November 9, 2010
COMMUNITY ARTS, EDUCATION, AND GRANTS COMMITTEE
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
3:30 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70
MINUTES
The meeting was called to order at 3:38 p.m.
Commissioners Present: John Calloway, Jessica Silverman, Sherri Young
Staff Present: Director of Grants E. San San Wong, Community Arts & Education Program Director Judy Nemzoff, Community Arts & Education Program Manager Robynn Takayama, Cultural Equity Grants Program Associate Beatrice Thomas, Cultural Equity Grants Program Associate Corinne Matesich, Cultural Equity Grants Program Associate Lucy K. Lin, Community Arts & Education Program Associate Cristal Fiel
1. Cultural Center Report
Executive Director of the African American Art and Culture Complex (“AAACC”) London Breed presented the final report for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. AAACC’s significant accomplishments were the grand reopening in August 2009 after making major facility improvements, completing a logo and website redesign, enhancing internal controls with staff, launching teen programming specifically for girls, and diversifying their funding.
AAACC’s performing arts highlights included: productions of Cinderella and Othello by the African American Shakespeare Company; Cultural Odyssey 30th Anniversary, which included a gallery exhibition; the African Dance and Drum Festival; Friday Night at the de Young Museum in January 2010, which 28,000 people attended; an annual Kwanzaa celebration; and their most significant program, the AfroSolo Festival. Visual arts programming included the exhibits Simply Nina, RePurposed, Welcome to the Neighborhood Project, and One Year Later: A Community Photographic Exhibit of the 56th Inauguration. There were four major performances for children and youth, including the building’s grand opening, a performance at the San Francisco Public Library, a holiday fair, and a spring showcase. Furthermore, youth participated in creating a new garden and the new teen girls program. AAACC excelled in community service through their monthly community support board meetings, community clean-up, a backpack drive, haunted house, holiday fair, and toy drive. Overall, Ms. Breed announced that AAACC had incredible art exhibitions this year and a great youth program over the summer.
With regard to facility improvements, AAACC’s $1.5 million renovation included new flooring, painting the building façade, and a restriped parking lot. AAACC’s fundraising included May Mayhem, corporate and foundation support, a federal grant, fiscal sponsorship fees, and facility rentals. Ms. Breed told the Committee that she is happy with the progress of the space and generating new revenues.
Commissioner Calloway commended AAACC for the great breadth of events that covered many different disciplines throughout the year. He said that the AAACC is an amazing and open space. He then asked Ms. Breed if AAACC still has bingo and yoga classes. Ms. Breed clarified that AAACC did not have bingo anymore, but that they still regularly hold yoga classes in the space. Commissioner Calloway noted that the final report said that AAACC had a challenge with fiscal sponsorship. Ms. Breed said that the fiscal sponsorship program takes a lot of time to manage and that AAACC wants to be sure that those they sponsor align with their mission.
Ms. Takayama announced that the report Ms. Breed presented is still a draft, as there are some financial reporting issues that need to be fixed before the final report is accepted.
2. Cultural Equity Grants Program Director Report
Commissioner Calloway made a motion:
Motion to approve the following individuals as grants application review panelists for Cultural Equity Grants (“CEG”):
Lenora Lee, choreographer and dancer
Shefali Shah, environmental justice educator and instructor of traditional dance
Kevin Simmonds, writer and musician
Director of Grants San San Wong gave a brief overview of the Cultural Equity Initiative Level One grant category (“CEI-L1”) that supports the development, sustainability and growth of San Francisco arts organizations that are deeply rooted in, and able to express the experiences of historically underserved communities. She also spoke briefly about the diverse range of recommended organizations and capacity-building initiatives. Projects ranged from the expansion of the 3rd I South Asian Independent Film Festival’s geographic reach and programmatic offerings that speak to LGBT and environmental issues, to requests for strategic organizational development support from volunteer-run organizations transitioning into more formalized incorporated structures like Femina Potens and Hyphen Magazine. Some requests for planning centered on issues of legacy as founding artists matured were seen from GenRyu Arts and La Pocha Nostra. Artist-led organizations, such as Cuba Caribe and Chitresh Das Dance Company, are seeking support to clarify distinctions between, and strengthen artistic and administrative components. The Luggage Store’s initiative involves further developing a collaborative business management model as they activate their entire building. Zaccho Dance Theater, an organization known for large-budget, large-scale production, multi-year, site-specific public productions, is addressing how to re-scale their work and to rethink the way they generate income.
Presentations from three recommended grantees followed.
President and CEO Villy Wang spoke to Commissioners about Bayview Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology (“BAYCAT”), a multi-faceted nonprofit community media producer. The organization is a hybrid nonprofit entity, which blends education, community building, client projects and youth programming. BAYCAT’s teacher and student training program has produced films and video and created over 50 young media producers. They engage in cross-sector and interdisciplinary partnerships that have allowed them to provide employment opportunities to local youth. Because of this unique blend of arts, education and social entrepreneurship, BAYCAT is able to track and capture a significant amount of data on arts and communities. The CEI-L1 grant will help with database and project management. Ms.Wang ended her presentation stating that in this time of economic recession it is not about expanding but effectively using the resources and information available.
