GOD BLESS YOU PLEASE, MRS. ROBINSON I'm Taking Brentwood for a Walk in the Park
	SEPTEMBER 2004

by Chris Robinson
Photos by Brad Shifflett

I've heard it said that everybody has the ability to do at least one thing well — and the "one thing" I do artistically well is performance art. I do a one-woman Cher shtick that is so convincing I once fooled Cher's own people. At a live appearance of Cher a few years ago, her bodyguards wouldn't believe that I wasn't Cher herself. I guess they thought that I was she having a mental breakdown or something, and trying to get away from her handlers.
They wouldn't believe my story until they actually called Cher up and were able to verify the fact that the person talking to them on their walkie-talkies from the dressing room couldn't possibly be the person standing in front of them.

I impressed myself that day!

Art to the People!
I have a great time as Cher, but the thing that I'm passionate about is bringing fine art to Brentwood by whatever means I can. My enthusiasm for the arts is undimmed by the sad reality that I have no abilities as a fine artist myself.

The City of Brentwood created The Brentwood Arts Commission three years ago last January by merging with the Brentwood Art and Design Committee, which had reached the end of its usefulness. The newly formed Commission transitioned from a volunteer organization to becoming part of the City, as we wished.

Our conversion to commission status also opened the way for us to access City resources to develop more artwork than was possible for a committee of volunteers. In passing the Public Art Ordinance, the City provided the Commission a percentage of construction costs for residential and public projects for art. The arrangement has worked out wonderfully well, because right now, for example, we are projecting over $1.2 million of art enhancements for the Vineyards at Marsh Creek development alone.

An important part of the work of the Commission is to make recommendations about how to spend the money designated for art that is beginning to come to the City. We are working hard to ensure that the decision-making process is as thoroughly representative as possible. Community residents are invited to present ideas, which the Commission will consider — but never ignore. We carefully consider everything people suggest.

We don't promise not to laugh at suggestions, however (because, believe me, some of the suggestions have been real doozies).

We have been considering ideas for artwork, including landscaping, paintings, and statues. We want to do anything we can to beautify the Brentwood community. For example, we have plans to erect statues at several places and turn some blank walls into murals.

The Commission has recommending power to City Council as to how to spend the money, except that our charter contains the sensible requirement that eighty percent of all revenues collected from any development project must be spent for art works in that particular community.

I would love to see the Arts Commission conducting its business in a more normal fashion, with a regular source of funding. We could provide additional support for the schools. We could have real art galleries. I would love to see archways on both ends — or four ends — of town. "Welcome to Brentwood." That would be good for improving people's perception of our City, I think.

We would all eventually like to see a real art gallery in Brentwood, rather than using the walls of the Business and Technology Incubator for the purpose. A downtown location would be a dream come true. Maybe we could put such a thing in the City Hall where it could be staffed and run on a full-time basis.

The first thing I would like us to be able to do is finish the statue of a farmer that we've already begun work on. The mock-up is finished.

Taking Art to the Schools
Another area of interest to the Brentwood Arts Commission has been in providing art-learning activities in public schools. In these difficult budget times, it is no secret that schools have been involved in a long-term process of paring down elective subjects, including the fine arts.

One of the ways in which we have been reinforcing art in public schools is by our current show in the Arts Commission Gallery, which is the first annual show of many works of art created by local school children. The Arts Commission is also helping sponsor the Docent Art Program, through which local volunteers take art classes into public schools.

I would like to see us penetrate the schools even more effectively. I wish we could bring the children to the gallery on a more regular basis, as well as take things from the gallery to them.

We're trying to expand to the performing arts, as well. For example, a couple of months ago we brought a touring group to town to provide free performances of "Romeo and Juliet" for Brentwood residents. We want to get a theater group started. I would love to see more plays coming to our town.

We sponsored the "Art for Art's Sake" venue on Main Street on the First Saturday of May. We're also encouraging the production of a documentary about Stanley Mouse that Bill Weber and Richard Koscher are working on.

I see the activities and influence of the Arts Commission growing by leaps and bounds in the years ahead. As Craig Bronzan, Director of Parks and Recreation has said "We feel like we've gone from Zero to 70 in 0 seconds." We've done in a few months what other commissions took 17 years to accomplish.

Taking Brentwood for a Walk in the Park
My own personal magnum opus, as far as Brentwood arts is concerned, is a grand performance piece that we are now calling "A Day in the Park Art & Wine Festival." This is actually a two-day celebration of art and community that we conduct each year in the Brentwood downtown park. I developed this several years ago, during my first year as Arts Commission chairperson.

We are all proud of the Corn Fest, of course, but that event seems too large to provide the kind of community enhancement that I long for. I had a vision to supplement Corn Fest with a smaller event that would encourage local artists to display their handiwork.

