The Santa Ana Cinco de Mayo Art Walk and Santora artist protest

This Saturday, May 5, be sure to stop by the Downtown Santa Ana Art Walk.  This will be the weirdest Art Walk ever with the Santa Ana Cinco de Mayo festival occurring concurrently, and a protest by the Santora artists who are bent out of shape because the Newsong Church is buying the Santora building.

You’ll find arts, crafts and live entertainment at the Art Walk, centrally located at: Artists Village – Second Street Promenade (2nd & Broadway) & the Santiago Arts Colony (Santa Ana Blvd. & Poinsettia).  There is always something new to see ! 

Downtown Inc. encourages artists of all medias to participate in this event. For more information or to list your event, contact: claudia@downtown-inc.com, (714) 547 – 6100 ext. 205.

Here are the events scheduled for the Cinco de Mayo Art Walk:

• MAY 5 – Q ART SALON ( 205 N. SYCAMORE – DTS )
• MAY 5 – R.E.D. GALLERY ( 207 N. BROADWAY, SUITE 6A2B )
• MAY 5 – SANTORA BUILDING OF THE ARTS ( 207 N BROADWAY – DTSA )
• MAY 5 – OCCCA ( 117 N SYCAMORE – DTSA )
• MAY 5 – GCAC ( 125 N. BROADWAY – DTSA )
• MAY 5 – GALLERY 207 ( 207 N BROADWAY, SUITE E – DTSA )
• MAY 5 – SECOND STREET PROMENADE ( 2ND ST BETWEEN BROADWAY & SYCAMORE – DTSA )
• MAY 5 – SANTIAGO ART LOFTS

Here is a map of the parking that will be available for the Art Walk:

Wondering what you can do to help preserve the arts in Santa Ana? LOTS!

1) SIGN THE PETITION to Preserve the Arts in Santa Ana: Save the Santora & The Artists Village (Full petition text is below.) Sign it online here: http://tinyurl.com/santorapetition

2) COME ENJOY the Downtown Santa Ana Art Walk this Saturday, May 5th and support our UASA artists booth. The petition can also be signed there in person: https://www.facebook.com/events/287460828006975/ and https://www.facebook.com/events/343507969043634/

3) JOIN US at the Santa Ana City Council Meeting this Monday, May 7th and/or encourage your local representative to support our efforts: https://www.facebook.com/events/357086391014937/

4) DONATE to support our promotional efforts, retain council, and finance our upcoming Santora Arts Building Anniversary Celebration this July: http://tinyurl.com/uasacontribute

5) READ the Open Letter from UASA (below)

6) CATCH UP on the latest news:
– OC Register, 5/3/12: Santa Ana artists send ‘open letter’ over Santora: http://tinyurl.com/ocreguasa
– New Santa Ana, 5/2/1: Santora artists demand that the Newsong church sign an arts agreement: http://tinyurl.com/nsauasa

7) SPREAD THE WORD about all this and our POSTER CONTEST for the Santora Building’s 84th Birthday Celebration: https://www.facebook.com/events/270301366399813/

8) ATTEND a weekly UASA Open Attendance meeting. The next meeting will be Thurs May 10, 5:30pm: https://www.facebook.com/events/285822091501613/
——————————————————–
FULL PETITION TEXT:

Preserve the Arts in Santa Ana – Save the Santora & The Artists Village

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: United Artists of Santa Ana.

Preserve the Arts in Santa Ana – Save the Santora & The Artists Village:
We, the undersigned, support the request for a binding agreement to protect the public investment in the Santora Arts Building as a professional artist’s facility and preserve the quality of life in the Artists Village. As citizens of Santa Ana, business owners, tax payers and Artist Village patrons, we also support discrimination-free access to publicly funded art resources, ongoing support of individual artists, and additional investment for artist-driven businesses within the historic Santora Arts Building.

PETITION FOR PRESERVING THE ARTS IN SANTA ANA

Over the last 20 years, Downtown Santa Ana has built a national reputation as a City for the Arts. Key to this endeavor has been the substantial investment of public money in the historic Santora Arts Building and the Santa Ana Artists Village. Over one million dollars in public redevelopment funds were invested in the effort to create a professional hub for artists and an enriching cultural space for Santa Ana’s families and Orange County’s diverse population.

After all this work, the visionary goal of making Santa Ana a destination for art is finally becoming a reality, attracting world-renowned artists from around the globe to the Santora and arts organizations like Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA), Grand Central Art Center (GCAC) and the Santa Ana College (SAC) Arts Gallery. Programs at the Artists Village receive recognition at the national level, and the vibrant variety of restaurants and shops make the Artists Village Promenade a welcoming destination for diverse visitors from all walks of life.

In April, Santa Ana’s artist community learned that the Santora Arts Building, the crowning jewel of the Artists Village, was being sold to Irvine-based NewSong Church, which announced plans to turn the building into a worship center for their religious and missionary work. These plans would irreparably harm the economy, purpose and quality of life of the Artists Village.

In an effort to protect the public investment in the Artists Village, the arts community of Downtown Santa Ana is requesting that NewSong Pastor Dave Gibbons, current Santora owner Mike Harrah, the City of Santa Ana and any potential buyers, sign a binding agreement to safeguard the public trust and uphold the two decades of public investment in the Santora that created a thriving arts center in the heart of downtown Santa Ana.

