Supporters of the Palo Alto Art Center and its foundation will speak before the city council at 7 p.m. today to advocate the allocation of $2.5 million for repairs and upgrades to the Palo Alto Art Center, site of many free community art events including the recent Sculpture Family Day.

At today’s meeting, the Palo Alto City Council will decide whether or not to move forward, initiating a plan to study necessary improvements to infrastructure, a plan that would later be presented to the city council for a vote, according to Palo Alto Art Center Executive Director Linda Craighead.

According to Craighead, the city is well aware of the need to upgrade, as the Palo Alto Art Center’s wiring, heating, and lighting date back to the early 1950s when the center was first built. Bathrooms need to be updated to meet American Disabilities Act standards and air conditioning needs to be installed, according to Palo Alto Art Center Foundation President Anne Gregor. During past summers, the Palo Alto Art Center has had to close galleries on occasion due to the heat, Gregor said.

“It’s a 1951 building, with no real upgrades. We’re in dire need of upgrading,” Craighead said.

Speaking in front of the crowd present at the recent Sculpture Family Day, Project Look! Director Daisy Colchie urged supporters to attend today’s city council meeting "to let them know that you care about the Art Center."

More than 350 people attended the Sculpture Family Day, which was an event open to the public from 2 until 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 2 at the Palo Alto Art Center. The Project Look! event, held in conjunction with the center’s current exhibitions, "Robert Brady: Sculpture, 1989-2005" and "Deborah Barrett: Wildlife," offered participants hands-on activities relating to sculpture.

“People realize that everyone can participate in art,” one of the main purposes of family days, Colchie said.

From Calder cork mobiles to wildlife relief collages, attendees had a variety of projects to engage in. Participants adorned woven crowns with beads and feathers, while others sculpted clay creatures for three-dimensional paper habitats.

“You start thinking like a creator, like an inventor,” Colchie said. “It’s a different way of thinking and doing.”

While the center has roughly 280 volunteers on a regular basis, more than 40 volunteers assisted at the event, according to Colchie.

"This place would not run if not for the volunteers," Colchie said.

Volunteer James Kahna, a junior Monta Vista CSF club member, said regarding the kids, “They see it, they get inspired, and we try to help them make what they think.”

Fostering personal creativity is a dominant theme of such events.

“They have great materials, but you can do whatever you want,” eight year-old Courtney Baldwin said. “It’s very creative. It’s really free-spirited. I like it that way.”

Colchie agreed.

“We try not to do any cookie-cutter projects,” she said.

Family Days are free to the community, thanks to the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation’s support of such programs as Cultural Kaleidoscope and Project Look!, which offers tours of Art Center exhibitions to school groups from kindergarten to grade 12, “connecting the experience of making and viewing art,” Colchie said.

Both a public and private partnership, the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation is funded through the city of Palo Alto, private donations, membership fees and grants, according to Palo Alto Art Center Foundation board member Teri Vershel.

Colchie is passionate about the importance of art, noting that many people disregard its value.

“I think life right now is geared toward knowing what you want to do,” Colchie said. “So much of how life is right now is getting the right response to an answer or pushing the right button to a video game. I think people forget the value of sitting and letting your mind wander because their lives are so scheduled.”

Ankur Saha, a Bay Area parent attending the Sculpture Family Day, was notified of the event after signing up on the Palo Alto Art Center mailing list after enjoying a previous Family Day. Recognizing the value of art for children like his daughter, he said, "They learn how to do a project from start to finish, step by step."

Seven year-old Josephine Grundler, present at the Sculpture Family Day event, agreed.

"Art is pretty fun to do if you’re patient," Grundler said.

Art Center supporters are invited to meet at 6:45 p.m. today in the City Council Chambers on the first floor of the Palo Alto City Hall, located at 250 Hamilton Ave. Those present will receive an Art Center button as a visual sign of their support.