October 12, 2010

COMMUNITY ARTS, EDUCATION, AND GRANTSCOMMITTEE

Tuesday, October 12,2010
3:30 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70

MINUTES

The meeting was called to order at 3:39 p.m.

Commissioners Present: Jessica Silverman, John Calloway, SherriYoung

Staff Present: Directorof Cultural Affairs Luis R. Cancel, Director of Programs Jill Manton, CommunityArts and Education Program Director Judy Nemzoff, Community Arts and EducationProgram Manager Robynn Takayama, Community Arts and Education Program AssociateRhonda Pagnozzi

1. CulturalEquity Grants Program Director Report
As there was no staff present from CulturalEquity and Grants program, no report was presented to the Committee.

2. CommunityArts and Education Program Director Report
Community Arts and Education (“CAE”) ProgramDirector Judy Nemzoff introduced Rhonda Pagnozzi as CAE program associate andCristal Fiel as CAE program intern. Ms. Nemzoff then turned the meeting over toCAE Program Manager Robynn Takayama. Ms. Takayama explained to the Committee thatthe Cultural Centers would each present year-end reports that focused on howthey served their communities, strengthened their organizational structure, andimproved the facility. Ms. Takayama explained that while there has beenincreased stabilization at each Center, they still underwent a great amount oftransition to adapt to the California Cultural Data Project (“CCDP”). Also,theyexperienced the loss of a building and grounds superintendent halfway throughthe year, and new requirements were made by the Controller’s Office. Ms.Takayama noted that despite the economic downturn, several of the Centersincreased their fundraising in the past year. San Francisco Arts Commission (“SFAC”)offered two professional development workshops on launching an individual donorcampaign. SOMArts and Bayview Opera House (“BVOH”) have taken advantage of thephone consultation time. Audience members have also increased for most of theCenters. Queer Cultural Center(“QCC”) said their “no one turned away for lack of funds” policy kept theirprogram attendance high. The cumulative impact on the cultural community islarge: total audiences: 242,735; artists served: 4,155; collaborations: 230; productions:178; rentals: 405. Ms. Takayama said the Centers serve hundreds of artists throughtheir gallery exhibition space; performance space; space for teaching artists;residencies; resources that include a darkroom, silkscreen studio, and recordingstudio; and grant-writing workshops. Through collaborations, the Centers areleveraging their City funding to support small organizations, ethnicorganizations, and individual artists with subsidized rentals and technicalsupport.

3. CulturalCenter Report
Bayview Opera House Executive Director BarbaraOckel showed a commercial that was produced by students of the Bayview Hunters PointCenter for Arts andTechnology. Ms. Ockel told the Committee that staff had increased attendance inthe afterschool program by 50 percent, doubled their staffing, and recruitedmore kids to participate in summer programming. BVOH partnered with otherorganizations for the summer programming and partners offered classes forreduced rates. She also noted that the summer classes needed to be held outsidethe Center while the floors were being refurbished.

Director Cancel asked if parents were added tothe database and given media release contracts for their children. Ms. Ockel saidthey have media release permissions from the parents and that they have addedparents to the database to inform them about BVOH’s programming, but they donot usually meet the parents. Director Cancel then suggested that BVOH collaboratewith the Joseph Lee RecreationalCenter more frequentlyand offered the help of the SFAC to establish a working relationship with the recreationalcenter.

Ms. Ockel then presented facilities issues that BVOH was facing: mostimportantly, rot and mold found on the south wall of the facility. CommissionerSilverman asked if this issue presented any health concerns for the Center. Ms.Ockel said they performed air quality tests and the quality meets thestandards; the biggest health concerns were for people with allergies.Commissioner Silverman asked if this was the only facilities problem, otherthan continued renovation of the site. Ms. Nemzoff explained that there was aleaky roof earlier this year that was repaired. Ms. Ockel continued by saying thatthe water damage was affecting the stage, but the leak had been stopped. Theconcerns that BVOH faces now are how it will look in ten years and how it willbe restored to its original glory. Commissioner Calloway asked if theseproblems were only discovered in the past six months. Ms. Ockel confirmed thatthe water damage was discovered in the past six months. Ms. Nemzoff said thatSFAC met with Ed Reiskin, director of the Department of Public Works (“DPW”), andSupervisor Maxwell to ask for their help in identifying additional funds torepair the water damage at BVOH.

