December 11, 2012

The meeting was called to order at 2:36 p.m.
 

1. Roll Call

   Commissioners Present:
   John Calloway
   Charles Collins (arrived at 2:41 p.m.)
   Sherene Melania, Chair
   Roberto Ordeñana

   Commissioners Absent:
   None

   Staff Present: Tom DeCaigny, Judy Nemzoff, Lucy Seena K. Lin, Robynn Takayama, Melissa Hung, Beatrice Thomas, Tyese Wortham, Cristal Fiel

2. WritersCorps Report
   WritersCorps Program Manager Melissa Hung provided the committee with a summary of fall semester programming. She said that WritersCorps had just participated in the second annual Youth Arts Summit organized by Out of Site Youth Arts Center and hosted by SOMArts Cultural Center. She said that this semester, WritersCorps has served almost 600 students and that by the end of the year they will have served 800 to 900 students. She reminded the committee that teaching artists are placed in in-school and after school programs at various sites including: Aptos Middle School, Downtown High School, Hilltop School, International Studies Academy, Mission High School, Oasis for Girls, Excelsior Branch Public Library, Main Public Library, and Woodside Learning Center. Ms. Hung said that it was their second year working with Oasis for Girls.

   Ms. Hung said that for the spring semester, WritersCorps would be adding sites, which would include sites in Bayview to be determined, Sanchez College Preparatory School, and the Apprentices Program, an after school program that meets at the Arts Commission office. She said that WritersCorps had unfortunately lost a site in the fall with the YMCA because they could not come to an agreement regarding liability.

   Looking at the number of students at the Main Library site (there were three), Commissioner Melania wondered that if cost-wise, it would make more sense to have those students attend a program at another site.

   Ms. Hung agreed that it would be more cost effective. She said that this was an unusually low enrollment and that there was perhaps less promotion at the Main Library this year due to changes in the teen librarian staff. The site did not have someone working there for a while, and usually the site is responsible for recruitment with WritersCorps’ help. She added that it would be something to discuss with the library. She said that the Main Library was a site that tended to draw more serious writers. She thought that they needed to do more outreach in the neighborhood surrounding the Main Library.

   Cultural Affairs Director Tom DeCaigny asked if they were numbers that might increase over the course of the residency of the site.

   Ms. Hung said that the numbers usually do increase. However, a number of students who participated in the workshop last year couldn’t return this fall due to other after school commitments. She said participation does tend to increase during the year, but it was getting more difficult to attract students to after school programs.

   Commissioner Melania asked why it was more difficult to recruit students.

   Ms. Hung said that many other after school programs offer stipends now, so when students were looking at different models they preferred to attend something where they would get paid by participating. She thought it was a something that a lot of youth programs faced in terms of getting the youth’s attention and it took a lot of effort outreach-wise. She said it was something the whole field struggled with.

   Ms. Hung pointed out the funders of WritersCorps for this fiscal year on the one-sheet. She said there was a lot of programming and events lined up for the spring, including the Apprentice Program. WritersCorps was holding an online holiday book sale—buy one get one free—where all proceeds would support student programming.

   She pointed out the list of upcoming events including the annual reading at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. The event would be free and open to the public. Also, the call for entries for the Poetry Projection Project film contest was open. This year’s guest juror was independent filmmaker H.P. Mendoza. Ms. Hung announced that WritersCorps would have an exciting performance with Leticia Hernandez in May, funded through a Creative Work Fund grant that covers work that WritersCorps is doing with Leticia at Hilltop School and the performance that would be in May. Finally, the annual literary festival, WordStorm, was in May.

   Cultural Equity Grants ("CEG") Interim Director Lucy Seena K. Lin said that it was great the program was working with Leticia Hernandez. Ms. Hernandez had received an individual artist commission grant in the last grant cycle.

   Commissioner Collins arrived at 2:41 p.m.

   Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.

   Explanatory Document: WritersCorps Fall 2012 Summary

3. Cultural Centers Report
   Community Arts and Education (“CAE”) Program Manager Robynn Takayama reminded the committee that CAE staff had brought in consultant Marie Beichert to provide technical assistance to the Centers to help articulate clearer goals and objectives in the Management and Programming Plan (“MPP”). She explained that for some organizations, this exercise was a reorganization of their original narrative. For other Centers, the exercise created a shift in program planning based on organizational goals

   Ms. Takayama said that through this technical assistance, Ms. Beichert talked about: current local and national trends in foundation funding; critical elements of highly fundable projects; outcome-based evaluation and Theory of Change; and SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-framed), which were introduced for the first time this year, at the recommendation of Director DeCaigny to make the MPP a much more valuable tool for reporting to the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, and the Controller’s Office.

