Santa Monica’s recreational amenities are vast, and a new face in the city is looking to maximize the potential of parks and beyond. In April, Jenny Rogers was named the city’s new Director of Recreation and Arts (RAD), becoming the point person for the city’s department behind parks, facilities and art projects.
The department is a result of the city breaking the Community and Cultural Services Department into two wings: Health and Human Services and RAD, and Rogers was chosen to lead the latter due to her vast experience in community development.
"We’re very much about how we can help be a community convener, but also how can we help create exciting arts and cultural experiences so that the community can come out in a variety of ways and really learn about the rich history of Santa Monica," Rogers said of her department’s role. "[They can] experience all the different arts, performing arts, and hopefully activate some parks while we’re doing it."
The city’s parks scene was particularly shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in staffing shortages and a need to revitalize locations like Reed Park and Memorial Park. Rogers’ past fits this motif, as she previously rectified parks in the major market of San Francisco. Working as the city’s Cultural Arts Supervisor, her passion project was Boedekker Park which saw her embedded in what she called a "troubled park" where "people didn’t feel super comfortable going into that space."
Having the opportunity to "reclaim" Boedekker for the Bay Area gave her the "opportunity to really see the power of community recreation and arts," as well as the confidence to pull off a similar revival for Santa Monica’s spaces.
"To me, that is a privilege, and [it] is my great honor to be able to help make that happen in Santa Monica, [which] by the nature of what it is, is already very creative and collaborative and people are very community-based about what happens here, and I just love being in a community that’s so passionate about making incredible cool things happen on a local level," Rogers said.
Rogers had recently stepped down from a role as Director of Community Services in Beverly Hills, contemplating retirement from public service before seeing the Santa Monica position open. With the chance to oversee facilities like parks, the Santa Monica Swim Center and the Annenberg Community Beach House, she decided to "jump in" and commit to "really critical city services" on the Westside.
"There could be no higher calling than public service to create community," Rogers added. "To me, that’s a gift to be able to do that every day."
In preparation for her role, Rogers went undercover in a "secret shopper" tour of city facilities, finding herself lauding "the caliber of customer service" provided by employees.
"Nobody knew who I was, I just went in an anonymous way, and I just was incredibly impressed with the staff that works for the Recreation and Arts Department," Rogers said. "They are top notch and really are so incredibly welcoming when you walk into these facilities, and so that kind of was the hook that made me think, okay, this will be a really interesting opportunity."
Still in the post-pandemic rebuilding phase, her plan is to figure out how best to bring facilities and services back to full health. Working with colleagues in the city’s Public Works Department, her priorities include renovations of the dormant Miles Playhouse at Reed Park and the Camera Obscura art lab in Palisades Park. Simultaneously, Rogers will be working to recruit staff lost during the COVID period, conducting an interview process in July for Cultural Affairs supervisors.
July will be the director’s busiest month yet, a chance to shine a light on facilities during National Parks and Recreation Month, as well as promote camps, classes and summer events for children on school break. Rogers noted that summer is a prime time to work with local stakeholders on a full-scale improvement plan after being introduced to many of her peers during June’s SaMo Pride events.
"One of the things I think that makes Santa Monica one of the best places in the world to live is that you can do these things almost year-round, and recreating outside is I think the best form of recreation because you [can] be in nature while you recreate," Rogers added.
At the Annenberg house, Rogers highlighted the Sunset Swim events for adults on July 12, July 26, August 9 and August 23; as well as the family-friendly Sunset Picnic events with live music and s’mores on July 18 and August 15. Bringing older adolescents to the pool is also her goal with Teen Nights at the Santa Monica Swim Center (the next installment being August 2), as well as a Family & Friends Splash Night on July 12.
Open-air activities are also in store, such as the return of Endless Summer CAMP (Community, Art, Music, Picnic) at Tongva Park from 11am to 2pm on Saturdays in August; as well as the Americana in the Park series on September Sundays at Gandara Park. For the remainder of summer break, a bevy of camps are still available for sign-ups through the city’s website.
Whether it be short-term events for this summer, or a long-term plot to promote parks and community art projects, Rogers has her fellow residents in mind, always willing to take comments on what her department can do better.
"We get to do a lot of these things outdoors together, and gather and enjoy each other’s company while we’re celebrating … [it’s] an invitation to [the] community to be part of that, we want to make sure that we’re working collaboratively in the design of what those activations will be," Rogers said.
