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City and County of San FranciscoSan Francisco Arts Commission

Meeting Information



Full_Commission

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SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FULL ARTS COMMISSION
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
4:30 p.m.
25 Van Ness, Suite 70

Minutes

President Johnston called the meeting to order at 4:40 p.m.

  1. Roll Call
    Commissioners Present
    P.J. Johnston
    José Cuellar
    Maya Draisin
    Leonard Hunter
    John Kriken
    Alexander Lloyd
    Janice Mirikitani
    Beverly Prior
    Jeannene Przyblyski
    Ethel Pitts Walker

    Commissioners Absent
    Blanche Brown
    Andrea Cochran
    Lawrence Rinder
    Dede Wilsey
    Pop Zhao
    M. Sue Lee

  2. Approval of Minutes
    The following Resolution was moved, seconded, and unanimously adopted:
    RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-206: APPROVAL OF MINUTES ADOPTED
    RESOLVED, that this Commission does hereby approve the Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of September 12, 2005.

    NOTE: ALL ADOPTIONS ARE UNANIMOUS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

  3. President’s Report
    President Johnston reminded Commissioners that they were committed to a collective donation of $1,000 to the Gallery’s Commission ’05 fundraising event. He expressed his high hopes for the event, based on the success of last year’s event.

    He distributed copies of the October 8-9 Weekend edition of the Examiner’s front-page article on the Public Art Program. He thanked Commissioner Jeannene Przyblyski and Public Art Program Director Jill Manton for the time they took with the reporter. He noted with approval that the Arts Commission has received more public notice lately. He observed that public art continues to be a priority for the Mayor, and that he and other Commissioners, and staff, have taken the opportunity to let him know that they share the Mayor’s interest and that it requires resources.

    President Johnston noted that the Visual Arts and Community Arts, Education and Grants Committees have recently changed their meeting times and/or dates. Pointing out that the Committees are where most of the Commission’s work is done, he called for longer Committee meetings, two to two and a half hours, to allow fuller discussion of issues. Some Commissioners have contacted him about possible changes in meeting times for the full Commission; he acknowledged that 3:00 p.m. may be an awkward time. He requested that Commissioners e-mail him indicating whether they preferred an earlier or later time, or no change in the meeting time. He reiterated that it is important for full Commission meetings to be held in City Hall as much as possible.

  4. Director’s Report
    Director of Cultural Affairs Richard Newirth announced that, beginning in November, Program Directors will do brief presentations for the full Commission, so that Commissioners can become more familiar with all of the agency’s programs.

    He offered good wishes to Commissioner Prior on the occasion of her recent wedding, to general applause.

    In staff news, he announced that Deputy Director Nancy Gonchar had been accepted into the weeklong leadership program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He introduced Gallery Director Meg Shiffler, who started work October 3. She encouraged everyone to attend the Gallery’s C’05 fundraising event. Mr. Newirth invited Commissioners to a party given by the Gallery Board's Chair to welcome Ms. Shiffler. Commissioner Draisin recommended bringing friends who are collectors to C’05.

    In further staff news, Mr. Newirth sadly announced that Cultural Equity Grants Program Manager Jenny Louie would be leaving in November. He congratulated Public Art Program Director Jill Manton and Commissioner Przyblyski on the recent article in the Examiner, which described both some of the accomplishments and the challenges of public art in the city.

    He was pleased to announce that one of the two items in the Chronicle’s ChronicleWatch has been finally finished: the statue of Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was refurbished in time for a celebration of Mexican Independence Day and the centennial of Mission Dolores Park. The Mexican Consul General was in attendance, along with City officials. Mr. Newirth thanked Project Manager Rommel Taylor for his work on the monument.

