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MEETING OF THE FULL ARTS COMMISSION
Monday, May 3, 2004
3:00 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70

Minutes
Commission President Stanlee Gatti called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m.

Roll Call
Commissioners Present
Anne Brauer
Andrea Cochran
Maya Draisin
Rod Freebairn-Smith
Stanlee Gatti
P.J. Johnston
William Meyer
Janice Mirikitani
Jeannene Przyblyski
Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
Dugald Stermer
Dave Stroud
Ethel Pitts Walker

Commissioners Absent
Blanche Brown
Dede Wilsey
Shelley Bradford Bell
Approval of Minutes
The following Resolutions were moved, seconded, and unanimously adopted:

RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-093: APPROVAL OF MINUTES ADOPTED
RESOLVED, that this Commission does hereby approve the Minutes of the Meeting of April 5, 2004.

NOTE: ALL ADOPTIONS ARE UNANIMOUS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
President’s Report
President Stanlee Gatti welcomed the two new commissioners, Jeannene Przyblyski and Maya Draisin, and invited them to introduce themselves. Commissioner Draisin has been director of the Webby Awards for the past six years, and briefly described her background in digital arts and sciences, information architecture and film, along with her activism on behalf of reproductive rights. Commissioner Przyblyski is an art historian by training, with a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, and teaches in the graduate program at the San Francisco Art Institute, focusing on nineteenth through twenty-first century art. She is Executive Director of the San Francisco Bureau of Urban Secrets, a nonprofit arts organization.

Commission President Gatti appointed Commissioner Draisin to the Visual Arts Committee and the Street Artists Committee, and Commissioner Przyblyski to the Visual Arts Committee and the Civic Design Review Committee. He also announced the appointments of Commissioners Brown and Pitts Walker to the Executive Committee, and Commissioner Brown as Vice President.

He announced the tenth anniversary fundraiser on May 19, 2004, for WritersCorps, with a requested donation of $10 to $25 or more, and that City of One is hot off the presses; copies will be distributed to the commissioners. The book has already been favorably reviewed in the San Francisco Chronicle’s book review section; copies of that review were distributed to the commissioners.
Director’s Report
Director of Cultural Affairs Richard Newirth also welcomed Commissioners Draisin and Przyblyski.

He reported on the ongoing budget situation. The City is looking at a shortfall of some $350 million. He is in constant communication with the Mayor’s office and will keep the Commission informed. There is a great deal of uncertainty at the moment as the Mayor, the Board of Supervisors and the various agencies grapple with the budget.

A joint meeting between the Board of Education and the Board of Supervisors has been set for May 4 to discuss the Master Arts Education plan. There has been support from both Boards for the Arts Commission to take the lead role in this plan. Several California counties, including Los Angeles and Alameda, have master arts education plans, and this is an opportune time for San Francisco to develop one; it will help Superintendent Ackerman achieve her stated goal of integrating arts education into the curriculum.

On Thursday, May 5, the Mayor’s arts forum is to be held in the Veterans’ Building. In response to Commissioner Johnston’s inquiry, Mr. Newirth indicated that the event was organized by an informal coalition led primarily by Theatre Bay Area and Intersection for the Arts. This is one of a series of forums; next month’s topic has to do with “cutting edge” work.

Mr. Newirth reported on the work of intern Katie Sevier, who is analyzing our Public Art program. Her report should be final in June, and should be very valuable. It will include information on best practices and opportunities for new legislation; the report will be shared with the commissioners.

The Arts Commission has received two NEA grants: one is for the Arts Education Funders Collaborative, and the other is a planning grant for WritersCorps to extend its model to other cities. This also allows for training other staff as possible eventual successors to Project Manager Janet Heller.

Mr. Newirth went to Sacramento at the end of April as part of a presentation and press conference by the California Arts Council on the $5.4 billion impact of the arts on the state’s economy. Although there was not much interest expressed by the Governor’s office, several legislators did participate. Assemblymember Leno is working with several colleagues to put together a proposal for a 1% surcharge on entertainment tickets, which would generate $34 million, allowing the restoration of the CAC’s budget at its height.

