01 & 14 (51)Public Comment
From: Austin Eder <
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2021 5:44 AM
To: Public Comment
Cc: info@anaheimballet.org
Subject: Please Vote in Support of the Cooperative Agreement with Anaheim Ballet — Harvard
College/Anaheim Ballet Alumna
Dear Mayor Sidhu and Council Members,
The arts are an important part of any community, and for more than 20 years, Anaheim Ballet has
been a valued arts force and presence in Anaheim. Anaheim Ballet provides free community-based
after-school programming, workforce and recreational training, bus -in presentations,
lecture/demonstrations and concert performances and has been recognized both locally and
internationally as a point of pride to the City.
The Anaheim Cultural Arts Center (the current home of Anaheim Ballet, located at 280 E Lincoln Ave,
Anaheim, CA 92805) is slated to be demolished without plans for a new Cultural Arts Center or home
for the Anaheim Ballet. If the City demolishes this architecturally unique building, you will be removing
the only Cultural Arts Center in the City and displacing the City's treasured arts organization. It is best
for the community, and especially for our underserved youth, that Anaheim Ballet remains in its
current accessible location.
Anaheim Ballet and its faculty and staff provide a crucial mechanism of social uplift in our community;
without their programming and support, I would not be where I am today: a recent graduate of
Harvard College and contributing member of my community. Anaheim Ballet, and particularly the
building in which it resides, served — and continues to serve — as a second home to me and
countless others during times of domestic insecurity and educational and environmental stress. If not
for the immeasurable benefit the organization provides to the City each year in terms of cultural
enrichment, save the building for the City's youth. I support the City's interest in developing affordable
housing for its residents but I state resolutely: this is not the place to look.
Please vote in support of the Cooperative Agreement with Anaheim Ballet. Thank you for your
consideration.
Sincerely,
Austin Eder
Austin Eder
Harvard College, B.A. in Government and Art, Film, & Visual Studies
(