Meeting Information

Community_Arts_and_Education_Committee

COMMUNITY ARTS, EDUCATION, and GRANTS COMMITTEE
September 9, 2008
4:30 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70
San Francisco

Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 4:36 p.m.

Commissioners Present: P.J. Johnston, Sherene Melania, Sherri Young, Ninive Calegari, John Calloway

Staff Present: Deputy Director Nancy Gonchar, Community Arts and Education Program Director Judy Nemzoff, Community Arts and Education Program Associate Robynn Takayama, Cultural Equity Grants Program Associate Ebony McKinney, Cultural Equity Grants Program Associate Lucy Lin

1. Cultural Equity Grants Program Director's Report
   President Johnston made the following motion:
   Motion to approve the following individuals as grants application review panelists for Cultural Equity Grants:
   Chinaka Hodge, Writer and Associate Artistic Director, Youth Speaks
   Philip Huang, Writer
   The motion passed unanimously.
   
   
2. Buildings and Grounds Superintendent's Report
   Ms. Nemzoff explained the following four motions on the agenda. In FY 2008-2009, the Cultural Center buildings are required to pay their utility bills. Prior to this year, the bills were paid for by the Arts Commission. For 2008-2009, Director Cancel agreed to allocate $20,000 to help defray the costs and distribute additional funds as a separate allocation, based on a formula of use. Ms. Nemzoff said that concurrently, as required by the City, Arts Commission staff will support the Centers' efforts on conservation.
   
   She also said that the four Centers with buildings have fully signed annual lease agreements.
   
   Commissioner Calegari asked how the Commission can support the Center directors as their leadership goes through transition.
   
   President Johnston noted that while the City is the landlord, it is also the largest funder. Ms. Nemzoff said she sometimes spends upwards of 70% of her time supporting or working Cultural Center business.
   
   Commissioner Calegari also asked how the Commissioners could better understand the issues the Centers face. Ms. Nemzoff said the presentations scheduled for each committee meeting should help with this deeper understanding.
   
   Commissioner Johnston opened the floor for public comment.
   
   Director of Bayview Opera House Vernon Grigg objected to the Centers' absorbing the utility expenses on such short notice. He said it would affect his Center's budget and planning. He said the City and the nonprofit world are facing fiscal stress. He invited the Commissioners to the Opera House and said he'd like to add heat lamps to the porch to create outside program space, but paying for the utilities places a constraint to do so.
   
   Director of the Asian and Pacific Islander Cultural Center and Deputy Director of SomArts Pamela Wu said that she will have to increase the tenants' rent to accommodate utility expenses. She reminded the Commissioners that the charter amendment for the Centers is to offer the space at affordable rates.
   
   Jeff Jones, development director for the Queer Cultural Center, said he objected to the utility charge based on principle. He said the Cultural Centers should be treated the same as the Asian Art Museum or the Opera, which he said were not charged utilities. He said the City has a lopsided investment in cultural resources and over 60% of the City's funds support the major institutions. He said that the charter says the Cultural Centers should be treated the same way as the larger cultural institutions.
   
   Ms. Nemzoff said she checked with the City Attorney's office and learned that the large institutions pay their own internal infrastructure costs, including heat, light, and power.
   
   President Johnston said the Commission should encourage more use of the Centers and figure out a formula that fosters this growth.
   
   President Johnston made the following motion:
   Motion to enter into a 2008-2009 grant agreement with the African American Arts & Culture Complex to help defray costs of heat, light and power in an amount not to exceed $6,919.
   The motion passed unanimously.
   
   Commissioner Melania made the following motion:
   Motion to enter into a 2008-2009 grant agreement with the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts to help defray costs of heat, light and power in an amount not to exceed $5,717.
   The motion passed unanimously.
   
   Commissioner Melania made the following motion:
   Motion to enter into a 2008-2009 grant agreement with SomArts to help defray the costs of heat, light and power in an amount not to exceed $7,604.
   The motion passed unanimously.
   
   Commissioner Melania made the following motion:
   Motion to enter into a 2008-2009 grant agreement with the Bayview Opera House, Inc. to help defray the cost of heat, light and power in an amount not to exceed $2,212.
   The motion passed unanimously.
   
   
3. Cultural Center Report
   Ms. Nemzoff explained the decision to spread the review of final reports over six months and to request that Centers going through major transitions provide progress reports. Mr. Grigg presented the following progress report from the Bayview Opera House (“BVOH”) discussing board development, the executive director search, programming, and facilities. Ms. Nemzoff added that Mr. Jones would present on Queer Cultural Center's final report.
   
   Mr. Grigg summarized where the organization was a year ago. He said the financial matters were in disarray, the organization's standing in the community was poor, and the overall operations were not befitting the grant allocation from the Commission. He said his staff worked very hard over the past year and that Ms. Nemzoff has been an invaluable resource.
   
   He outlined an array of programs that are a response to community input, including a successful summer program in conjunction with the Urban Services YMCA, a theater program for middle-school-aged girls, and a Saturday family drop-in arts program that averaged 12 families. He said that the art they created is on the walls of BVOH and make the facility look more like a gallery.
   
   He said the facility has been improved with the help of volunteers from Hands on Bay Area and SWA Group and that the Opera House has responded to requests for rentals by City departments and the public. Mr. Grigg is working with Cultural Center Facilities Manager Tom Petersen to expand programming space in the Center by restoring the downstairs classrooms.
   
