Sacramento's arts community is looking for more than just 15 minutes of fame.

"There's a stigma that artists can't communicate what they do," said artist Milton Bowens. "Or that our profession is all Andy Warhol's personality."

An effort to change that started in June, when Mayor Kevin Johnson's For Art's Sake initiative was begun to raise the profile of arts in the city. "We are going to promote the arts in a real way," he said.

It got off to a running start. To fund the monthly meetings, Johnson raised $100,000 within a week of starting the initiative.

The last 12-months, the planning stage of the initiative, were managed by Sharon Gerber. She owns Six Degreez, an event-planning company, and is the mayor's arts liason. Each meeting was open to the public and showcased an arts venue, giving hundreds the chance to experience different sites.

Meetings also provided each person the chance to work with specific aspects of the arts community: facilities, marketing, education, funding and film. Subgroups met monthly to discuss each of these areas.

"Celebrity" artists with local ties came to the hourlong meetings. Highlights included performances and speeches by painter David Garibaldi, singer-songwriters Jackie Greene and Lee Greenwood, Poet Laureate Bob Stanley, Bowens and actor/directors Logan and Noah Miller. Trumpet player and music educator Wynton Marsalis also joined the lineup of inspirational speakers.

For Art's Sake came up with a creative action plan that will implement three strategies over the next few years: strengthen cultural infrastructure; improve access to the arts and arts education; and invest in talent and the creative economy.

Implementation of the plan will begin in September. Two managers will help oversee it: Don Roth, executive director of the Mondavi Center, and Garry Maisel, president and chief executive officer of Western Health Advantage.

Gerber said that the biggest thing Sacramento's arts community lacked was a leader. She said that this initiative differs from other efforts to do something for the arts because it has quantifiable expectations.

"I think what is the most important element is the funding, and we'd really like to find a permanent source of funding, whether public or private," she said. "We're still looking at other cities to see how they do that."

It's expected that arts education will be impacted positively by the inaugural Any Given Child program run by the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. The program promotes art in city schools. Sacramento was chosen from 27 cities in part because of the For Art's Sake initiative, said Kennedy Center officials in October. The program will begin in the fall in the Twin Rivers and Sacramento City School districts.

"(I'm excited for) actually having an opportunity to show just how impactful art, when it's viewed as education, can be," said Bowens, who is a spokesperson for the program. "The one beautiful thing about art with young people is the process of getting them to think on their own. That can never start too early. If I'm giving them a blank white piece of paper, they're going to come up with something that is result oriented."

Photographs:
1. Sharon Gerber

2. David Garibaldi

3. Kevin Johnson