Don Cribb. That name resonates in the City of Santa Ana. Some hate him, others swear by him. And most Santa Ana residents have no clue who this man is. Yet he has singlehandedly imprinted the city with his ego – even though by his own admission he does not live here anymore.
That’s right. Last year Cribb admitted during a city commission meeting that he lives in Century City. Technically he maintains a residence in Santa Ana, which is ironically located on my street, a few houses north of my abode.
My four year old calls Cribb’s place the “ghost house.” Because he is never there. The lights are always off. The lawn shows patches of dirt because it is barely tended to. And you can see furniture piled up when you pass by and glance through the front windows. There are usually two nice sport cars parked in the driveway. They might as well be statues because they rarely go anywhere.
Despite Cribb’s absence, he has had an impact on Santa Ana, for better or for worse. He is the one who convinced Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and the Santa Ana City Council to create an artists village in the downtown area of the city. Many years later, we still have only one real library, too few parks, messed up roads, too much graffiti and really high water rates. But yes, we do have an artists village, for what its worth.
Hoping to find out more about Cribb I Googled him and found an interesting article that was published by the O.C. Register. The article is about Cribb’s friend, the artist David Hockney. They are close enough friends that Hockney drew a portrait of Cribb, which appears above. It is a disturbing image. I see madness in his eyes. Then again, most of the creative people in history have been a bit off center, if not completely cuckoo for cocoa puffs…
The article also states that Cribb “splits his time these days between Santa Ana and Los Angeles.” Not really. He is in Santa Ana very rarely. I have seen him either arriving or leaving his house only three times in six years.
I found another article that states that Cribb started the Santa Ana Council of Arts and Culture, whatever that is. And another that said he donated four eucalyptus trees to the Howe-Waffle historic house.
You cannot find anything online about what exactly Cribb does for a living. Or what his educational background is. Or where he comes from. He is an enigma.
I did find a website that disclosed additional information about Cribb’s influence in Santa Ana:
In 1989, a long-time resident of the community, Don Cribb, approached the City’s government with a proposal to revitalize its downtown using the arts as a catalyst. He convinced the City’s leaders and its current Mayor that the arts could be used as an economic tool to rehabilitate downtown. Culture could push commerce forward and strengthen Santa Ana’s community. The city leaders believed in the artists’ ability to revitalize downtown and became the initiators of the Artists Village. Don Cribb headed The Cultural Arts Commission that was later renamed The Santa Ana Council of Arts and Culture.
The Council’s mission is “To enhance the quality of life and to promote the multi-ethnic diversity of Santa Ana by increasing the community’s awareness of Santa Ana’s cultural resources.” Since the development of the Artists Village, more than thirty galleries and art studios, twenty or more museums, theaters, ballet and educational nonprofit organizations and preservation centers have made downtown their home.
“Multi-ethnic diversity.” Ironic choice of words. The Artists Village is not about diversity, as far as I can tell. It is about the de-Mexicanization of downtown Santa Ana.
We have more than thirty galleries and art studios. Twenty or more museums. Blah, blah, blah. And only one library. And way too few parks. And messed up roads. It is obvious that in Santa Ana, Cribb’s vision prevailed, and the people of Santa Ana got screwed. There is no other way to put it.
But who is Don Cribb? Really? I still have no clue who he is or what makes him tick. Perhaps our readers can shed some light on this mystery man?
“Then again, most of the creative people in history have been a bit off center, if not completely cuckoo for cocoa puffs…”
Geez Art, were you unable to keep your crayons inside the lines when you were a kid and anything to do with art or artists is like a Nam flashback for you now? I kinda like the Hockney drawing, but then I’m a graphic designer/artsy fartsy type that’s halfway to the loony bin.
Joking aside, you’re quite correct that Santa Ana has a obscene lack of libraries and parks. One of the problems I see with City leadership is that economic development is given an inappropriately large priority. It’s important…but not the ONLY important thing a city needs.
n2justice,
The comment was not meant as a slight. Studies show that historically many of the most brilliant people in history have been bipolar or schizophrenic. There appears to be a thin line between genius and madness.
I dabbled in water colors as a child. I played three musical instruments. And even back then I wrote. A lot.
I was a graphic designer many moons ago. My wife and I started a chain of comic book stores back in the day.
