The Californer - Thousand Oaks City Council ratifies two new board members for TOArts

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Elibet Valencia Muñoz & Sean Rendineo bring a shared vision of the transformative benefits of arts for children and youth to TOArts.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Californer -- Elibet Valencia Muñoz and Sean Rendineo have officially joined the TOArts Board. Muñoz is a local photographer, writer, and a fellow of the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County focused on art, and Rendineo, co-owner of Five07 Coffee Bar & Eatery in Thousand Oaks, has been an ardent supporter of the arts, creativity, and his local community for the past five years.

Elibet, the daughter of immigrant parents from a small town in the countryside of Jalisco, Mexico, became a professional storyteller. Her primary medium is photography in the areas of portrait, macro, landscape, and documentary/candid. Elibet's approach to the arts aims to honor our stories as valuable pieces in the community mosaic and the ever-evolving present. Elibet brings a working-class perspective with a particular focus on social justice and an interest in intersectionality with race, class, and abilities to the TOArts Board.

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Sean Rendineo, is a writer, Executive Director of an art and music festival – Creative Fest, and founded his coffee bar, eatery, and community space in 2018 with his wife, Amber. Their local business Five07 represents the intersection of community, art, music, food, and drink. Sean endows the TOArts Board with marketing and PR knowledge, hospitality and entertainment experience, and a unique perspective of furthering arts through increased diversity.

The mission of TOArts is to enrich lives and strengthen the fabric of the community through arts education and support of visual and performing arts at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center and beyond. TOArts has a set of innovative programs:

TOArts Presents: uplifts the community by presenting world-class artists and headliners; presenting over 40+ shows a year with artists like Chicago, National Geographic Speaker Series, Elvis Costello, etc.
Kids and the Arts: transforms the lives of Ventura County youth by exposing them to high-quality performances at the BAPAC and by taking artists to the classroom.
Olson Performance Grants: supports the dreams of local artists by subsidizing the cost of renting the theatres at BAPAC for local nonprofit performing arts groups.
AccessArts: a unique program that supports elementary schools with grant funds to provide arts directly in their curriculum and professional development for teachers to integrate the arts to teach other subjects. (Bringing Arts Education to Elementary Schools - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_tz_K6qLeQ)

"I wanted to join TOArts because I believe in the transformative power of artistic expression. Life teaches us through each other's experiences and a stage allows us to momentarily experience a different perspective." said Valencia Muñoz.

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