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San Ramon Arts Advisory Committee presents 2025 annual report; commission accepts recommendations
Summary
The Arts Advisory Committee told the Parks & Community Services Commission it reviewed local programs, selected Jeffrey Brewer as the featured artist for the 2026 Art & Wind Festival, and recommended updates to the city’s five-year cultural plan and public-art program; commissioners accepted the report.
The Parks & Community Services Commission received the Arts Advisory Committee’s 2025 annual report on local public-art and performing-arts programs and voted to accept the committee’s recommendations.
Ranjaneet Venkatachari, chair of the Arts Advisory Committee, described the group’s charge as “to support and promote cultural and performing arts programs in San Ramon,” and summarized this year’s work: reviewing gallery exhibitions and theater operations, evaluating public-art proposals, and selecting a featured artist for the annual Art & Wind Festival. The committee recommended Jeffrey Brewer as the featured artist for the 2026 festival.
The report said staff and committee members reviewed applications from about 180 artists and arts groups and recommended roughly 45 exhibits for five city galleries. Staff identified multiple new public-art installations over the past year, including murals at the Daugherty Station Community Arts Center and a new memorial sculpture, which Commissioner Connick praised: “The eagle has landed… It’s beyond incredible.”
Staff and commissioners discussed the Cultural Growth Grant, a program that offsets theater rental costs at the Daugherty Valley Performing Arts Center. Adam Chow, recreation superintendent, said the grant is advertised on the city website and to renters and is intended as a safety net for new or growing performances that cannot recover costs through ticket sales. He also said the $2 cultural-growth fund fee on qualifying tickets funds the program and that unused funds roll over to future years.
The committee asked staff to update the City of San Ramon’s five-year cultural plan (previously described as a 2025–2029 draft) and present the revised plan for committee review in 2026; staff said the updated plan will be drafted through 2030 so the city has a 2026–2030 planning horizon. Staff also said the RFQ for a signature permanent public-art project at the Doherty Station Community Arts Center is expected to be released in 2026, and the Arts Advisory Committee will review recommended artists.
Commissioners commended committee outreach and event attendance, and the commission moved, seconded, and approved the Arts Advisory Committee annual report. Staff will incorporate the committee’s recommendations into planning and report back as the 5‑year cultural plan and RFQ timelines advance.
