Kisumu County Government is looking for partners to cooperate with in their bid to revamp visual arts and sports activities as a way of nurturing young talents.
The County’s Department of Sports, Culture, Gender and Youth Affairs has already begun collecting views and suggestions from key stakeholders on the matter.
To start with, the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of the area Beatrice Odongo met artists from Kisumu where she listened to their needs.
Among those who attended the meeting at the Mama Grace Onyango Social Centre were visual artists, composers, poets, and filmmakers.
The artists revealed that they did not have a permanent space where they could showcase their talents and that they lacked support from the county government.
At the event, it was revealed that artists from Siaya had surpassed artists from Kisumu and had been participating even both in regional and international events.
Odongo said that plans were underway to renovate the Kanyakwar Cultural Center on the outskirts of Kisumu City.
She revealed that the facility which had been abandoned will first be made workable and more conducive for users.
She also said that the input from the artists will be presented to the county’s top brass for deliberation and adoption.
She said that they should work with partners in order for sports and arts to move forward.
The Centre Manager, Obat Masira reminisced how great literary figures like Chinua Achebe, Okoth P’Bitek, Austin Bukenya, and several others used to visit the facility.
Masira said that Kisumu was for many years the home of hockey and soccer and had acted as a hunting ground for great players of soccer.
He told the meeting that the Siaya County government had already decided a poly of naming streets after musicians instead of political leaders.