Santa Cruz County Arts Commission
Mission Statement
The mission of the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission is to promote, expand and plan for the cultural life of Santa Cruz County and to bring artists and arts organizations together with government for the benefit of all the citizens of the County.
Meeting Schedule Meeting Minutes Meeting Agendas
Arts Commission Members
| James Nee, Evelyn Bernstein | District 1 |
| Cynthia Kilian, John Faraola | District 2 |
| Bobbi Todaro, Joanna Phillips | District 3 |
| Judy Stabile, Paul DeWorken | District 4 |
| Marc Theeuwes, Linda Levy | District 5 |
Meets six times each year, on a Monday, at 4:30 P.M.
Simpkins Family Swim Center
979 17th Avenue, Santa Cruz
Have a question? Send us an email.
James Nee
James was raised in Detroit, Michigan, has lived in Santa Cruz County
since 1987, has two grown children and two grandchildren. He has been a
board member of the California Grey Bears. His hobbies include
creating visual art, hiking, and long-distance backpacking. James has an
AA in studio art, a BS in wildlife management, MPA in public
administration, and MA in zoology. He worked 20 years as a
wildlife biologist and 13 years as a biologist/agriculture
inspector. Jim joined the Commission to expand the Commission's
role in showcasing our county's high quality arts, to increase the
amount of good art in public places, and to help make our county an
essential destination for people seeking excellence in visual and
performing parts.
Evelyn
Bernstein
Evelyn Bernstein was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1931, where as a
teenager she fell in love with dance, sculpted in clay, and spent time
with some of the era’s arts and musical innovators, a practice
that continued for many decades in New York and California. After
graduating from Erasmus Hall High School, she worked in the garment
center and studied at Brooklyn College at night. As a young mother, she
studied poetry with Kenneth Koch and many years later, attended Cabrillo
College.
A Santa Cruz County resident since 1970, Evelyn has served on the Santa Cruz County Women’s Commission, the South Santa Cruz County Commission on Alcoholism, and the boards of the Battered Women’s Shelter, Women’s Crisis Support, and Chadeish Yameinu (Jewish Renewal Community of Santa Cruz). In addition, she was a volunteer for the San Jose Peace Center and the Literacy Committee of the Santa Cruz Volunteer Center. She currently is an active member of the Soquel Neighbors Association. She is married to engineer-attorney-jazz photographer Leonard Bernstein; their two children are singer-poet Lisa B (Lisa Bernstein) and noted software consultant David R. Bernstein. She has four grandchildren.
Joanna Phillips
Joanna was born and raised in Fresno, California. She graduated from Cal State University Fresno, majoring in Speech Communication. She went back to school to do graduate work in Education of the Deaf, working in the local school district as a teacher.
In 1972 Joanna moved to San Jose and began a new career in Real Estate. After successfully owning a Century 21 franchise from 1980 – 1986, she began her training career by becoming the Director of Recruiting and Training for Better Homes and Gardens in San Jose until 2000. When she got a call from Robert Bailey, the CEO of Bailey Properties in Santa Cruz, CA to inquire if she would like the same job in Santa Cruz, and live in her beach house, the answer was YES! Power Training was born and Bailey Properties continues to be the field-testing facility for all updates to this course.
Joanna is a mother and the grandmother of Sara. Joanna enjoys spending time at the beach, playing with Sara and traveling. Joanna served on the City of San Jose Art Commission from 1996-2002. This experience gave her a great deal of background on the arts programs in the City of San Jose. She also has performed both in theater and as a motivational speaker. She joined the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission in the hopes her past experience would be of benefit to the residents of Santa Cruz County.
Judy Stabile
I have been an artist for 22 years, and enjoy working in a variety of media and processes including sculpting in stone, casting in bronze and glass; printmaking; fabric collage; and painting with acrylic, oil and encaustics. As a volunteer, I have curated and co-curated twelve visual art exhibits for the Pajaro Valley Arts Council: served as a mentor to other curators; and have served as a Gallery Committee member for PVAC for nine years. For the past three years, I have co-curated (for PVAC) exhibitions of sculpture for an outdoor venue at Sierra Azul Nursery and Gardens. This exhibit was pivotal to my interest in public art. As a result, I applied to be a member of the Public Arts Commission.
Bobbi Todaro
Bobbi
Todaro thanks Neal Coonerty for appointing her to represent the 3rd
District aka City of Santa Cruz. Bobbi is fortunate to work in the arts
and experience live music every week as the Managing Director for
Kuumbwa Jazz downtown Santa Cruz. A long time resident of Santa Cruz,
Bobbi recognizes the privilege to represent the SCC Arts
Commission in its mission to promote the cultural life of SC County.
