Nonprofit profile: COVID-19 hits Gilroy Center for the Arts hard
Because of COVID-19 arts group plans to reprises this year’s events in 2021
From left, Arts Alliance board members Vangie Moniz, Katie Johnson, Marianne Eichenbaum, Louise Shields and Sharon Albert.
Photo
courtesy Gilroy Center for the Arts
By Marty Cheek
For many years, the Gilroy Center for the Arts has been a venue for Gilroyans to gather to celebrate human being’s creative spirit. The site in the center of downtown was closed for the public’s health safety after shelter-in-place orders were given in mid-March by the Santa Clara County officials.
The closure meant the nonprofit group Gilroy Arts Alliance, which runs the center, was not able to produce any exhibits or shows and other entertainments like Art Fest for children. With live performances, art/photography exhibits and other cultural events put on hold, the center lost money.
The center’s schedule had many arts-focused activities planned for this year including the celebration of 100 years of women’s right to vote, a Hollywood nostalgia night with a double-feature of classic black and white movies, and a concert mini-fundraiser featuring local Elvis tribute artist Don Prieto. The center also had plans to bring back its popular mic nights where musicians, comedians and other performers could show off their talents on the small stage inside the center.
“It impacted us just like everybody else,” said Marianne Eichenbaum, a local artist who is a member of the Arts Alliance board of directors. “What we’re planning on doing is possibly rescheduling all the activities we had planned for this year for next year if COVID goes away.”
The group’s organizers are considering using technology to get creative to keep the arts alive in Gilroy. One activity they have tried is doing virtual exhibits of paintings created by local artists. Eichenbaum found an app called Exhibbit that creates an online gallery that people can visit on their computer screens. Up to 14 photos of paintings can be presented on the virtual walls of the gallery. She tried the app out with several of her paintings. Louise Shields, a local abstract artist, currently has an exhibit of her works on the app. The exhibit can be found on the Gilroy Arts Center website at www.gilroycenterforthearts.com under the “Events” tag.
Other ideas include setting up online classes with artists to teach adults and children how to paint or draw. They are even playing with a “wine and art” streaming night for adults to gather online to look at the latest works while enjoying a glass of vino at home.
The site also has a courtyard area in front of the center and an expansive grassy plaza adjacent that can be used for events where social-distancing and masks are used by guests. The Gilroy Center for the Arts volunteers have the opportunity to spruce up the courtyard and do a little painting inside and as well as the exterior.
“We’re thinking of having a little art exhibit on the green in the grassy area with a variety of artists to come and look at,” Eichenbaum said. “We’re playing with the idea too, depending on the weather, maybe having an outdoor holiday boutique with Christmas and other holidays coming. It all depends on which way the coronavirus goes.”
The Arts Center has been struggling financially because of COVID-19. The property is owned by the city, which charges rent. Fundraising opportunities have dried up because of the coronavirus, said Vangie Montez, a Gilroy Arts Alliance board member
“We lost the opportunity to raise money when the Gilroy Garlic Festival was cancelled,” she said. “We were going to try to host the (festival) poster contest this year. That fell through. It’s been a sad year.”
At the Gilroy Garlic Festival, the group usually makes around $10,000 with their wine cooler booth. It was the alliance’s biggest fundraiser for the year.
Arts are a necessity for mental health, especially during a time when people have worries about the future because of the pandemic, Montez said.
“It’s the one thing that will enable people to stay sane, to come together and look at different creative things,” she said. “It’s not just paintings. It’s sculpture. It’s jewelry . . . It grounds people. It sparks their imaginations. It brings people together. The center just has a very warm, loving type of atmosphere where people can go and experience local art.”
The Gilroy Center for the Arts also serves as the home for the Limelight Actors Theater, which earlier this year was taken over by the South Valley Civic Theatre when founder Keith Heath moved with his husband, Alan Obata, to the Gold Country. The plan was to hold smaller performances in the more intimate space compared with the group’s home at the 200-seat Morgan Hill Community Playhouse. Several shows were planned for Limelight to produce, but these were cancelled when COVID-19 caused shelter-in-place orders to keep audiences home.
SVCT decided to get creative with technology and put on shows not for the stage but for the screen. Their first online show, “Kalamazoo,” was a two-person play with social distancing that relied on a new green screen that SVCT volunteers set up in their warehouse/rehearsal space in a Morgan Hill industrial area. They obtained rights to show it online. It was posted to YouTube for a single weekend and it was extremely well received by audiences.
The third show was a one-actor performance. Bill Tindall reprised his acclaimed role as the eccentric author Truman Capote from SVCT’s 2016 production of “Tru.” SVCT set up the stage at the Limelight Actors Theater in the Gilroy Arts Center to serve as Capote’s New York City apartment living room. The show was videoed during a recent weekend. Because no green screen was used the video editing was made simpler.
SVCT’s “Tru” was made available on YouTube Aug. 28-30. Patrons interested in viewing it were able to request a link (which is their ticket) for viewing any time that weekend.
Even as it struggles with COVID-19, the Gilroy Center for the Arts and its volunteers persist to keep the world of the arts and entertainment alive in the South Valley, Montez said. As the public relations person for the group, she invites any South Valley resident interested in helping locals explore the imaginative pursuits of local artists to consider joining the board of directors.
“Art is something I really, really love,” she said. “Being involved with the Arts Center is fun because you get involved with a very eclectic group of people and come together and do wonderfully creative things.”