Darryl Smith, Director of the Luggage Store Gallery, started the arts space with Co-Director Laurie Lazer in 1987. Rooted in the Tenderloin and entering its 24th year, this artist-run gallery focuses on the poly-ethnic nature of the Tenderloin neighborhood, and the support and exhibition of emerging artists. Their strategy from the beginning has been to work in partnership with other businesses and organizations in the Tenderloin; today, these organizations have grown together, building an essential foundation for successful partnerships and collaborations. Mr. Smith stated that they have always envisioned the Luggage Store employing a cluster model for organizational sustainability and development. With the recent acquisition of the master lease on their building, this grant will allow the organization to work with a consultant to develop a viable and sustainable way to collaborate. Mr. Smith noted that they are working with Elvin Padilla, Executive Director at Tenderloin Economic Development Corporation, to purchase the building. Ms. Wong added that the grant review panelists were impressed with how organic partnerships and collectivity were intrinsic to the organization. Commissioner Calloway applauded the organization’s growth and development.
Irene Kao, Development Coordinator of Hyphen Magazine, stated that Hyphen Magazine was started in 2003, in response to the closure of key Asian American publications. The magazine emerged as a forum that spoke to and gave voice to the multiplicity of Asian identities within the Asian and Asian American community. Hyphen is interested in growing their budget and expanding how people access the magazine. With over 175 volunteers and a dedicated audience, their goal is to move beyond their core group of readers and contributors. They plan to begin paying their writers in order to cultivate repeat contributors. Currently, completing their strategic plan, the CEI-L1 funding will support growing and strengthening the board of directors, implementing a more robust fundraising plan with specific focus on diversifying revenue and identifying more stable sources of funding to support core operations. The organization is eager to begin work with a systems development consultant. Ms. Wong noted that the organization was remarkable in their commitment to broad-based knowledge sharing. Commissioner Young asked for clarification on the organization’s budget. Ms. Kao explained that largely due to Hyphen’s unparalleled volunteer support, the organizational cash budget was $45,000. Commissioners commented favorably on the high quality of the magazine samples.
Commissioner Silverman made the following motion:
Motion to approve recommendations to award sixteen grants totaling $330,175 in the Cultural Equity Initiative Level One grants to the following organizations, and to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into grant agreements with each for the amounts listed:
3rd I South Asian Independent Film Festival, $23,750
509 Cultural Center/Luggage Store, $23,750
Asian Improv aRts, $21,250
Au Co Vietnamese Cultural Center, $21,250
Bayview Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology (BAYCAT), $23,750
Chinese Historical Society of America, $19,000
Chitresh Das Dance Company, $21,250
Cuba Caribe, $17,600
Femina Potens, $21,250
Galeria de La Raza, $21,250
GenRyu Arts, $21,250
Hyphen Magazine, $15,725
La Pocha Nostra, $20,000
Loco Bloco Drum and Dance Ensemble, $20,000
San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, $17,850
Zaccho Dance Theatre, $21,250
The motion was approved unanimously.
Director of Grants San San Wong introduced the Individual Artist Commissions (“IAC”) grant category, followed by a summary of this year’s IAC application process and panel recommendations for visual, literary and media arts by Program Associate Lucy Lin. Ms. Lin discussed how CEG strengthened its outreach and technical assistance this year. Because of high demand, an additional fourth grant application workshop was held off-site at Intersection for the Arts. In addition to application workshops, applicants are invited to submit draft narratives for staff review; 28 draft narratives were reviewed.
The IAC grant alternates support in disciplines, yearly, between Visual/Literary/Media Arts and Performing Arts. This year, 95 applications were received in Visual/Literary/Media Arts, which is a significant increase from the 68 applications received two years ago. Ms Lin explained the tiered funding system panelists employed to allocate grant amounts; recommended grantees were awarded from 80 to 100 percent of their request, based on ranking. The funding recommendations and demographic breakdown of the entire IAC applicant pool are as follows: 14 of 27 literary arts applicants were recommended for funding; 10 of 22 media arts applicants were recommended for funding; 18 of 46 visual arts applicants were recommended for funding. Of the applicants recommended for funding 53 percent were women, 43 percent were men, 29 percent were lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender-identified and 71 percent were heterosexual or unidentified. The total amount of project activity leveraged from these proposals is estimated at over one million dollars. As all CEG projects are required to have at least one public activity, the IAC audience numbers are projected to reach 638,314.
Ms. Lin reported the following trends: 1) an increase in multidisciplinary projects; 2) an improvement in the ability of literary applicants to identify and articulate their target audience; and 3) media artists employing new methods for outreach and audience engagement beyond the traditional film festival circuit.