    Mr. Newirth and Ms. Manton met with the Mayor on two subjects. First, they gave him an overview of all that was happening in Public Art, with both temporary and permanent projects, and how the agency fulfills its role as arbiter and conduit for the City’s public art. Secondly, they acknowledged his interest in having more temporary projects, and explained how the fifty percent reduction in staff project management hours has impacted the agency’s ability to implement that priority. Mr. Newirth felt they were well-received and that Mayor Newsom left with a fuller appreciation of the Arts Commission’s accomplishments and challenges in this area.

    Mr. Newirth reported that the Arts Task Force discussed requesting a further extension from the Board of Supervisors, adjourning in mid-November, reconvening in January, and ending in March. Ms. Gonchar will attend meetings to help draft its recommendations on the agency’s behalf, and he urged Commissioners to attend at least one of the Task Force’s meetings. He noted that the Task Force members acknowledge that the Arts Commission is the appropriate agency to serve as a vehicle, advocate and convenor of most of the arts activity for the City.

    He announced that the utility box project is proceeding, with boxes along 24th Street as the initial test run. The project will be reviewed by Arts Commission staff.

    He reported that A Trip Down Market Street 1905/2005 was very well-attended and well-received, thanking Public Art Project Manager Judy Moran for her work on the project, and noting that the Arts Commission was acknowledged for its role.

    Mr. Newirth has begun meeting with the consultant to Lennar BVHP on the Hunter’s Point Shipyard, in an effort to secure a percent-for-art agreement, and not only “community benefit.” He is working to see that professional artists are collaborating with the architects.

    He is continuing to plan the 2006 Urban Arts Federation meeting; the Public Art Network meeting and Emerging Leaders conference will be held at the same time. After reviewing several proposals, they have chosen a Joie de Vivre Hotel, the Hotel Adagio.

    He is working with the Mayor’s office to establish a lifetime arts achievement award.

    Mr. Newirth introduced Ms. Shiffler to Daniel Homsey of the Mayor’s office, and they are discussing more art in City Hall.

    Finally, Mr. Newirth drew the attention of the Commissioners to the exhibit currently set up in the lobby of 25 Van Ness. Public Works: Art and Architecture was curated by Civic Design Review Project Manager Rommel Taylor for the American Institute of Architects as part of its two-month celebration, Architecture and the City.

  5. Consent Calendar
    RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-207
    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. 1011-05-208: Motion to approve the Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee Meeting Minutes of September 13, 2005.

    2. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-209: Motion to approve the Civic Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes of September 19, 2005.

    3. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-210: Motion to approve the Visual Arts Committee Meeting Minutes of September 30, 2005.

      Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee Recommendations (September 13, 2005)
    4. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-211: Motion to approve the Programs in the Community (PIC) grant to Girls 2000 for $17,000 from the 2005-2006 Grants for the Arts Fund.

    5. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-212: Motion for the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into contract with the following individuals to teach creative writing in the 2005-2006 WritersCorps program funded by Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, San Francisco Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Fund, Department of Juvenile Probation, and Youth Arts Fund:

      Alberto Palomar, $35,000
      Meroe Elahi, $30,000
      Andrew Saito, $24,000
      Chrissy Anderson, $24,000
      Katharine Gin, $49,000

    6. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-213: Motion to increase the South of Market Cultural Center’s 2005-2006 grant agreement from $691,772 to $777,642 (an increase of $85,870 for sub-grantee Native American Cultural Center) from Cultural Center Hotel Tax Funds, contingent upon completion of revisions to NACC’s Management and Programming Plan.

      Civic Design Review Committee Recommendations (September 19, 2005)
    7. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-214: Motion to approve Joseph Lee Recreation Center Phase 2.

    8. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-215: Motion to approve Mission Bay P-18 Pump Station Phases 1 and 2.

    9. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-216: Motion to approve Mission Bay P-15 and P-6 Structures and Buildings Phase 1.

    10. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-217: Motion to approve Marina Branch Library Renovation Phase 2.

