Young dancers twirl their skirts while rehearing for their Cinco de Mayo performance at the Watsonville Center for the Arts, which opened last year. (Allison Garcia – Contributed)
WATSONVILLE — The status of Watsonville as an art-friendly city continues to grow, as was evident in the Arts Council Santa Cruz County’s recent Arts and Economic Prosperity Report, which was presented at Tuesday’s Watsonville City Council meeting.
The report was the nonprofit’s first prepared specifically for Watsonville, which highlighted how the city’s arts programs and events have impacted the local economy. Among the findings: Organizations and audiences contributed a total of $8.9 million directly to the local economic activity, 114,978 people attended local events, $484,257 was in local tax revenue was generated, 175 people were employed through arts-related organizations and events and audiences spent $2.3 million on events, not counting admission.
The report was presented by Mireya Gomez-Contreras, the Arts Council’s deputy director, who highlighted the importance of arts in a community.
“Arts aren’t just a nice thing to have,” she said. “They are an essential fixture in our economy. The arts don’t just make us socially better, they make us economically better.”
One driving factor has been the opening of the Watsonville Center for the Arts, which opened in June 2022 at 375 Main St. and has provided a space for dance and music classes, workshops, rehearsals and more.
“It’s been going very well,” said Gomez-Contreras. “We’ve been building connections to artists and art organizations, and I’m hoping that you are feeling the change and the momentum build around the arts.”
Over the last year, the Arts Council commissioned three studies: one of which analyzed the impact of the arts in Santa Cruz County, another of which did the same for its titular city and another for the city of Watsonville.
“While the numbers in comparison to Santa Cruz might be very different … I’m hopeful that these are baseline numbers that we’ll be able to build on,” said Gomez-Contreras.
The city’s civic investment for the 2022-23 fiscal year was $84,775, a decrease from $99,832 in the 2021-22 fiscal year. However, Gomez-Contreras anticipates a civic investment of approximately $300,000 for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
“The Music in the Plaza is one way the city invests in the arts,” she said. “The Strawberry Festival is another, but there are more opportunities to invest in the arts, which will generate the economic impact that we hope to see in the future.”
Compared to the city of Santa Cruz and the rest of the county, Watsonville still falls short in terms of arts revenue, but Gomez-Contreras said the potential is still there.
“The county of Santa Cruz has, at a national level, been recognized as one of the top arts counties in the nation,” she said. “It’s got so many artists that it made top five in the country.”
An ordinance and development fee for public art that was approved by the City Council last year is another thing Gomez-Contreras believes will be beneficial for arts in the city.
“I don’t think that we are done with the work,” she said. “I think we’re just beginning, in terms of what the investment can look like going forward.”
Mayor Eduardo Montesino said one issue is many artists are not connected to local organizations and asked how those relationships could be built. Gomez-Contreras acknowledged that was a challenge, and one way the Arts Council has addressed this is by building the capacity for arts through a series of workshops titled “Business of Art.”
“What does it look like to exhibit your artwork, and how do you capitalize on spaces that do exist? How do you create more spaces?” she asked rhetorically.
Gomez-Contreras said the lack of studio space in Watsonville was also a challenge, and the Arts Council has addressed this through its annual Open Studios where artists throughout the county open up their studios for others to see their work, and artists without studios have been allowed to exhibit at public galleries such as Pajaro Valley Arts.
Councilwoman Maria Orozco asked if the Arts Council was interested in exploring partnerships. Gomez-Contreras said Parks and Community Services Director Nick Calubaquib has been a valuable partner in securing event space.
“I can’t speak enough about that partnership through Nick and his team,” she said.
In other business, the council unanimously voted to approve a contract with Axon Enterprises to purchase new body-worn cameras and Tasers for the police department.
