The “Creative culture” (Sept. 21) piece was a valuable contribution to an understanding of public art in our community. However, something is missing.
The true genesis of our public art culture is the more than 600 local artists who are now part of the Central Coast Artists Collective—former SLO Art Center members who thrived in a gallery space and held meetings, exhibits, and art classes for children and adults. Local artist groups were bowed out when the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art board and management took a different direction with facility uses.
While the collective strives to find space in the city, if you want to view local art group exhibits, the venues are now in Morro Bay or Paso Robles.
Leann Standish and Emma Saperstein do a fine job of running the museum and I appreciate inclusion of new artists, near and far. Yet, I bemoan loss of the museum’s formative purpose: a space for the expression of local artists in service to our community.
Gini Griffin
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in Oct 5-12, 2023.