are saddened that supervisors are proposing complete elimination.

One group that is hoping for at least a few county dollars is the Arts Council of Kern, which relies on county funding in order to keep its status with the California Arts Council. That status also means matching funds, which it relies on for re-granting to other arts groups, serving outlying areas, and staffing, says Executive Director Jeanette Richardson Parks. Additionally, about half of the county’s funding has been used in the past to put arts education programs in local schools – which aren’t able to fund their own programs anymore.

“We understand cuts have to be made, but to eliminate all quality of life issues (would be wrong),” Parks said.

Meanwhile, the Bakersfield Museum of Art has already been tightening its belt, said Executive Director Bernie Herman. It cut staff and hours in response to a major reduction in revenue this past year, and it has also ramped up fundraising efforts.

Herman says he’s not sure how much more they can cut without closing the museum on some days of the week. The museum is currently open seven days a week.

“We’re willing to sustain some loss this year, but we need to turn it around,” Herman said. “The Fresno Art Museum is only open Thursday through Sunday. That is an option for us, but that limits access. We hope the county can rebound and support cultural activities.”

Whereas the funding cuts represent about 5 percent of each the Arts Council and the Museum of Art’s budgets, the cuts to the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra represents the biggest chunk – about 9 or 10 percent, according to Mike Chertok, Director of Development.

The loss of funding would mean cutting back on the educational components of their programs and just focusing on their six subscription concerts. This may mean limiting or canceling the Young People’s Concerts, which introduce children to the orchestra, and concerts in outlying areas of the county. Chertok said that last year, the orchestra’s 10 Young People’s Concerts reached 11,050 elementary students.

“For most of these kids, it’s the first time they’ve experienced the orchestra. As funding is cut back in public schools for the arts, I think our Young People’s Concerts fill some of that void,” he said.

Already, the orchestra lost funding from the City of Bakersfield for its free concerts at Beale Park on Sunday evenings in June. But donors pulled together to fund small groups of musicians, rather than the whole orchestra, so the shows will go on.

It’s that kind of community support that Chertok and other fundraisers for arts groups are hoping can fill the gap left by local government funding cuts.

And it’s also what Wagner and arts activists are hoping to seek as they band together to “Save the Arts.”

“One of the things we do have to focus on is finding sponsors and donors,” Wagner said. “And part of that success is going to be to find those people in the community who are unaware of what our arts community has to offer.”

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Save the Arts Rally and Meeting
9 a.m. Saturday, June 5
The Empty Space Theater, 706 Oak St.

Board of Supervisors Public Hearing
7 p.m. Monday, June 7
Board Chambers, 1115 Truxtun Ave.