   Mr. Grigg said the areas that need more improvements are board development and executive director search. He said the Board received six applications from people interested in joining the board; of which four will be voted on next month. Mr. Grigg said the organization needs more diversity on the board and noted that a challenge to recruitment is the history of the organization and people's fear of getting involved with the Center.
   
   Mr. Grigg explained that the hiring search is for a managing director, not an executive director. He said the board wants the new hire to start with the daily details and work his or her way into the greater vision. He reported that they received 16 applications and three applicants were invited for interviews. He said people from the community said they were not aware of the search, so the application time has been extended.
   
   In response to Commissioner Calegari's question about the salary for the position, Mr.Grigg replied that it is $50,000.
   
   Commissioner Calloway asked for details about the tensions between the community and the Center. Mr. Grigg explained that the community would prefer to have someone hired from within the community rather than outside the community. He said that this is a challenge, and that it's hard to be limited to a small pool of people.
   
   President Johnston said that addressing the schisms on the board would help create a space for a successful managing director hire. He added that the board needs to offer more consistent support.
   
   President Johnston said that this committee put an emphasis on increasing the Center's programming and that Mr. Grigg had done a great job reviving the Center. Commissioner Young agreed, and said that now it is time to build the organization's infrastructure.
   
   Commissioner Melania asked about the ongoing programs. Mr. Grigg listed the Willie L. Brown Academy, the Brown Bombers, and swing dancing. He said there is no fall programming because the building is scheduled to be closed for renovations.
   
   Commission Calegari asked how many hours the bookkeeper works, and Mr. Grigg's answer was 25 hours per week.
   
   Ms. Nemzoff then provided an overview of the Cultural Centers' final reports. All reporting deadlines are outlined in the Management and Program Plans so directors had ample notice. She said that all but one Center's report was on time. In addition to final reports, unaudited financial reports and reconciliation of advance funds were also due. Several of the reconciliation reports were either submitted late or were inaccurate. One final report is incomplete and is expected to be resubmitted no later than October 1, 2008.
   
   Ms. Nemzoff added that all Centers will be using the California Data Project's (“CDP”) online reporting by spring 2009, and the next round of reporting will be based on this standard reporting from CDP.
   
   Ms. Nemzoff introduced the final report presentation by the Queer Cultural Center (“QCC”) by saying that it is a strong organization which met all of its legislated and grant criteria for the 2007-2008 fiscal year.
   
   Mr. Jones, development director and founder, explained that he was filling in for Pam Peniston, the executive director, because she was sick. He said QCC was formed in the 1990s when the National Endowment for the Arts was censoring queer artists. The board consisted of civil rights and gay rights activists, many of whom are still involved.
   
   He said that the mission of QCC is to promote the growth and development of queer culture and the development of queer arts organizations in the community.
   
   This year, he reported, they celebrated the 11th Queer Arts Festival serving approximately 70,000 people at two to three events every night for a month.
   
   In addition, he explained that they have developed a highly successful commissioning program that provided commissions to 15 artists this year. These projects then create new work presented at the Festival.
   
   QCC also provides technical assistance and fiscal sponsorship. This provides financial support to artists usually left out of the funding arena such as transgender artists. Mr. Jones reported that last year QCC had a very successful fundraising year and reached over $300,000 in support.
   
   He explained that the QCC website generated over 750,000 hits a year and has documentation of events in San Francisco since the organization came into existence. The QCC website now has more than 1,200 pages.
   
   He added that the QCC artist community is also addressing medical and mental health issues. Twenty programs by artists this year addressed issues such as living with HIV, working in the sex industry and aging. He said that the queer community is a microcosm of the rest of society and is much more diverse now, matching the population of the city, with lots of queer immigrants living in San Francisco.
   
   Mr. Jones stated that QCC is currently engaged in a strategic planning process with Mariam Abrams, and have had 12 three-hour meetings with her. The primary issue they're addressing is succession planning and they hope to have a three-year plan to replace the organization's leadership.
   
   Commissioner Calegari asked if there are any interns. Mr. Jones said there is no central office, so housing interns is difficult. He explained that they hire competent people who work from home. Their “office” at SomArts consists of a mailbox, a file cabinet, and a telephone.
   
   Commissioner Calloway asked how community is built without a central gathering place. Mr. Jones said that the internet has been a key tool; rather than spend money on rent, they spend it on programming.
   
   Mr. Jones added that QCC has an unconventional box office arrangement: They give the performing artist 80% of box office receipts to motivate artists to market the show. This cuts down on marketing expenses for QCC. He did acknowledge that the drawback of this model is a diminished name recognition for QCC. This was identified as an issue in the strategic plan.
   
   Commissioner Young asked what role QCC plays with the artists. Mr. Jones said QCC's executive director curates and produces the festival and commissions work. He added that 60% of the funds raised end up in the hands of artists.
   
   Commissioner Calegari said the final report was very clear and exciting. She also emphasized the need to train the next generation of arts administrators. Mr. Jones said they never rely on volunteers; they pay people well and only hire people who already know what they're doing.
   
   
4. New Business
   Ms. Wu asked for clarification on additional funding for the Arts Commission. Commissioner Johnston said that the Mayor and Board had agreed on a budget in June. He thinks more cuts are coming rather than additional funds.
   
   
5. Adjournment
   As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m.
   
   

9/29/08 RT