Arts are an important part of any community, and it was this knowledge that led Jessica Large to organize the Murrieta Arts Council, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing arts and culture in the area.
“Basically it came out of a conversation I had with somebody,” she said. “We started talking about how Murrieta lacks art and culture. There literally is no art and no culture in Murrieta.”
Large, who serves as the president and CEO, said that she goes to San Diego and over to Los Angeles for their art walks.
“We were talking about how silly it is that residents of Murrieta have to leave every weekend to go get some culture,” Large said, adding that she decided to take the reins of the project and run with it. The group filed the paperwork for the Arts Council with the state Jan. 16.
“As we filed and started telling people we had formed and established this arts council we started hearing about other people who had been making their rounds in their community with rumblings about why there wasn’t an arts council,” she said.
According to Large, who owns an electrical company in town with her husband, many people were turning toward the city to establish an arts council, but she thought it would be better for the citizens to organize it.
“We all have that passion and we all desire that same thing and so that is how it organically came together,” she said.
The group of five, which includes Large, Casey Jurado, Brandy Foote, Michael Valentine and Peter Thorwarth formerly of Menifee Arts Council, meets weekly in Old Town Murrieta. They are currently looking for more members to join the governing board.
“It is our goal to have a community forum on the arts and out of that forum we hope to extract more people,” she said. “There is no reason to rush into it.”
Large said the board’s terms will expire in January 2017 after which they will move to nomination to elect those in charge of the council.
“We have been evolving every week,” she said. “our business model is that we will sponsor and host a few events each year.”
On tap for this year is an Arts Walk, possibly monthly depending on demand, a larger scale art and music festival, possibly the weekend after the Shamrock Festival, A community Forum scheduled for June 14 and other events focusing on the arts. Large said the goal beyond the few “signature events” each year is to support and partner with local arts organizations to bring art and culture out in the open for all valley residents.
“Ultimate goals are a performing arts center and galleries,” she said.
The first Art Walk is scheduled for Thursday, April 28, from 4-10 p.m. at several locations near Washington Avenue and Juniper Street in downtown Murrieta. The free event will showcase up to 40 artists displaying their artwork, local musicians and a food truck. Merchants in Old Town Murrieta will be participating as well.
Currently the group is signing up musicians for the event.
According to press release issued by the group, music adds a nice touch to any arts event so there will be three or four performance areas, only one will have electricity so ideal performances are acoustic artists. Volunteers are also needed for this and other upcoming events.
“It takes a community,” Large said. “That’s why we hope to have a forum on the arts.”
To learn more about Murrieta Arts Council or to sign up as a volunteer, visit www.murrietaarts.org.
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