Local Arts in Tuolumne County

Art shows, concerts, street dances, live theater, and music festivals are a crucial part of our quality of life in Tuolumne County.  The opportunity to attend and participate in a wide variety of artistic endeavors is part of our local heritage. Tourism is by far the largest industry in Tuolumne County which needs to invest in activities that promote tourism.  Visit Tuolumne County is a good start but it is not enough. Activities like 2^nd Saturday Art Night and music in the park are very attractive to tourists.

I am proud to say that I am a musician and a big supporter of the arts.  I got my first harmonica when I was six.  I would not advise giving a six-year-old a harmonica unless you are able to endure tunes of torture for months.  I play trumpet and have played in the Symphony of the Sierra with Pat Sieben, The Great Mother Lode Brass & Reed Band, in a dance band called “The Flashbacks,” and currently perform with the Columbia College Orchestra and the Brass & Reed Band.

I’ve also been on the boards of arts organizations: Stage 3 Theater and Central Sierra Arts Council (now Tuolumne County Arts). For a decade I had the privilege of portraying Papa Bach for the Bach Festival.  For three weeks every October I would put on a wig and the appropriate garb and attend Festival events.  My goal was to enhance the experience of the audience and performers.  I enjoyed it and I think they did too.  Also, I got to be king – King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar performed by David Purdy’s Mountain Actors Conservatory at the Holman Foundry Theater.

Tuolumne County Arts has been struggling to raise funds for years. Its funding requests have been denied by the Board of Supervisors for years, though the Board did fund arts organizations in the past. Past Boards saw support for the arts as beneficial for residents and a boost to tourism. 

We need to resurrect funding local artists: visual, performing and musical.  The Transient Occupancy Tax is the perfect way to do this.  If just 2% of the TOT were allocated to specific arts organizations, the impact could be staggering. We might see 3rd Thursday and 4th Friday to augment 2nd Saturday, art shows in Sonora, Tuolumne City, and Twain Harte every month, concerts in the parks every weekend.  I’m thinking Evelyn Otheto Weston, Charlie Surendorf, Joel Barber, and Jack Cassineto would approve and would want to paint the scene.