I have long since set aside drawing and graphic design, and playing music. But I still love to write. Thank God for that. I would not be much of a blogger otherwise.
I agree by the way with your premise regarding the city and economic development. If we continue to ignore our social infrastructure, we will never get ahead.
Don Cribb and his cronies have managed to bleed this city of so many precious tax dollars over the years. The money that has been thrown into creating Cribb’s pipedream could’ve been used to improve the quality of life for our city’s residents. Instead it was used to create a playground for Cribb and other outsiders while the rest of us suffered.
Are the shopowners on Fourth Street suffering?
I worked downtown in the early 90s. Fourth Street was DEAD…zero…nada. Now, it’s a thriving retail corridor. Is Don Cribb responsible for that? Of course not. But if he’s such a negative, pernicious force, particularly in the downtown area, then how did that happen? Why was Don Cribb, this man you say is so powerful and wants to “de-mexicanize” Fourth Street, unable to stop that?
Please, just inject some balance into your overheated, one-sided rhetoric.
“…while the rest of us suffered.”
Snore.
n2,
What Santa Ana do you live in?
How are the streets?
How bout the library system?
Do we have quality recreation programs for our youth?
Can you get a cop when you call one?
How’s the infrastructure?
We are constantly reminded that we have no money to address these issues. Perhaps if we had addressed them earlier instead of wasting tax dollars on Don Cribb’s pipedream they would be such pressing issues today.
“Snore”?
That is the problem too many folks have been asleep while Cribb and his cronies have frittered away and wasted our tax dollars. You need to wake up.
Sean,
Did I say that those issues don’t need to be addressed? No. Instead, you choose to venture outside the main point of my comment, which was…
“while the rest of us suffered” is simply a piece of innacurate, overheated, unbalanced piece of rhetoric.
” ‘while the rest of us suffered’ is simply a piece of innacurate, overheated, unbalanced piece of rhetoric.”
Sadly it is not innacurate. This city is deteriorating and we lack the funds to do anything about it. If we had spent the millions upon millions of dollars we wasted on Cribb’s pipedrem on improving the quality of life for ALL of our residents we would be better off today.
I have no problem with the Artists Village, but I do have a problem with how it was funded.
How much money did the artist village eat up?
I remember a post not to far back that had the dollar number for repairing the streets. Quite a big number.
If you add up the cost of the artist village (that the city paid for) and the costs of city management salaries, you might get to about 1 percent of the cost needed for street repairs, not including any new parks or libraries.
So where is the rest of the dollars for this wish list to come from?
Blaming Mr. Cribbs as if he is the boogieman is smoke and mirrors.
“is simply a piece of innacurate, overheated, unbalanced piece of rhetoric”
N2- Kinda what this blog is known for! š
n2justice,
In order to bring some balance to the Orange Juice, I am looking to add a member of the OC arts community to our blog team. If you known anyone, please have them contact me at apedroza@earthlink.net.
Thanks.
Art,
Will do.
I DON’T KNOW WHO DON CRIBB IS EITHER, BUT WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT HIS BACKGROUND OR WHETHER HE IS FULL TIME RESIDENT OF SANTA ANA.HE IS NOT AN ELECTED OFFICIAL OR A LEADER OF ANY GROUP. WHY NOT INVESTIGATE THE OUT OF STATE CONTRIBUTORS WHO ARE INFLUENCING OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS?
Anon 10:49,
Cribb is an appointed official. He is a member of E.T.A.C. If he, as he said at his last Planning Commission meeting, actually lives in Century City he has no business serving on E.T.A.C. That is why we should care.
Hi Don. It all keeps coming around, doesn’t it? But you are the ultimate escape artist.
Yes Bruce, and a liar and beater of his mother and sister..a fake artist…his place in LA, as you know, was not in century city nor his home or birthplace where he said it was.he did not graduate from SC, he didn’t attend his father’s funeral nor give one dime or attention to his dying mother who he threatened and beat and repeatedly left her sobbing while squeezing and beating the little fe out of his little sister..then tried to take credit for her Honors at Entrance a full financial package to UCBerkelwy while swindling a poor family friend into giving her warehouse in L.A. to him.
What a master abuser violent user manipulatordestroyer