DOWNTOWN INC. 14-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Downtown Inc. is a 501 c(6) non - profit organization dedicated to making Downtown Santa Ana the heart of Santa Ana and the County. We work in a variety of capacities to support the vibrancy of various downtown districts and scene including downtown's exciting culinary, creative, business, retail, music and arts scenes. Our President, Ryan Chase, is one of the largest property owners in Downtown Santa Ana. The Chase family has owned property in Downtown Santa Ana since the 1910's, giving them a long -term vision for the area, Mr. Chase's vision is of utilizing the rich urban fabric of Downtown to recruit entrepreneurial creative businesses. His accomplishments thus far include transforming the historic Yost Theatre into a concert hall and venue, and opening 4th Street Market, a new food hall and major food anchor hosting 20 local food artisans. Many tasks not handled by the President are handled by our Lead Consultant, Ryan Smolar, who has worked for Downtown Inc. for one year and has brought to it new primary strategies of community connectivity and reaching out to both local and regional partners to leverage the amount of work we need to do in Downtown. Smolar worked in Community and Economic Development in Long Beach, California for 10 years working on special projects for Long Beach's Arts Council, Convention & Visitors Bureau, Mayor's Office and Long Beach City College. Our Board of Directors includes downtown property owners, lawyers, creatives, professors, art non - profit directors and small business owners. Narrative for proposed use of funds:: We will use the funds to hire live local artists. Every month, we have typically spent $1,000 on entertainment and are expanding the geography of Arlwalk and its entertainment footprint. We are leveraging our budget and creating diversity by partnering our production funds with business districts like the West End who are creating a whole new arm of Arlwalk by hanging art in restaurants and alleys and enticing Arts District explorers west with music. Through this funding, we hope to help support new areas activating with more Arlwalk activities and give the core a boost of live arts activity beyond music to elevate the event to a celebration of many forms and levels of talent including spoken word, visual art and site - specific performances. When hiring talent, we will be prioritizing those who have a deep connection to Santa Ana either because they are a resident, business owner, local artist or are deeply connected to one in a way meaningful and way that is worthy of expression to the broader community. In addition to hiring live local artists, we will use $2,000 to help establish a mobile performance venue and equipment to better showcase our talent. This easy -to -setup