City and County of San FranciscoSan Francisco Arts Commission

December 2, 2013

Full Commission - December 2, 2013

MEETING OF THE FULL ARTS COMMISSION
Monday, December 2, 2013
3:00 p.m.
City Hall Room 416
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

Minutes
 

Commission President JD Beltran called the meeting to order at 3:04 p.m.
 

  1. Roll Call
    Commissioners Present
    JD Beltran, President
    Abby Sadin Schnair, Vice President
    Gregory Chew
    Charles Collins
    Simon Frankel
    Dorka Keehn
    Sherene Melania
    Roberto Ordeñana
    Marcus Shelby
    Janine Shiota
    Barbara Sklar

    Commissioners Absent
    Leo Chow
    Jessica Silverman
    Cass Calder Smith
    Kimberlee Stryker
    Gwyneth Borden, ex officio
     

  2. Approval of Minutes
    There was no public comment, and the minutes were approved unanimously as follows.
    RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-260: Motion to approve September 9, 2013 Minutes.
    RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-261: Motion to approve October 7, 2013 Minutes.
    RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-262: Motion to approve November 4, 2013 Minutes.
     
  3. Director’s Report
    Mr. DeCaigny noted that his report would be brief to allow for full discussion of the draft strategic plan. Recalling the Commission’s expressed concern about the affordability of space and the evictions of artists in San Francisco, he reported on the Mayor’s November 14 press release regarding Ellis Act evictions.

    Mr. DeCaigny reported on the rededication of the Brotherhood of Man mosaic at Franklin Square Park. The artist’s widow and the widow of Mayor Alioto, who commissioned the work in 1968, attended, along with other dignitaries and Friends of Franklin Square Park who worked with City agencies to get the mosaic reinstalled. He added that ArtCare provided part of the funding.

    There was no public comment.
     

  4. Consent Calendar
    President Beltran severed items 6, 8, 12, 15 and 16 from the Consent Calendar.

    President Beltran severed items 6 and 8, regarding Cultural Equity Grants and Cultural Center grants, respectively, because of a potential conflict for Commissioner Ordeñana, as he has previously discussed. She also severed item 15, regarding the Candlestick Point Streetscape Master Plan, because of a potential conflict for Commissioner Ordeñana; Lennar, the project developer, is a financial supporter of his employer, the LGBT Community Center. President Beltran also severed item 12, regarding review panelists for 3rd on Third proposals because of a potential conflict for Commissioner Collins; he is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the San Francisco YMCA, which employs one of the panelists, Gina Fromer, Executive Director of the Bayview Hunters Point YMCA.

    President Beltran called for public comment on the Consent Calendar.

    Public Comment:

    Howard Shryock spoke against item 16, Civic Design Review approval of Phase 3 of the Nursery: Center for Sustainable Gardening at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. He said that the project lacked public support and denied citizens’ access to the public park. He described the project as a Trojan horse, predicting that costs would fall to the public, and argued that the nonprofit organization has low financial ratings.

    Paul W. Lovinger also spoke against the item, asking when San Francisco would resist the temptation to improve on perfection, including the de Young Museum and the Sutro forest. He said the Arboretum, long a top attraction, was now a reserve for the well-to-do. He asked about the Arts Commission’s jurisdiction over the project.

    There was no further public comment.

    President Beltran asked for clarification from Special Projects and Civic Design Review Program Director Jill Manton. Ms. Manton explained that this project had come to the Civic Design Review Committee for Phase 1 review in September, 2008, and for Phase 2 in March, 2009, and there was no significant change in the design since then. She reported that at the November 18, 2013, Civic Design Review Committee meeting, Committee Chair Cass Calder Smith explained to the public that the Committee’s jurisdiction covered the design of the project, not the hours of opening and closing, ticket prices or other policies of operation. In the absence of Commissioner Smith, Commissioner Ordeñana agreed that this was what Commissioner Smith had made clear at the Committee meeting. In response to a question, Ms. Manton and Mr. DeCaigny explained that the Department of Recreation and Parks had jurisdiction over the budget and the operations of the Arboretum; President Beltran advised members of the public to take concerns about these matters to the Recreation and Parks Department and Commission.

    President Beltran called for a vote on the Consent Calendar with the exception of items 6, 8, 12 and 15, as explained above. The remaining Consent Calendar was approved as follows.

    RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-263:
    Approval: RESOLVED, that this Commission does hereby adopt the following items on the Consent Calendar and their related Resolutions:

    Approval of Committee Minutes

    1. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-264: Motion to approve the Civic Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes of August 19, 2013.
       
    2. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-265: Motion to approve the Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee Meeting Minutes of November 12, 2013.
       
    3. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-266: Motion to approve the Street Artists Committee Meeting Minutes of November 13, 2013.
       
    4. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-267: Motion to approve the Visual Arts Committee Meeting Minutes of November 20, 2013.

      Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee Recommendations (November 12, 2013)

    5. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-268:Motion to approve the following individuals as grants application review panelists for Cultural Equity Grants:
      Brian Karl, Program Director, Headland Center for the Arts
      Sherene Melania, Performing Artist, Choreographer, Arts Educator, and SFAC Commissioner
       
    6. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-270: Motion to approve recommendations to award three grants totaling $300,000 in the 2013-2014 cycle of Cultural Equity Initiatives Level Two grants to the following organizations, and to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into grant agreements with each organization for the amounts listed:
      Cultural Conservancy, $100,000
      Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco, $100,000
      Women’s Audio Mission, $100,000
       
    7. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-272: Motion to increase the 2013-2014 grant agreement to Bayview Opera House by $5,247 for a total grant not to exceed $323,138.
       
    8. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-273: Motion to increase the 2013-2014 grant agreement to Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts by $8,804 for a total grant not to exceed $542,185.
       
    9. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-274: Motion to increase the 2013-2014 grant agreement to SOMArts Cultural Center by $11,465 for a total grant not to exceed $706,113 (with $605,882 for SOMArts Cultural Center and $100,231 for Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center).

      Street Artists Committee Recommendations (November 13, 2013)

    10. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-276: Motion to approve Lottery Committee recommendation to amend Arts Commission Resolution No. 0503-04-102 (lottery procedure for assigning selling spaces) by allowing a street artist who has received a helpership through the lottery to receive helpership for the same lottery period of the following week only in the absence of requests by other artists for helpership.
       
    11. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-277: Motion to approve Lottery Committee recommendation that a Lottery Committee member who is not able to run his/her lottery has the responsibility to obtain the service of another member to run the lottery.

      Civic Design Review Committee Recommendations (November 18, 2013)

    12. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-278: Motion to approve Phase 1 of the Candlestick Point Streetscape Master Plan and Signage Plan on a conceptual basis, on the condition that additional workshops be scheduled to review each component of the plan in greater detail in the context of proposed or suggested building massing.
       
    13. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-279: Motion to approve Phase 3 of the Nursery: Center for Sustainable Gardening at the San Francisco Botanical Garden.

      Visual Arts Committee Recommendations (November 20, 2013)

    14. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-280: Motion to approve an honorarium in the amount of $2,000, for the artist Cybele Lyle to research and develop a new installation at the SFAC Galleries’ Window Site slated to open January 24, 2014.
       
    15. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-281: Motion to approve the revised Design Development phase deliverables (artwork renderings and maintenance plan) by Jim Campbell and Werner Klotz for the platform level artwork for Central Subway: Union Square Market Street Station.
       
    16. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-282: Motion to approve the Final Design Phase deliverables (rendering) by Kota Ezawa for the Central Subway Chinatown Station Construction Barricade along Stockton Street to be on display for one year beginning in late 2013 or early 2014 (exact date to be determined).
       
    17. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-283: Motion to approve The Trust for Public Land’s installation of a mosaic artwork by Laurel True in Boeddeker Park, contingent on an agreement with the Recreation and Parks Department accepting responsibility for the maintenance of this artwork.
       
    18. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-284: Motion to approve the artist Jetro Martinez and proposal for the General Hospital Acute Care Building: Emergency Department Entrance as recommended by the Artist Selection Panel.
       
    19. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-285: Motion to approve the final poster designs for Lordy Rodriguez’s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, Strangerhood, January 2014 through March 2014.
       
    20. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-286: Motion to approve the project outline for Alameda Creek Watershed Center.

