ON POINT - February 2013
Friday Night Liberty on February 1 – Gotta Love Free Dance Performances and Art Openings!
“For the Love of Art” is the February theme for the monthly Friday Night Liberty FREE open art studios, galleries and dance performances on Friday, February 1, from 5pm to 8pm, at the 15 historic buildings in the NTC Arts & Culture District in Liberty Station.
In addition to great gift ideas for your Valentine, visitors will also enjoy previews to new dance works by Malashock Dance, Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater and San Diego Ballet, as well as meet artists in their studios. New exhibits will be at Ballast Point Gallery, Women’s Museum of California, Casa Valencia Galeria Baja, Visions Art Museum, pulse gallery, San Diego Watercolor Society, Sophie’s Gallery, Mandell Weiss Gallery, Martha Pace Swift Gallery, Mod-Est Gallery, along with artists in Barracks 15 and 19.
Solare Ristorante will feature dinner specials and treats are available at Chi Chocolat and Point Loma Tea.
For a full program and schedule of dance performances, call 619 573-9300 or go to NTC Friday Night Liberty Program.
NTC Arts and Culture District Continues to Move Forward with Completion of Phase Two by James Chute, UT San Diego
| photo by Kevin Walsh |
Point Loma’s NTC at Liberty Station is one step closer to becoming a regional arts and culture center rivaling only Balboa Park.
At a dedication ceremony Thursday, November 15 at Liberty Station, NTC Foundation officials celebrated the completion of the project’s eight “Phase Two” buildings and welcomed 14 new tenants, ranging from art galleries to small design firms.
“It’s an opportunity to acknowledge this is working,” said Alan Ziter, executive director of the NTC Foundation since late 2003. “What’s happening here validates the whole concept of what people thought NTC and Liberty Station could be.”
The city of San Diego, which took possession of the former Naval Training Center in 1997, named Corky McMillin as the master developer of the expansive property in 1999, but the city also set aside 26 buildings on 28 acres as a “civic arts and cultural district,” now called NTC at Liberty Station. In 2000, the city formed the not-for-profit NTC Foundation to plan, develop and manage the district.
Of those 26 buildings, 15 are now completed, an additional building in the arts district is being leased and renovated by Stone Brewing Co. as a “special events” annex to its planned brewery and restaurant in the commercial portion of Liberty Station, and 11 structures await renovation.
“This is the largest historical preservation project in San Diego and it’s also the city’s largest arts and culture project in terms of size and scope,” Ziter said. “It’s been slow and steady. But we’ll get it done.”
Seven of the eight refurbished structures were former two-story barracks buildings containing a total of 52,500 square feet. They have been reconfigured into shops, studios, work spaces and offices that will now house Ballast Point Gallery, Barracks 17 Event Center, Brandiose, California State Parks, Casa Valencia Galeria Baja, FlightPath Intaglio Studio, Point Loma Tea, Ron’s Shop, Studio E, Taylor Grace Designs, The Hot Spot! (pottery painting), the Women’s Museum of California and Yellow Book Road Children’s Books.
The additional renovated structure is one of the four iconic officers’ quarters homes facing Rosecrans Street, which is being leased by “Scout,” a design and gallery enterprise.
“The history and the beauty of the place is definitely what struck us first,” said Casey White, a partner in Brandiose, a design firm specializing in sports in Barracks 15. “And it feels like the start of something bigger. I don’t know where it will go, but there are interesting people doing interesting things here, that’s pretty clear. I’m excited to see what happens.”
Four remaining barracks are awaiting renovation, as are three remaining officers’ quarters, the former base exchange, the gate house at the corner of Rosecrans Street and Roosevelt Road, a pump house and Luce Auditorium.
Ziter has developed a plan for Luce that would transform the sprawling, 1,800-seat auditorium into three separate spaces, suitable for film and dance, and is looking for funding for the next phase.
The foundation has already generated approximately $60 million from a combination of public and private sources, including $22 million for Phase Two. To complete the project, it will need to raise and identify approximately $40 million more, according to Ziter. That includes $20 million to realize the Luce renovation, which has long been considered a key element at NTC as it would provide resident groups a place to perform and could offer local film festivals a permanent home.
