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Nurturing an Art Ecosystem
Art of Recovery initiative evolves to new model of community partnerships By Bridgette M. Redman he City of Santa Monica knows that art is crucial to the recovery of a city, whether the recovery is from the pandemic, an economic crisis, racial and social injustices, cultural inequity, or any of the other ails that Angelenos have wrestled with. It’s why they are reorganizing their Art of Recovery program to make sure it continues to have a thriving life that pairs artists with Santa Monica businesses, organizations and residents. “All of the things we were grappling with throughout the pandemic—we were putting artists to work to help these efforts and to connect artists with other sectors and neighborhood groups,” said Shannon Daut, the city’s manager of cultural affairs. “We use the arts to help our community and have been really successful. We’ve paid more than 100 artists since the inception of the program. It’s met its goal, it’s really forged key relationships, and built some strong and meaningful networks between artists and other community groups.” The plan going forward incorporates a model where projects are paired with a production partner—a plan the city hopes will build capacity and sustainability among local arts producers while providing more community access to artistic experiences. Since they launched the program in 2020, the Art of Recovery initiative has received more than 200 project ideas and funded 24 artistic works and projects that have employed more than 100 artists. The projects have transformed some of Santa Monica’s most iconic landmarks and public spaces into works of art. The first group of production partners for Art of Recovery artists includes Downtown Santa Monica, Ocean Park Association, Montana Avenue Merchants Association and 18th Street Arts Center.
PHOTOS CREDIT: HALLINE OVERBY
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Since its launch in 2020, as part of the City of Santa Monica’s economic recovery, the Art of Recovery initiative has received over 200 project ideas and funded 24 artistic works and creative projects that have empowered over 100 artists. “We realized we always had this informal matchmaking,” Daut said. “An artist would propose an idea and then we would match them with a business district, neighborhood group or someone who had a site to host. This year, we formalized the partnership into production partners. We did a call for partners and most that responded had hosted Art of Recovery projects in the first year and a half.” Downtown Santa Monica manages the property-based Business Assessment District downtown and services and operations in the area. Ocean Park Association is the neighborhood association in Ocean Park that works closely with the Main Street Business Improvement Association. Montana Avenue Merchants Association is a business improvement district that represents the businesses on Montana Avenue, spanning 10 blocks and more than 150 shops and storefronts. The 18th Street Arts Center is the largest artist residency in Southern California and supports artists from around the globe with studio facilities in Santa Monica. Two other partners have been chosen to assist with the production and documentation
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of Art of Recovery projects. The Community Arts Resources are cultural event producers that create unique experiences and Halline Overby is a contemporary content creator. The new model is a two-step process designed to streamline project implementation. Dout said that with the city process, it was taking a long time to get artists to work on the street. This new model creates a master service agreement between the city and the production partners. The city will still vet artist proposals through their recovery panel, but then it will hand projects off to the production partner so that they can be implemented more quickly. “It’s a streamlining thing,” Daut said. “It took a while to set up, but now it’s getting started.” She said they have quite a few project concepts that have been short-listed and are in the process of matching them up. One example she gave was that they want to reboot the airport art walk as a part of Art of Recovery. 18th Street Arts Center already has a studio at the airport. Daut also pointed out that because of public health orders at the time, performing artists
were often limited to proposing films. One of the grantees did a film called “Undanced Dances Through Prison Walls.” Prior to the pandemic, she had a residency with a California prison that got canceled because of COVID-19. She found a way to do the work virtually with choreographers creating pieces based on the stories of people who were imprisoned. It’s been screened in many locations virtually and now she wants to do a live performance of it. Another film they commissioned was of a Black composer working with an orchestra in Santa Monica. They created a film celebrating the Black history of Santa Monica accompanied by the orchestra. Another part of the role Art of Recovery has played has been doing such things as connecting them with local parks who will host their performances this coming summer. “There is the money that the artists get from these grants, but they also get a lot of technical assistance from us,” Daut said. “We help them navigate city processes, help with marketing, help with documentation. It’s much deeper than, ‘Here’s a check,
go do something cool.’ We’re really deepening relationships and connections for them.” She said these connections are a win-win for the artists, the city and the different groups in it. It’s a process of nurturing an ecosystem for artists that will help everyone recover in the months and years to come. “I hope that we’ll just continue to strengthen and build on our networks and really illustrate to the full community the power of the arts and how it can have a meaningful impact for both the city and their own lives,” Daut said. They’ve spent a lot of time embedding artists in various sectors across the city, committed to making meaningful connections and infusing creativity everywhere it is needed. With the new model, Daut said they are preparing to launch a bunch of new projects in the coming month and over the next year. “I hope people will come out and let an art experience spark a moment of joy for them—we all really need joy,” Daut said. Art of Recovery santamonica.gov/arts
