With support from the California Arts Council, LIBERTY PAINTING CORP (dba LIBERTY ARTS), as one of a few regional cultural resources, will continue to provide programs and services that engage our diverse community in the exhibition of arts, opportunities for participation and art education including hands-on creating for our youth.
We will continue to use responsive strategies for social inclusion in: the selection of exhibitions; invitations to create in community workshops through scholarships; and facilitate outreach that sends traveling artist groups to remote parts of our county which are recognized in the bottom quartile of the California Healthy Place Index. We believe access to the arts is an important part of healthy development and will strive to include all in our county in their creation and expression.
Our core programming is through our exhibition schedule, which is generated from our community, and includes: LOCAL FOCUS- exploring work by regional artists; BRIDGE SHOWS- bringing new work and ideas in from metropolitan areas, and OPEN-CALL opportunities inviting the community to participate (often for the first time) in curating, creating and exhibiting work.
Annually, members are invited to propose a show. As future curators, they prepare a presentation, outlining the theme/invitation/artists to be exhibited. All proposals are considered, with a vote by community participants selecting the most promising for inclusion in our upcoming exhibition schedule.
Art education is delivered through our Explorations outreach classes, which introduce students/visitors to art in a gallery setting, with local artists often sharing their knowledge and creative inspiration. Students are introduced to work through context, language and process. They have the opportunity to individually view the art, and come together for discussion. They then create personal work related to the themes and processes in our dedicated studio.
During COVID, we developed relationships with three outlying schools in our county. Now, Liberty Arts transports 8-12 artists with supplies (including a printing press), into these schools for projects not normally seen in a classroom. We have made the 150-mile round trip journeys to school in the lowest HPI quartile areas or so remote they have no score.
Liberty Arts also serves our community as a venue for performance and special events, hosting musicians and biennial fashion extravaganzas on the adjacent City Plaza. This year we held “Special Delivery” events which featured twelve speakers who introduced audiences to a wide range of topics through 18-slide presentations. We shared The Red Dress Project/MMIP, The Living Memorial Sculpture Garden honoring veterans, Language of Monsters, and the Art of Burning Man among the 24 subject themes.

