MEETING OF THE FULL ARTS COMMISSION
Monday, July 6, 2015
2:00 p.m.
City Hall Room 416
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

Minutes

Commission President JD Beltran called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m.

1. Roll Call
    
   Commissioners Present
   JD Beltran, President
   Abby Sadin Schnair, Vice President
   Gregory Chew
   Charles Collins
   Dorka Keehn
   Roberto Ordeñana
   Marcus Shelby
   Jessica Silverman
   Kimberlee Stryker
   Paul Woolford
    
   Commissioners Absent
   Simon Frankel
   Sherene Melania
   Janine Shiota
   Barbara Sklar
   Cass Calder Smith
   Kathrin Moore, ex officio
    
2. Public Comment
   Mike Addario showed a video about the history of the Street Artists Program.
    
   There was no further public comment.
    
3. Approval of Minutes
   There was no public comment, and the minutes were unanimously approved as follows.
    
   RESOLUTION NO. 0706-15-186: Motion to approve June 1, 2015 Minutes.
    
4. Director’s Report
   Mr. DeCaigny reported on several activities of the agency, including the dedication of David Best’s Temple at Patricia’s Green, in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of Patricia’s Green; the Temple will be on display through July 1, 2016. President Beltran, Commissioners Keehn and Ordeñana and Supervisor Breed attended the event, and Mr. DeCaigny commended Public Art Trust and Special Projects Director Jill Manton for her work on the project. He reported on Studio 1, a Living Innovation Zone (“LIZ”) project temporarily installed at 10th and Market streets, and announced the schedule for the mobile art studio’s future locations. He thanked the Planning Department and the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation for partnering on this project, and commended Public Art Project Manager Justine Topfer for her work on the LIZ.
    
   Mr. DeCaigny announced the free concert by the San Francisco Symphony on July 12; he noted that this concert, in cooperation with the Arts Commission, was historically held at Dolores Park, but would be held at Pier 27 this year because of construction at the park.
    
   Mr. DeCaigny announced that on July 20, Ebony McKinney would be rejoining the Arts Commission staff as a Program Officer after several years, and he briefly reviewed her resume.
    
   He discussed efforts to reach artists facing displacement from their homes and/or studios, with a survey on the Arts Commission’s website until July 14. He reported that there have been more than 300 responses to date, and thanked the Board of Supervisors, the Entertainment Commission, the Planning Commission and other City partners for their efforts in spreading the word. He also reported that the Nonprofit Displacement Mitigation Fund administered by the Northern California Community Loan Fund is now accepting technical assistance submissions on a rolling basis.
    
   Mr. DeCaigny invited Deputy Director Rebekah Krell to review the budget finally approved by the Board of Supervisors’ Budget Committee. She explained that the overall City budget is currently being considered by the full Board of Supervisors, and is expected to be voted upon on July 21 and finally approved on July 28, and then signed by the Mayor in August.
    
   Ms. Krell reviewed the budget, highlighting the $1 million increase to cultural equity grantmaking, and the additional capital funding for the Cultural Centers, the Civic Art Collection and the Arts Commission’s move to the War Memorial. She explained how the Board’s Budget Analyst reviews the budget and how Supervisors can propose addbacks.
    
   The Commission discussed the budget and the budget process, and Mr. DeCaigny and Ms. Krell described revenue sources and some of the restrictions on addbacks, and how staff was developing a more streamlined quarterly Request for Proposal process for the addback funds. Mr. DeCaigny emphasized that the increase in cultural equity funding was a 50% increase to the baseline for coming years, and not intended as a one-time increase.
    
   He thanked Ms. Krell and the accounting staff for their hard work on the budget.
    
   In response to a comment by Commissioner Chew, Mr. DeCaigny explained that while the Street Artists Program was historically entirely funded by fee revenues, in recent years the fees did not cover the cost of the program. He explained that the Mayor’s office has made a determined effort not to increase fees, and so the program was now partially subsidized by the General Fund.
    
   Public Comment:
   Mr. Addario said that he was sorry to see there was no funding to resore or remove the statue of a sailor and mermaid in the Sunset. He said that the brass or copper statue had been stolen and only the base remained. He also said there were transparency issues, and he had asked that meetings be televised. He said that the Street Artists Program now pays $450 for a police officer to attend the Committee’s meetings, and if they were moved to City Hall that cost would be unnecessary because the Sheriff’s office provides security in City Hall. He said that there used to be 385 street artists, and now there are far fewer paying artists, that honorably discharged veterans don’t have to pay the fee, and those who paid it in the past have received refunds, totaling around $40,000.
    
