A lot can happen in a year! Last February, Old Town Artisan Studios made two major changes. The first was the purchase of their permanent home at 78046 Calle Barcelona in La Quinta. The second major development was the hiring of a new Executive Director, Thomas Burns to run the 3-acre, 16,000 sq ft complex. Founders, Richard and Victory Grund were looking for an executive director that could take them to the next level and beyond. They found that in their new hire.
Burns has a deep history of the arts. He founded the Carmel International Film Festival in 2009. Prior to the film festival, he founded and published the national art magazine ARTWORKS. “It has been a thrill and an honor to pick up the torch that Victory has envisioned for the Coachella Valley. When I was hired the Grunds had just purchased the complex. It was like getting a blank canvas! They gave me free reign to fill the space with multiple creative studios and work areas”. The future is limitless. Long-term planning includes a small community playhouse/performing arts center and the construction of 24 professional artist studios. Burns went on to say, “I have found my paradise working for the Grunds. The love and generosity of the Coachella Valley continues to blow me away. I have the best job in the world, the more we raise, the more we give back to the community”.
