National Endowment for the Arts
Kern County Board of Trade Tourism Bureau and Film Commission
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About the Arts Council of Kern
The Arts Council of Kern - in partnership with the California Arts Council, the County of Kern and local agencies, provides, supports, and promotes arts access, advocacy, and education for all residents and visitors to Kern County.
History
The Arts Council of Kern (ACK) was founded in 1976 as the Local Arts Agency - a partnership between the County of Kern and the State of California. Two years later, ACK incorporated as a public nonprofit 501(c)(3). ACK continues to enrich the lives of residents and visitors of Kern County with increased partnerships. Our network of partners enables us to provide valuable arts programs throughout Kern County, especially to reach under-served and at-risk youth. For the fourth year, the ACK has received the highest possible ranking of California Arts Councils - level 4 - an honor very few have received and which places our programs on par with the major arts hubs in California.
Accomplishments
Our top accomplishments include:
1. Arts in Education - Among many programs, our Young Audiences Cartoon Crazy applied skilled artist and teacher, Nicole Saint-John, who was able to once again extract genius from her students in this program that adapted a Young Audiences curriculum unit for High School age students with Asperger's syndrome and Autism. Young Audiences is a national program with curriculum that uses the arts to teach core subject areas. The ACK chapter of Young Audiences is the first to bring the curriculum to students with developmental challenges.
2. The Best of Kern Concert Tour - We estimate that we reached 20,000 people with live music at free and reduced price concerts throughout the year.
3. Exhibitions - In support of visual arts, we had 15 exhibitions experienced by approximately 6,300 people.
4. Kern Film Workshop - Our Kern Film Workshop was honored by the visitation of a Korean delegation looking to duplicate the vocational training program for persons with developmental challenges. This program provides vocational training in film creation a multidisciplinary field.
5. Walk for the Arts - We advocated for all arts in Kern County through the first annual Walk for the Arts on May 15, 2010. This walk through Downtown Bakersfield's Arts and Culture District brought 300 people to 41 culture stops. Additionally, 30 organizations used the walk to independently raise money for their arts programs.
STAFF
MICHAEL MILLAR, Executive Director
Executive Director Michael Millar brings extensive experience in the
performing arts, arts administration, education, and arts advocacy to
his new position at the Arts Council of Kern. He has held nonprofit
management positions with Southwest Chamber Music, the Entrepreneurship
Center for Music at the University of Colorado, as executive director of
the Santa Clarita Symphony, and as Commissioner and founding Chair of
the Santa Clarita Arts Commission. He is a member of the music faculty
at Cal Poly Pomona. In addition to earning degrees from the University of Colorado Boulder and California State University Los Angeles, Michael holds the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts, with concentrations in Performance and Arts Administration, from Claremont Graduate University, where he studied management and leadership with Peter F. Drucker. A freelance bass trombonist, Dr. Millar's credits include performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Harry James, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Barry Manilow, Artie Shaw, and Ray Charles. He performed with Southwest Chamber Music on the 2004 Grammy-winning CD, Carlos Chavez: Complete Chamber Works, Vol. 2. Dr. Millar is a Certified Facilitator in Peter F. Drucker's The Five Most Important Questions Self-Assessment Tool and is a Certified Practitioner in Connective Leadership.
LAURA WOLFE, Director of Community Partnerships
Laura Lollar Wolfe, is the Director of Community Partnerships for the Arts Council of
Kern (ACK). Prior to joining the ACK, she
served as Assistant Vice President for Development at California State
University, Bakersfield from 2006 to 2009. Other positions at the
university included, interim vice president for university advancement,
campaign director of the successful $11 million Cornerstone Campaign,
Director of Development for Major Gifts, and Assistant Director of
Development. Prior to joining CSUB she was the Director of Development
for Loyola Law School. She was Director of the Annual Fund at UC Irvine
and began her career in the development office at the University of
California, Santa Barbara. Laura earned distinction as a certified fund
raising executive (CFRE) and a certified specialist in planned giving
(CSPG).A native of Wasco, Laura graduated from Wasco High School. She earned her bachelor of arts in communications with honors from UC Santa Barbara. Volunteer activities include: member of the Vision Committee and a Founder of the Women's and Girl's Fund of Kern County, president of Temple Beth El, secretary of the Haberfelde Foundation, and past president of PEO Chapter JT. She previously served as an executive board member for Richland PTA, the UCSB Alumni Association and the Wasco Community Scholarship Association. She is a past board and current advisory board member for MARE.
Laura and her husband Bill, a Taft High School teacher and AVID advisor, live in Shafter. They have two sons, Matthew (19) and Daniel (14).
