EL CHICANo Weekly
Vol 62, NO. 41
July 31, 2025
Is Art Investment a Waste of Money in San Bernardino? Garcia Center Weighs In on Funding, Gentrification By Manny Sandoval
M
ichael Segura, executive director of the Garcia Center for the Arts, didn’t mince words when IECN pointed out the chorus of social-media comments claiming arts investment here is a waste of money. “Are the people saying this the police?” Segura quipped on IECN’s Inland Insight podcast on July 18th. “Our police take so much of our budget in a lot of communities. If you want to make communities safer, invest in social programs — arts and culture included — that give people alternatives to being on the streets.”
IECN.com
San Bernardino Opens Cooling Centers at Libraries, Parks, and Senior Sites Amid Summer Heat Pg. 3
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL Garcia Center for the Arts Executive Director Michael Segura taping an ideation board to the wall in the new Sole Alley during a community listening session in July 2025 – as San Bernardino prepares for a California Cultural District designation.
Segura joined the podcast to discuss the center’s operations, the challenges of funding, and controversies ranging from gentrification fears to public safety concerns. Hired in January 2025, he has spent the past six months restructuring programs and building systems for sustainability, data collection and community impact. Founded nearly a decade ago by Ernie Garcia, the nonprofit
center leases its main building from the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District for $1 per year and owns the adjacent lot that houses its community garden. The garden offers seasonal produce, a seed library and, eventually, culinary workshops aimed at teaching residents how to prepare fresh food — a component Segura says can help address food-desert issues in the city. “We grow together,” Segura explained. “We’ve had peaches, nectarines, grapes, lettuce and strawberries. Soon we’ll be teaching cooking classes so people know what to do with the fruits and vegetables they pick.” He added that the garden program is funded in part by a stipend from the IECF’s CIELO Fund, but is seeking broader health and nutrition grants. Building Sustainable Programming Upon arriving at the center this year, Segura said his first priority was “listening” — holding listening sessions with Art cont. on next pg.
KVCR’s Funding Crisis Revealed at Inland Film Festival Mixer, Creatives Rally Behind Public Media Birdcage Comics Cafe Announces Closure Days After Union Deal, Leaving Workers Reeling Pg. 4
Inland Feeding America Empire Community Riverside CEO Warns Newspapers SNAP Cuts Will Office: (909) 381-9898 Devastate Families: Editorial: iecn1@mac.com “We Can’t Fill the Gap” Advertising: sales@iecn.com
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HOW TO REACH US Inland Empire Community Newspapers Office: (909) 381-9898 Editorial: iecn1@mac.com Advertising: iecn1@mac.com Legals: iecnlegals@gmail.com
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL KVCR Executive Director Connie Leyva addresses Inland Film Festival attendees about looming federal funding cuts and the station’s commitment to preserving local content.
PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL Arts Connection Executive Director Alejandro Gutierrez Chavez highlights the Inland Film Festival’s impact on job creation and arts funding across the Inland Empire.
By Manny Sandoval
federal funding.
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“You’ve all heard the wonderful Trump Administration has eliminated our federal funding. We get that through the California Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation will cease to exist in September,” Leyva told a room of filmmakers, creatives, and community leaders from across the Inland Empire and beyond.
uring the Inland Film Festival Summer Mixer & Community Celebration on July 23, held inside KVCR’s state-of-the-art TV studio, KVCR Executive Director and former State Senator Connie Leyva delivered sobering news: the station is set to lose more than half a million dollars in annual
“What we would receive from the corporation was about $550,000 each year, and that is money equivalent to eight full-time positions here at KVCR,” she said. “No one is going to be laid off. We are going to make sure we keep everyone that we have. But, it will hurt us in creating local content.” KVCR Funding Cont. on next pg.