Talks begin for Burbank Cultural Concert and Arts Festival at renovated Johnny Carson Park

Members of the local performing and visual arts communities took part in a meeting this week to help the city’s Cultural Arts Commission plan an upcoming event at the recently renovated Johnny Carson Park.

The Burbank Cultural Concert and Arts Festival, scheduled for Sept. 24, is intended to be a gathering where local artists, animators, dancers and other arts enthusiasts can promote their work and businesses.

“You’ll be able to engage the audience to solicit what you do,” said board member Cynthia Pease, but added that they would not be able to sell their work to the public during the event. “But any documents you want to bring or any interactive things that you would like to do in your space — whether that’s drawing or making music or whatever — you can do that prior to the concert.”

The concert next month was made possible by a grant from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Pease said during the meeting on Thursday.

Jason Coosner, director of the Burbank Dance Academy, said after the meeting that he would be interested in setting up a booth at the event to get the word out about his studio and let people know about the accomplishments of his students.

“There seems to be a disconnect in the community when it comes to the arts and creating that sense of community in the arts,” he said. “An event such as this brings people together in one common place for one common cause. I think that’s what will get the conversation started.”

Coosner, whose dance studio has been open for about a year and a half, said he has been in Burbank long enough to notice that various visual and performing arts communities tend to keep to themselves. He said that he would like to see more collaboration among local artists.

“We can be an arts community,” he said “We don’t have to live separate lives as artists. We have to be there to support each other, and I think this is the first port of call where this conversation can actually begin for the city of Burbank … It’s about trying to change that way of thinking and being able to share with one another all that we have to offer.”

Though the Cultural Arts Commission was focused Thursday on who would be interested in participating in the art festival and concert at Johnny Carson Park, the long-term goal for the commission is to create an environment where various art groups in Burbank can come together and collaborate on citywide projects.

“The goal of our work is to create an arts community within our artists/arts organizations and the business community,” said Peggy Flynn, a commission board member. “We want a greater presence for you and for the arts, in general, to enrich the lives of the residents of Burbank.”

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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio