San Juan Capistrano Mayor Howard Hart read a proclamation recognizing April 2023, and every subsequent April, as Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month during a City Council meeting on April 4.
“Art is not only an important agent for economic development, but it also impacts societal issues that include health and many other human attributes,” Hart said. “It is generally accepted that public art will foster a vibrant business community in San Juan Capistrano.”
Hart also mentioned San Juan artist Allison Adam’s recently displayed exhibit “Groundbreaking Girls” at The Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano hosting monthly art classes, and other artistic displays and endeavors throughout the city.
San Juan resident Rich Heimann, founder and president of The Alliance for San Juan Art—a local nonprofit advocating for more public art in town—received the proclamation and stood next to Hart as the proclamation was read.
“(The proclamation) expresses the city’s appreciation for art and aligns the city with efforts to protect state funding for the arts,” Heimann said. “Since it’s Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month, we should mention the Acjachemen Juaneño Band of Mission Indians reconstructing Putuidem Village.”
“There is the Camino Real Playhouse, efforts to create a performing arts center, The Coach House, the Round About Players summer plays in Los Rios Park, and the roles the Mission plays in presenting performances like the summer concerts and South Coast Repertory,” Heimann said.
Murals and other forms of visual arts, though, are lacking in San Juan, Heimann said. The city should consider an ordinance funding such art forms by establishing a monetary percentage set aside for art on new development projects, he said.
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