For several reasons, the Santora Building located in the Santa Ana Art District will not be turned into a place of worship when the prospective new owners, New Song Church take over. First of all, the building is registered with the National Historic Society, which means that there cannot be any structural changes inside or outside the building. None of the inside permanent walls can be removed or changed in any way. The angels and gargoyles on the face of the building must remain as well.
If New Song Church wants to have some sort of large gathering, the zoning laws will classify the church as an assembly, so it will be illegal. The Santora Building is a 75 year old building and cannot structurally hold more than fifty people in any one area.
Alicia Rojas, President of the United Artists of Santa Ana sees these restrictions as good things. She hopes that the findings will help ease tensions among the local artists in the area, some of whom have studios inside the historic building.
“I feel that today’s meeting with the City of Santa Ana Ad Hoc Committee was a positive thing. Twenty five percent of our concerns were addressed , so now we need to meet with Daid Gibbons, the Senior Pastor of New Song to discuss the remaining seventy five percent.”
Sandra Pocha Pena, another member of OASA, wants to see an economic impact study done by the city to discuss the value, including fostering tourism, that art brings to Santa Ana. She also wants to see artists get gallery space at the old train station a few blocks away. Pena wants the future owner, whoever that turns out to be, to address maintenance concerns. These including fixing the constant leaks, replacing burned out light bulbs, putting up emergency exit signs, and getting the elevator inspected; the permit expired in 2009. The current owner, Michael Harrah, was given $450,000 to maintain the building; its residents would like to know how that money was spent.
Long time artist Skeith De-Wine, who rents space inside the Santora, was not so positive about the possible sale. “What if this turns into a Christian art gallery? What’s going to stop him from moving in Christian artists when other artists move out? What if they decide to hand out Christian literature to customers and drive them away? What if the members of the church don’t like the artwork displayed in the studios? Do they have the power to censor artists?”
The concerns over Gibbons’s true intentions arose when locals found out accidently that a church was buying the property. Artists had not even known that the Santora was up for sale.
Last week, flyers were left on cars in the form of questionnaire. It consisited of a detailed list of practices that the church considered to be occult, including tarot cards, Reiki, Zen Buddism, and Yoga. After the person answering the questions turned in the form, he or she would be contacted by church members that are trained in healing those in need with prayer.
Individuals not belonging to the UASA plastered flyers around the Art District that asked “is Yoga a cult?”. This seemed to create more tension between New Song and the art community. In response, De-Wine said that he found white dove stickers, the symbol for New Song Church, around the Santora Building as well.
Rojas is working on meeting with representatives of New Song in the next few days to discuss other concerns from the resident artists. These include:
- getting an extended lease for those who are paying month to month
- ensuring that the showcase remains art related
- ensuring that there are no restrictions to the common area
- ensuring that the building remain open twenty-four hours a day
- ensuring that at least 80% of the studios remain dedicated to art.
Rojas is working to keep the peace between artists and New Song and has asked artists to give her until this Saturday before putting together any kind of protest for the next Art Walk, scheduled for June 2.
Hmmm. Maybe the artists should Occupy the building with tents that have crosses on them.
Santora Arts Building Update
As reported in yesterday’s press conference, UASA met with the City Attorney and the Mayor’s Ad Hoc Committee. We learned that some of our concerns were already addressed by current zoning and easements on the building and thru inclusion in an upcoming strategic planning process. A comprehensive summary of the Santora’s legal designations is being prepared for UASA by the City Attorney. The 4 items addressed by the Ad Hoc committee include:
* No Gutting the Building to build a 300+ worship space.
Current zoning and easements prevent the Santora from being used to handle such a heavy load of occupants. Even in the basement, current seismic retrofits and narrow exit door access would limit the amount of people that can safely use the building at any one time. Additionally, a floor plan exists that details the permanent layout of the building. Since this layout is registered with Heritage OC, it can not be altered in any way – i.e. knocking down of walls or structurally modifying the pillars or ironwork. UASA will receive a copy of this floor plan along with a summary of zoning and easements.
While the building’s supposed zoning as “C1A” arts is being verified & confirmed, UASA is also working to obtain a full description of its structural zoning, as well as its zoning for “use”.
* Proper maintenance, cleaning and upkeep to attract art collectors and patrons.
UASA conveyed to the City information about the numerous code violations currently present @ the Santora – i.e. no elevator license, no fire extinguishers, inadequate plumbing, leaking from the rooftop air conditioners, flooding due to bathroom plumbing, flooding due to rain, broken glass tiles, etc.
City representatives & staff committed to relaying these long-standing problems to the current owner. We are also alerting NewSong of these urgent building safety concerns & code violations.
Additionally, in response to UASA’s request that the Santora Art Building’s sign & plaque be restored, the Ad Hoc Committee pledged to help us track down the appropriate government agency to replace these historic markers as well as alerting the current & potential owner(s) that they were missing.
