Full_Commission
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 MEETING OF THE FULL ARTS COMMISSION
Monday, February 6, 2006
3:00 p.m.
City Hall Room 416
Minutes
President Johnston called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m.
- Roll Call
Commissioners Present
P.J. Johnston
Andrea Cochran
José Cuellar
Maya Draisin
Leonard Hunter
John Kriken
Alexander Lloyd
Beverly Prior
Ethel Pitts Walker
Dede Wilsey
Commissioners Absent
Janice Mirikitani
Jeannene Przyblyski
Lawrence Rinder
Pop Zhao
M. Sue Lee
- Approval of Minutes
The following Resolution was moved, seconded, and unanimously adopted:
RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-022: APPROVAL OF MINUTES ADOPTED
RESOLVED, that this Commission does hereby approve the Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of January 9, 2006.
NOTE: ALL ADOPTIONS ARE UNANIMOUS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
- President’s Report
President Johnston welcomed John Buchanan, the new Director of the Fine Arts Museums, who was introduced by Commissioner Wilsey. She noted that this was Mr. Buchanan's first official day on the job and thanked him for coming to visit the Arts Commission so quickly. She acknowledged the strong leadership and long commitment of former Director Harry Parker, and expressed great confidence in Mr. Buchanan to lead the Museums in their next phase.
Mr. Buchanan expressed his pleasure to be offered the opportunity to address the Commission. He spoke about the great impact that the de Young is poised to make, and has already begun to make, around the world. Describing himself as a populist, he emphasized the importance of using the wonderful staff and programs of the museum to serve the greatest possible number of people, particularly young people. Finally, he said that he wanted to forge relationships with the arts community and invited Commissioners to call on him at any time.
President Johnston thanked him for visiting the Commission on his first day at work.
President Johnston announced that he and WritersCorps Project Manager Janet Heller had met with the San Francisco Giants, who have agreed to help launch this year’s book project “On Solid Ground,” which will be partly inspired by the 1906 Earthquake centennial. On April 7, opening night, there will be a pre-game party to raise funds and awareness, including dinner, a ticket to the game and an auction of Giants memorabilia. Ten thousand WritersCorps bookmarks will be distributed at the game, and two interns will read poems at home plate. President Johnston reported that both the Giants and WritersCorps are enthusiastic about this partnership.
He explained that Debra Walker, Chair of the Arts Task Force, has promised to speak to the Arts Commission within the next month or two.
- Director’s Report
Mr. Newirth began by congratulating Commissioner Wilsey for receiving an award from Business Volnteers for the Arts. He announced that Conversation 2 will open in the Gallery, with a reception on February 23. He reported that he and President Johnston met with Symphony Director Brent Assink regarding sponsorship of the summer concert series. Mr. Newirth reported that Community Arts and Education staff had submitted an application for a Proposition 40 grant of $3 million; he will keep the Commission informed on this. He reported that the panel at the Commonwealth Club had been interesting and enjoyable, and that it would be broadcast on KALW on Tuesday, February 7. He reported that WritersCorps had hosted students from the Santa Fe Indian School.
He announced that from February 23 through February 25, he would be hosting his counterparts from the fifty largest cities in the country at the annual meeting of the United States Urban Arts Federation. He gave a brief summary of their agenda, which includes meetings at the Museum of the African Diaspora, Yerba Buena, the de Young, the Symphony, the Asian Art Museum and Mission Cultural Center, along with a walking tour of murals, and a reception with the Mayor at City Hall.
Mr. Newirth distributed a draft report adopted by the Arts Task Force at what was to have been its final meeting on January 31. Legislation was subsequently submitted to the Board of Supervisors to allow the Task Force to be reconvened at the call of the Chair. He gave an overview of the document’s three categories of recommendations: Revenue, Programs and Structure, noting that Structure was the most controversial. A key question was whether to call for changes and the implementation of recommendations in the absence of the necessary resources.
The Commissioners held a spirited discussion, expressing some ideas about the appropriate role of the Commission in the wake of the Task Force’s work, speculating on what might come of the recommendations in light of the political and economic forces at play. Mr. Newirth reminded Commissioners that some of the recommendations involved issues that would require legislative action by the Board of Supervisors, or election by the voters to amend the City Charter. There was general agreement that the arts across the board, including both large and small institutions, have suffered from lowered revenue. Commissioners who had attended some of the meetings gave their impressions, asking how to facilitate dialogue between large and small organizations, how to address the perceptions of inequity, how smaller and newer organizations could benefit from mentoring relationships with larger and older ones. Mr. Newirth closed this topic with the statement that every artist, arts organization and citizen is a constituent of the Arts Commission.
