July 13, 2010
COMMUNITY ARTS, EDUCATION, AND GRANTS COMMITTEE
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
3:30 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70
The meeting was called to order at 3:37 p.m.
Commissioners Present: Sherri Young, John Calloway, Sherene Melania, Maya Draisin
Staff Present: Director of Grants San San Wong, Cultural Equity Grants Program, Associate Lucy K. Lin, Cultural Equity Grants Program Associate Beatrice Thomas, Community Arts and Education Program Director Judy Nemzoff, WritersCorps Acting Program Manager Melissa Hung, Arts Education Program Manager Tyra Fennell, Community Arts and Education Program Associate Robynn Takayama, and WritersCorps Program Associate Nirmala Nataraja.
1. Cultural Equity Grants Program Director Report
Director of Grants San San Wong provided the committee with an update on key grant dates scheduled throughout the year, including Community Arts, Education, and Grants Committee meetings, grant deadlines and panel reviews. Director Wong reminded the Committee that the panel review process is open to the public and she extended an invitation to the Commissioners to sit in on any of the upcoming panel days.
Ms. Wong reminded the Committee that Cultural Equity Grants (“CEG”) has moved their grant cycle ahead by approximately three months, in order to have grant funds encumbered by the fourth quarter. The community has been very supportive of this change. Ms. Wong explained that Mayor Newsom’s proposed budget did not include cuts to CEG, however because of the continuing City deficit, midyear cuts are possible. She said that at the budget hearing, several Supervisors noted that they had received many emails from the community requesting no cuts be made to the grant programs. Director Wong shared an invitation from Arts Forum for a forum on the state of the arts, with the City’s upcoming electoral candidates and the arts community, scheduled for August 17, 2010 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
In her brief update on the current grant cycle, Director Wong explained that there were six applications to Cultural Equity Initiatives Level 2 (“CEI-L2”). In order to qualify, each applicant went through a rigorous assessment interview. Thirteen applications were received for the Creative Space (“CRSP”) grant program, which offers financial support to art organizations making or planning for facility-based capital improvements. The deadline for Individual Artist Commissions (“IAC”) is July 29, 2010. Due to the extensive outreach by CEG Program Associate Weston Teruya, the attendance and RSVPs for the application workshops was so high that another workshop was added. Almost all of the approximately one hundred workshop attendees are new to CEG. The Cultural Equity Initiatives Level 1 (“CEI-L1”) grants program has had fewer inquiries, but Director Wong will be scheduling assessment meetings with potential applicants. CEG believes that while this practice elevates the overall quality and competitiveness of the applicants, it may potentially result in a leaner applicant pool.
Director Wong closed her report with news regarding the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. An important institution within the African American and theater communities, and a current CEG grantee, the theater experienced the recent loss of its co-founders, Executive Director Quentin Easter, and Artistic Director Stanley E. Williams, to cancer. Ms. Wong expressed concern about the organization’s future because of the loss of core leadership, but stated CEG’s strong desire and intention to be supportive. Currently, CEG is waiting to hear from the Board of Directors about transition plans. The Commissioners expressed support for CEG’s position, and will refer any inquiries to Director Wong.
Commissioner Drasin inquired about the state of the San Francisco Black Film Festival. Ms. Wong informed the Commissioners that she had spoken with the Festival’s new co-directors after their Juneteenth Film Festival. The co-directors felt that though the attendance was small overall, it was a successful event from which they learned a great deal. Director Wong extended an invitation to meet with them again when they gathered more evaluative information about the festival.
2. Community Arts and Education Program Director Report
Ms. Nemzoff summarized the previous fiscal year, noting the tremendous changes the program sustained in CAE staff, as well as staff at the Cultural Centers.
Commissioner Melania noted that in her time on the CAEG committee, she had witnessed these transitions, including upheaval at the Bayview Opera House, and was impressed with the progress and improvements. She commended Ms. Nemzoff’s ability to develop new programs and thrive during this downturn economy.
