Theater manager wants city's help to keep arts alive
Existing foundation's goals called 'incompatible' with city's priorities
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

Part 2 of two

While the City Council prepares to review the pros and cons of sponsoring the High Street Arts Center, theater manager L.J. Stevens strives to provide quality arts programming for all residents.

"The theater was purchased by the city, and they hired me to create a cultural arts center for them," she said. The venue was saved to help jumpstart revitalization efforts for High Street. It sends a message that Moorpark has a viable town center and the potential to attract businesses, shoppers and tourists, Stevens said.

If the city withdraws its support, business owners on High Street will feel abandoned, according to Stevens. The theater manager is concerned that unlike other services sponsored by the city, the theater is expected to generate revenue. "That's not the right attitude," she said.

Despite a limited budget, Stevens said she's helped attract popular musicals and lesser known productions to entertain patrons and keep performers at the center. "I believe the chosen seasons have been very well received," she said.

People often underestimate the importance of the arts, Stevens said. The problem is nationwide because cities and schools often target the arts when it's time for cutbacks.

The cultural and creative losses, however, are substantial when budgets are slashed.

Although a majority of the City Council voted to subsidize the theater for at least three years, Mayor Patrick Hunter opposed it from the beginning.

The $217,000 spent to keep the arts center afloat since July 2006 could have been better invested elsewhere, Hunter said in last week's Moorpark Acorn.

"I'm not trying to say the arts are unimportant, but on balance, the level of subsidy and the activity generated by the theater have a strong disconnects," Hunter said.

The mayor also opposes a proposal to create a new nonprofit foundation that would seek donations and grants for the arts center. The city shouldn't establish a foundation for the theater unless changes are made and it begins to break even financially, he said.

A recommendation to create a High Street Arts Center foundation therefore hasn't moved forward because it would first require a review by the city's finances committee.

"You have to question the philosophy of creating a foundation when the theater is already running at a deficit," said Hunter. He serves on the finances committee with the mayor pro tem.

The problem, according to Hunter, is that donors would retire the existing debt, only to be asked later to bail it out again. "You can keep digging, but the hole isn't going to get any smaller," he said.

Supporters of the performing arts disagree with Hunter. Several community leaders who have obtained grants in the past could help the new foundation, said Clint Harper, chairman of the Moorpark Arts Commission.

"If (the mayor) would personally start attending the productions at the High Street Arts Center, perhaps he would develop a broader view and become a supporter of the arts," said Harper. The arts, he said, are just as important as recreation programs.

Other foundation in town

Leaders of a foundation that was created to save the historic theater four years ago also expressed concerns about its operations.

Contrasting positions between the city, the arts center manager and the High Street Theater Foundation have stalled a collaborative effort.

The older foundation has offered to provide assistance, but city representatives and Stevens refused because they don't want the group to sponsor its own youth workshops and programs, said Darby Shields, president and treasurer for the High Street Theater Foundation. City staff only wants donations to be earmarked for the city-owned arts center, he said.

"We have no objections to what they're putting on at the theater, but it's exclusive and not so accessible to average people," Shields said.

Attempts to redirect the foundation from producing plays and being a production company to evolve into theater fundraising were unsuccessful, Stevens said.

The city-owned facility is a cultural arts center, not a community theater, Stevens said, so it has higher expectations.

"We invite the community to participate and come to auditions, but this isn't a community hall where kindergarteners can put on their little play," she said. The facility is too expensive for that, Stevens said.

While any effort to deliver arts to Moorpark is noble, the individual goals of the arts center and the High Street Theater Foundation are incompatible, she said. A partnership between the two is impossible at this time, Stevens said.

The impasse won't stop the High Street Theater Foundation from pursuing its goal, said Shields. "We will continue to support community involvement in the arts, concentrating on the Youth Theater Workshop and other art-related endeavors, but none of these events will take place at the High Street Arts Center because performances couldn't be arranged at that location," Shields said.

The group also plans to host more Champion of the Arts brunch events and will continue to support the Best of Ojai Film Festival, which will be coordinated with Moorpark College and screened on campus in April. The city theater is no longer available, Shields said.

City staff recently called for the High Street Theater Foundation to clearly state it isn't affiliated with the city arts center, and therefore donations made to the private group doesn't benefit the city-owned venue.

The independent group recently obtained nonprofit accreditation and it plans to change its name in the near future to avoid confusion, Shields said.