    
   There was no further public comment.
5. Overview of Arts Commission Facilites at 401 Van Ness Avenue
   San Francisco Public Works Building Design and Construction Project Manager Tara Lamont discussed the renovation of the War Memorial Veterans Building, originally opened on Armistice Day in 1932. She described the deteriorated condition of the building and the scope of the renovation, including replacing the lead-plated copper roof with zinc, and upgrades for seismic safety and for accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She noted the importance of maintaining the historic character of the building designed by Arthur Brown, Jr., who also designed the Opera House and City Hall. Ms. Lamont added that the project is seeking LEED gold certification, and noted that the budget included both public and private funds.
    
   Ms. Lamont described some of the new spaces and named the tenants in addition to the Arts Commission who will occupy the building. In the basement, the Arts Commission will have over 3200 climate-controlled square feet for the Civic Art Collection. On the first floor, the Arts Commission will occupy almost 4300 square feet for Galleries and meeting rooms. The Arts Commission offices will occupy about 6000 square feet on the north side of the third floor, next door to Grants for the Arts, which will move from City Hall.
    
   Finally, she added that it has been a great pleasure working with Mr. DeCaigny, Ms. Krell and other Arts Commission staff. Mr. DeCaigny added that the move is scheduled for September 11.
    
   There was no public comment.
    
6. Committee Reports and Committee Matters
   1. Executive Committee—JD Beltran, Chair
      1. Because President Beltran had been unable to attend the Committee’s last meeting, Vice President Schnair reported that the Committee approved two items that the Visual Arts Committee was unable to review for lack of a quorum in that Committee. The Executive Committee approved the selection of internationally renowned artist Joseph Kosuth for the first project for the Public Art Trust, an artwork for the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, and approved the final tile design for an artwork by Gee’s Bend quilter Louisiana Bendolph for the San Francisco Airport. Vice President Schnair added that the Executive Committee reviewed these items to allow the projects to continue on schedule.
          
         There was no public comment.
          
   2. Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee—Sherene Melania, Chair
      1. In the absence of Commissioner Melania, Vice President Schnair reported that the Committee approved a mural project on Clement Street. She reported that they discussed the grants cycle. She praised the staff for their work on simplifying the application process. She added that Mr. DeCaigny reported on the artist displacement survey, and the Committee also discussed the Arts Education program and WritersCorps.
          
         There was no public comment.
          
         Vice President Schnair presented the following motion. Commissioner Ordeñana recused himself from this discussion because one of the grantees, the Queer Cultural Center, is a short-term leaseholder of his employer, the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center. He left the room at 3:00.
          
         Vice President Schnair explained that the advances were being requested, as they are every year, to allow the Centers to operate over the summer, pending approval of the City’s final budget by the Board of Supervisors.
          
         There was no public comment, and the motion was approved unanimously as follows, with the recusal of Commissioner Ordeñana.
          
      2. RESOLUTION NO. 0706-15-187: Motion to authorize advances to the following Cultural Centers for FY2015-2016 based on the prior year’s total grant allocation and pending approval of the City budget, in the following amounts:
         African American Art and Culture Complex (“AAACC”) $155,824 (including $130,397 to AAACC and $25,427 to Queer Cultural Center as sub-grantee of AAACC)
         Bayview Opera House, $81,976
         Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, $137,546
         SOMArts Cultural Center, $179,133 (including $153,705 to SOMArts Cultural Center and $25,427 to Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center as sub-grantee of SOMArts Cultural Center)
          
         Commissioner Ordeñana returned to the room at 3:02 p.m.
          
   3. Civic Design Review Committee—Cass Calder Smith, Chair
      1. In the absence of Commissioner Smith, Commissioner Stryker reported that the Committee had a relatively brief meeting, reviewing two projects: the interim Boarding Area B at San Francisco International Airport, and the signage master plan for Treasure Island. She reported that the Committee was very impressed with both. She reported that the Committee also discussed guidelines for the program, and reviewed examples of projects approved at each phase for reference by design teams.
          
         Commissioner Woolford added that the Treasure Island plan was beautifully presented, and as both a Commissioner and a San Franciscan, he looked forward to its implementation.
          
         There was no public comment.
          
   4. Street Artists Committee—Barbara Sklar, Chair
      1. In the absence of Commissioner Sklar, Commissioner Chew reported that the Committee was not scheduled to meet in June, and he introduced University of California at Berkeley Public Policy graduate Kate Faust to present her comprehensive evaluation of the Street Artists Program.
          
         Mr. DeCaigny noted that conducting this evaluation and bringing the program into alignment with the strategic plan was one of the goals in the plan, and added that the Street Artists Committee had already seen Ms. Faust’s presentation.
          