Three recommended IAC grantees spoke about their projects. Anhvu Buchanan, a poet and teacher, just completed his MFA in writing at San Francisco State University. Buchanan’s work plays heavily on voice and storytelling. He gave a one-minute reading from his most recent body of work “The Disorder Complex,” which explores the topic of mental health. This IAC grant will support his proposed project “Peeling Away The Name,” which has three components: a book of poems, centered on what naming means in Vietnamese and American cultures and its effect on cultural identity; a partnership with the Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network to teach writing in Vietnamese communities; and his manuscript development, including opportunities for reading and sharing amongst a consortium of writers and artists. Mr. Buchanan stated that he hoped this project would reach out to Vietnamese people outside of the literary community. In closing, he explained that this subject matter came from his own experiences with naming and that this grant would give him the opportunity to work more personally.
Filmmaker Melinda Stone talked about her web-based media project How to Homestead, a collection of short playful video vignettes meant to inspire and instruct visitors on homesteading skills. As a filmmaker, Ms. Stone has mostly done site-specific work, which she has toured to different places and presented in different ways. She was eager to find a way for the web-based work to make a real world connection. This grant will allow Ms. Stone to extend the reach of her web-based work into direct community engagement. She will generate programming from her web-based videos and tour them around to different community and cultural centers. The programming will be paired with the films and corresponding forms of art and culture, from tastings to dance, and other skill-sharing. She did her first pilot square dancing event at Southern Exposure and it was met with very positive reception. She is currently collecting community center partners and venues. Commissioner Young sought clarification on what the grant would be funding. Ms. Stone explained that funding would go to pay for artists’ and musicians’ fees and in some cases, venue fees. Commissioner Young then asked what made this work different than that of an arts presenter. Commissioner Silverman explained that because the work is media-based, Ms. Stone is bridging the work into a live context. Ms. Wong interjected that the nature of interdisciplinary work is the blending of discipline boundaries. She further explained that currently in the field, new interdisciplinary platforms involving collective practice and arts communities are emerging.
John Leaños, media artist and assistant professor at the California College of the Arts, uses documentary animation to engage popular audiences in the telling of histories that through lack of prioritization and documentation may not formally exist. He uses humor to engage serious socio-political content. Mr. Leaños showed his short animation Los ABC’s: Que Vivan Los Muertos. His newest project, Borderlands, will tell the difficult stories of lives on the Mexican-United States border, utilizing the popular pedagogy of Schoolhouse Rock. He explained that this grant will provide for project advisors and consultants, and will help move the project through various stages of production. The completed work is intended to be available via the web, mobile devices and television. Commissioner Young was impressed by the work sample.
At the close of the presentations, Ms. Wong explained that due to a typo in the grant recommendation for Valerie Soe, the current motion needed to be amended from $8,500 to $8,550. She added that these grant amounts reflected any five percent deductions due to late application documents.
Commissioner Silverman made the following motion.
Motion to approve recommendations to award forty-two grants totaling $385,800 in the Individual Artist Commissions grants to the following individuals, and to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into grant agreements with each for the amounts listed:
Ali Liebgott, $10,000
Allan deSouza, $9,000
Anhvu Buchanan, $10,000
Annie Sprinkle, $10,000
Austin Chu, $9,000
Chrissy Anderson-Zavala, $8,550
D. Scot Miller, $8,550
Debbie Yee, $9,000
Elissa Perry, $8,000
Genny Lim, $10,000
Imin Yeh, $10,000
Jason Jagel, $10,000
Jason Roberts Dobrin, $7,600
Jay Rosenblatt, $9,000
Jenni Olson, $8,000
Jeremy Sanders, $9,000
John Jota Leaños, $10,000
Josef Norris, $9,000
Kevin Simmonds, $10,000
Laurie Coyle, $8,550
Lenore Chinn, $9,000
Lynn Marie Kirby, $9,000
Matt Borruso, $9,000
Melinda Stone, $9,500
Michael Namkung, $10,000
Michelle Tea, $8,000
Monica Peck, $8,000
Nara Denning, $10,000
Nona Caspers, $9,000
Pamela Z, $10,000
Rafael Landea, $9,000
Ramekon O’Arwisters, $9,000
Richard D’Elia, $9,000
Sam Green, $9,000
Sarah Fran Wisby, $9,000
Sergio de la Torre, $10,000
Stacy Jackson, $9,000
Su-Chen Hung, $9000
Susan Stryker, $9,500
Suzanne Husky, $10,000
Tina Takemoto, $10,000
Valerie Soe, $8,550
The motion was approved unanimously.
3. Community Arts and Education Program Director Report
No report was presented.
4. WritersCorps Report
No report was presented.
5. Arts Education Report
No report was presented.
6. New Business
Commissioner Calloway requested that the CAEG Committee meetings are scheduled for 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m., instead of starting at 3:30 p.m., on the second Tuesday of each month. Commissioner Young and Commissioner Silverman confirmed that they were available. Ms. Wong said that she would confirm the re-scheduling with Commissioner Draisin, Ms. Nemzoff and Director of Cultural Affairs Luis R. Cancel.
7. Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
