6 responses to “Summer Planning”

1. mike

   June 9, 2012

   no art in the park, what a shame. i have been to all of them and looked forward to it each year. i don’t think having building materials companies and similar was in any way art, but still. it took a significant effort on my part to find out that it was not going to happen this year. i don’t understand where our city government is taking us, but i am not happy at how they are doing it. burlingame has always had a soul, and our city leaders worked on preserving that soul…but in the last decade or two, city leadership has lacked the knowledge and connection to what made burlingame so great. it looks like the city i grew up in and raised a family…a city i loved, is changing into something common. so sad.

2. Carol

   June 9, 2012

   I worked as the secretary to the supervisors who ran Art in the Park. Sadly, it was placed on the endangered species list when it went from being run by the Recreation Department and was passed onto a promoter. The Rec Department oversaw the faire with TLC for over 35 years. They were meticulous in their jury process to assure a wide variety of arts and crafts. Items were required to be handmade, not manufactured or imported. Originally there was no commercialism. The food booths and kids activities were run by local non profit groups as fundraisers. It had a “small town” feel to it. When the City allowed the Chamber of Commerce to run Jazz on the Avenue in August, the June Art in the Park began to become obsolete. The founding Art in the Park artists were local. Now, so many art fairs are run by promoters, that you will find the same artists at each fair because they are basically traveling salesmen, going from City to City. I am so disappointed to see that they City has thrown in the towel on such a long standing tradition. A sign of the times, I suppose. If it is not self supporting, it is dissolved. If you feel strongly that the City should reinstate Art in the Park, let the City Council know this. If enough Burlingame Voices speak up, perhaps they will reconsider.

3. jennifer

   June 10, 2012

   Carol, thank you for the history of this event. This is how I remember it, too. Local artists, musicians, no commercialism. I mourn the loss of that event, not the loss of the Art in the Park event of the past several years. The only thing that has that event apart from the art fairs that we see in most every other city, is that our setting is more beautiful because it takes place in the tree grove, and that’s about it. Cathy Foxhoven, and some others who have worked to mentor young talent in the community have continued to showcase a few acts during the event, but that is the extent of the ‘local flavor’. I agree with your assessment– these days if it isn’t self-supporting, it doesn’t continue. The only exception I can think of is the Holiday Festival. I’m sure it is an expense for Burlingame, but thank goodness, so far, it has not become commercial and definitely seems to get more popular each year.

4. Joe

   June 22, 2012

   I forgot this event that the City just sent a reminder on–it’s a fun spectator event as well:
   On Sunday, June 24, 2012, the Burlingame Criterium Bicycle Race will take place in the downtown area of Burlingame Ave. The race will affect traffic in the Burlingame Ave. business district area. The event, which occurs between 6:00 am and 4:00 pm, will close Burlingame Ave., Lorton Dr., Howard Ave., Park Rd., Primrose Rd. and Bellevue Ave.

5. mike

   April 14, 2013

   so here we are a year later and a few months away from, what had been a 40 year tradition, art in the park..and no sign that it will happen this year either. i guess the city government just gave up on the idea, showing us long time residents that they know nothing about what made burlingame, burlingame. it does seem like burlingame is a representation of what is happening all over america. when you lose your identity, you lose your soul and reason to exist. i feel like it would be better if city government just changed the name of burlingame, so i can at least have a good memory of what it was

6. alittlebird

   April 14, 2013

   Mike,
   That is because the city government folks have not been in this city for the same length of time as you and I. It is such a shame, because they don’t have any idea what Burlingame, as we know it, was all about. I agree, change the name to something different all together, so we can retain those memories of the Burlingame we knew. So sad and so ignorant.