Earlier this year, the city of Oxnard, California announced that it would its support for its local Performing Arts and Convention Center, which would close at the end of the year without the $1 million/year subsidy that has kept it open the last several of its 50 years of operation. Local artist Anderson .Paak won’t let it go without a fight. The Grammy-winning multi-hyphenate star is urging his fans to help him save the center with his Brandon Anderson Foundation setting aside money to donate.
The Ventura County Star reports that he visited the facility Wednesday, saying he wants to use it to house his “Boys and Girls Club on steroids” vision for his nonprofit foundation. “There’s a bunch of stuff I want to invest in,” he explained, saying that he wants young people to be able to use it to record music, stage plays, and even have boxing matches. “I want this to be a hub for creativity. The city deserves it… I have a fire to keep it open.”
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Anderson was given the key to the city on his last visit to the complex to celebrate the release of his album Oxnard. But then, just six months after that, city officials announced they’d be shutting it down after withdrawing the annual subsidy that’s helped keep it afloat. The city said it was looking for an outside operator, but one has yet to materialize with the deadline of December 31 looming. The last City Council meeting of the year is on Tuesday but the facility is not on the agenda.
.Paak’s foundation is holding its third annual .Paak House festival in MacArthur Park, Los Angeles this weekend — presumably with some of the proceeds going to try to help save the Oxnard Performing Arts and Convention Center. Donate, buy tickets, and get more information at paakhouse.org.