Finally, the Commission and staff said goodbye to Gallery Manager Natasha Garcia-Lomas at the end of April; Civic Art Collection Program Director Debra Lehane has been accepted into the graduate curatorial program at John F. Kennedy University; and Mr. Newirth welcomed Public Art Program Manager Nina Dunbar back from her maternity leave.

The gallery will have an opening and reception in City Hall on Wednesday, May 26, from 5:30 to 7:30, for four shows, including “Justly Married,” photographs of the same-sex marriages in City Hall; “First Exposures,” photographs by at-risk youth; “A Way of Life,” photographs documenting asthma in Hunters Point; and “Freedom of Impression,” prints from the Graphic Arts Workshop.

Commissioner Freebairn-Smith asked whether Assemblymember Leno might be looking for arts commissions in the state to support his proposal. Mr. Newirth and Commissioner Gatti answered that at this point he is not; the proposal is still in the formative stages. Commissioner Freebairn-Smith lamented that one of the most embarassing things about being a Californian these days is the lack of a vibrant and well-funded CAC. Commissioner Johnston pointed out that Assemblymember Leno may be more interested in support from outside of San Francisco at this stage.
Consent Calendar
RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-094
Approval: RESOLVED, that this Commission does hereby adopt the following items on the amended Consent Calendar and their related Resolutions:

Approval of Committee Minutes
1. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-095: Motion to approve the Civic Design Committee Meeting Minutes of April 19, 2004.
2. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-096: Motion to approve the Street Artists Committee Meeting Minutes of April 14, 2004.
  
  Civic Design Committee Recommendations (April 19, 2004)
3. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-097: Motion to approve Harding Park Clubhouse Phase 3.
4. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-098: Motion to approve India Basin Shoreline Park Restroom Phases 1 and 2 contingent upon review of color scheme at full Commission meeting.
5. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-099: Motion to approve Hamilton Pool and Recreation Center Phase 1.
6. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-100: Motion to approve San Francisco 9-11 Memorial Phase 1.
  
  Street Artists Committee Recommendations (April 14, 2004)
7. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-101: Motion to disapprove the following three provisions of a proposal to amend the lottery procedure for assigning selling spaces: (provision 1) eliminating the Downtown and Wharf lotteries system and replacing it with a single lottery system held on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday with sign-up days on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, (provision 2) eliminating the mini-lottery as well as the unofficial “mini-mini-lottery” for unassigned spaces and replacing these lotteries with an allocation of unassigned spaces by ranking order of lottery numbers beginning with the lowest number, (provision 3) allowing Lottery Committee members and helpers to enter the lottery and receive a number, allowing for the free selling space they receive for working to be considered as a first use of their number.
8. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-102: Motion to approve the following fourth provision of a proposal to amend the lottery procedure for assigning selling spaces: (provision 4) allowing helperships received through the lottery to be for the same lottery period of the following week.
  
