Sylvia Turner, retired Dean of Fine and Performing Arts at Santa Ana College, passed away on May 25.  A former Arts Orange County Board member, Sylvia was an award-winning choreographer and educator who was active in concert dance, professional theater, and arts organizations for many years. She performed professionally in the United States and Japan, and was a former member of the Ann Arbor Dance Theater, the Gloria Newman Dance Company, and was co-founder of Connect 3, a multimedia performance ensemble. In addition to choreographing for nationally competitive skaters, Sylvia Turner wrote on ice skating choreography for "Dance Magazine". Her choreography credits include numerous productions for South Coast Repertory, the SCR Educational Touring Program, "The Lion King Parade and Street Show" at Disneyland, an animated film for the Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas, "Bridge to Angel Island" for Ballet Pacifica, and a collaborative work "Bullwhip Days" based on slave narratives, in addition to her many concert works. She is survived by her husband Richard Turner, an acclaimed sculptor and retired professor of art at Chapman University, and their children.

Dave Barton Awarded Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation Artists Outreach Grant

Dave Barton has been awarded a Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation Artists Outreach Grant.  The project he proposed will enable him to engage homeless women at Isaiah House in Santa Ana in photography. Barton is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, and art critic for OC Weekly.  He was founder of Rude Guerrilla Theatre Company, which operated in Santa Ana for 12 years, and later founded Monkey Wrench Collective, which briefly had a theater space in Fullerton, but which pursues immersive, site-specific work on a periodic basis today.  As a stage director, he is considered one of the foremost interpreters of the work of the acclaimed British playwright Mark Ravenhill, and he is regularly invited to direct theatre on the Mediterranean island nation of Malta--an experience he wrote about recently in an article in AMERICAN THEATRE magazine.

NONPROFIT "WARNING LABEL" BILL STOPPED IN COMMITTEE

AB 2855 would have required nonprofits to place unnecessary and burdensome notices on every document that includes a fundraising message -- not just California nonprofits but any nonprofit that attempts to raise funds in California. While we share the goals of transparency for nonprofits and prosecuting bad actors, this bill would have done nothing toward achieving those goals. Arts Orange County joined more than 700 organizations statewide in opposing this bill. More information here.

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