BY SHELLY CONE W ho says Santa Maria doesn’t have it going on when it comes to arts and enter- tainment? This year, theatergoers didn’t have to travel to London or New York to see one of the most popular musicals. PCPA was one of six theaters in the country given the rights to put on a production of Les Miserables —and it did so brilliantly. The community recognized the value of PCPA this summer by opening up wallets when the theater was in need. PCPA launched ACT NOW! a fundraising drive to raise money to fill a $200,000 budget gap needed to stay in existence. Unlike many other theaters that folded this year, PCPA was able to raise the money—and then some. Money became more of an issue for mom-and-pop businesses that produce children’s products. Already taking a hit from the economy, they faced a confusing law that went into effect in February that requires testing for toxins in any item that may come in con- tact with a child younger than 12. The law’s text is still getting sorted. This year, the city was kind to the Town Center Gallery, which finally found a new per- manent location after spending an entire year without a space of its own. The gallery moved from Town Center East to Town Center West and was even able to expand its offerings. And the Town Center Gallery isn’t the only new art locale in town. Coffee Diem moved to the lower level of the Town Center mall and began offering gourmet food and fine art. Summer was rocking with the city’s summer concert series, which attracted favor- ite local bands and bigger crowds than ever before, and La Guitarra California 2009 brought big crowds and some of the best classical guitarist from all over the world. m Contact Arts Editor Shelly Cone at [email protected]. Bravo, 2009! The year was surprisingly good to local arts groups The string’s the thing: The beauty of dozens of classical guitars converged on PCPA’s Marian Theater this year for La Guitarra California 2009. Under the direction of Russ De Angelo, La Guitarra enjoyed its second run in Santa Maria, marking its most successful year yet. The event began as a small music festival at Cuesta College and continued to grow until 2007, when De Angelo brought the event to Santa Maria and the Marian Theater. The extra space allowed the event room to grow. Since its inception, La Guitarra has attracted the best classical guitarists from all over the world. This year, performers like David Tannenbaum, David Leisner, the Alturas Duo, and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet performed. Overall, 17 world-renowned artists played 14 events. La Guitarra California 2009 also offered three master classes, a free lecture, dozens of luthiers displaying their handmade instruments, and the Forderer Collection of Rare and Historic Guitars. De Angelo said the vision for the festival has always been to raise the awareness and appreciation of classical guitar, and he promises the event will get even better next year. New space: This year brought joy to the artists and volunteers of the Town Center Gallery. In June, the gallery moved into a new home in the Town Center West shopping center after a year of being homeless. The gallery lost its previous location in Town Center East when mall owners began the remodeling process. As a nonprofit with a small budget, the gallery was hard-pressed to find something suitable that was also within its price range and that would also make sense as a gallery. Those criteria came together with the gallery’s new space. And the move was actually a blessing in disguise. In Town Center West, the gallery could still carry the name Town Center Gallery and have it make sense; the location is also high traffic, which the gallery’s board of directors hopes will make visiting the gallery easy for patrons doing other shopping. With lots of windows and natural light, the gal- lery space is inviting, with plenty of space for artists to continue holding art classes there. It allowed the gallery to expand to include more three-dimen- sional art and offer stuff like jewelry, which was prohibited in the prior lease. Communication central: In late summer, 14 Central Coast students got the chance to be involved in a global discussion using art as a means to facilitate communication. The Momentus International project, spearheaded by Nipomo resident Anya Kandel, gave the youth aged 13 to 18 the oppor- tunity to find out about students in Nicaragua by creating a film about American culture and sharing it with the Nicaraguan students, who in turn reciprocated with their own film. The youth met for several days with local artists as mentors. To get the community involved, the group also started a flag of intention, which was displayed at Linnaea’s in SLO, along with works that relate to the project by artist Pacha and Santa Maria photographer Enrique Esguerra. The goal was to get the community to create and add their own piece to the flag and see how far they could get it to stretch. The entire process was also recorded and will be turned into a documen- tary. Kandel started the first project that would evolve into Momentus International in Ghana two years ago. She later realized the possibilities of cross-cultural communication through the use of art. Though the project was initially a one-time endeavor on the Central Coast, Kandel said she has plans to expand the project to more students and other cultures. Keep it open: PCPA—which staged Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables, and Shakespeare’s Othello in recent seasons—fought to keep its doors open this year. Facing a $200,000 budget shortfall early in 2009, the theater lacked the money for its scholarship fund that provides for actors and technicians. PCPA traditionally relies on three main revenue sources, all of which dropped in 2009. Ticket sales declined about 10 percent. Funds from Allan Hancock College waned as the state education system grappled with its own troubles. And foundations that had given to the conservatory for years—or even decades—stopped giving this year because of hard times of their own. And PCPA wasn’t alone. The economy forced the closure of several theater groups across the country, but the local group did prevail. Launching the ACT NOW! scholar- ship campaign, which ran through the end of its fiscal year in June, PCPA was able to fill the financial gap. The scholarship fund provides more than $500,000 a year to the actors and technicians, and PCPA was able to even surpass the $200,000 shortfall with the support of the community. PHOTO COURTESY LUIS ESCOBAR/REFLECTIONS PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO PHOTO BY SHELLY CONE PHOTO COURTESY LA GUITARRA 2009 PHOTOS COURTESY ANYA KANDEL