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Delegate Toscano holds fundraiser for the arts

Event held at Vinegar Hill Theatre to raise money for several programs, organizations

<p>At the event&nbsp;Toscano said he'd like to raise Virginia's state funding of&nbsp;the arts.&nbsp;</p>

At the event Toscano said he'd like to raise Virginia's state funding of the arts. 

Virginia Delegate David Toscano held an annual fundraiser dedicated to the arts on Thursday evening at the Vinegar Hill Theatre.

Erin Monaghan, previous co-chair of the Charlottesville City Democratic Committee, said each year the event features different artistic venues in Charlottesville.

“[The event] is a chance [for Toscano] to visit folks at home,” Monaghan said.

Thursday’s event was to celebrate the arts in the local community.

“Arts could be an interactive tool in our community,” Monaghan said. “[Toscano] is fundraising for his political committee, and he will donate a portion [of the benefits] to the Light House Studio.”

Involved in various political campaigns, Monaghan said she also has a rich background in arts. An alumna of the University, she was involved in the University Singers and said she considers herself a “patron in theatre.”

This year, the event location was a newly renovated space from the Light House Studio, a nonprofit started in 1999 to provide mentorship to local teens to develop filmmaking skills and produce creative works.

Amanda Wright, program coordinator for Vinegar Hill Theatre outreach, said the theatre was a hotspot for independent films in the 1970s. It then closed in 2013 due to slow business.

“Once we got in here, we started immediately using it as studio space and for exhibiting films,” Wright said. “The whole space fits really well with our mission of teaching filmmaking and exposing filmmaking to more people.”

Executive Director Deanna Gould said the center’s various workshops and classes provide students with hands-on experiences that can benefit them in the future.

“We want to get a sense of what young people are thinking,” Gould said. “They work in teams and that is how the real world works.”

Genres of students’ projects vary — ranging from documentaries to dramas to musicals. Last year over 1,000 students attended educational lessons at the center and created more than 200 movies, Gould said.

The event involved several arts organizations, including the Second Street Gallery, the Virginia Film Festival and the Heritage Theatre Festival.

Introduced by Gould, Toscano spoke about the importance of the arts both to Charlottesville and to the nation as a whole.and then introduced several movie screenings

“Sometimes people think of arts as an idle pastime, but really, it’s essential to who we are as a people,” Toscano said. “It’s about artistic creativity, the innovation that comes from the artistic process — it creates something you don’t have in societies that aren’t free.”

Among the films screened was “Smart,” a short documentary featuring African American people of different age groups being asked how they define the word “smart,” what it means to “look smart,” and how to “be smart.”

Smart was followed by “Lemonade Standoff,” a comedic short following a brother and sister’s competing lemonade businesses.

The film, released in 2014, was nominated for awards in 13 national film festivals, and was a runner-up at the Virginia Film Festival, as well as for the Cine Golden Eagle, the first award won by a young Steven Spielberg.

Toscano said there is a wealth of arts organizations and venues to be found in Charlottesville and also commended the talent the City has produced, including the world-class Charlottesville High School Symphony.

However, Toscano added that the state of Virginia is ranked No. 40 in the nation for state funding of the arts, something he pledged to help change.

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