Pacific View Art Center Progress report Spring, 2024

 by Rosemary KimBal and Patricia Frischer

Rosemary KimBal touring the site of Pacific View Art Center, Encinitas

 Rosemary KimBal has a recent opportunity t o view the progress at Pacific View Art Center in Encinitas. The site tour was led by Jess Roberts who will be the art administrator present at the new center when it opens possibly in late summer this year.  Her first impressions on entered through the gates, “This is our hidden gem and our jewel is in the setting stage. The setting is just needing to be polished.”

Classrooms 1 and 2 have sinks in them and are considered wet rooms and available to visual arts classes.

Classrooms 3 and 4 are combined performance art spaces for dance and theater with folding doors to divide the space or make it extra-large. Ballet barres will hopefully be installed with a north wall mirrored under the windows.

Classrooms 5 and 6 are the sound rooms to be used for Music Classes and Broadcasts. A PEG Grant (from the Public Educational Governmental fund) was successful and will be used to outfit this space. Transmission will be through the City of Encinitas channel.

After the construction is completed and SDG&E installs the electrical power, the rooms will be filled with tables and chairs. But there are still some issues with security and sound proofing that have to be addressed. There is a lift for those who need it, but it is easy to drive in and be on one level. Each room only has one door in and out which is problematic for the fire department. 

Limited storage at the site is also a big ongoing problem. Each teacher has to set their own stage for each teaching session and leave it as a blank slate for the next teacher. This is not like an elementary school classroom that has a continuum of student’s work and inspiration on the walls. But for some classes that are two days in a row, they might be some storage available.

There is room for five staff at the facility, 2 at the desk and 3 to check-in students. There is a staff bathroom and kitchen.

The new sculpture if approved will be set outside in the front, not on a base but directly on the ground and it will be there for a year.  Other outside spaces can also be used for classes, with shade over that area.

Now we hope the most amazing teachers will step forward and the programming of the classes will be as exciting as the new paint job on the outside of the building. 

The City of Encinitas Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts is calling for two in house staff teachers that can create some basic curriculum and run classes in any gaps that are not filled by contract instructors.  Visuals Arts Staff Teaching Artists $18.37 - $23.39 Hourly. Applications will be reviewed starting April 15.

The ongoing call for teaching artists from the City of Encinitas Art Program  is still active and asking for innovative and exciting new visual arts courses for their soft launch this year. Classes that speak to sustainability and inclusion and that include a variety of cultures would be welcome. Classes/lectures could deal with upcycling, legacy, belonging, experimentation, commemoration, renewals, monetizing your art…it could be a class on using natural materials to make your own watercolors or using thrift store find to make cosplay costumes, for example.  Healing Arts, fiber arts, printing making, all painting mediums and genres are included plus whatever you can invent that can be accommodated!  Lectures, workshops, series of studio classes are all possible.  The center is for all the arts, so courses that cross over from dance, music, drama, spoken word are also considered. The  application  gives you more details and they have newly made it super easy to pay for inexpensive liability insurance. Start a discussion with the arts programming department.  If you have a theme suitable for Encinitas, go for it!  More info: Collette Murphy  760-633-2767

Once open, the Pacific View Arts Center’s hours will be:
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. (Closed Monday and Friday)
Hours will extend to close at 5 p.m. on all five days, starting later in the fall/winter on a date TBD.
Starting March 24, 2025, Thursday hours will be extended to close at 8 p.m.
Additionally, during the weeks of school break camps, open hours will extend from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
It is hoped in the following years, the hours and days will be extended.