Ziter anticipates Luce could be finished by at least 2023, which is the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Naval Training Center, but he’s hoping for sooner.
In the interim, Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater, one of the three dance companies that was among NTC’s founding tenants (they moved into a renovated classroom building in late 2006 that became Dance Place San Diego) is transforming one of the larger studios in Dance Place into a “white box theater” with a new sprung wood floor theater lighting, raised seating for 135 and a high-end sound system.
“It’s been very exciting being here (at NTC),” said Jean Isaacs. “I remember that first year in this building. It was John (Malashock of Malashock Dance), myself and Javier (Velasco, co-director of the San Diego Ballet). I remember thinking about how quiet it was and whether I had made a mistake...
“But it’s grown up really beautifully.”
[email protected] Twitter: @sdutchute • Facebook: facebook.com/utartmusic
Historic Barracks 17 Event Center Now Available for Bookings
Historic Barracks 17 has been transformed in a new unique Event Center in the historic heart of the NTC Arts & Culture District in Liberty Station. The Barracks 17 Event Center occupies the ground floor of an area that was once the quarters to many recruits starting in 1923. Now it’s a 2,000+ square-foot event space that can host mid-size groups from 60 to 120 people. Just outside the French doors there is a spacious, landscaped plaza that can be used alone or in conjunction with the indoor space, more than doubling its capacity.
Our select venues can satisfy your event needs from weddings to meetings, to fundraisers, festivals, classes, performances or conferences. Our spaces include the McMillin Event Center, the Command Center Executive Conference Center, the Historic North Chapel, and Dance Place San Diego. Additionally, there are the scenic outdoor venues that include the Sybil Stockdale Rose Garden, Ingram Plaza, Central Promenade and North Promenade. All offer Shipshape Hospitality!
Let us help you plan your next event! For more information about any of our venues, please call (619) 573-9260 to speak with a member of our sales team. Also, check out our web site at www.NTCVenues.com.ArtWalk Joins Growing List of San Diego’s Best Events at NTC in 2013
In 2013, the indoor and outdoor venues of NTC at Liberty Station will be home to a growing number of the San Diego’s most popular cultural events. ArtWalk San Diego recently announced it is moving its popular ArtWalk on the Bay to NTC’s Ingram Plaza on August 23 and 24. It's a gorgeous, flat, grassy park just a stone's throw from the Bay. See San Diego’s best selection of fine artwork from more than 160 visual artists, a full musical performance lineup and art for families are in store for attendees of the free public festival. Artist applications for ArtWalk San Diego @ NTC Liberty Station are available online. Click here to begin.
Talmadge Art Show - In the beautiful outdoor venues and the versatile McMillin Event Center we are welcoming the Talmadge Art Show showcasing the region’s most accomplished artists on February 10th, then again on May 5th and November 24th.
40th California Open Wildlife Art Festival - The exhibition and competition attracts top carvers, wildlife artists and art lovers from all over the United States, Canada, Russia and Japan to the McMillin Event Center on February 16 & 17.
KidsFest returns to NTC and will take over Ingram Plaza on a Spring Weekend TBD hosting a family friendly celebration with a Dance Party, Messy and Bubble Zone, and more!
The Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Festival, presented by the Women’s Museum of California, is a food and wine lovers delight making June 7th a night of indulgence on the North Promenade.
IndieFest, the premiere festival for independent music and film in San Diego returns to the NTC campus from August 16th-18th.
San Diego Magazine’s Best of San Diego brings the shining stars of San Diego food, beverage and more to NTC on August 23rd.
NTC in the News
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| The White Box Theater in Building 176 Photo by Manny Rotenberg |
The NTC Arts & Culture District has received quite a bit of ink lately both in print and online. Enjoy these recent articles!
- UT San Diego - Changes ahead for ArtWalk
- San Diego Community News Group - Curtain still waiting to rise for historic Luce Auditorium
- San Diego Community News Group - Liberty Station’s White Box Theater may signal trend in direction of local arts
- UT San Diego - Impressionistic 'Water Lilies' a First for Local Choreographer Jean Isaacs
- UT San Diego - Hotel San Diego Sign as Art?
- Examiner.com - National Comedy Theatre expands into Liberty Station with new training center!
Community Support Contributes to NTC Success
Did You Know……?
