Arts Advocate CJ DiMento to be Honored at Oceanside Theatre Company’s 2024 Gala
“Love Boat to Paradise” Launches Saturday, September 21 at The Seabird Resort
(Oceanside) August 20, 2024 – Oceanside Theatre Company (OTC) is excited to honor CJ DiMento with the inaugural Hattie “Sunshine” Brooks Award for elevating and enhancing the arts in Oceanside, California. The awards presentation will take place during Oceanside Theatre Company’s 2024 Gala Celebration “Love Boat to Paradise” on Saturday, September 21, 2024 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at The Seabird Resort, 101 Mission Ave, Oceanside, CA 92054.
A champion of the arts in the Oceanside community, DiMento has worked as a public librarian for 20 years at the Oceanside Public Library and was appointed the Director in 2022, endeavoring to improve people’s lives through community building and librarianship. As staff liaison to the Oceanside Arts Commission, she spearheaded the effort to have Oceanside designated one of the first 14 Cultural Districts in California alongside many partners including Oceanside Theatre Company, the Library, MainStreet Oceanside, Oceanside Museum of Art and Visit Oceanside. In addition to many other leadership roles including City staff liaison to the Arts Commission, DiMento serves as the television host of KOCT’s Oceanside Spectrum, a monthly program spotlighting non-profit organizations from North San Diego County.
“CJ DiMento has been a phenomenal force in supporting our city’s cultural communities, beginning with welcoming their presence at our Oceanside Public Libraries, then in supporting the many ways our communities express their cultural identity, in music, dance, food, traditional costumes, visual arts, and the spoken word.” said Oceanside Mayor Esther Sanchez. “All this has led to her incredible leadership in our city’s recognition as a California Cultural District, bringing us all together in advancing Oceanside’s arts and culture, culminating in her visionary O’Arts Master Plan.”
DiMento holds master’s degrees in both human relations and library and information science, has been integral in promoting arts and literacy in Oceanside. She currently oversees a library staff team and department budget as well as encompassing over a million dollars in grant funds through successful grants from the California State Library, the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, amongst others. In addition to earning grants, in 2024, CJ and her team re-initiated City arts and culture grants totaling $100,000 to local artists and arts organizations. She has managed programming, outreach, and literacy initiatives, including the establishment of a new City Library, as part of the team responsible for reopening the John Landes Community Center. Her additional roles include liaison to the Library Board of Trustees, Friends of the Oceanside Public Library and Oceanside Public Library Foundation and serving on the Executive Team for San Diego County Library Directors. As the City staff liaison to the Arts Commission, DiMento oversaw the creation of the City’s first cultural plan, O’Arts: Master Plan for the Arts. Under her guidance, the Library’s most recent strategic plan supported by the City Council has aptly renamed the Library & Cultural Arts Department to reflect the expanded priorities and connection between the library and arts and culture in Oceanside.
The inaugural honor dedicated to DiMento is named for Hattie “Sunshine” Brooks, the theater’s namesake who donated the building to the City of Oceanside in 1993. “It was important to us to recognize the breadth of arts in our city as our work has expanded far beyond just theatre,” said Board Vice President Leann Garms.
In addition to the awards ceremony, Oceanside Theatre Company’s 2024 Gala Celebration “Love Boat to Paradise” will include entertainment, refreshments, a silent auction and a live auction. Celebrity host Ted Lange of TV’s “The Love Boat” will emcee the overall event, while comedian James P. Connolly will emcee the live auction. Long-time OTC supporters Ed Parish, a current Board Member, and Anne Speraw, a former OTC Board Member, will act as Honorary Chairs for this year’s event. Actor Ralph Johnson will also be honored with the second annual Kathy Brombacher Lifetime Theatre Achievement Award.
Sponsorships and underwriting opportunities are available.
Event Details
Oceanside Theatre Company’s 2024 Gala Celebration “Love Boat to Paradise”
Saturday, September 21, 2024
3:00-6:00 pm
The Seabird Resort
101 Mission Ave. Oceanside, CA 92054
Tickets: OceansideTheatre.org/love-boat-gala
760-433-8900
Tickets: $175 Per Person; $1,500-$3,500 VIP Tables (Seats 10, Limited, Premium Location)
About Oceanside Theatre Company
Oceanside Theatre Company (OTC), the resident professional theater company operating the historic Sunshine Brooks Theater in downtown Oceanside, is a focal point of the Oceanside California Cultural District (OCCD). OTC’s mission is to produce professional theatrical, visual art, and musical productions for the entertainment and enrichment of the community, present educational opportunities in the arts for children and adults, and provide a safe, public venue for expansion of artistic endeavors in North San Diego County and greater Southern California. OTC produces a four-show mainstage theater season and a Music Series as well as music, theater, poetry, dance, film, and cultural events and classes in both the 198-seat main theater and adjacent Studio 219. Additionally, OTC is the steward of the Brooks Theater Gallery featuring revolving art exhibits year-round. An important part of OTC’s mission is inspiring and sharing the arts with local youth through the Youth Theater Program, which includes Summer Theater Camps, a Fall Youth Theater Program, and onsite After School Theatre Outreach Classes at local elementary and middle schools. To learn more visit www.oceansidetheatre.org or follow OTC on Instagram and Facebook @oceansidetheatrecompany.