JILL EGLAND, Director of Special Projects
Jill regularly
employs both sides of her brain, being both a writer and working musician as well as a research
and evaluation program specialist. Post college (University of Redlands,
Communications emphasis), Jill lived and worked overseas as a
community development consultant. She re-entered the States a decade
later via NYC, lived in the Lower East Side, studied photography at the
New College and Pratt, worked at the UNDP, travelled to
Africa evaluating community-based health systems, started a family, and came
home to Bakersfield. At the Arts Council, she's who you talk
to when you just know you've got a great idea for an arts project in
your neck of the woods. Or desert. She's also responsible for developing
pilot arts projects with partner organizations and agencies, like the
Kern Regional Center, the California Bluegrass Association, and the Writers
of Kern.
NICOLE SAINT-JOHN, Director of Young Audiences, Director of Visual Arts Programs/Exhibition Curator
Nicole was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany. In 2000 she came to the United States to persue a career as an artist. Since 2000, She has received local, national and international awards for her art. Nicole owned and operated a gallery and subsequently worked as a curator for the Bakersfield Museum of Art. She joined the Arts Council of Kern in 2009 and in 2010 she was honored at the International Women's Day event as the International Woman of the year for contributions to the arts. In her current position at the Arts Council she develops and supervises programs for artists in our community.
CARLIN A. JONES, Social Media Manager
Carlin Jones is the social media manager for the Arts Council of Kern
(ACK), responsible for the management of all websites, Facebook pages,
twitter, youtube and other forms of communication on the internet. He
has 12 years of experience in web design, content management and web
marketing. Jones, has a credential in Advanced Social Media from the
University of San Francisco. He is the administrator and one of the
founders/instructors of the ACK Tech Arts Academy. Tech Arts Academy
trains artists and professional through weekly workshops, how to use the
internet to promote their art forms, non profit or business. Some
comments about Jones and Tech Arts Academy from students:
Carlin is a social media expert and shares his knowledge and passion. As
a teacher, he makes sure each student is progressing and understanding
the concepts he teaches -- an invaluable skill! Carlin is dedicated,
reliable and progressive. He has the great ability to be a creative
writer and a critical thinker -- skills not often displayed by the same
person. I highly recommend Carlin. He is a consumate professional and a
person who genuinely cares -- he mixes those character traits
beautifully. -- DCR November 18, 2010
~Diana Campbell Rice
Artist, Writer, Nonprofit Consultant, Marketing/PR Consultant, Editor, DCRdesign
In addition to his work with the ACK Jones is a consultant in social
media for California State University Bakersfield - Small Business
Development Center and he manages five local websites and facilitates 16
Facebook fan pages for business and community groups, including: Arvin
Green Arts, Taft Oil orker Monument, Kern Veterans Memorial Foundation,
Bakersfield Green Expo, Save Arts & Culture in Kern County, and
others. He is a sought after speaker and workshop leader on social media
for non profits, and chambers of commerce.
Before coming to
work for the Arts Council of Kern, he worked as the marketing director
for the Downtown Business Association, owned a pizza restaurant, was a
National Kitchen and Bath Association - kitchen and bath designer and
served as an engineer in the U.S. Army.
Kari was born in Bakersfield, California and spent most of her youth in Sumatra, Indonesia, with her globetrotting family. After Indonesia, her family moved to Aurora Colorado where they resided for four years. Then, it was back to Bakersfield where she finished high school. She earned her BA in Sociology at Cal State University, Northridge. After graduation, Kari landed a job with a documentary television production company in Los Angeles. A few years in Hollywood was enough to bring her back to Bakersfield where she is having a much better time advocating for the arts and artists in Kern County.
CONSULTANTS
SUE DEININGER, Communications
HOLLY BIKAKIS, Graphic Designer
BOARD OFFICERS
David Coffey - President
Jan Fulton - Treasurer
Lynne Hall - Secretary
BOARD MEMBERS
Denise Amigh
Cece Algra
Chela Brehmer
Nancy Clark
Pamela Clement
David Coffey
Carole Cohen
Jim Davis
Eileen Ettinger
Anthony Goss
Jorge Guillen
Margaret Lemucchi
Kala Stuebbe
Tony Martinez
Lawton Darren Powers
John Peltier
Mary Amelia-Reyna
Betty Younger
CONTACT INFO
The Arts Council of Kern
1330 Truxtun Avenue Suite B
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: (661) 324-9000
Fax: (661) 324-1136
Hours: Tues-Fri, 9am-5pm
Younger Gallery
1430 Truxtun Ave Suite 105
Hours: Tues-Fri, 11am-2pm or by appointment
Email: info@kernarts.org
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