- NTC Foundation has renovated 15 of 26 historic navy buildings in the Civic, Arts & Cultural District at Liberty Station?
- Nearly 50 artists, dance companies, galleries, creative retail and nonprofits are enlivening the campus with creativity and inspiration?
- More than 350,000 San Diego residents and visitors of all ages each year attend an exhibit, rehearsal, class, festival or event at NTC, including our Friday Night Liberty open campus events held the first Friday of each month?
- More than 700 at-risk students from military families and alternative/court schools have attended the NTC Foundation’s Liberty School education program, which provides a classroom experience using the creative resources of our resident arts, music and dance groups?
Connect with NTC on Facebook
Keep up with the latest happenings at NTC @ Liberty Station. Get insider information, see photos and hear about what our Resident Groups are up to. Like NTC Arts and Culture District on Facebook!
Newsy Bits
- Congratulations to San Diego artist Inocente, the subject of an Oscar-nominated short documentary about her life from homeless teen to young artist. Much of the film was shot at NTC in the ARTS: A Reason to Survive space in Building 201, the same building where Top Gun scenes were shot in 1986. Inocente’s art cow for the Cow Parade has its home at NTC.
- NTC Foundation Executive Director Alan Ziter has been re-elected to serve another 3-year term on the board of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, now called the San Diego Tourism Authority.
- NTC Foundation President and CEO Pam Hamilton Lester was honored in a November 29 ceremony as one of “Horton’s Heroes” along with Alonzo Horton, Pete Wilson and others who played a significant role in the original development and revitalization of downtown.
- Congratulations to NTC founding board member Victoria Hamilton on recently ending 24 years as Executive Director of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and starting the next chapter of your career.
To The Point ...
February 1 Friday Night Liberty
Celebrate the love of art at Friday Night Liberty, a monthly open studio and gallery event at NTC at Liberty Station. February 1st from 5-8 enjoy Dance Performances from San Diego Ballet, San Diego Dance Theater and Malashock Dance; unique art exhibitions at pulse gallery, San Diego Watercolor Society, Visions Art Museum, and live music at the Recreational Music Center. Find something special for your valentine like unique works in felt at Sophie’s Gallery, handmade cards by visiting artists Marion Black and gourmet sweets at Chi Chocolat. NTC at Liberty Station is where San Diego Gets Creative. 2640 Historic Decatur Rd. San Diego, CA 92106.
February 10 Talmadage Art Show
The Talmadge Art Show is an energetic environment for new, emerging, and accomplished artists to showcase and sell their works of art. Many of the artists in the Talmadge Art Show are exploring art to express their creativity, to develop a second career or to have fun with a new medium. The Talmadge Art Show provides a positive environment in which to nourish and grow. New artists learn to market and sell their work, moving from the creative process to the selling stage. It's an opportunity to join a group of artists who revel in the creative process. http://www.talmadgeartshow.com
February 16-17 Pacific Southwest Wildlife Art Show
The PSWA is involved in promoting wildlife art and both educating and enriching the community through our outreach programs, seminars, workshops, study groups and monthly meetings. The culmination of the PSWA's activities is in mid-February each year when the organization presents the world class "California Open Wildlife Arts Festival." http://www.pswa.net/.
February 25-26 Paso Robles Wine Tasting Event
Each year, Paso Robles Wine Country hits the road visiting key markets state-wide to spread the brand awareness of Paso Robles wines. Over 30 winemakers from California’s third largest wine producing region will visit San Diego February 25 – 26, 2013. The visit begins with multiple winemaker dinners then culminates on day-two with a ticketed tasting event from 6 – 8:30 p.m. Cheese and charcuterie will be presented by Peacock Cheese Company to complement this Paso Robles wine experience. Tickets for the Grand Tasting event go on sale January 23rd. Visit http://www.pasowine.com/events/grandtasting.php for more information and tickets!
Be sure to check the NTC at Liberty Station online calendar for all the happenings scheduled.
Please consider making a gift to the NTC Foundation to help us translate the community’s vision for NTC at Liberty Station into a new Arts and Cultural District that will increase the quality of life for all San Diegans. Donate now!
For information about lease space in NTC at Liberty Station, contact Leasing Specialist Sean Giffin at [email protected] or 619-573-9304.