      Visual Arts Committee Recommendations (September 30, 2005)
    11. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-218: Motion to authorize payment of $1,000 honorarium for Civic Art Collection intern Jaime Schwartz, to complete data entry in the collection management database of the inter-department loan program records in preparation for an inventory and assessment of the collection.

    12. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-219: Motion to approve an exhibition at the Arts Commission Gallery at 401 Van Ness Avenue by Tim Sullivan and Oliver Herring from November 2005 through January 2006.

    13. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-220: Motion to approve an honorarium payment of $700 to Tim Sullivan for an exhibition at the Arts Commission Gallery at 401 Van Ness Avenue from November 2005 through January 2006.

    14. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-221: Motion to approve an honorarium payment of $300 to Oliver Herring for an exhibition at the Arts Commission Gallery at 401 Van Ness Avenue from November 2005 through January 2006.

    15. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-222: Motion to approve the selection panel’s recommendation of Brian Goggin as the project artist to perform the public art commission for the Broadway Streetscape.

    16. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-223: Motion to authorize that the Director of Cultural Affairs enter into a contract with Brian Goggin in an amount not to exceed $37,500 for the design, fabrication, transportation and installation of an artwork for the Broadway Streetscape Project.

    17. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-224: Motion to approve the recommendation made by the Art Advisory Committee of the Academy of Sciences to select artist Maya Lin as the artist to perform the public art commission for the Academy of Sciences Art Enrichment Project.

    18. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-225: Motion to enter into a preliminary design contract with Maya Lin for an amount not to exceed $40,000 for the Academy of Sciences Art Enrichment Project.

    19. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-226: Motion to approve the revised color palette and design by Cheonae Kim for the Aqua Therapy Room at Laguna Honda Hospital.

    20. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-227: Motion to approve Lewis deSoto’s revised designs for the “1947-1954” (UCSF) and “1934-1954-1982” (Glenn Wessel murals) tapestry panels for Laguna Honda Hospital.

    21. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-228: Motion to approve increasing Suzanne Biaggi’s contract from $55,000 to $64,284 to allow for the inclusion of additional stone markers along the “wander path” in Courtyard F at Laguna Honda Hospital.

    22. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-229: Motion to accept “Cardboard Kore,” a figurative sculpture executed in post-consumer paper products, by Michael Stutz, commissioned for Boarding Area C of San Francisco International Airport, into the Civic Art Collection.

    23. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-230: Motion to accept the selection panel’s recommendation of Dana Zed as the project artist for the Portola Branch Library.

    24. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-231: Motion to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into a contract with Dana Zed for an amount not to exceed $36,000 for design, fabrication and installation of an artwork for Portola Branch Library.

    25. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-232: Motion to approve the 2005 Revision of the Civic Art Collection Guidelines as revised by the Visual Arts Committee, September 30, 2005.

    26. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-233: Motion to approve the designs proposed for a series of three commemorative plaques in honor of Harvey Milk to be placed at the Harvey Milk Plaza at the entrance to the Castro Muni Station.

    27. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-234: Motion to approve the reorientation of the Leonidas statue in the Golden Gate Park Music Concourse.

    28. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-235: Motion to accept into the Civic Art Collection the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps Project by Colette Crutcher and Aileen Barr.

  6. Committee Reports
    1. Executive Committee—P.J. Johnston, Chair
      1. President Johnston reported that the Committee did not meet, but expects to do so in November. On his recent trip to Ireland with the Mayor and other City officials, he heard a proposal for a possible art exchange with San Francisco’s sister city, Cork.

    2. Civic Design Review Committee—Andrea Cochran, Chair
      1. Commmissioner Przyblyski reported that the Committee had a very good meeting, crediting Commissioner Cochran’s leadership. The Committee’s recommendations resulted in the redesign of the Mission Bay pump stations, and set a design standard throughout the project. The redesigned station incorporates Heath tile and glass brick, and its pitched roof creates a rainy season water feature.

