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Arts & Entertainment

Can Art Replace Graffiti in Watsonville?

NEA grant to Pajaro Valley Arts Council will underwrite its 'Urban Arts' exhibit.

The National Endowment for the Arts has recently announced 1,057 grants totalling $26 million to support the arts nationwide, of which California received 20 grants. Watsonville's own sweetly successful Pajaro Valley Arts Council, with its Sudden Street gallery, has received confirmation of a $10,000 grant.

The money is to be spent entirely on a summer exhibit that engages youth, who will have a platform for work made from materials found in the urban landscape.

The arts council calls that summer exhibit its Urban Arts Festival, and its goal is to provide a safe and exciting venue for youth to explore positive forms of self-expression as a way to address graffiti problems in Watsonville. 

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Board members Jeff Rosendale, president; Susanna Waddell, vice president; Beverly Moore, secretary; and Jean Beebe, educational outreach, are excited about the big summer exhibit this grant will underwrite. Urban Arts: A Very Fine Line will be co-curated by Taylor Reinhold, Carmina Eliason and Judy Stabile. The show will be at the PVAC gallery at 37 Sudden St. from June 30 to Aug. 14. 

The City Council requested that the Watsonville Parks and Recreation Department  explore the concept of an Urban Arts Festival. 

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"Parks and rec contacted us to collaborate," said Stabile, treasure of PVAC. "I researched funding opportunities, felt the NEA grant was a good match and wrote the request."

The NEA grant requires $10,000 in matching funds. Although the arts council hasn't yet issued press releases or finalized publicity strategy, it has already received $1,000 in matching funds from an anonymous local donor, putting it 1/10th of the way toward its goal. 
  
The festival will be a free, noon-4 p.m. community event on July 16. There will be demonstrations and workshops at the gallery and at Callaghan Park, featuring silk-screening, sidewalk chalk painting and more.

The afternoon event is an expensive part of the Urban Arts show; only matching funds will be used to produce the event. Lily Mandel, administrative director and one of two paid part-time staff, said normally a six-week exhibit runs at about $10,000, which pays for staff, outreach coordinators, mailings, insurance and utilities. She remarked that a blue Paypal donation button at the PVAC website can be used to support an art lover's exhibit of choice.

PVAC has a core group of 30-40 volunteers, and Mandel estimates that at least 100 participate during the year. The Four exhibit just ended this week, and the next one opens Feb. 24. Harvest of Images will showcase Monterey Bay printmakers.

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