      Executive Committee Recommendations (November 25, 2013)

    21. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-287: Motion to provide a grant to the 509 Cultural Center for a large-scale public mural on the five-story Warfield Building painted by Clare Rojas for an amount not to exceed $20,000 from National Endowment for the Arts funds.
       
    22. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-288: Motion to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into contract with artist Jetro Martinez for an amount not to exceed $35,000 for design, fabrication, transportation and installation consultation of an artwork at the General Hospital Acute Care Building: Emergency Department Entrance.

      Commissioner Shelby recused himself from agenda item 6, regarding Cultural Equity Grants, because he works with one of the grantees, Golden Thread Productions. He and Commissioner Ordeñana left the room and President Beltran called for discussion and a vote on the following items. There was no public comment, and the motions were approved unanimously, with the recusal of Commissioners Ordeñana and Shelby.
       

    23. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-269: Motion to approve recommendations to award twelve grants totaling $295,625 in the 2013-2014 cycle of Cultural Equity Initiatives Level One grants to the following organizations, and to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into grant agreements with each organization for the amounts listed:
      Alliance for California Traditional Arts, $25,000
      Acción Latina, $25,000
      Brava Theater Center/Brava! For Women in the Arts, $25,000
      Loco Bloco Drum and Dance Ensemble, $25,000
      Kearny Street Workshop, $25,000
      Queer Cultural Center, $25,000
      Golden Thread Productions, $25,000
      Ohlone Profiles Project, $25,000
      ABADA Capoeira San Francisco, $25,000
      Au Co Vietnamese Cultural Center, $25,000
      OX, $25,000
      La Pocha Nostra, $20,625
       
    24. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-271: Motion to increase the 2013-2014 grant agreement to African American Art and Culture Complex by $31,942 for a total grant not to exceed $614,236 (with $514,005 for African American Art and Culture Complex and $100,231 for Queer Cultural Center).

      Commissioners Ordeñana and Shelby returned to the room and Commissioner Collins left as President Beltran called for discussion and a vote on the following item. There was no public comment, and it was approved unanimously with the recusal of Commissioner Collins.
       

    25. RESOLUTION NO. 1202-13-275: Motion to approve the following individuals to serve as review panelists for the 3rd on Third request for proposals:
      Gina Fromer
      Ellyn Parker
      Lyslynn Lacoste
      Kristine Mays
      Carrie Leilam Love
      Liz Jackson-Simpson

      Commissioner Collins returned to the room after the vote.
       

  5. Draft 2014-2018 Strategic Plan
    President Beltran began discussion of the strategic plan by reporting that the Commission and staff, with guidance from the consultants, have taken a very deep look at the structure, processes, program content, mission and vision of the Arts Commission, with the intent to develop a truly meaningful plan to give the Commission and the agency strategies and tools to move forward over the next five years. She reviewed the process of choosing the consultants; Mr. DeCaigny noted that the National Endowment for the Arts has also contributed funding for the strategic planning process, in addition to funds provided by the Hewlett Foundation.

    President Beltran reviewed the process to date, including the benchmark study of several comparable cities, interviews with over eighty stakeholders, surveys of staff and Commissioners, focus groups, the public visioning retreat with Commissioners and staff, as well as working groups and a steering committee, including both staff and Commission representatives, which have met over the last several weeks.

    Mr. DeCaigny thanked everyone who had participated thus far, and explained that the staff would discuss the draft plan at the staff meeting on December 3. He added that there will be two town halls in December to solicit public input, as well as an online survey accessible from the Arts Commission’s website, and at kiosks at four locations around the city. He presented a draft of the strategic plan, as posted with the agenda for this meeting, and reviewed highlights of the document.

    (Commissioner Keehn briefly left the meeting during this discussion, returning after a few minutes.)

    Mr. DeCaigny read aloud the draft mission, values and vision statements, and requested impressions from the Commission. President Beltran said that the vision represented what the agency was moving toward in the future.

    Commissioners very much liked the statements, and strongly agreed that the arts should be an integral and core part of City policy, not a supporting or extra element. Commissioners affirmed the importance of the Arts Commission as a peer to other City agencies, serving a critical role on behalf of residents and visitors. Mr. DeCaigny noted the agency’s role in ensuring cultural equity, that all San Franciscans have access to the arts. Further, he pointed out that the arts can provide innovative solutions for challenges faced by a variety of peer City agencies. He added that, as a collaborator with City peers, the Arts Commission must be strategic in using limited resources. He added that the technical expertise of the Arts Commission staff is a significant resource for the City.

