Letter to the editor: Long may Art City thrive
Art City has contributed more to our collective local culture than any other arts business in Ventura. Ever. Period.
Legacy businesses are the ones we seek when traveling — while on vacation we ask the local residents about them when we try to avoid chain stores and franchises — when we want to experience America and not Generica. Art City is legacy. It inspires us by contributing to public art and culture on the West Side while influencing artists throughout the world. It’s a must-see destination for locals, visitors, and the media, and according to Huell Howser: “It’s amaayzing.”
In April 1984, when the West Side of Ventura was still called the “Avenue” on two acres of former oil-industry wasteland, Paul Lindhard and countless artists spent decades creating art between rocks and a hard place, making this historically industrial corner of Ventura into a sensory delight. The once-forlorn property at the start of Ventura’s Bike Trail has become a landscaped outdoor art garden dotted with a mammoth sculpture and buzzing with dozens of sculptors carving enormous slabs into polished works one shard at a time.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that arts and culture contributed $225 billion (with a B) to California’s economy in 2020. For over 30 years, Art City has exemplified that cultural/economic mix, but now its existence is threatened due to speculative development pressures. Paul and the dusty artists at Art City encourage craft and tutor others how to make in an increasingly virtual, meta world. Rich with talent, experience and skill, they radiate enthusiasm outward to support Ventura’s non-profits and local artists.
Ventura’s cultural fabric is stronger because of the many threads Art City has woven into our lives. Long may it thrive.
Stephen Schafer, Ventura
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Letter to the editor: Long may Art City thrive