    3. Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee—Blanche Brown, Chair
      1. President Johnston reported that the Committee held a very good meeting at the African American Art and Culture Complex (“AAACC”). They are continuing to discuss the complexity of the Commission’s relationship with the Cultural Centers, as their de facto landlord without sufficient funds to fully maintain the buildings. He praised AAACC Director London Breed’s work at the bustling Center, noting the children’s dance class and beautiful photography exhibit going on. He was happy to report that the elevator was finally being repaired.

      2. He presented the following motion, noting that ordinarily these grant recommendations don’t come directly to the full Commission. He introduced Cultural Equity Grants Program Director Jewelle Gomez to give some background. She explained that the Cultural Equity Initiative grant is one of the core categories in the program, focused on underrepresented communities. The Level Two grant is the program’s largest, up to $100,000 over a three-year period, and designed to develop infrastructure within the arts organizations. She briefly described the panel review process and noted that this year, all the recipients happened to be dance companies. President Johnston asked Ms. Gomez to let Commissioners know when panels are held (they are always open to the public), explaining that he had found it very enlightening to sit in and watch the amount of work and the careful thought that goes into the panel’s recommendations.

        RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-236: Motion to approve the following recommendations from the review panel for the 2006 Cultural Equity Initiatives Level 2 grants:

        Chitresh Das Dance Company - $100,000
        Loco Bloco Drum and Dance Ensemble - $100,000
        Robert Moses’ Kin - $100,000

    4. Street Artists Committee—P.J. Johnston, Chair
      1. President Johnston reported that the Committee did not meet, and he presented the following motions.

      2. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-237: Motion to approve former certificate-holders for priority issuance of certificate with waiver of re-screening of wares: Carlos Garth, Erin Cowan.

      3. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-238: Motion to approve honorarium payment of $250 to Mario Hernandez for assisting Program Director in painting permanent and winter holiday spaces on Downtown sidewalks.

      4. Commissioner Kriken asked about cards or signs identifying street artists as licensed by the Arts Commission. Mr. Newirth replied that there is such an identification document, but there are difficulties with enforcing its display by the artists. President Johnston agreed that this was a topic worth discussing in the Committee meeting.

    5. Visual Arts Committee—Jeannene Przyblyski, Chair
      1. Commissioner Przyblyski reported that the Committee wants to work on policy and will be meeting to consider revision of the percent-for-art ordinance. She noted that the Committee approved some very interesting projects, specifically citing the Brian Goggin and Maya Lin proposals. She presented the following motion, amending the ending date to February rather than May.

      2. RESOLUTION NO. 1011-05-239: Motion to approve the temporary installation of a sculpture by Michael Christian entitled “Flock” in the Civic Center Plaza as part of a series of Burning Man sculptures, from November 2005 until February 2006.

  7. New Business
    Cultural Equity Grants Program Associate Sarah Lenoue distributed the new Cultural Equity brochure.

    Commissioner Prior reported a complaint she had received about the inaccessibility of the Richard Serra sculpture in the lobby of the Gap’s office building. This initiated a brief discussion about whether there was a way to make this privately-owned sculpture, one of only a couple of Serras in the city, more accessible to the public.

    Commissioner Cuellar asked whether there should be a formal response from the Commission as a whole to a recent discussion on KQED regarding the Cultural Centers. The Commissioners agreed not to do so collectively, but that any individual Commissioner was free to make his or her own thoughts known.

    Commissioners had a lively discussion about some of the difficulties and challenges involved with the Cultural Centers. Some made the point that this needed further work in the Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee meetings. Others mentioned the need for broader involvement by all the stakeholders, including other City departments and the community. Some Commissioners expressed the wish to be better informed on the specific issues and relevant history.

  8. Reports and Announcements
    There were no other reports or announcements.

  9. Public Comment
    There was no other public comment.

  10. Adjournment
    There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:49 p.m.


    11/2/05 spr