         She described her methods, including interviews and surveys of the artists conducted in English, Mandarin and Spanish. She described the strengths and weaknesses of the program, and summarized statistics about the artists and their income. She reported that artists reported selling an average of $10,000 or more per year; not a living wage, but dwarfing the $4,327 reported average income for all artists in a survey of Bay Area artists.
          
         One of the challenges she described is that the screening panel is tasked only with evaluating whether the artist can make the items for which they are licensed, and not whether they actually have made all the items they sell, or the quality of the items they make, or whether there are too many artists in the program selling one or another kind of item. Further, the Board of Appeals, not the Arts Commission is the final authority on issuing or revoking licenses. She reported that program staff spend 40% or more of their time monitoring artists on the street, and explained that the program increasingly serves two divergent groups: artists and vendor-entepreneurs. When the market looks more like a flea market than a fine craft market, customers are unwilling to pay the requisite prices for quality artworks.
          
         Ms. Faust reviewed several recommendations to strengthen the program, and described next steps in a feasibility study she is currently conducting, whose results she hopes to present to the Street Artists Committee in September.
          
         The Commission praised her work, noting that street artists at the Committee meeting received it with enthusiasm, and the Commission discussed how the recommendations might begin to be implemented.
          
         Public Comment:
         Mr. Addario said that the street artists didn’t see the report before the day of the Committee meeting, and said there would be a fight against implementation of the recommendations, and changes would have to go to the ballot. He disputed the claim that artists made $10,000, after their expenses; he dismissed the amount in a city where houses are going for $1 million over the asking price and rents are $3,000 and $4,000; and he criticized paying (for staff) $409,000 so artists can make $10,000. He also said there were many more vendors, and that fraud was a significant problem. He thought that people who left the program should be debriefed to better understand the problems, and thought someone else, like Black Rock Foundation, should run the program.
          
          
         There was no further public comment.
          
         The Commission continued its discussion of the program and Ms. Faust’s findings and recommendations.
          
   5. Visual Arts Committee—Dorka Keehn, Chair
      1. Commissioner Keehn reported that the Committee didn’t meet, lacking a quorum for the first time in a long time.
          
         She presented the following motion, explaining how the pool of artists for upcoming public art projects is evaluated and selected, and how staff conducts outreach and technical support to maximize the diversity of the applicants. She noted that the budget amount for projects was increased in an effort to attract more accomplished artists to go through the application process.
          
         Commissioner Collins expressed concern about his ability to evaluate the long list of artists submitted, and questioned the diversity of the pool. Other Commissioners and staff assured him that staff made significant efforts to attract a diverse pool, naming some of the artists on the list, and pointed out that the Visual Arts Committee and the full Commission would have the opportunity to review and vote on any commissions that would be awarded to any of the artists named. Mr. DeCaigny added that ACLS Fellow Anh Thang Dao-Shah will be working on evaluating diversity within the Public Art Program as she has already done with Community Investments. Staff explained in more detail how the pool process works and why it is valuable. Commissioner Collins reiterated that he felt unable to evaluate the list at this time.
          
         There was no public comment, and the motion was approved as follows. Ayes: Commissioners Beltran, Schnair, Chew, Keehn, Ordeñana, Shelby, Silverman, Stryker and Woolford
          
