March 9, 2010
COMMUNITY ARTS, EDUCATION, and GRANTS COMMITTEE
March 9, 2010
4:00 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70
San Francisco
Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m.
Commissioners Present: Sherri Young, John Calloway, Nínive Calegari, Maya Draisin, and Sherene Melania.
Staff Present: Director of Grants San San Wong, Cultural Equity Grants Program Associate Beatrice L. Thomas, Community Arts and Education Program Director Judy Nemzoff, and Community Arts and Education Program Associate Robynn Takayama.
- Cultural Equity Grants Program Director's Report
Ms. Wong reported that the Dynamic Adaptability Conference was held with partners, Grants for the Arts, San Francisco Foundation, Helicon Collaborative and Center for Cultural Innovation. The conference focused on new ways for organizations and artists to weather the economic crisis and to think differently about sustainable organizational practices. Filling the Herbst Theater nearly to capacity, with over 700 participants, the conference was a rousing success. Surveys administered after the event are in the process of being evaluated. Upon completion of the data analysis, Cultural Equity Grants ("CEG") staff will report findings to the Committee.Additionally, Ms Wong informed Commissioners that the Native American Arts and Cultural Traditions Grants panel was held March 2 and 3. With approximately $110,000 to distribute, 19 applications were received, with 13 recommended for funding. The CEG staff will be spending the next three weeks in grant panels for Organizational Project Grants ("OPG"), CEG’s most competitive grant category. CEG received 77 applications in performing arts and 27 in visual, literary, and media arts, for a total of 104 applications. The OPG funding recommendations will be presented to the Committee in May.
Ms. Wong updated the CAEG Committee on the development of the Cultural Capacity Fund ("CCF"), a collaborative funding initiative, designed to address increasing the administrative capacity of the arts community. She discussed the success of the Scholarship Program which provides grants to individual artists and arts administrators for professional development. The founding CCF partners included CEG, Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund and the Center for Cultural Innovation. The partnership then expanded to include The San Francisco Foundation and San José Office of Cultural Affairs. It has now gone statewide with the inclusion of the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs. This expansion demonstrates that funders recognize the critical importance of finding ways to support capacity-building in the arts community.
Commissioner Melania made the following motion:
Motion to approve the following individuals as grants application review panelists for Cultural Equity Grants:
Kerri Johnson, artist, arts administrator and curator
Larry Kassin, Executive Director, San Francisco Live Arts
Tomás Riley, Co-Executive Director, ArtsChange
Motion passed unanimously. - Community Arts and Education Director's Report
There was no report as the meeting was focused on hearing from the Cultural Center directors. - WritersCorps Report
There was no report as the meeting was focused on hearing from the Cultural Center directors. - Arts Education Report
There was no report as the meeting was focused on hearing from the Cultural Center directors. - Cultural Center Report
Ms. Nemzoff reminded the Commissioners about the origin in the change in Cultural Center reporting. She noted that the look and feel of the Midyear Report had been adapted to focus on legislative requirements and budget updates. This would provide an opportunity for the Center directors to speak directly at the committee meeting about what had been taking place at the Centers over the past six months.She also said that Commissioners had each been assigned a Center to be the "lead read" on the reports (Management and Programming Plan, Midyear, and Final) and to learn more about that Center.
Ms. Nemzoff said the center directors would present for five minutes about programs that have taken place in the past six months, as well as the highlights and the challenges. The Commissioners should provide comments on the Midyear Report for about two minutes. And then the full Committee should ask questions for a total of twelve minutes per Center, so that each Center could present before Commissioner Calloway, who needed to leave at 5:45. The total time for each Center was later expanded to fifteen minutes.
London Breed presented a short video produced by youth at the African American Art and Culture Complex ("AAACC"), which talked about the resources available at the Center. She said the accomplishments included capital improvements to the building, collaborations with arts institutions, and increased services to resident artists in the facility. The challenges included developing artistic programming for teenagers (who had been primarily interested in the recording studio), board development, communication with resident arts organizations, and fundraising.
Commissioner Calloway noted that Ms. Breed held two of the four community support board meetings and that the revenue target had already been met.
Commissioner Calegari asked if the Center already had a fiscal sponsorship program. Ms. Breed said they tried with two organizations and were ready to invite others. Commissioner Melania asked what other capital improvements Ms. Breed wanted to fundraise for. Ms. Breed responded with the following needed improvements: seismic strengthening of the building, electrical, heating, and ventilation. She added that the Center had received stimulus funds for solar energy, but first the roof would need to be improved.
Lex Leifheit focused her SOMArts presentation on the first six months of the fiscal year, highlighting Visual Aid’s art show and live auction fundraiser; Children’s After School Arts; the San Francisco Bike Coalition’s Winterfest fundraiser, which now includes bicycle art; and SOMArt’s own exhibition, Day of the Dead, seen by over 600 youth every year.
Ms. Leifheit then noted that SOMArts provides rental and studio spaces, strengthens communities, provides affordable space, and offers artists exhibition opportunities to sell their work. These are all needs artists have expressed during in the recession, as reported at the Dynamic Adaptability conference.
She highlighted key programming in the space, such as the aerial dance performance, Ballad of PollyAnn, a pilot collaboration program with Flyaway Productions; Homo-a-Gogo, which produced their festival in San Francisco for first time; the exhibition Monumental Remembrance, curated about former Arts Commission Program Director Elio Benvenuto and the San Francisco Arts Festivals of the 1970s; the Day of the Dead exhibition; Open Studios; and the Invisible Homes exhibition, curated by SOMArts’ new gallery manager.
