Can the arts make a city vibrant both economically and culturally? Artists and arts administrators in Visalia, California, think so. At a "Living the Arts" event co-presented by the James Irvine Foundation in front of a full house at Arts Visalia, Arts Consortium director Caroline Koontz, Visalia Opera founder Rosalinda Verde, and artist and College of the Sequoias professor Richard Peterson talked with Visalia Times-Delta senior lifestyle editor James Ward about their community’s thriving performing and visual arts scene and the support they’ve received from local government, businesses, schools, and individuals to make it possible.