Laserfiche WebLink
12/2/2025 <br /> From: All RestoreART Grant Recipients <br /> Subject: Request for Council Direction on RestoreART Contract Requiring VARA Rights Waiver <br /> Dear Mayor Amezcua and Honorable City Councilmembers, <br /> We write collectively as the awarded artists and organizations of the RestoreART Mural <br /> Restoration Program to express our deep gratitude for your continued commitment to <br /> supporting the arts and preserving public murals in Santa Ana. We especially acknowledge that <br /> this funding—originally approved by City Council in 2022—only moved forward earlier this year <br /> after it was brought to your attention that the Arts & Culture Office had not acted on it for nearly <br /> three years. <br /> However, we must also share our serious concerns regarding the contracting process and the <br /> most recent RestoreART agreement sent to us on November 19, 2025, which again requires <br /> artists to waive all federal VARA (Visual Artists Rights Act) protections. We cannot sign a <br /> contract that asks us to surrender rights granted by federal law. <br /> RFP Timeline & Communication Failures <br /> The RestoreART RFP was finally released in March 2025, years after funding was approved. <br /> The RFP awarded additional points for community engagement, yet because the Arts & <br /> Culture Office failed to adhere to its own timeline—and provided no communication with <br /> artists—several of our planned community engagement activities are no longer feasible. <br /> Despite being selected and approved by the Arts & Culture Commission in June 2025, the first <br /> contract was not sent until August. <br /> Three Contracts, Repeated Errors, and Rights Waivers <br /> The first August contract: <br /> • included incorrect grantee names, <br /> • required us to waive our VARA rights. <br /> We immediately emailed our concerns to Tram Le, Michael Garcia, and Marc Morley. <br /> Tram Le replied apologizing for sending the wrong contract, acknowledging the errors. <br /> A second corrected contract was sent soon after: <br /> • with our accurate names, <br /> • without a VARA waiver. <br /> We signed that version on August 19 and waited for the fully executed copy. <br />