Dear Council,

Today I wanted to publicly comment on why I ultimately decided to rescind my application to the Public Art Committee. Before I embarked on this quest to campaign for a position that does not require a campaign I sought to really understand how the arts are understood and functions in this City.

I am saddened to report that what I learned is that the Public Art Committee has flattened art into a tool to increase property value and in the case of the El Barrio Park Arts project, as pretense to clear out the homeless encampment instead of true restitution for the Mexican American community. Even now, Al Villanueva’s dream is being stop gapped too. Through my survey I learned that lifelong community members from 16 to 72, new arrivals hailing from the Colleges, and visitors find our cultural offerings to be uninspired, “aesthetic,” and ask me why the money is not going to schools. Our city has no response.

This month we have lost Laemmle to a movie theater chain, Eureka Restaurant Group continues to expand its tentacles in unneighborly ways, and another chain Finney’s has integrated itself inauspiciously into the Village. This is gentrification.

We have seven world-class academic institutions, four performing arts spaces, six museums, a movie theater, a bunch of parks, and the only botanical garden dedicated to California native plants. All of it lies dormant while cities who fail to have this infrastructure outperform us in impact and in the dollar amounts they secure from local, state, federal and private sources.

When the Olympics come and the A line expands into our city what will draw people here and what will make them want to spend their money here? Where is our civic pride? I will be the first to tell you the Chamber of Commerce does not hold the answer. As of now, I think the students will flood out along with the $38 million dollars they contribute and I’ll lead the way.

There is a reason why the Trump Administration has gutted the arts and humanities. It challenges us to see difference and think expansively while bringing people together, which nowadays is radical. Here in an island of woke liberalisms, we have a responsibility to our community and democracy to invest in spaces for the freedom of expression while we still have the privileges to do so.

I was followed by ICE last week here in Claremont and I learned quite quickly the community we live in. Executions and disappearances are now normal here and we continue to have our heads in the sand.

I’d like the City Council to agendize an overhaul of the percent for public art program.

Thank you.