Cynthia Kilian
Cynthia has lived in Santa Cruz County for 33 years, has been a self employed realtor for 23 years. She
attended Weber College of Nursing and University
of San Francisco B.S.O.B.
Serving the Muse - Cynthia served as board president for the San Francisco Pickle Family Circus, Tandy Beal & Company for 9 years. She is currently a director and previously served as marketing VP for the Santa Cruz County Symphony. Cynthia is a founding board member of the Aptos Academy, a director for the past 14 years. As part of the Monterey Symphonic Chorus, she has traveled to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of IONA, seat of Celtic Spirituality; in summer 2009, the chorus sang at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. for President Obama.
Serving Community - During the summer months, Cynthia serves as a nurse, part of a medical/dental team at Little Flock orphanage in Southern India . She walked 350 miles across Northern Spain on a pilgrimage - The Camino Santiago de Campostella - in 2004. She climbed Wayan Picchu, the mountain near Macchu Picchu, Peru in 2005. Cynthia worked as a loan executive to the United Way of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties for five years during her 17-year career with Pacific Bell. Cynthia was part of a Katrina Animal rescue team, rescuing 100 animals flown into Monterey Airport from Iberia, Louisiana, helped care and transport them to a shelter facility in Santa Cruz.
Serving Family - Cynthia has 3 great adult children. Melanie is an artist, a comedian with Second City, has an MBA and is working on her PhD. Adam served as an army ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan; he is now a Los Angeles County firefighter. Ashley graduated from Menlo College in Atherton. CA, manages a medical office, and has a California Real Estate License.
Paul DeWorken
In
addition to serving on the County Arts Commission, Paul serves on the
City of Watsonville
Public Art Commission. He
owns and operates a small business in Watsonville, Monterey Bay Murals. For
over seven years he has been a Behavior Technician, working with
Autistic students in a special day class at Rolling Hills Middle School
for the Pajaro Valley Unified School District.
Paul recently completed a mural at Rolling Hills, “Maya
Time,” which is in the style of a mandala; more on this mural and
others that he has worked on can be seen at: www.montereybaymurals.com.
Paul, a lifelong resident of Watsonville, is a graduate of Watsonville High School, a graduate of Cabrillo College with an Associated Arts Degree, and a Cal State University of Monterey Bay (CSUMB) graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Visual and Public Art, with an emphasis in Mural Painting and Arts Education. Currently, he is in the Cal State Teach Program at CSUMB where he is working on obtaining his certification in teaching multiple subjects. His goal is to receive a Masters in Arts and Arts Education and, if possible, a P.H. D in art. Paul is honored to serve on the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission. His vision is to beautify the city of Watsonville, along with the County of Santa Cruz and the world, through art. He believes in making art accessible and affordable for all to see and experience, and he values public interests and ideas that pertain to art and beautifying our environment.
Linda Levy
Linda Levy was born (1951) and raised in the
John Faraola
While John Faraola was born in the East Bay and moved to La Selva
Beach just 12 years ago, the Faraola family has been a fixture in the
Santa Cruz waterfront fishing and sporting communities since shortly
after the Gold Rush. John has had a long career in
arts/entertainment journalism and production as well as business
communications. His career has included stints as an entertainment
manager during the 1990s at the world renowned jazz clubs Kimball's and
Kimball's East in San Francisco and Emeryville. In Santa Cruz County he
has served as the Symphony Manager of the Santa Cruz County Youth
Symphony as well as on the Board of Directors of that organization. He
has also served as a member of the Grants Advisory panel of the Santa
Cruz County Cultural Council and in December 2012 he completed a 6 year
term on the Board of Directors of the La Selva Beach Parks and
Recreation District. Currently John is the Director of Client
Services for Content Rules, Inc.--a business content development
consultancy in Silicon Valley--where he is responsible for the work
product of over 75 writers, illustrators, designers and programmers.
John attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and San
Francisco State University from which he received a degree in
International Relations. He lives with his wife, Jane, at their home in
Las Selva Beach where they have raised three now-grown sons.
Marc
Theeuwes
Marc Theeuwes is thankful for the opportunity to
represent the 5th district on the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission.
Marc recently moved to San Lorenzo Valley from Silicon Valley where he
has been working for 20 years. He served on San Jose’s public art
advisory committee for a year and has also served on several company
boards. Marc is a Consulting Associate Professor in Stanford's School of
Engineering where he teaches a course in product design. Marc has a
Masters in Engineering from Stanford, an MBA in finance, BA in Studio
Arts, BS in Biochemistry, and an AS in computer science. He joined the
Commission to become more active in the community and contribute to the
arts. Marc is active in product design, higher education, corporate
finance, painting, sculpting, and acoustic guitar playing and
restoration.
Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County
City of Santa Cruz Arts Commission