On the Monday evening of Oct. 18, the Autobody Fine Arts gallery was standing room only.

Artists, arts administrators and other interested parties were there to talk with city councilman and mayoral candidate Frank Matarrese about the state of the arts in Alameda. (Matarrese was the only candidate to hold an outreach event specifically to the art community.)

The audience included representatives of Rhythmix Cultural Works, Autobody Fine Arts, Alameda Free Library, Alameda Island Poets, individual artists and others.

What quickly became clear was the frustration in the community regarding a perceived lack of support of the city for the arts, exemplified by the lack of action of Alameda's Public Art Commission.

The commission has a public arts fund—currently amounting to a reported $75,000—that has not allocated any funds for three years. According to the city of Alameda's website, the Commission itself has not met since February 11, 2009.

Matarrese's report from the Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant that the Commission would meet and determine a process for creating and distributing a request for proposals by January 2011, was less than satisfactory to the audience. 

None of the 30 to 40 arts community members in the audience were familiar with the three current members of the commission—Elizabeth Candelario, Andrea Leal and Karen Lee.

The commission also has two open seats, and the process for filling those seats appears less than clear.

Amy George, Autobody's gallery and events director, attempted to apply to the commission, but she found herself faced with a significant obstacle—no one knew to whom she was to submit her application.

She brought it to the city clerk, who told her it should be submitted to the director of the Planning and Building Department, a position that was at that time unfilled. Given that fact, the clerk did not know where to send George. Faced with so many dead ends, George gave up; her application remains on her desk.

George also noted that 510arts.org, a website that collects information about arts throughout the East Bay, does not cover Alameda.  She said she had spoken to the organization to encourage Alameda's inclusion, but was told there was no one here able to provide the necessary information and contacts.

The inaction of the commission was particularly frustrating to the audience, given that Autobody—who hosted this forum—will have to close up shop as of January due to lack of funding. Indeed, the room was nearly universal in voicing its frustration regarding what it saw as a lack of support for the arts by the city, despite the clear evidence of a vibrant arts community in Alameda.

"We don't need to bring the arts here to Alameda—they are here. They need to be supported," said Janet Koike, artistic director of Rhythmix Cultural Works.

Others, such as Jacqueline Cooper, the executive director of Autobody, expressed a frustration with what she sensed as the city's "fear of art."

"This town has such an investment in hanging on to its Mayberry-ness," she said, surmising this prevents support from being given to art that does what art so often does — pushes boundaries and invites its audience to see the world a little differently.

Still others noted that Oakland seems to competently support the arts and suggested Alameda should follow that model, or recruit an active arts administrator, or bolster the political will to support an active arts commission.  Matarrese floated the idea of an Arts Chamber Association, modeled after the structure of business associations and chambers of commerce.

On the other hand, Michael McDonald, who has painted 53 murals throughout Alameda, suggested the problem should be addressed through volunteerism.  "The government isn't going to do it," he said.  "Artists need to do it." 

Some artists mentioned they had tried to volunteer, particularly for the schools (AUSD arts programs have been recent—and probably future—victims of budget cuts), but had found a lack of infrastructure or even a contact person in order to pursue this desire.

Mary Rudge, Alameda's Poet Laureate, who says she has been involved in the arts in Alameda for 40 years, stood to recite the long history of Alameda's non-action of supporting and funding the arts. Her speech was applauded.