Hollister, Calif., a small city inland from Monterey Bay, is best-known to the world as the inspiration for a surfer-themed brand of clothing and accessories.
In actuality, Hollister is a crossroads of California – an hour from Silicon Valley and the coast, and a gateway to the Central Valley agricultural region and Pinnacles National Park, one of the state’s many natural wonders. It’s a place where memories of organizing with Cesar Chavez, the pageant of California car culture, and the influx hyper-commutes to San José and beyond are all in the air.
Hollister is about to embark on its first-ever comprehensive overview and plan for its arts and culture sector. It is unusual, but not unheard of, for a small, agricultural community outside of California’s major metropolitan areas, to create a plan for its cultural future. Bressi was asked by Placeworks, the firm that is overseeing the update to the city’s General Plan, to lead the writing of the plan’s arts and culture element.
Hollister, like many cities of it size, does not have many traditional arts organizations or facilities. But it does have vibrant music, poetry, dance, performance and mural traditions that build on the heritage of its Mexican residents. The county’s arts council organizes expansive community arts programming, with a focus on arts programs in public schools. And the city is eager to grow its capacity for small-scale public art and placemaking projects that support efforts to revive its downtown main street.
In recent years the idea of “naturally occurring cultural districts” has gained traction. This means places where a concentration of grass-roots, community-based cultural practices can be found, independent of formal arts and culture organizations and facilities. Hollister’s Arts and Culture Element will consider how this idea might apply to the understanding of, and planning for, Hollister’s arts and culture sector.
The general plan process, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2021, hopes help Hollister find a path for authentic placemaking and support of its community arts traditions.
Leave a Reply