Articles
Tannery Arts Center Hires New Director
Santa Cruz Sentinel – By CATHY KELLY
Posted: 01/30/2012 07:16:01 PM PST
SANTA CRUZ – The Tannery Arts Center has a new executive director determined to raise $2.2 million for the center’s last major project, a performing arts theater.
Rachel Anne Goodman, 49, started Jan. 1 and replaces George Newell, who stepped aside after six years and is now serving as treasurer of the board for the nonprofit, board president Jess Brown said.
Goodman last worked as district director for Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, for whom she handled constituent services and was in charge of press relations.
She has also taught journalism at Cabrillo College, worked as a radio producer and served as a grant writer and development director at Appalshop arts center in Whitesburg, Kentucky.
She will be paid an all-inclusive annual salary of $80,000, Brown said.
Goodman gives a convincing fundraising appeal for the 200-seat theater, a $5 million project she hopes to have constructed in two years in the historic tannery’s Hide House. She expects the funds will come from a mix of private donors and foundations.
“This is our community theater; some people feel this is their legacy,” said Goodman, who lives in Bonny Doon. “They can say, ‘I helped build that.’ And we’re about 55 percent of the way there, which is doable, in chunks.”
The center itself has not yet been named, and there is no set price tag on that honor, Brown said. There are several other opportunities to name places within it, as well, he added.
For instance, a planned courtyard will be named after Carol Girvetz, a passionate supporter of county arts who died in 2009. That decision was made after several people donated about $100,000 to the project in her memory, he said.
The 8.3-acre Tannery Arts Center on River Street was funded by a mix of state, federal and local money, and is a partnership between the city, the Tannery Arts Center, Inc. and Minneapolis-based Artspace.
Brown, president of the 20-member board, said Santa Cruz Ballet will have a facility there also.
Goodman said she is excited to be working on the project, and she threw in one last pitch.
“No gift is too small or too large,” she said, with a laugh. “All gifts will be welcomed with gracious gratitude.”
The Salz Tannery operated from 1856 to 2001. In 2005, the city bought five historic buildings there to create a complex with housing and studio space for artists. The first phase, 100 live-work studios for artists, was completed in 2009.
For more information or to help, visit tanneryartscenter.org.
Statement from Bonnie Lipscomb, Executive Director Redevelopment Agency
January 27, 2012 2:59:23 PM PST
Hello all,
You may have read the recent articles about the Tannery in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. We’d like to address these articles, and bring some clarity around the Redevelopment Agency’s (RDA) RDA’s role at the Tannery. While the RDA does own the Tannery’s land, Artspace has an 80-year land lease at the Tannery Artist Lofts and a 30-year land lease at the Digital Media and Creative Arts Center. These are legally binding leases that cannot be disturbed. Additionally, the RDA entered into a legally binding grant agreement for the Digital Media and Creative Arts Center with the Economic Development Administration that does not allow the site to transfer from public ownership for 20 years. Regardless of the outcome of the RDA, the City of Santa Cruz will own the Tannery site for many years to come.
What does this mean for the artists working and living at the Tannery? Artspace will continue to operate the campus. If the RDA is dissolved, the City of Santa Cruz becomes the successor agency to the RDA, but Artspace will continue to operate the entire campus. Artists living and working at the Tannery would not be impacted financially or operationally.
Please feel free to contact us with questions.
Best,
Bonnie Lipscomb
Director of Economic Development and Redevelopment
City of Santa Cruz