Also, three of the Cultural Centers (Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, African American Art and Culture Complex [“AAACC”], and SOMArts) will receive improved HVAC and ventilation. This project is funded and managed by the Public Utilities Commission.
Ms. Nemzoff noted that the disappointment of the year had been the loss of Building and Grounds Superintendent Tom Petersen due to his promotion at the Department of Real Estate. Commissioner Melania asked how his responsibilities would be distributed. Ms. Nemzoff said there would be a part-time stationary engineer reporting to Mr. Petersen. A planner at the Department of Public Works (“DPW”) will take on small projects.
Ms. Nemzoff closed her year-end summary by noting that the program seemed very vulnerable last year. She had staff work with their strengths, and out of that came new programs: Art in Storefronts, Art Impact, and StreetSmARTS. Before Ms. Nemzoff turned the floor over to program staff, she told the Commissioners that in the following months, they would see presentations by the Cultural Centers. She also reminded Commissioners that the City Hall Docent Program, founded and managed by Ellen Schumer, had been moved into the CAE program last year. Over 18,000 people took the tour of City Hall, including 7,000 schoolchildren.
Robynn Takayama presented on Art in Storefronts Chinatown, which launched in June. The program features seven artists who created four installations and two murals, which will be on display until mid-September.
SFAC developed great relationships with its three community partners (Kearny Street Workshop, Chinatown Community Development Center, and Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco), who helped throw a launch party that engaged multiple facets of the community. People like Charles Phan (owner and executive chef at The Slanted Door), who grew up in Chinatown, returned to the neighborhood. Local Chinatown vendors and restaurants also participated. Families and seniors, tourists and locals, political organizations and arts organizations all attended the launch. The event even served as a meet-up space for a Kearny Street Workshop reunion with the organization’s founder, Jim Dong, in attendance.
Art in Storefronts received a great deal of press attention, garnering mentions in the Best of San Francisco list in San Francisco magazine, the Best of in 7x7 magazine, KQED’s The California Report, the Examiner, San Francisco Weekly, San Francisco Bay Guardian, and KPFA. A segment on CBS Eye on the Bay will air July 19.
Based on our staff experience walking through Chinatown and reports from our community partners, the storefronts are attracting a lot of interest. Artists like Niana Liu, who interacts with the public in her faux-restaurant, say that the merchants have befriended the artists. And a Facebook fan’s responses, like this one, show that the program is working: “This is such a great idea that I'm bringing neighbors from Sonoma down to the city for a day of lunch and storefront viewing.”
Ms. Takayama encouraged Commissioners to join the artist talk, Behind the Scenes of Art in Storefronts, on Saturday, July 17, 2:00 p.m. at the Chinese Culture Center.
With the increased public programming in the past year and a limited budget, Ms. Takayama said she developed a photography intern program. This internship provided an opportunity for professional development to emerging photographers and assisted in the documentation of StreetSmARTS murals, Where Art Lives workshops, Art in Storefronts installations, Cultural Center events, and WritersCorps readings. An exhibition of the photographers’ work featuring the StreetSmARTS mural is on display the month of July at Flax art & design.
3. WritersCorps Report
Ms. Hung reported that FY 2009-2010 was a banner year for WritersCorps. Seven teaching artists taught at thirteen sites, which allowed WritersCorps to serve a record number of students: 790.
Commissioner Melania asked if students were receiving long-term instruction. Ms. Hung responded that out of the 790 students, at least 600 students received long-term, in-depth writing instruction, meaning that they participated in a minimum of ten sessions. At most WritersCorps sites, particularly in-school sites, students had a WritersCorps teacher for an entire school year, and sometimes for several years in a row.
WritersCorps also produced twelve events throughout the fiscal year with a projected total attendance of 1,000 people. It introduced the Claim the Block reading series, which partnered WritersCorps with four museums: the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Museum of the African Diaspora, Zeum, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. WritersCorps was also a recipient of an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 grant for $50,000.