    (Commissioner Keehn briefly left the meeting, returning after a few minutes.)

    President Beltran read a comment from You’ve Cott Mail, on “Artists as Social Entrepreneurs,” citing a Wall Street Journal article by Terry Teachout.

    Mr. DeCaigny returned to the draft strategic plan and reviewed the goals. Commissioner Keehn raised a question about “two percent for art,” in terms of who reviews and and enforces the funding amounts. Mr. DeCaigny said that Arts Commission staff works with Capital Planning and other agencies, that sometimes the project budget shifts, and that there are legal requirements as to which parts of a project budget are included in the basis for the art enrichment funding. He added that staff is working to strengthen the relationship between Civic Design Review and Public Art, which are often experienced as completely separate by other City departments. He cited the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit project as an example of greater integration of art and design.

    Commissioners discussed the possible restructuring of the Committees and their relation to programs and the internal organization of the agency. Mr. DeCaigny added that such changes would be made incrementally, and perhaps there might be periodic joint meetings of two committees. In response to a question, Mr. DeCaigny explained that an annual Commission meeting focused on setting policy would help members of the public to participate more effectively.

    Finally, Mr. DeCaigny reported that 430 responses to the community survey had been received as of that morning, and the survey will be online through December 20. He added that Commissioner Shelby would open the two town halls previously announced, on December 4, with a musical performance.

    Commissioners thanked Mr. DeCaigny and those who worked on the draft plan, and were looking forward to the next steps and implementation. Commissioners praised the diversity of perspectives sought, and expressed confidence that the document and the process will be very beneficial to serving the public.

    In response to a question, Mr. DeCaigny explained that questions for the general public at the town hall meetings and in the survey are focused on clarifying what part of the agency people are engaged with, seeking general input on the policy agenda, and helping people understand more about the Arts Commission. Consultant Adrienne Horn added that one of the team’s goals was to evaluate the awareness of the Arts Commission and its programs within the broad general public. Calling attention to the goals and objectives in the draft plan, Ms. Horn described the document now as a “30,000-foot view,” explaining that the details of timing and implementation need to be set by staff in annual action plans. She added that she has enjoyed the collaboration with MIG because of their expertise in community engagement. In response to a question about the effect of public input from the upcoming meetings and the survey, she explained that community input would inform the Commission’s policy agenda.

    Finally, President Beltran encouraged everyone to forward the survey to their networks for broad input.

    There was no public comment.
     

  6. Public Comment
    There was no further public comment.
     
  7. New Business and Announcements
    Commissioner Keehn left the meeting at 4:40 p.m.

    President Beltran announced that Commissioner Silverman and her new gallery were featured in an article in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle.

    Commissioner Sklar left the meeting at 4:42 p.m.

    Mr. DeCaigny announced Illuminate SF, a partnership with SF Travel highlighting a group of light art installations. Commissioner Keehn collaborated on two of them: the Language of the Birds with Brian Goggin, an Arts Commission project, and Bay Lights with Leo Villareal. President Beltran added that she has been working with Mr. Villareal on another project, and noted that there is interest in making the Bay Lights permanent.

    Finally, Commissioner Melania reported the passing on November 19 of Diane Disney Miller, the last surviving child of Walt Disney, co-founder of the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio, and a great friend of the arts. Commissioner Melania extended condolences to her family.
     

  8. Adjournment
    There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m., in memory of Diane Disney Miller.
     

    12/26/13 spr

    Language Accessibility

    Translated written materials and interpretation services are available to you at no cost. For assistance, please notify Commission Secretary Sharon Page Ritchie, 415-252-2591, sharon.page_ritchie@sfgov.org.

    我們將為閣下提供免費的書面翻譯資料和口譯服務。如需協助，Commission Secretary Sharon Page Ritchie, 415-252-2591, sharon.page_ritchie@sfgov.org.

    Materiales traducidos y servicios de interpretación están disponibles para usted de manera gratuita. Para asistencia, notifique a Commission Secretary Sharon Page Ritchie, 415-252-2591, sharon.page_ritchie@sfgov.org.