Ms. Leifheit noted that the organization saw an increase in fundraising while many organizations saw cutbacks. She also noted that the SOMArts staff was still in transition. She hired two people in full-time positions, but the number of full-time equivalents had decreased, so the staff was spread thin. She also said five people had applied to the board of directors.
Commissioner Melania appreciated the range of programs SOMArts offered and the diverse demographics served. She asked which programs were SOMArts’ programs. Ms. Leifheit responded that the gallery program, fiscal sponsorship program, and technical services were SOMArts.’ She added that SOMArts earns income from the space rental and leaves the box office income for the renters. She acknowledged that SOMArts sacrifices a direct relationship with people who come into the building, and she said that she is exploring how other community and Cultural Centers form a direct relationship with people who come through their doors.
Commissioner Melania asked about facilities improvements. Ms. Leifheit said more money would be spent in the second half of the year, including a purchase of new risers.
Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center ("APICC") Executive Director Vinay Patel said the organization was in transition. Jen Banta had been promoted to program coordinator and had been developing year-round programming with intergenerational arts workshops by Flo Oy Wong. He said that fundraising had also been a challenge.
Commissioner Draisin said she noticed developments compared to last year. She still had concerns about audience reach and asked for clarification on collaborations. Mr. Patel said collaborations would be formalized with a memorandum of understanding that outlined the responsibilities for each group. To date, he said APICC had two collaborations with Kearny Street Workshop and dance NAGANUMA.
Commissioner Draisin noted that APICC would not be programming SOMArts’ Bay Gallery, which Mr. Patel said would diminish festival attendance. She asked if there was a backup plan for programming. Mr. Patel said this was part of the transition and they are programming more performances in April, May, and June, as several organizations want to work with APICC. Mr. Patel added that APICC collaborates with SOMArts in the Main Gallery at no cost.
Commissioner Calegari said the organization is doing well with meeting their revenue target and asked for the vision of the workshops. Mr. Patel said it was to invite community master artists to run the workshops. The next round of workshops would build on the previous round.
Director Cancel suggested that APICC get involved with the Asian Art Museum’s Shanghai exhibition. Mr. Patel said APICC would be collaborating with SOMArts on a video screening and with the Chinese Cultural Center of San Francisco as part of the Shanghai exhibition. Director Cancel added that a large public art piece by Zhang Huan would arrive in San Francisco in May and there might be an opportunity for APICC to be involved with the sculpture.
Interim Managing Director of the Bayview Opera House, Barbara Ockel, reminded Commissioners that two new people joined the board of directors and said that three afterschool teachers had been hired along with two staff members who will help with grant writing and administration through the JOBS NOW program. Programming had been revitalized through partnerships with the YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, Joe Lee Recreation Center, and other neighborhood organizations. To address negative perceptions in the community, the board had issued an annual report to the community, planned an aggressive programming schedule, and developed new community partnerships.
Commissioner Calegari said she was glad to meet new staff but that the organization’s challenges are income and meeting the revenue target. She suggested that with the addition of a grant writer, the board could focus on developing individual donors.
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts ("MCCLA") Executive Director Jennie Rodriguez introduced James Nikas, who has an outstanding collection of prints by J.G. Posada and M. Manilla Calaveras. Mr. Nikas said he chose to exhibit his collection at MCCLA because Posada produced work for the masses, and MCCLA seemed to be a great fit. Director Cancel said the collection was extraordinary, with museum-quality prints. Ms. Rodriguez said the event attracted corporate funders, and over 4,000 people attended the exhibition.
Commissioner Young said she was impressed with the programming accomplished with a budget of MCCLA’s size. She asked about earned income, and Ms. Rodriguez said the majority of the earned income came from ticket sales, as well as the sale of food and wine at events. Commissioner Young said she would like to keep tabs on how fee increases affected the community, as the Centers are funded to provide access.
Executive Director of the Queer Cultural Center ("QCC"), Pam Peniston, presented a video summarizing the organization’s work. She told the Commissioners that major challenges are fundraising and the increased cost to rent venues. While the festival is successful, QCC is not associated with the National Queer Arts Festival. She said she is working on developing an individual donor database and increasing their individual donor program. The organization is loved by the community; Ms. Peniston said she received over 100 e-mails upon requesting quotes for the report.
Ms. Peniston said QCC had been producing year-round programming in collaboration with Femina Potens, Magnet Health, and California College of the Arts. They had also turned their community support board meetings into workshop presentations.
Commissioner Draisin said she was impressed with the report. Ms. Peniston said they are taking their model of collaboration down to Los Angeles. Director Cancel asked if she saw the need for a national conference to share QCC’s model with other groups in other cities. Ms. Peniston agreed that QCC had been running unique programming.
Commissioner Calegari asked Ms. Peniston why QCC worked so smoothly. Ms. Peniston replied that this is due to QCC’s commitment to diversity. The art has a political edge, with wide representation in programming, and mixes established and emerging artists, which brings in new audiences.
Ms. Takayama wrapped up the Cultural Center discussion by encouraging Commissioners to attend the highlighted events for each Cultural Center.
Commissioner Draisin said she appreciated the new reporting format.
- New Business
Mr. Cancel said that the Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, Rocco Landesman, would visit San Francisco on March 17. He would meet the Mayor and select invitees to expose him to art and culture in San Francisco. The event would be hosted by the James Irvine Foundation. - Adjournment
As there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:03 p.m.
3/31/10 RT