         No: Commissioner Collins
          
      2. RESOLUTION NO. 0706-15-188: Motion to approve the following artists’ inclusion in the 2015-16 Prequalified Artist Pool as recommended by the Artist Selection Panel:
         Rhiza A + D
         Amy Ahlstrom
         Elisabeth Ajtay
         Osman Akan
         Nora Akino
         Seyed Alavi
         Tristan Al-Haddad
         Volkan Alkanoglu
         Glenna Cole Allee
         Fred Alvarado
         Refik Anadol
         James Angus
         Kathy Aoki
         Jack Archibald
         Maria Artemis
         Jay Atherton
         Tauba Auerbach
         Ilan Averbuch
         Jennifer Bain
         Jenny E. Balisle
         Ball-Nogues Studio
         Brandon Ballengée
         Suzy Barnard
         Aileen Barr
         Bill Barrett
         Michael Bartalos
         Lynn Basa
         Solomon Bassoff-Faducci
         Alice Beasley
         Bruce Beasley
         Linda Beaumont
         Pete Beeman
         Louisiana Bendolph
         Mary Lee Bendolph
         Jud Bergeron
         Ken Bernstein
         Elizabeth Berrien
         Timothy Berry
         Leo Bersamina
         Ross Bleckner
         Nancy Blum
         Coral Bourgeois
         Wythe Bowart and Josh Powell
         Cyd Bown
         Yael Braha
         Branch & Bokel
         Val Britton
         Laura Brodax
         David Brooks
         Beliz Brother
         Michael Brown and David Cole
         Brian W. Brush
         Teresa Camozzi
         Ed Carpenter
         Ledia Carroll
         Jennifer Cecere
         Jeanine Centuori
         Christian Cerrito
         Candy Chang
         Julie Chang
         Amy Cheng
         Carl Cheng
         Ka Yan Cheung
         Alexander Cheves
         Peter Coffin
         Adriane Colburn
         Marion Coleman
         Randy Colosky
         Lynette Cook
         Beatrice Coron
         Colette Crutcher
         Reed Danziger
         Eileen David
         Elizabeth Devereaux
         Jenna Didier
         Anthony Discenza
         Randy Dixon
         Craig Dorety
         Ellen Driscoll
         Katherine Du Tiel
         Amy Ellingson
         Kota Ezawa
         Ana Teresa Fernandez
         Sandra Fettingis
         Claudia Fitch
         t.w. five
         Caio Fonseca
         Bernadette Jiyong Frank
         Chris Fraser
         Future Cities Lab
         Stephen Galloway
         Benicia Gantner
         Ann Gardner
         Carmen Lomas Garza
         Linda Gass
         Matthew Geller
         Sheila Ghidini
         Matt Gil
         Liz Glynn
         DeWitt Godfrey
         Brad Goldberg
         Stanley Goldstein
         Isca Greenfield-Sanders
         Barbara Grygutis
         Michael Guidry
         Charles Gute
         Julia Haack
         Blessing Hancock
         Harries Heder
         Jamil Hellu
         Taraneh Hemami
         Stephen Hendee
         Lauren Herzak-Bauman
         Oliver Hess
         Liz Hickok
         Amy Ho
         Cameron Hockenson
         Hooker & Kitchen
         Justin Hoover
         Paul Housberg
         Karrie Hovey
         Jon Barlow Hudson
         Hughen/Starkweather
         Richard Humann
         Aaron Hussey
         Cynthia Innis
         Kelly Inouye
         Jim Isermann
         Miki Iwasaki
         Johanna Jackson
         Ivy Jacobsen
         Jason Jägel
         Nova Jiang
         Chris Johanson
         Hayv Kahraman
         Howard Kalish
         Jun Kaneko
         Susan Kaprov
         Amy Karle
         BJ Katz and Chris Klein
         Cindy Kessler
         Jane Kim
         Ray King
         Sheila Klein
         Kipp Kobayashi
         Krivanek + Breaux/Art + Design
         Michael Krondl
         Adam Kuby
         Lead Pencil Studio
         Legge Lewis Legge
         Lisa Levine
         Rob Ley
         Marcus Linnenbrink
         Donald Lipski
         Hung Liu
         Robert Lobe
         Sharon Louden
         Thomas Loughlin
         Geraldine Lozano
         Dimitar Lukanov
         Li Ma
         David Maisel
         Elena Manferdini
         Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle
         Kara Maria
         Alan Masaoka
         Tomokazu Matsuyama
         Sanaz Mazinani
         Nikki McClure
         Canner Mefe
         John Melvin
         David Middlebrook
         Masako Miki
         Robert Minervini
         Brendan Monroe
         Julio Cesar Morales
         Morelab
         Paul Morgan
         Ranu Mukherjee
         John Musgrove
         John David O’Brien
         Laurie O’Brien
         Joe O’Connell
         Scott Oliver
         Kelly Ording
         Sean Orlando
         Deborah Oropallo
         Albert Paley
         Erin Palmer
         Jill Parisi
         Maria Park
         Tom Patti
         Hendrik Paul
         Gregg Payne
         Mia Pearlman
         Rosemary Pierce
         Yulia Pinkusevich
         Johanna Poethig
         Don Porcaro
         Precita Eyes Mural Arts and Visitors Center
         Tim Prentice
         J. John Priola
         Lucy Puls
         Pure Joy Collective
         Martin Puryear
         Re:Site
         Erwin Redl
         Michael Rees
         Mark Reigelman II
         Peter Reiquam
         Matthew Ritchie
         Jean-Pierre Rives
         Lordy Rodriguez
         Jann Rosen-Queralt
         Wendy Ross
         Yoshitomo Saito
         Carol Salmanson
         James Sansing
         Joshua Sarantitis
         Ron Moultrie Saunders
         Joe Saxe
         Thomas Sayre
         Debra Scacco
         Kenny Scharf
         Jesse Schlesinger
         Jovi Schnell
         Yvonne Lee Schultz
         Vicki Scuri
         Tamra Seal
         Peter Shelton
         Ang Tsherin Sherpa
         Buster Simpson
         Bonnie Smith
         Owen Smith
         Lisa Solomon
         Miriam Stahl
         Eric Staller
         Joshua G. Stein
         Aaron Stephan
         Arthur Stern
         Mary Ann Strandell
         Smith|Allen Studio
         May Sun
         Claudio Talavera-Ballon
         Kana Tanaka
         Tony Tasset
         THEVERYMANY
         Hank Willis Thomas
         Brian Tolle
         David Tomb
         Peter Tonningsen
         Amy Trachtenberg
         Ben Trautman
         Paul Tzanetopoulos
         Anja Ulfeldt
         Ioana Urma
         Camille Utterback
         Marie Van Elder
         Hans van Meeuwen
         Martin Venezky
         Richard Walker
         Connie Watts
         James Watts
         Martin Webb
         Ann Weber
         Christopher Weed
         Amanda Weil
         Rhonda Weppler
         Ellen and Allan Wexler
         Emily White
         Catherine Widgery
         Sarah Winkler
         Daniel Winterich
         Jenifer Wofford
         David Wolf
         Lena Wolff
         Mirang Wonne
         Wowhaus
         June Yokell
         Kelli Yon
         Dana Zed
         Suikang Zhao
         Susan Zoccola
         Faridun Zoda
         Bob Zoell
         Janet Zweig
          