To learn more about United Artists of Santa Ana (UASA), please visit our FB: https://www.facebook.com/uasantaana

Also visit our online donation and sales page: http://www.SantoraArts.org/

All donated funds will go to support our promotional efforts, retain council, and finance our upcoming Santora Arts Building Anniversary Celebration this July.

** WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT !! **

Sincerely,
[Your name]

———————————————————-
OPEN LETTER by UASA:

Dear Patrons and Supporters of the Arts,

As professional artists and arts organizations based in the City of Santa Ana, the United Artists of Santa Ana (UASA) is requesting your support in taking action to save the Santora Arts Building as a facility for professional artists and the Santa Ana Artists Village as a place for free expression and artistic production. The Santora Arts Building is currently involved in a sale that could drastically impact the future of the downtown Santa Ana Artists Village and set back two decades of public investment in Santa Ana’s creative industry. We are reaching out to you, because the purchase of the building is imminent and your support is critical to Save the Santora.

Over the last 20 years, Downtown Santa Ana has built a national reputation as a City for the Arts. Key to this endeavor has been the substantial investment of public money in the historic Santora Arts Building and the Santa Ana Artists Village. Over one million dollars in public redevelopment funds were invested in the effort to create a professional hub for artists and an enriching cultural space for Santa Ana’s residents and Orange County’s diverse population.

After all this work, the visionary goal of making Santa Ana a destination for art is finally becoming a reality, attracting world-renowned artists from around the globe to the Santora and arts organizations like Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA), Grand Central Art Center (GCAC) and the Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA). Programs at the Artists Village receive recognition at the national level, and the vibrant variety of restaurants and shops make the Artists Village Promenade a welcoming destination for diverse visitors from all walks of life.

In April, Santa Ana’s artist community learned that the Santora Arts Building, the crowning jewel of the Artists Village, was being sold to Irvine-based NewSong church, which announced plans to turn the building into a worship center for their religious and missionary work. These plans would irreparably harm the economy, purpose and quality of life of the Artists Village.

In an effort to protect the public investment in the Artists Village, the arts community of Downtown Santa Ana is requesting that NewSong Pastor Dave Gibbons, current Santora owner Mike Harrah, the City of Santa Ana and all potential buyers sign a binding agreement to safeguard the public trust and uphold the two decades of public investment that created a thriving arts center in the heart of downtown Santa Ana.

Since the 1930s, the Santora Arts Building has been a vital part of the California arts and motion picture communities. Today it is a valuable resource for professional artists and students in architecture, photography, film, video, performance and visual art.

Instructors at local colleges regularly send students to the historic Santora to shoot videos, observe art, conduct interviews and write papers. In the adjoining promenade students come to put on events, fashion shows, set up easels to paint the beautiful fountain and the Spanish Colonial Revival Santora.

The galleries in the Santora and the organizations in the Artists Village provide free or low-cost access to quality artwork and high-level intellectual discourse.

In an era of budget cutbacks for schools, the value of the Santora to students has increased. Instructors appreciate the freedom of expression we offer their students and the valuable professional, curatorial and business skills they learn from the gallery owners.

By talking to professional artists, students and patrons participate in discussions that broaden their horizons and make them more informed and engaged citizens. The free exchange of ideas, techniques and professional experience is vital to the development of Santa Ana’s downtown and critical to its emergence as an important center for art.

The Artists Village respects freedom of expression and provides an environment free of discrimination on the basis of race, creed, gender or sexual orientation. The concern that the sale of the Santora building to an owner who does not share these values, such as an evangelical church, is of primary importance, due to the vast amount of public money that has been spent to develop and invest in the Santora and Artists Village as a place for art.

Additionally, the presence of a church or other evangelical organization would seriously disrupt the harmony of the Artists Village and interfere with the artists’ ability to pursue their livelihood and conduct business in peace.

We as professional Artists, Arts Professionals, and Arts Organizations have agreed that the Preservation of the Arts in the Santora Arts Building needs to be the primary focus for any potential buyer of the Santora. We are dedicated to obtaining a formal agreement dedicated to preserving: free community access to publically funded art resources, ongoing support of individual artists, and additional investment for artist-driven businesses within the historic Santora Arts Building.

As a diverse community of creative professionals who value our protected freedoms, UASA looks forward to meeting with NewSong Church to see if we can together work in good faith to sign an agreement that protects the Santora Arts Building artists, provides long-term leases for current tenants and supports the Artists Village as a place for free expression and the creation of art. We ask for a formal discussion with representation in which to voice our concerns and a series of mediated sessions in which to negotiate an agreement that meets with the collective art community’s approval.

At this time we are also asking the greater Southern California Art Community to sign our petition and support our UASA artists booth at the upcoming May Santa Ana Art Walk, Saturday – May 5th from 6pm-10pm.

Please support our request for a binding agreement to protect the public investment in the Santora Arts Building as a professional artists’ and preserve the quality of life in the Artists Village. Join the many citizens of Santa Ana, business owners, tax payers and Artist Village patrons who also support discrimination-free access to publicly funded art resources, ongoing support of individual artists, and additional investment for artist-driven businesses within the historic Santora Arts Building.

Also visit our online donation and sales page: http://www.SantoraArts.org/

All donated funds will go to support our promotional efforts, retain council, and finance our upcoming Santora Arts Building Anniversary Celebration this July.

We will also bring our petition and concerns to the Mayor & City Council on Monday, May 7th at 6pm. Please join us and/or encourage your local representative to support our efforts. For more info about our cause, please visit our FB page: https://www.facebook.com/uasantaana

Yours in Art,
The United Artists of Santa Ana