Finally, he reported on the half-day visit of Maya Lin, en route from Shanghai to Seattle, to meet with the Academy of Sciences architects, Gordon Chong and Renzo Piano, and to visit the site. He had volunteered to pick her up at the airport and take her to her meeting, and ended up spending the day with her. He was pleased to be able to show her the de Young, reporting that she loved that so much of the museum was free and open to the public, and was stunned by the view from the tower, where she snapped several photographs.
- Consent Calendar
Because minutes of the Executive Committee of January 24, 2006 had not been distributed, they were severed from the Consent Calendar. The remaining items were approved as follows.
RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-023
Approval: RESOLVED, that this Commission does hereby adopt the following items on the Consent Calendar and their related Resolutions:
Approval of Committee Minutes
- RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-024: Motion to approve the Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee Meeting Minutes of January 10, 2006.
- RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-025: Motion to approve the Street Artists Committee Meeting Minutes of January 11, 2006.
Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee Recommendations (January 10, 2006)
- RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-026: Motion to approve the following recommended grants in Creative Space for 2005-2006 totalling $155,160:
509 Cultural Center/Luggage Store $10,640
ABADA Capoeira San Francisco $15,000
Brava Theater Center/Brava! For Women in the Arts $11,660
Cartoon Art Museum $9,000
Ninth Street Independent Film Center $20,000
ODC Theater $20,000
Public Glass $20,000
San Francisco Camerawork $20,000
San Francisco Performing Arts Library & Museum $10,000
New Conservatory Theatre Center $18,860
Executive Committee Recommendations (January 24, 2006)
- RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-027: Motion to approve Fiscal Year 2006-2007 Arts Commission budget.
- RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-028: Motion to approve Fiscal Year 2006-2007 Cultural Equity Grants budget.
- RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-029: Motion to approve Fiscal Year 2006-2007 Street Artists budget.
- Presentation on Upcoming Gallery Show—Meg Shiffler, Gallery Director
Discussion
Gallery Director Meg Shiffler gave a presentation on “Conversation 2: Marcel Dzama and Alice Shaw,” opening at the Gallery on February 23 and running through April 8, 2006. This is the second in a series of three “Conversations,” each of which pairs a local artist with one from another place on the globe. Ms. Shiffler sees the series as helping us to understand the intimate process of the artist as well as the larger national and international dialogue of art. She spoke briefly about each artist and showed slides of their work, noting that Marcel Dzama often uses root beer as one of his pigments in ink drawings on paper, and that though Alice Shaw’s work is mostly photography, here she is doing a slide show. Ms. Shiffler explained that she is not currently programming the Grove Street window space or City Hall, and is preparing a big summer series to be presented in several locations.
- Committee Reports
- Executive Committee—P.J. Johnston, Chair
- President Johnston reported that the Committee met and approved the 2006-2007 budget. Debra Walker, Chair of the Arts Task Force, spoke to the Committee about the Task Force’s recommendations. There was a discussion of whether to form a subcommittee of Commissioners and staff to address the reccommendations.
- Civic Design Review Committee—Andrea Cochran, Chair
- Commissioner Cochran reported that the Committee did not meet.
- Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee
- President Johnston reported that the Committee had met, and referred Commissioners to the minutes. He noted that he was optimistic about the Proposition 40 grant.
- Street Artists Committee—P.J. Johnston, Chair
- President Johnston reported that the Committee met and heard a complaint against a street artist. The matter was continued to allow for an additional studio visit. There were also recommendations made about changing the lottery system. President Johnston presented the following motions:
- RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-030: Motion to approve former certificate-holders for priority issuance of certificate with waiver of re-screening of wares: Carlos Gustavo Carrizo, Heather Henry, Debby Alden.
- Visual Arts Committee—Jeannene Przyblyski, Chair
- Program Director Jill Manton reported that the Committee did not meet because there was no quorum. President Johnston presented the following motions:
- RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-031: Motion to approve a payment of $500 to artist Alice Shaw for honoraria ($300) and materials costs ($200) for artwork included in the exhibition “Conversation 2: Marcel Dzama and Alice Shaw.”
- RESOLUTION NO. 0206-06-032: Motion to amend Resolution 0503-04-114, which approved the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into contract with Epiphany Productions in an amount not to exceed $16,000 to produce and present Lotta’s Opera, a dance performance for the Art on Market Street Program, by increasing the contract amount by $11,000, for a new total contract amount not to exceed $27,000.
- New Business
There was no new business.
- Reports and Announcements
There were no reports or announcements
- Public Comment
There was no other public comment.
- Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:38 p.m.
2/28/06 spr