         Mr. DeCaigny explained that the City Attorney has advised that if a Commissioner is present in a meeting, he or she can’t abstain from a vote, but must vote either aye or no.
          
7. Consent Calendar
   There was no public comment, and the Consent Calendar was approved unanimously as follows.
    
   RESOLUTION NO. 0706-15-189:
   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. 0706-15-190: Motion to approve the Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee Meeting Minutes of June 2, 2015.
       
   2. RESOLUTION NO. 0706-15-191: Motion to approve the Civic Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes of June 15, 2015.
       
   3. RESOLUTION NO. 0706-15-192: Motion to approve the Executive Committee Meeting Minutes of June 22, 2015.
       
      Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee Recommendations (June 2, 2015)
   4. RESOLUTION NO. 0706-15-193: Motion to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into grant agreement with the Clement Street Merchants Association for an amount not to exceed $25,000 to oversee the design, approval and installation of a large scale mural at 152 Clement Street, facing Third Avenue.
       
      Civic Design Review Committee Recommendations (June 15, 2015)
   5. RESOLUTION NO. 0706-15-194: Motion to approve Phases 1 and 2 of the San Francisco International Airport (“SFO”) Interim Boarding Area B project, contingent upon: (1) minimizing the coping flashing at the roof and (2) eliminating the “storefront” of the window head sill jambs, with a flush veneer.
       
      Executive Committee Recommendations (June 22, 2015)
   6. RESOLUTION NO. 0706-15-195: Motion to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into an agreement with Joseph Kosuth for the development of a preliminary design proposal for the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium Public Art Trust project in an amount not to exceed $25,000.
       
   7. RESOLUTION NO. 0706-15-196: Motion to approve the Final Design Phase deliverables by Louisiana Bendolph for the San Francisco International Airport: Terminal 3.
       
8. New Business and Announcements
   Commissioner Shelby announced that he was working with Anna Deavere Smith at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre on a piece about the school-to-prison pipeline.
    
   Public Comment:
   Mr. Addario announced that he has a Kickstarter program to raise $5,000 to digitize 16mm films from the early history of the Street Artists Program, for posting with San Francisco State University, and he requested donations in support of the project.
    
    
   There was no further public comment.
    
9. Adjournment
   Mr. DeCaigny sadly announced the death of Gloria Unti at the age of 91, an accomplished modern dancer who founded Performing Arts Workshop, which he led for twelve years before he came to the Arts Commission. He explained that she had pioneered the artist-in-schools model, and described some of her many accomplishments and honors, adding that she had taught dance into her late years. He was personally grateful for her mentorship and friendship.
    
   There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:52 p.m. in memory of Gloria Unti.

posted 7/20/15, 1:30 p.m. spr
approved 9/15/15
 

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.

Ang mga materyales na nakasalin sa ibang wika at ang mga serbisyong tagapagsalin sa wika ay walang bayad. Para sa tulong, maaring i-contact si Commission Secretary Sharon Page Ritchie, 415-252-2591, sharon.page_ritchie@sfgov.org.