I'm developing Day in the Park as a place for neighbors and friends simply to stroll around and visit with each other. People can relax in each other's company, mingle, and talk. For a few hours they can relive a slower gentler past. They can sit on lawn chairs with a glass of wine listening to the gentle strains of music.

I can close my eyes right now and see a young woman and man, with a baby and a dog, strolling around and enjoying the sunshine, trees, and works of art. Art in the Park is an epitome of the Brentwood I love. It is a kick for me!

My goal was to create an annual celebration that could infuse the concept of a festival with my love for history and art. To launch the idea I developed two cartoon characters, whom I named "Bertha and Axel" I use them to depict the spirit of the occasion. People are beginning to associate the Day in the Park with these two figures.

Brentwood Time Machine
We're trying to create Day in the Park as a period piece, representing life as it might be lived in the late 1800s — complete with handlebar mustaches, parasols, and musicians playing in the band shell.

The best part is watching this unfold and seeing people begin to show up in costume. I encourage vendors to dress up with a hat and a parasol. We had Cathy's Designs custom make a special Keystone Kop costume for Brentwood Police Chief, Mike Davies. We really tricked Chief Davies out in his costume. I gave it to him in a Victoria's Secret bag, providing an additional laugh.

The first year was the most challenging because the idea had never been tested. Everybody went along with it, but I think some people didn't believe we would be able to pull it off. However, the event made money that first year, thanks to the extraordinary support given by Rosenblum Wines and Marsh Creek Vineyards that pledged $20K a year each year for five years.

This will be our third annual Day in the Park. We're planning to push the theme further ahead each year. For example, we're planning an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, complete with hard candy and sarsaparilla. I'm also hoping for an old-fashioned picture booth, and a vendor selling roasted peanuts. I would love for a club to sponsor a root beer float booth.

The City of Brentwood Police Department supplies personnel in uniform to patrol the event, making sure people don't leave with beer and wine. I got stopped last year for trying to drive out of the park on an errand in my Floozy mobile because the patrolman thought my bottle of Sarsaparilla looked like a beer. I don't even drink beer. I'm still laughing!

We still don't have the event developed to the point that I want it to be some day — when you can walk onto the grounds and believe that you went on a time machine to an earlier century. At that point, however, I'll present somewhat of an anachronism riding around in my "Floozy mobile" golf cart.

Joining with Neighbors for Laughter and Fun
I remember one unforgettable experience last year when we started to run out of ice. Dressed in all my skirts and pantaloons I drove the Floozy mobile up to Sweeney's like it was a Jack-in-the-Box. "We need ice!" I said. It was hilarious.

People are starting to make costumes all year long in preparation for the Day in the Park weekend. I would like to see the festival continue to evolve until 70 percent of the attendees are dressing in period costumes — the guys at least wearing a cap and the gals carrying a parasol.

People can carry the theme out as far as they wish, with white blouses, shawls, straight skirts for the women. The men can turn out in fancy shirts, bow ties, canes, suspenders, garters, straw hats, and derby hats. Throw in a handlebar mustache and a little pair of spectacles for additional effect.

I want people to feel they are in an old time sepia-tint picture that has suddenly come alive. Last year one guy turned up in a derby hat wearing a handlebar mustache and carrying a cane. I wanted to get right off my Floozy mobile and kiss him.

Oak Street Boutique has a whole window devoted to the style a month before the event. We have contests for costumes, which includes vendors, staff, and guests.

I would also love to see the festival hours extend into the evening. We could string some twinkle lights in the trees, have a little social, and do some dancing. We could create this as a great after-hours social event, with everyone hanging around and enjoying the evening and music in a context of friendly cheer.

I can just see it now: Lamps shining along the sidewalk, twinkling lights, and everyone just relaxing and having a good time together for a couple of hours. Have a band playing, with ice cream, hotdogs, and peanuts. Make it a family thing. Those nice October evenings can provide some of the most beautiful weather we see all year long.

Pushing the Old-time Brentwood into the Future
Brentwood is a unique little city. I dearly love this place. I enjoy strolling downtown past the fountain after the lights are down. It's beautiful. I always bring visitors downtown at night.

We're people friendly. We say "Hi!" to people we don't know. That's what the Day in the Park is about. We have a vendors' night the evening before the festival begins. Some of the vendors who attended that event have told me that they never received this kind of treatment from any other town they visited.

I regard Day in the Park as an extension of my own home. I want people to have fun, like they were visiting in my home. I want everyone to get in on the spirit of the thing, no matter what his or her age. The band playing in the gazebo has a down-home quality, rather than the feeling of performers on a stage.

Several people over the years have sung to me, "God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson." I don't know if He's been up there listening, or what. All I know is that, whatever the explanation, I'm surely having a great time!

I love what I do. I put passion into every activity of my life. I'm a detail person. "Heaven is in the details," someone said. For sure, I'm having a divine time rolling around in the details of the Day in the Park festival. I can't wait for October to get here!