Los Angeles County keeps free concerts playing
LETTERS
WILL free concerts continue in Los Angeles County despite the decline in the Music Performance Fund ["Hitting a Sound Barrier," by Mike Boehm, June 14]? The answer is a resounding yes. Los Angeles County's Board of Supervisors is replacing the lost funds to ensure that the 60,000 people who enjoy these concerts each year don't lose out. More than 50 concerts in parks, libraries and other public sites are scheduled featuring groups like Adaawe at MacArthur Park (July 10), Mariachi Divas at Belvedere Park (July 12) and Taikoproject at the Allendale branch of the Pasadena Public Library (July 29) -- and that's just a few of the 15 concerts scheduled in July alone. For a complete schedule through October go to www.lacountyarts.org/free_july08.html.
We hope that the Musicians Performance Fund will find a way to continue its funding of free concerts across the country but, in the interim, their legacy of live music for everyone lives on here in Los Angeles County.
Laura Zucker
executive director
Los Angeles County
Arts Commission
Los Angeles
Bravo, Cheech
ISPENT a wonderful Father's Day at LACMA, inspired by the article ("It's a Battle Won for Cheech Marin," by Agustin Gurza, June 14) on Cheech Marin's art collection exhibit, "Los Angelenos." I have to say that of all the art I have ever seen at LACMA, including the Van Gogh and Diego Rivera collections, I have never found a collection as consistently excellent. Every one of the paintings (and the incredible pastels) was alive with color, energy, expression and personality.
"Phantom Sightings," on the other hand, was hit and miss. But it was not a disappointment, just a rewarding-in-its-own-way contrast to the high level of quality and intensity in the "Los Angelenos" exhibit.
John Stephens
Aliso Viejo
Art Center . . . is
AS THE educational leaders of the Art Center College of Design, we would like to respond to the article "Uproar at Art Center" (by Mike Boehm, June 11), which we find selective in its sources and unbalanced in its perception. While there is indeed a passionate debate about many important issues at Art Center, we are a creative community engaged in the ongoing improvement of our education and facilities, and we expect and encourage different opinions about our future direction.