Students created twelve site projects, including seven books, one poetry neighborhood walking tour, one CD of audio recordings, as well as broadsides and individual student chapbooks. Staff also published an anthology written by the WritersCorps Apprentices, a group of advanced writers. City of Stairways: A Poet’s Field Guide to San Francisco is both a travel guide and a poetry anthology, and will be commercially available in the summer of 2010. There will be events in the summer and fall to promote it.
Ms. Hung expressed concern over the decrease in funding for WritersCorps. The projected budget for FY 2010-2011 would mean a substantial decrease in the number of teaching artists hired and the number of students and sites served. Staff is aggressively pursuing fundraising from private foundations to try to maintain services.
Commissioner Draisin questioned the dollar-to-student ratio. Ms. Hung responded that WritersCorps is considered a premier program in the field of arts education, and that the quality of services provided by WritersCorps was considered very high. Unlike other programs, WritersCorps provides real jobs for artists. WritersCorps teaching artists serve for three years and are paid a living wage, and are also provided with ongoing training and stipends for classroom supplies.
4. Arts Education Report
Arts Education Program Manager Tyra Fennell presented on four main program areas: StreetSmARTS, Where Art Lives, Art Impact and the Vernon Davis Scholarship, and Inside/Out.
She said StreetSmARTS connects established urban artists with private property owners to paint vibrant murals in communities plagued with vandalism. Studies show that public space with existing artwork is less likely to be tagged. Over the year, Arts Education staff will monitor the walls and note the number of citations at each site to assess whether the citations have decreased.
To celebrate the program in the community, SFAC partnered with AAACC to hold a year-end event with food, live mural painting, a DJ, a breakdancing competition, and a film screening of the hip-hop cult classic, Beat Street. This program was also supported by historic hip-hop artists from the Zulu Nation. A gallery exhibition called The Elements of Hip Hop included work by StreetSmARTS artists.
The Where Art Lives program teaches young people in grades four to six about the history of San Francisco mural art, the differences between vandalizing a public space and the creation of public art, and the economic impact of tagging. The program was taught at six public schools during FY 2009-2010 and served approximately 150 students.
Because of the media attention and overall community response to StreetSmARTS, DPW increased the program’s budget for FY 2010-2011. This includes funding for the Where Art Lives arts education program. This increased funding will double the number of murals painted and students served and provide twelve new classrooms with Where Art Lives training in the spring.
Ms. Fennell launched a new speaker series called Art Impact, which explores the impact of arts education through the lens of high-profile individuals who have a background in the arts, but are not currently working in the art world. The series kicked off with 49ers tight end Vernon Davis. The discussion was moderated by Dave Clark, co-anchor of the KTVU Channel 2 Morning News team.
In honor of Art Impact’s inaugural speaker, the San Francisco Unified School District announced the establishment of the Vernon Davis Visual Arts Scholarship. The fundraiser for this scholarship was hosted by Morton’s The Steakhouse, San Francisco. A $5,000 scholarship will be awarded this year to a student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in fine arts.
Over the past fiscal year, the arts education program has been working on the book, Inside/Out, which will be released in February 2011. This free publication and online companion is a comprehensive directory of arts education programs and services.
Commission Melania made the following motion:
Motion to enter into a 2010-2011 grant agreement with Community Initiatives in an amount not to exceed $40,000 to support the arts education program intern.
The motion passed unanimously.
5. New Business
Director Cancel reminded Commissioners about arts education software presented at the Executive Committee by San Francisco Jamboree and asked if he should move forward with investing $10,000 into the project out of administrative funds.
Commissioner Draisin raised concern about granting money to the organization without more information. She wondered why they haven’t held a fundraiser for $10,000 in the time since they presented to the Executive Committee. Director Cancel agreed that a plan with specific information must be presented.
Ms. Wong asked about the business model and the phases of the build-out. Commissioner Draisin continued to question how much more money they would need and what sources would provide the funding.
Commissioners asked that Director Cancel continue to investigate San Francisco Jamboree’s plan to determine if this is something the Commission should support. A motion should be presented to the Executive Committee.
6. Adjournment
As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:03 p.m.
RT 7/28/10