Commissioner Calloway congratulated Ms. Ockel for the improvements inorganizational, programming, and facilities management. Commissioner Silvermancommended BVOH for the great gardening and cooking programs and said they wereexactly what was needed in the Bayview. Commissioner Young suggested that the nextsteps would be to track as many students as possible to build their databaseand track the students brought in by partner organizations. Director Cancelsuggested that Ms. Ockel create a list of skills needed for their board, and SFACwould help the Center recruit potential board members from the businesscommunity.

Executive Director of Mission Cultural Center for LatinoArts (“MCCLA”) Jennie Rodriguez told the Committee that MCCLA’s goals this yearwere to improve the facility’s appearance and lighting; increase visibilitylocally and nationally; increase morale of staff, board, and volunteers; andrevisit and revise the organizational needs assessment first created in 2008. MCCLAachieved a surplus in revenue compared to last year’s report due to an increasein tours, ticket sales, and merchandise sold; opening the Center for more hoursincluding Mondays; and an increase in facilities rentals. MCCLA served 150artists, rented the space for 60 private events, collaborated with 25 differentgroups, and held more art and community panel discussions. MCCLA also providedopportunities for more interns, volunteers, and scholars who wanted to learnhow arts and nonprofit organizations function. Future plans include a Web pagededicated to answering any questions future scholars or volunteers might haveabout the Center.

MCCLA increased its online presence through Facebook and publicizedevents through ad placement in newspapers and community calendars. Ms.Rodriguez said MCCLA sustained several staff vacancies, but hoped that they wouldbe able to offer better benefits in the future. Staff tried to maintain theworkload by training new volunteers and interns. Ms. Rodriguez said that shefocused on professional development for her staff and commended SFAC for theworkshops offered.

Ms. Rodriguez reported that MCCLA had five new board members and theirmost senior board member joined in 2008.

MCCLA’s main facilities challenges were lack of ventilation in thegallery and theater, roof repair, and lack of ADA accessibility in the theater. Ms.Takayama noted that ventilation is especially troubling for events that arefilled to capacity. Commissioner Calloway asked if MCCLA had scheduled upgradesto the theater to make it ADA-accessible. Ms. Nemzoff told the Committee that theMayor’s Office of Disability funding for ADAimprovements to the space was postponed due to current budget limitations.

Commissioner Young commended MCCLA for their great programs, interns,and community support. Commissioner Young said she attended some events atMCCLA where the interns spoke very highly of the Center. She suggested thatMCCLA ask for donations during their events and consider the longevity of the Center.She also inquired what the plan was for the organization and staff whentransitioning new people.

Executive Director of SOMArts Cultural Center (“SOMArts”) Lex Leifheit reportedthat SOMArts had supported 55 different Bay Area nonprofit and communityorganizations from January 1 through June 30, 2010 in the areas of affordablespace rental, on and offsite technical services, technical production, andpublicity assistance. SOMArts hired a full-time facility and technical operationsmanager in September 2009 to support SOMArts’ fiscally sponsored organizations.SOMArts expanded its fiscal sponsorship program to provide financial managementsupport. Ms. Leifheit explained that SOMArts continued to work on beingaccessible, and providing quick responses to rental and exhibition inquiries.

Ms. Leifheit explained that one of SOMArts’ main goals was to create asafe work environment that stresses professionalism, teamwork, goal setting,and accountability. Through programming, SOMArts launched a transparent,competitive process for the main gallery exhibition: the Commons CuratorialResidency program. The program emphasizes deepening participation to buildunderstanding and create new and accessible space for artists at all levels. SOMArtsraised $80,000 in new gallery support. In the past year they also launched the RAMPGallery—an exhibition space for flat work in the lobby—which is programmedmonth-by-month to keep the space accessible.

In April, SOMArts collaborated with Rebuilding Together, who broughtthe Belden Group to help repaint the theater space. In May and June, Asian PacificIslander CulturalCenter (“APICC”) and QCCheld exhibitions in the main gallery rent-free. SOMArts launched their internprogram in winter 2010 to support gallery exhibitions, programs, and outreach.Interns and volunteers participated in a series of community garden days, aswell as other projects like cleaning, painting, database entry, and working atthe box office for events. Ms. Leifheit noted that SOMArts launched their newwebsite based on feedback that was developed in 2009.

 Ms. Leifheit said that future plans included renovating classrooms,scheduling a performanceseries, and distributing more than $47,000 in commissions and honorariadirectly to artists.

