NoHo Arts Festival Debriefing
by Linda Simeone
I’m quite excited about what’s happening in North Hollywood and applaud the Chamber of Commerce, the Cultural Affairs Department of the City of Los Angeles and the Academy North Hollywood Business and Entertainment Center for taking a stand for what is proving to be a true creative venture.
Like SoHo and Tribeca before it, NoHo is in an embryonic state with the promise of growing up to become a hell of a creative child prodigy.
On June 19 and 20, NoHo held its first Arts Festival—the christening, if you will—and here is what some of the proud God parents and sponsors had to say:
“There was a lot of enthusiasm and it paid off,” said Maureen Samuels from the Art of the Dance Academy. “The heat of the day was the biggest drawback, but fortunately, it didn’t keep the crowds away. All of the productions held at my [dance] academy were sold out, standing room only, and I was very excited about that.”
Samuels explained to me that the most challenging aspects of the festival were getting everyone together and organized, but the thing that kept everyone moving forward was the fact that it was the artistic community’s goal of alerting the community to the revitalization of the arts. A place of one’s own for the many actors, writers, producers and theatres in the immediate area.
“There were some major bugs. The stage in the center of the Academy was of a poor surface, could’ve been more stable, but the dancers were troupers and performed wonderfully on it. We’re already planning meetings so we can improve on next year’s festival,” says Samuels.
I caught up to Brian Sheehan of the Eclectic Cafe-Gallery. He was still running high on enthusiasm about the whole project. “The festival itself was wonderful, couldn’t be better. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that there will be another one next year! From an artistic point of view, it was a great opportunity to expose the neighborhood to the things that are about to come. I’ve invested my whole life . . . to the arts, the theatre” says Sheehan, who’s been a stage and commercial actor since he was 16.
The Eclectic Cafe had been a long time dream that he turned into reality. Sheehan wanted to open a restaurant/cafe to put actors and artists on exhibit, which is what he has accomplished.
“We got so many new people in on the days of the festival, I was caught short,” he confesses. “Because of the heat, many of the crowd spilled over and came into the Eclectic. I didn’t anticipate this and wound up short of staff. I had to pull off a waiter to help out in the kitchen, and eventually I even wound up in the kitchen giving the cook a hand to keep up with the orders.”
Sheehan feels the area is on the verge of an artistic explosion and it couldn’t come at a better time. He finds the new Academy Project a good revitalization of the area, but unfortunately feels the corporate image isn’t the true appetite or spirit of the neighborhood. “You can’t paint that kind of image on artists of any type,” Sheehan says. “The Eclectic came from the heart and not by the corporate image. It’s about artistic success for all creative and theatre people.”
Sylvia Santana, a waitress at Eagles Coffee Pub, spent only an hour at the festival. “We were too busy to get away much longer,” she says. “I liked the handmade art and was glad to attend the Jazz, my favorite. I had hoped they would have knocked down the wooden barrier surrounding the Academy, but they didn’t. Still, I had a great time. It’s needed; it’s about time, NoHo is a great concept. I was born here and even went to North Hollywood High School, moved away for awhile, but I returned. It’s going to be a hot area!”♦