City Funds Sought to Help Bring Art to Thousand Oaks Center : Culture: Committee hopes to raise $25,000 for traditional wine and cheese at Sept. 11 opening.

It could be the first art opening without wine and cheese.

With its debut show of artwork Sept. 11, the Civic Arts Plaza Visual Arts Committee hopes to hang dramatic canvases on the vast walls of the new $64-million performing arts center, creating an ever-changing museum-quality exhibit in Thousand Oaks.

But first the money has to be raised, no mean feat in a town where the well-heeled have already turned out their pockets to fund a $10-million endowment for the performing arts center.

As it stands, the committee can’t pay for the traditional wine and cheese for the gala event. So Marta Timm, chairperson of the visual arts committee, hopes to persuade the City Council to make a donation toward the September grand opening. Timm and committee members have their eye on the $75,000 left from last fall’s grand opening of the theater.

The City Council had allocated the money for the three-day bash, but city Finance Director Bob Biery said it wasn’t spent and the city actually made $11,000 on the event.

“I’m not asking for all of it,” Timm said. “But it would be nice to have a little of it.”

If the committee had $25,000, Timm said, it could pay for a grand opening--complete with wine and cheese--and make arrangements for two more shows.

“It would really get us off the ground,” Timm said.

Timm has been working on the project for eight months. Last month, the group got a jump start from the Westlake Art Guild, which donated $4,500 for a hanging system. But bringing art to the Civic Arts Plaza is not easy, Timm said.

Showing valuable paintings in the building, which is usually open to the public, would require the committee to pay for insurance and security, as well as shipping costs to bring the works to Thousand Oaks.

Then there’s the question of finding artists who want to show their work in an unknown venue.

“It’s going to be OK after the first show,” Timm said. “That’s going to be the hardest one.”

The group is just now selecting the works for its first exhibit from a list of local artists.

At tonight’s council meeting, Timm will present a financial plan for the organization, which would rely largely on grants, donations and paid advertisements in a brochure. If the council approves, the group will begin holding fund-raisers immediately.

While Mayor Jaime Zukowski applauded the group’s efforts, she said it is too early to start doling out the $75,000 because the money might be needed to offset other expenses at the plaza.

“As far as these funds being ‘found money,’ I’m not sure that is the case,” Zukowski said.

“I can’t imagine that there is going to be a leftover,” she said. “There are other costs related to the inaugural year, over and above the opening weekend. I just feel that it’s premature to consider this an excess.”