Oxnard-- The Community Services, Public Safety, Housing & Development Committee had preliminary discussions about transforming the closed Carnegie Arts Museum into the Carnegie Arts Center on Tuesday, September 12.
City Manager Alex Nguyen presented the concept and said they are not asking the committee to make any final decisions, and the item is to begin a conversation about transforming the Carnegie Art Museum into the Carnegie Arts Center in the future.
The museum closed in July 2019 due to a funding shortfall in the budget. In the 2018-19 budget, the city set aside $522,708 for the Carnegie Art Museum.
During the city’s financial shortfall, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, funds became tighter, and the cost savings were invaluable in ensuring the city could still provide its residents with needed services.
Initially, Nguyen said the Carnegie Arts Center would be a center for formal arts instruction provided to the city’s youth in recreation programs after school and summer.
During the evening hours, Nguyen said the Arts Center could serve as an art gallery and provide exhibition space for local artists.
“It will be treated as a real art gallery, which means there would be a revenue split, and it would not…
