The Western Stage to Co-Sponsor Luncheon with NEA Chairman

The Western Stage (TWS) is among several local sponsors hosting a luncheon with Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, on March 27^th under the auspices of the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce.

The Chairman will address relevant issues concerning the arts, literacy, and business in America at a sandwich summit on “The Importance of Literacy in Business” at the National Steinbeck Center. The Western Stage is assisting in facilitating the Chairman’s local activities.

The Western Stage (TWS) has received four NEA Creativity and Access to Artistic Excellence grants in as many years to support projects like adapting Victor Villanseñor’s Rain of Gold for the stage and developing the “Salinas Stories” project, a TWS endeavor to collect from the oral history of the Salinas Valley and transform stories into a dramatic form that celebrates the region’s history. Additionally, the NEA has awarded a 2005-2006 consortium grant to the John Steinbeck Chair program at Hartnell College and the National Steinbeck Center with The Western Stage, Salinas Public Library and Partners for Peace as collaborators.

Dennis Donohue, Chamber President, states, “The Salinas Valley Chamber is thrilled that Chairman Gioia has maintained his interest in our community. I think it reflects the importance of what we accomplished as a community in maintaining library services and the critical role libraries play in our society. Beyond that it also directly speaks to the important things we are doing locally for literacy and how critical literacy and the arts are for developing our young people today".

Gioia brings a unique perspective to his position as Chairman. Not only is he an established poet, critic, and scholar, but he is also an experienced businessman. After receiving an M.B.A. from Stanford and an M.A. in Comparative Literature from Harvard, he entered the business world and eventually became Vice-President of General Foods. However, Gioia never lost his passion for poetry and opera, and left the business world in 1992 to become a full-time writer. He has published three full-length books of poetry: “Daily Horoscope” (1986), “The God’s of Winter” (1991), and “Interrogations at Noon” (2001). He has published poetry, criticism, and reviews in “The Atlantic Monthly”, “The New Yorker”, and “The New York Times Book Review”. In addition, he has written 2 opera libretti, including Nosferatu (2001).

TWS joins Abramson, Church & Stage; Community Bank of Central California, a

Division of Rabobank, N.A.; Kasavan & Pope; and Lombardo & Gillies in sponsoring the luncheon.

The luncheon, hosted by the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce, will be held at the National Steinbeck Center at One Main Street in Salinas on Monday, March 27th from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm. Register by contacting the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce at 424-7611. $20 Chamber Members - $30 Non Members.