Director Cancel asked Ms. Leifheit if there were plans for boarddevelopment. Ms. Leifheit explained that SOMArts had two new board members andplanned to create a board matrix to bring new, needed skills to the board. SOMArtswould continue to work on board development and the current board would host afundraiser, a collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony. Director Canceltold Ms. Leifheit to let the Commissioners know if SOMArts needs helpidentifying potential board members. Ms. Leifheit said they would like anartist with over ten years experience in community arts. Director Cancelsuggested that Bill Fontana would be a good person to approach.

Commissioner Young asked for clarification on the rental spaceprotocols for for-profit organizations, such as Nike. Ms. Leifheit explainedthat SOMArts is very cautious about space rental. For Nike, they accepted therental because it supported a charitable beneficiary.

Executive Director of APICC Vinay Patel said that APICC provided technical,economic, and advocacy support for artists and arts organizations.

Mr. Patel told the Commissioners that APICC had a new board member whois a lawyer; APICC would continue to work on developing their board. This pastyear, APICC received awards from the San Francisco Foundation and NationalEndowment for the Arts. APICC also brought in new sponsors and developed theirindividual donor base. The money received allowed them to hire a publicist anddevelop an enhanced newsletter and new marketing campaign through Facebook.Through their new marketing campaign, they have received press coverage in the SanFrancisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and Hyphen magazine.

In May, APICC held its annual United States of Asian America Festival,coordinating events at sixteen different venues across San Francisco, including SOMArts. APICCcurated the INSPIRE/ASPIRE exhibition at the Main Gallery in SOMArts, and helda series of workshops that invited multi-generational families and artists tomake art. APICC also co-presented APAture Runway, a fashion show, with KearnyStreet Workshop (“KSW”) at SOMArts.

Commissioner Young asked who taught the technical service workshops. Mr.Patel replied that different people taught the workshops. For example, theirpublicist would be leading a workshop on marketing.

Director Cancel congratulated APICC for their very impressive series ofprograms. Commissioner Young thanked APICC and the other Centers for all theeffort they put into their final report presentations.

QCC Artistic Director Pam Peniston said that QCC’s primary programsinclude their website, the annual National Queer Arts Festival, and QueerConversations on Culture and the Arts (“QCCA”). At this year’s Queer ArtsFestival in June, QCC coordinated 70 events, co-presented with 25 differentorganizations, and produced 40 shows. Through the annual festival, QCC was ableto provide paid employment to artists. QCC’s website has 15,000 pages ofeducational information with over 750,000 visitors a year. Through QCCA, QCC enabledLGBT scholars to engage with audiences and expand relationships with queer andnon-queer organizations. Ms. Peniston also brought up QCC’s Healthy CommunityArts Program, which addressed such issues as breast cancer, HIV, body image,drug usage, and recently, giving voice to the queer disabled community.

In June, QCC held We Were There: The Lesbian Response to theEarly AIDS Epidemic Among Gay Men exhibition and short film screening at the AfricanAmerican Art and Culture Complex ("AAACC). Ms. Peniston noted that QCC was excited about thenumber of young people who came to the exhibition.

 Ms. Peniston told the Committee that QCC sponsored eight different artsorganizations with organizational development, funding, and other support. QCCraised $325,000 for their fiscal sponsors.

In terms of organizational infrastructure, QCC conducted intensivestrategic planning sessions, revamping their 2008 strategic plan to meet thechanging dynamics of the organization. They developed a staff succession plan thatchanged the organizational structure from having an executive director to havingan artistic director and a managing director. QCC added two new board membersand hoped to add a third soon. Currently, they were auditioning a group ofpeople for the advisory board to see how they interact with board and staff. DirectorCancel commented that this was a very good approach to board development. Ms. Penistoncontinued that they were working on strengthening individual fundraisingefforts.

Ms. Peniston informed the Committeethat this had been QCC’s best financial year yet, yielding $50,000 over theanticipated budget. QCC was a beneficiary of the Folsom Street Fair, whichadded $16,000 to their budget. 

However, one of QCC’s majorchallenges for this coming fiscal year will be to balance the budget in thewake of Grants for the Arts cutting their funding. To help balance the budget,they are reducing the number of events in the festival. QCC also plans to workon cultural productions and programs year-round, as opposed to focusing thebulk of their programming on the annual festival.

Ms Takayama closed out the final reports, remarking that the Cultural Centerswere doing well overall. In the future, Ms. Takayama and Tom Petersen will beworking on a facilities report for the Committee.

4. WritersCorps Report
There was no WritersCorpsreport.

5. Arts Education Report
There was no Arts Educationreport.

6. New Business
There was no new business.

7. Adjournment
As there was nofurther business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:14 p.m.