On Saturday and Sunday, June 9th and 10th, Arts in the Valley host Kim McMillon interviews the new Merced Arts Council executive director Laura Phillips, and former executive director Staci Santa. Ms. McMillon will also interview author Bardi Rosman Koodrin, and festival director Lennie Dean, and director Linda L. Reid.
To listen to Laura Phillips and Staci Santa, click onto the link:stacy santa
The Merced County Arts Council Inc. has hired a new executive director Laura Phillips. Staci Santa is departing the position to live in Tucson, Ariz. this June. Santa spent five years as director. She started working for the council through a grant-funded program director position in 2006. Santa has worked closely with the community to sustain the Merced Multicultural Arts Center, which is managed by the council, and to develop programs for the community.
Santa organized a curatorial committee of local artists and experts who jury the art exhibits at the Arts Center throughout the year. She led the organization through the financial crisis, wrote many successful grant proposals and worked with local artists, performing arts groups, schools and governmental agencies to help the Merced arts scene thrive. For more information on the Merced County Arts Council, please visit http://www.artsMerced.org.
To listen to Bardi Rosman Koodrin, click onto link:san mateo fair
The Literary Director of the Fine Arts Galleria since 2009, Bardi Rosman Koodrin, MA originated the concept of “Events within the Event” for writers to give free workshops and readings to fairgoers. There is also an annual Author Book Day with over 20 local authors promoting their work. In conjunction with the fair, Notre Dame De Namur University www.ndnu.edu offers a contest with a $20,000 Creative Writing Scholarship for a deserving high school student.
An exciting new addition is the Sand Hill Review Press publication of Carry the Light, a 300 page anthology of stories, poems, and essays in which each entrant has at least one piece published. sandhillreviewpress.com This published collection of contest submissions appears to be the first of its kind for a county fair, and will be available on Amazon.com.
Carry the Light, San Mateo County Fair’s literary anthology 2012 book, continues the progressive outreach of the Fair with the publishing of all accepted literary entries by the Sand Hill Review Press (www.sandhillreviewpress.com) via Amazon.com.
Carry the Light, a 300-page anthology, includes short stories, poetry and personal essays that tell compelling stories. All were collected during the pre-fair entry period using the Fair’s high criteria for excellence. It is widely believed that this is the first anthology of its kind to be accepted for sale at Amazon.
Capitalizing on the thirst for the written word in the Peninsula and Bay Area, the San Mateo County Fair is offering a wide variety of free “events within the event” writing workshops, panels, short plays, presentations, author interviews, readings, book-signings, and even songs of the sea on their literary stage.
To commemorate the book, the Fair is hosting an autograph party on Sunday, June 10, at 4:30 pm in the Fine Arts Galleria in Expo Hall where published authors will be on hand to sign books and discuss their works.
About The San Mateo County Fair
The San Mateo County Fair “Where Tradition Meets Innovation” boasts a stunning variety of world class musical entertainment, live performances, fun festival food, local and traditional contests, and a “Ferris Wheeling” carnival. The fair lasts nine days and will be attended by over 150,000 guests.
“We are excited to offer these headline acts and know that the line-up puts us at the top of the entertainment spectrum for the entire region,” says Chris Carpenter, San Mateo Event Center General Manager. “There is music for just about everyone at the Fair –Top 40, Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues and much more.”
Redwood Writers & 6thStreet Playhouse Play Festival
To listen to Lennie Dean, and Linda L. Reid, click onto the link:6th st playhouse santa rosa-1
Lennie Dean – 2012 Festival Director
Lennie Dean has been a veteran theatre participant in Sonoma County for forty years. Her many capacities include director, actor, teacher, producer, education director and dramaturgy. She co-founded and served as artistic director for the Marquee Theatre and Studio Be Theatre. She has also contributed her talents to Actors’ Theatre, Cinnabar Theatre, Santa Rosa Players, Summer Repertory Theatre, and Academy of Arts in San Francisco. In 1999 Lennie received the Independent Eye award for her contributions to Sonoma County theatre. In 2011 she directed BUG by Tracey Letts at the Narrow Way Stage Company for which she was named second on David Templeton’s Top Ten Torn Tickets of 2011. This past March 2012, Lennie directed and co-created The Tennessee Menagerie. That same month she was the Program Events director for a successful Women’s History Month at 6th Street Playhouse. She currently teaches acting classes at the 6th Street Playhouse.
Linda L. Reid has directed over 28 years for various community theater groups, including 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa and Novato Theater Company. Reid directed and re-designed My Left Breast from a monologue to a three-person show; presented in Sonoma, Napa, Ukiah, and Santa Rosa. She recently directed The Ticking Clock for 6th Street Playhouse.
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