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Board renews Arts Consortium designation; My Voice Media Center raises funding concerns after Prop. 1 changes
Summary
The board designated the Arts Consortium as the official county arts council through Dec. 31, 2027, recognized spoken‑word artist Michael Hassell as Artist of the Year and heard that the My Voice Media Center—an arts program serving adults with lived mental‑health experience—faces funding uncertainty following statewide Proposition 1 changes.
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors voted 5‑0 Oct. 7 to designate the Arts Consortium as the county’s official arts council effective Jan. 1, 2026 through Dec. 31, 2027, and presented a certificate naming Michael Hassell as the Arts Consortium’s 2025–26 Artist of the Year.
Ampelio Mejia Perez, executive director of the Arts Consortium, described the consortium’s countywide programs and introduced Hassell, a Visalia‑based spoken‑word artist. Hassell performed a short reading before supervisors presented a certificate recognizing his work organizing Visalia’s Loudmouth Poetry Jam, teaching workshops and representing the Central Valley at competitions.
The Arts Consortium also briefed the board on the My Voice Media Center, a program that offers free art sessions and peer support to adults with lived experience of mental‑health conditions. Program staff described services including a No Stigma Speakers Bureau used to deliver in‑class presentations for nursing students and community groups. Peer specialist Olivia Garza delivered a personal account of recovery and service work; staff said more than 800 people are registered with My Voice Media Center programming.
Arts Consortium staff told supervisors they are concerned about the future of funding after the passage of California Proposition 1 and the state-level changes moving the Mental Health Services Act into a broader behavioral-services framework. Staff said those changes make the availability of prior MHSA funding uncertain for My Voice Media Center operations and asked the board for advice and help in identifying potential sustaining resources and partners.
Supervisor Amy Shuklian moved to renew the consortium’s designation; Supervisor Eddie Valero seconded. The motion passed 5‑0. No additional county funds were approved at the meeting; Arts Consortium representatives requested planning discussions about sustaining My Voice programming.