  Visual Arts Committee Recommendations (April 28, 2004)
9. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-103: Motion to approve the loan of a painting by Lucien Labaudt titled Shampoo at Moss Beach to the exhibition: Surrealism USA, organized by the National Academy of Design, NY, and touring to the Phoenix Art Museum and a third venue to be determined. Loan dates January 2005—February 2007.
10. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-104: Motion to approve the loan of a painting by Robert Bechtle titled San Francisco Nova to the exhibition: Robert Bechtle: A Retrospective, organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and touring to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Loan dates January 2005—October 2005.
11. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-105: Motion to approve the loan of a painting by Maurice Lapp titled Urban Forms to the exhibition: Maurice Lapp Retrospective, organized by the Sonoma County Arts Council, Santa Rosa. Loan dates January 2005—May 2005.
12. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-106: Motion to pay Meleksah Henderson up to $6,000 honoraria for gallery internship services, starting May 1, 2004, at the rate of no more than $1,000 per month.
13. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-107: Motion to approve artist Michael Carey’s conceptual design for artwork for the JP Murphy Clubhouse project.
14. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-108: Motion to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into a contract with artist Michael Carey in an amount not to exceed $29,000 for the design development, fabrication, transportation and installation of a figurative sculpture for JP Murphy Clubhouse.
15. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-109: Motion to approve the revised tile color palette by Cheonae Kim for the Aqua Therapy Center at Laguna Honda Hospital.
16. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-110: Motion to increase the contract with Ann Chamberlain and Bernie Lubell by $240,000 for a total contract amount not to exceed $250,000 for construction documents, fabrication, transportation and installation of their photographic light box artworks for Laguna Honda Hospital.
17. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-111: Motion to approve Tom Ferentz and The Sixth Street Photography Workshop’s proposal, and the artist team of Virginia Hopkins and Victoria Carlson’s proposal for the Art on Market Street Temporary Project Program for 2004-2005, with Kim Epifano of Epiphany Productions’ proposal as an alternate.
18. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-112: Motion to approve the Director of Cultural Affairs entering into contract with Tom Ferentz and Amanda Herman in an amount not to exceed $17,000, for “Talking Market Street: If Market Street Could Talk,” an art project for the Art on Market Street Temporary Projects Program for 2004-2005.
19. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-113: Motion to approve the Director of Cultural Affairs entering into contract with Virginia Hopkins and Victoria Carlson in an amount not to exceed $17,075 for “Endangered Seed Project,” an art project for the Art on Market Street Temporary Projects Program for 2004-2005, pending approval of the site.
20. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-114: Motion to approve the Director of Cultural Affairs entering into contract with Kim Epifano of Epiphany Productions in an amount not to exceed $16,000 for “Lotta’s Opera,” an art project for the Art on Market Street Temporary Projects Program for 2004-2005, in the event that one of the two finalists’ projects does not proceed to implementation.
21. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-115: Motion to make final payment to artist Victor Zaballa on his design contract for the Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant for an amount not to exceed $2,500.
Committee Reports
1. Executive Committee--Stanlee Gatti, Chair
  1. Report from Commissioner Gatti on the Executive Committee regarding activities of the Committee and the Program.
  2. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-116: Motion to approve the 2004-2005 Cultural Equity Grants Guidelines.
  3. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-117: Motion to approve an honorarium of $2000 to Katie Sevier for her project to analyze public art funding.
  4. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-118: Motion to approve the following individuals as panelists for the Cultural Equity Grants panel pool:
    
    Victoria Bautista, dancer
    Lorraine Padden, choreographer
2. Civic Design Committee--Stanlee Gatti, Chair
  1. Report from Commissioner Gatti on the Civic Design Committee regarding activities of the Committee and the Program.
3. Community Arts and Education
  1. There was no meeting of the Committee, and no report.
4. Street Artists Committee--Dugald Stermer, Chair
  1. Report from Chair of Street Artists Committee regarding activities of the Committee and the Program.
  2. RESOLUTION NO. 0503-04-119: Motion to approve requests by former certificate-holders for priority issuance of certificate with waiver of re-screening of wares: Susan Giammona, Linda Davis, Jennifer Levine.
5. Visual Arts Committee--Stanlee Gatti
  1. Because the Visual Arts Committee meeting was held only a few days before the full Commission meeting, the minutes were not yet available, although the motions from the meeting had been placed on the full Commission’s consent calendar in the agenda. The minutes will appear on the June agenda for approval by the full Commission.
    
    Commissioner Gatti directed the Commission’s attention to the Art on Market Street project referred to in items 17 through 19 of the consent calendar, the “Endangered Seed Project,” as a very interactive and interesting project. It uses large graphics of seeds of significant plants. The project will inspire questioning and discussion by the public, and makes good use of its highly visible outdoor Ferry Building site.
    
    Commissioner Freebairn-Smith questioned the invitation to participate in the citywide arts education plan in a time when the Commission is facing staff losses and budget decreases.
    
    Mr. Newirth replied that the Commission hopes to generate additional funds for this initiative. This is the last year of the cycle for the Arts Education Funding Collaborative, and they will be reevaluating their relationship with the Commission. Several members have expressed interest in funding this new direction. There is also a possibility of funding from the NEA or other sources. The strong support for this process may be very helpful in seeking new funding.
6. Reports and Announcements
  Deputy Director Nancy Gonchar presented Arts Commission T-shirts to the commissioners; the T-shirts will be available for sale from the Commission’s office.
7. Public Comment
  There was no public comment on any item of this agenda unless so noted.
8. Adjournment
  There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:35 p.m.
  
  Approved by Richard Newirth, Director of Cultural Affairs
  
  spr 5/19/04

Meeting Information

Full_Commission