* Lead an Economic Impact Study on the Arts in Santa Ana
The Ad Hoc Committee informed us of the City’s upcoming Strategic Planning sessions where they will chart the course the City will take for the next decade. We reminded the Councilmembers of Santa AnA’s artistic legacy – i.e. Madame Modjeska, Chaplin, Lucile Ball, Desi Arnez, Pepito & John Wayne, etc – and how Santa AnA can build upon this legacy by quantifing the financial impact of our current creative industries – i.e. Ad Firms, Entertainment Venues, Theater’s, Museums, Artist-run businesses. Council reps responded that such a study would need to be a part of the City’s Strategic Plan and invited us to submit a proposal. They promised to support our plan and understood that the Creative Community needs the Civic will to push Art Commerce up to the next level.
* Provide Santa Ana’s creative community Office/Exhibition Space @ The Artists Village & Transit Center
We informed the Ad Hoc Committee of the tremendous revenue opportunities the Arts can bring to Santa Ana- i.e. Increased Tourism & Hotel Occupancy, Increased Film Production, Increased Entertainment Spending and higher Property Values.
To do this, Santa Ana’s creative sector needs civic support in branding local art offerings – i.e. with an an inter-active kiosk & rotating exhibitions @ the Santa Ana train station and regional Transportation Center. The Arts also need a regional arts incubator building, with a combination of exhibition/theatrical/media/retail space that will provide a cultural anchor either in the heart of the Artists Village or in the Santiago District.
The Ad Hoc Committee directed us to formally propose this project to the council and work to have it incorporated into Santa Ana’s Strategic Plan. They promised to support UASA’s proposal for Preserving the Arts in Santa Ana and offered to include our constituents in the forming of a City Arts Commission.
******
We now have 7 remaining items on our UASA list to Preserve the Arts in Santa Ana, and have been encouraged to submit it to NewSong, which we are doing today. Hopefully UASA will hear a reply from NewSong regarding the below-listed items by Saturday, 6/2 @ 6pm so we can update the public on our progress at this Saturday’s ArtWalk:
1. Extending leases to month-to-month Santora artists as well as giving current leaseholders a chance to extend their terms. Additionally, ensure that artists having received the “Estopple Certificate” have an option to renew the certificate.
2. Ensuring the Santora Arts is 80% Artist Occupied as per original contract. Tenants should be free to break their leases if the building falls under 80% Artist Occupancy without any kind of penalty.
3. Rent subsidies will be supported for local artists through the persuit of grants – i.e. California Endowment, Ford Foundations Creative Spaces, etc.
4. That Santora artists have permission to continue rotating the use of the Broadway “showcases” on a monthly basis between participating Santora Artists & Galleries and that Artists will continue having the freedom they’ve enjoyed for years to use common areas in ways that benefit the local arts community and stimulate commerce.
5. That the Santora does not impose mandatory closing hours, remaining open for artists to use studios at night or on holidays as needed.
6. That any changes to Santora decor will include the input of resident Artists and be informed by leaders in the field – i.e. historic restoration experts.
7. That the name of the building will remain “The Santora Arts Building” and that surrounding signage will retain that as the main building title.
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** PLEASE SUPPORT our “RELIGIOUS RUMMAGE SALE” inside the SANTORA **
“UASA RELIGIOUS ART & RUMMAGE SALE”
*BUY art that INSPIRES*
THIS SATURDAY 6/2 from 6-10PM
SANTORA BASEMENT @ Smallest Gallery in the World
2nd & Broadway, DOWNTOWN SANTA ANA, 92701
*A portion of all sales benefit UASA and our mission to Preserve the Arts in Santa AnA. ; ) *
** REMEMBER TO JOIN US AT CITY COUNCIL THIS MONDAY @ 5:30PM **
Michelle Flynn
Santora Anniversary Event Coordinator
United Artists of Santa Ana
Thanks, Mika! You’re giving this great coverage.
Thanks Greg!
“The Santora Building is a 75 year old building and cannot structurally hold more than fifty people in any one area.”
Sounds like a unsafe building.
Right, just like:
Greg: “My twelve-year-old Ford Taurus cannot hold more than five people at once.”
cook: “Sounds like an unsafe car.”
Hint: maybe it wasn’t designed hold more than fifty people in any one area.
Greg, I’ve been all though that building and its built like a rock. But if the anti-church people want to say its unsafe for church people, then it is also unsafe for the astist people too.
Argue with the structural engineers.
There won’t be more than 50 artists in one area at one time. More than that and they start fighting.
Are Occupy Santa Ana members up to speed on the real Battle for Santa Ana’s Soul?
Maybe these power groups need to be confronted about homelessness issues, immigration issues, transparency in government, corporate financing of local, state and national elections, separation of church and state.
http://newsongsantora.com/