Dear creative industry colleagues,

You may know that for the past few months Vanguard Culture has been hosting a series of creative industry roundtables with San Diego's arts & culture leadership. So far we have brought together 70+ executive level leaders from a variety of industries from dance, music, opera, dance, film, theatre, and visual arts. This cross-pollination of creativity has already proved quite fruitful and we look forward to continuing these important conversations and connections.

Please join us for our next creative industry roundtable on Monday, January 25th from Noon-2pm to discuss current resources available, successes and failures, and also to brainstorm ways to collaborate and innovate our way to a place of excellence and resiliency through 2021 and beyond.

If you were able to attend one of our past roundtables, you heard our pitch for radical collaboration across all industries of the visual, performing, and culinary arts in San Diego. I am very encouraged by the enthusiastic support of this idea and look forward to seeing where it takes our creative community in the months to come.

Thank you for your creative brilliance and for all you do to inspire our community. In times of crisis, the world looks to the arts for comfort and belonging. You are doing very important work right now. Don't forget that. 😉

We look forward to a fruitful conversation.

--

Sincerely,

The Vanguard Culture team

--

FEATURED SPEAKERS:

JENNIFER DAVIES, Director of Cultural Tourism for Balboa Park at SD Tourism Authority. Jennifer Davies, a recognized leader in public affairs and communications, currently serves as the director of cultural tourism for Balboa Park at the San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA). Davies has a long record of leading communications, marketing strategy and program development for a variety of prominent San Diego organizations.

Prior to joining the SDTA, Davies served as the assistant dean of external affairs for UC San Diego Extension and as vice president of external affairs for the Downtown San Diego Partnership. She also served as director of communications for former City Council President Sherri Lightner. Davies spent much of her career as a journalist serving as a staff writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She received a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA and has master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

-

JONATHON GLUS, Executive Director of the City of San Diego's Commission for Arts & Culture. Jonathon Glus is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in grant-making and organizational development, strategic planning, board diversity, fund development, international project management, creative placemaking, cultural policy and creative economy, and urban planning. His Master's work was art and architectural history from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Bachelor's work was in public policy and urban economics from Indiana University.

-

DIEM JONES is currently the Executive Director of Murray Grove Association in Lanoka Harbor, NJ as well as CEO of All One Consulting. He is co-founder and past Executive Director of Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation (VONA). Additionally, he has served as Deputy Director of Arts Council Silicon Valley, program officer at the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities as well as Director of Grants at the Houston Arts Alliance and Administrative Director of East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. Jones was Art Director for George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic. Additionally, he has managed health and wellness practices in California, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Diem Jones has also completed advanced courses in Mind, Body Medicine protocols from the Center for Mind, Body Medicine in Washington, DC. His most recent book, A Big Day: Thawing the Soul, was published in the summer of 2018. Diem’s most recent musical spoken-word CD, “A Spirit of Oui” and his previous CD’s “Equanimity” and “Black Fish Jazz” have been performed with the Equanimity Band at venues throughout the US including the San Jose Jazz Festival. In addition, his photo biography of George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, “#1 Bimini Road”, continues to be a best seller in the ever-expanding fan base of the group.

-

JAY HENSLEE, President of the San Diego Performing Arts League. Jay is a life-long lover of the arts, and is passionate about not only making the arts accessible to all of San Diego, but also to helping ensure its theatre reflects diversity in all aspects. Jay attended Chico State University with a major in Marketing and Sales. He is currently a Vice President, District Manager for U.S. Bank with a banking career spanning over 20 years. Jay plays a key role in helping U.S. Bank make community possible in San Diego with philanthropic and volunteer service through involvement with a number of local non-profit organizations. In addition to the San Diego Performing Arts League, he’s also on the Board of Directors for Rebuilding Together San Diego, City Ballet of San Diego, and Diversionary Theatre. Jay was a 2017 graduate of LEAD San Diego.

-

D. CANDICE PAULE, CSA, is a casting director/owner of Candis Casting, and the casting director for Stu Segall Productions. She has cast Pitch (Fox), The Ex List (CBS), Terriers (F/X) and nearly 3 seasons of Veronica Mars (CW). Along with several episodics for Fox’s My Network, she has helped cast a variety of pilots and movies of the week. Feature film credits include Flying By starring Billy Ray Cyrus and Heather Locklear, and Obedient Son, a WWII drama shot in Romania. She has also cast hundreds of commercials and industrials. Candis’ theater experience includes directing and producing, and she has been seen throughout the country as an award-winning actor. In addition to voice-over work and private coaching, Ms. Paule teaches on-camera classes with Actors For Reel. Throughout the pandemic, Candice has been part of a statewide task force on reopening for the arts. Listen to her share her findings and predictions for 2021 in the arts.

-

DR. CAROL PENN, DO, MA, ABOM, FACOFP, has more than 40 years of experience and expertise in Mind Body Medicine and will be helping us to set the intention for via movement and meditation. Gifted with the ability to inspire and educate about self-care, Dr. Penn brings a unique set of skills to her work as a physician. Her work in Mindful Movement and the dynamic small group facilitation work in the Mind Body Spirit Medicine series is designed to assist each participant in their journey of deep self-care and in learning how to prioritize themselves on behalf of achieving their best and highest self. She also brings her artistic sensibilities to the marriage of the arts and medicine with her background as a professionally trained dancer and choreographer with the world famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and a Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Teaching Fellow.

-

We are also very happy to welcome the team of Slover Linett Audience Research to share their findings after surveying 124,000 Americans in all 50 states and from 653 organizations about the role of race & ethnicity in cultural engagement in the U.S.

Madeline Smith (Project Director) helps cultural changemakers deepen participation, develop new capacities, and build the audiences of the future. Using her expertise in both qualitative and quantitative methods, her projects have ranged from market research for art museums (including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City) and exhibit evaluation for international art fairs (like the Mark Bradford installation at the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale) to studies for history, science, and industrial museums, symphonies and opera companies, foundations, and other clients. Madeline is particularly interested in helping cultural organizations create a culture of research and responsiveness that leads to audience diversification and authentic community engagement.

Matthew Jenetopulos (Researcher) relies on his background in both the performing arts and market research sectors to bring an evaluative eye to cultural organizations. He has worked on projects for performing arts organizations, outdoor spaces, symphonies, and foundations. Through his involvement with the national Culture and Community in a Time of Crisis study, he has been focused lately on the impact digital engagement can have for arts organizations both during the current pandemic and in the future.