We recently connected with Naimeh Woodward and have shared our conversation below.

Naimeh, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I left to pursue a career in the art world after 27 years of working in the healthcare sector. My departure was deliberate with a goal to be a change maker as an artist and an art administrator. I was determined to get tangible results. I wanted for what I did to make a difference and be of value.

By then I had spent many years volunteering with organizations that were committed to providing arts education to the youth in the underserved communities and engaged in advocating for the arts. I was a hybrid as my friends called me. A corporate executive by day and an artist at night. Arts was and has been a big part of who I am so it was time for me to take the leap of faith and walk my talk. While serving as an art commissioner I leveraged all that I had and with assistance from couple of my art commisioneres peers, friends, and with the assistance from the city Encinitas Friends of the Arts (“EFA”) was founded as a community based, all volunteer non-profit art organization. Our main mission was to augment arts programs which were being offered, initiate much needed cultural programing while advocating and fundraising for a city owned art center.

EFA was formed in 2014 and to date we have accomplished pretty much everything we had initially envisioned and desired. Encinitas new art center is scheduled to be open in July of 2024 and we get to celebrate our 11th annual Dia de los Muertos celebration which we stated last year at the MiraCosta College in Encinitas. This event is one of the largest free cultural events offered in our community, attended by thousands of people and is considered to be one of the top Dia de los Muertos celebration in the US. This event has been covered by New York times and other publications. Another one of our programs, ballet folklorico de San Dieguito classes which started in 2014 is among one of the most popular arts education programs and has 35 dancers who perform all over San Diego.

Our mission was modified in 2023 to allow for expansion to a larger geographical area which enable us to engage in more partnership opportunities. And last year we entered into a mutually rewarding relationship with the MiraCosta Collage which has been designated as a Hispanic Resource Institute to foster a greater understanding and appreciation for the cultural programs which we currently offer.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

After curating few exhibits and acting as an agent for several artists I elected to become an art commissioner and for the city of Encinitas and I stayed in that role for 5 years while advocating for cultural and public art. In order to achieve more measurable results along with couple of other arts commissioner I formed and founded Encinitas Friends of the Arts (EFA) in 2014. While presiding over EFA, I am still involved with other arts and civic organizations such as Synergy Art Foundation, San Diego Visual Art Network, LITvak Dance, and Society for Arts in Health Care to name a few and do try to sneak some time here and there to paint, play with clay and hope to launch my new clothing line.

Art is in everything that I do and I cannot imagine living a life without utilizing my creative force. Now I live in my own truth and walk my talk to the best of my ability which I am ever grateful for. For those of you who are on the fence, it is scary but jump anyway.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The aging, former elementary school at the Pacific View site acquired by the City of Encinitas required a multimillion-dollar renovation to transform it into an arts and culture center. As part of our mission we were determined to have this site designated as an art center. It was advocacy by Encinitas Friends of the Arts and friends that worked to make this happen by collecting signature on the street corners, preparing a vision document, performing public relation awareness and by constantly

attending city council meetings to speak about our need to move forward. It took us 10 years to finally have this site designated as an art center.

It is my belief that having an arts and culture center for Encinitas will define the cultural life of our community. At the heart of this new development is Art Education for all. I believe that prioritizing communal experiences and cross sector development with a strong need to encourage innovation will create a gathering place for both locals and cultural tourists for now and many years to come. It will be our legacy and it was all because of our resiliency.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I would like to think that my reputation is positive and if that is the case it would be due to the following:

• Taking time to educate myself about a subject matter that I am passionate about

• Tell the truth with facts regardless of the consequences and make sure there is no conflict of interest

• Maintain integrity in what I do and not deviate from it for personal gain

• Take time to acknowledge and be considerate of others opinion and ideas

• Maintain and treasure good partnership/ relationships while building new ones

• Let go of negative partnership and affiliations

• Show up and support others

• Last but not least be detached from the outcome. I can not win it all.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.encinitasarts.org/
• Instagram: @encinitasfriendsofthearts
• Youtube: Encinitas Friends of the Arts

Image Credits
Images were taken by Jonathan Woodward