Even as the City Council carries on with a plan to dissolve the Arts & Culture Commission and reassign its members to a broader, city-subsidized arts council, some city officials have questioned Hofmann’s credentials for a commission that lists “substantial professional expertise” in the arts as a preferred qualification.
“I do think it’s extremely important to have some sort of experience in the arts,” arts commissioner Arman Keyvanian said.
Last week, the council unanimously reappointed Arlette DerHovanessian — nominated by Councilman Ara Najarian — to the arts commission, and tonight is likely to confirm Mayor John Drayman’s renomination of Joylene Wagner, president of Glendale Unified School District Board of Education.
The City Council voted Sept. 2 to study the logistics of establishing a citywide arts council that would include many of the existing arts commissioners, in addition to other local industry professionals, as a way to carry out the city’s Strategic Plan for the Arts, adopted a decade ago.
Arts commissioners said they lacked adequate staff and funding resources to carry out the plan, resulting in little progress over the years.
Drayman pushed the new arts council, which would receive a yet-to-be-determined city subsidy, as a way to tap the innovation and resources of Glendale’s private sector.
As the arts commission prepares to transfer to a more privatized role, some said project management leadership skills could be valuable, but given the comprehensive nature of the strategic plan, “it’s a little odd to be appointing a new member at this time,” Wagner said.
