We spoke to Gina Guarino Eskow about the Valley Cultural Foundation, an important non-profit organization that has changed the arts landscape of the San Fernando Valley.

The Valley Cultural Foundation, one of the HFPA grantees, was founded in 1975 to assist the LA City Department of Parks and Recreation in bringing arts and culture to the San Fernando Valley. For more than 45 years this organization has been at the forefront of culture, arts, and arts education, and remains the only venue that provides live concerts within a 12-mile radius. Gina Guarino Eskow is their Board Chair. The HFPA connected with her via email. Here’s an excerpt of our conversation.

Tell us more about your overall objective and, also, about the community work performed daily. Let’s start with your mission statement. What is your primary goal?

The Valley Cultural Foundation embraces a diversity of talent, community, business, and education, by providing live entertainment programs and events in the arts.

What was the jumping-off point, the origin story that led to the creation of the Valley Cultural Foundation?

It was created to provide transformative experiences that spark a greater appreciation of the arts, broaden an understanding of global cultures, and encourage audiences to interact with the world around them. Our free Concerts in the Park were launched in 1975 under the guidance of our first chairwoman, educator Lou Bredlow. They continue today, attracting more than 140,000 residents each year. First presented in the Shadow Ranch Park, the program Concerts on the Green has a permanent home at the Lou Bredlow Pavilion at the Warner Center Park. The land was generously donated by the Harry Warner family in 1967. The Pavilion was built for $1.3 million, $1 million of which came from Quimby funds and $300 thousand from the Valley Cultural Foundation’s donors. Today, we hold a 25-year lease on the Pavilion from the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation & Parks. The facility is used for a variety of our cultural and arts activities.

How long have you worked with the HFPA?

This is only our second year in partnership with the HFPA. We are grateful for their support and look forward to sharing our successes with the HFPA’s board. The funding from the HFPA has been crucial. We were able to allocate a few dollars towards IT support services and a much-needed website upgrade. In addition, those funds also assisted in the purchase of tech equipment for our live-streaming and podcasts, along with general lighting and spotlights equipment.

How has the Valley Cultural Foundation evolved since you started?

My first introduction to the Valley Cultural Foundation was at a Sunday Concert Spectator back in 2010, when I was asked by a few friends to come to a concert at Warner Ranch Park. At the time I had no idea what VFC was or did for the community. It was my mission, then, to find out. Over the years I watched through community eyes as different programs began to unfold from the original summer concert programming, which included the ever-popular July 4^th extravaganza. We now have a children performance series, school scholarship grants, movies in the park, North Hollywood summer nights, emerging artists showcase, and arts on the move podcasts. These events were so popular. The community loved them. So, they became ingrained into the core of Valley Cultural. Then, signature events were added over time to engage not only the valley residents but the business community as well. These signature events – such as Taste of the Valley, Dancing with our Valley Stars, Bands on the 5K Run/Walk, and the Art of Whiskey – garnered major public attention and donor support.

Can you tell me about the Emerging Artist Program?

The Emerging Artists Program is an open call for new artists to perform their original work as opening acts during our season of summer concerts. VCF’s goal is to provide up-and-coming artists with a professional, established venue in which they can play, promote and refine their talents. We also aim to cultivate new talent for other VCF program locations.

Do you mentor the students or help them get jobs after they complete the program?

Our programming is free to the community and the general public. We are involved in assisting 6-12 grade arts programs and always lend a hand when our office is notified of job opportunities. Workforce development is not an area of programming we currently offer. However, any young person wanting advice or direction is always welcomed.

What are your greatest challenges, when we talk particularly about your role?

The greatest challenge is finding the time and seeking out others who are just as passionate about the mission as I am. They always say ‘Give a task to the busiest person and they will get it done.’ That statement is a fact. But I do not find myself alone. Our board of directors is just as busy as I am. They find the time to volunteer and provide their service to the foundation. Each one of our board members has specific skills and talents that are necessary and integral in shepherding the organization into the future. My role is to seek out those precise skills and talents and utilize them together to help benefit our mission at Valley Cultural.

In what ways has COVID impacted your connection to the community?

Where do I start? When Covid-19 shut everything down in our city, it was only through the sheer determination of Nora Ross and her team that we were able to keep the events, donations, funding, and foundation going through innovative and pivoting changes to our programs and signature events. We dubbed it, fondly, as ‘quarantainment.’ Nora and team were instrumental in creating the Drive-in Concerts, Concerts on the Couch, Emerging Artists Showcase, Bands on the 5K Run/Walk, and Arts on the Move Podcasts. This streamlined programming kept our foundation humming and running throughout lock down and, more importantly, kept the community engaged. When we went back to live concerts, we kept live streaming our events, giving comfort to those in need of entertainment while staying safe at home.

What do you envision for the future of the VCF?

I would love to add creative signature events that engage major corporation support, so our foundation can support and service more communities across not only the San Fernando Valley but across Los Angeles as well.

What are your goals now, and how have they changed since you started?

The organization has stayed true to its mission by providing live entertainment programs and events in the arts. After our solid recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are looking to expand our children’s performance series and broaden our podcasts.