   Ms. Takayama said that Ms. Beichert specialized additional education based on each Center’s need such as: how to define organizational goals and then develop programming and education around those goals; how to work with the board to revise organization goals; and how to engage corporations with their organizations. The Centers also received handouts that should help them develop a work plan and goals and objectives in the future.

   Ms. Takayama commented that while the revised MPP submissions were not huge departures from what were previously submitted, they were organized into much clearer goals and objectives; and would help create better assessment measures for the mid-year and final reports. Lastly, she hoped the technical assistance would alleviate the need for revisions of incomplete submissions and the back and forth feedback, which would be something CAE staff, commissioners, and Center directors would all like to minimize.

   Ms. Takayama added that the three motions before the committee were to increase the Centers’ grant agreements to reflect the 1.9 percent cost of living increase for all City grantees.

   Commissioner Ordeñana congratulated CAE staff for providing technical assistance to the Centers. He said that it was exciting to hear and that it was important work that would strengthen the organizations.

   Commissioner Collins said that the exercise seemed to take out the perceived arbitrariness of reporting and that the technical assistance would add a level of objectivity.

   Mr. DeCaigny thanked the Cultural Centers for the rewarding conversations during the monthly Center director meetings. He said that as a field, arts organizations were grappling with what impact means and looks like. He said that the technical assistance they received helped to put a framework around evaluating impact. Through the discussion on MPP revisions, a dialogue evolved with the Center directors about how to demonstrate and measure impact.

   Secondly, Mr. DeCaigny said he was thrilled to put forward the cost of living increase and thought it was an exciting opportunity to start to build back what was lost in funds over previous years. He announced that in addition to the 1.9 percent increase this fiscal year, next fiscal year all City grantees would receive a 2 percent increase. He commended the City’s policymakers for their commitment to this increase to all City grantees.

   Commissioner Calloway stated that the cost of living increase was a significant moment for the City.

   Ms. Takayama said that there is a language that is used in the nonprofit sector and in grant writing. She stated that some Cultural Center staff speak English as a second language. The technical assistance workshops provided definitions and built a common vocabulary to hopefully be more successful grant writing.

   Commissioner Ordeñana recused himself from motion #1.

   1. Commissioner Melania gave the following motion:
      Motion to increase the 2012-2013 grant agreement to African American Art and Culture Complex by $10,847 for a total grant not to exceed $581,723 (with $483,216 for African American Art and Culture Complex and 98,507 for Queer Cultural Center).
      Moved: Collins/ Calloway
      Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
      The motion was unanimously approved.
   2. Commissioner Melania gave the following motion:
      Motion to increase the 2012-2013 grant agreement to Bayview Opera House by $5,922 for a total grant not to exceed $317,580.
      Moved: Collins/Calloway
      Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
      The motion was unanimously approved.
   3. Commissioner Melania gave the following motion:
      Discussion and possible motion to increase the 2012-2013 grant agreement to Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts by $9,936 for a total grant not to exceed $532,859.
      Moved: Ordenana/Collins
      Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
      The motion was unanimously approved.
4. Cultural Equity Grants Program Director Report
   Ms. Lin updated the committee on past and upcoming activities of CEG. The Individual Artist Commissions ("IAC") - Media panel review took place on December 5, 2012 with fifteen applicants and four panelists. Ms. Lin added that the review process entailed lively discussions with proposals ranging from documentaries, animation, and video installation. Ms. Lin continued to report that CEG has two panel reviews coming up in January. The IAC for Visual will be January 17-18, 2013 with 32 proposals and for Literary, January 24-25, 2013 with 24 proposals. She invited commissioners to attend one of the review panels and explained that at the close of a review panel staff and panelists engage in a policy discussion that reflects on the pool of applicants, the quality of the applications, and what is going on in the field. Recommendations for the IAC will be presented at the February 2013 meeting.

   Commissioner Collins asked about the number of meetings taking place for the IAC panel reviews.

   Ms. Lin explained that the number of panel reviews depends on the grant category and type of panel review process. The IAC’s are comprised of three different disciplines: media, visual, and literary. The panel for each discipline is determined by discipline-specific expertise considering the different elements and styles of the applicant pool.

   Commissioner Collins suggested that the Commissioners attend one of the panel reviews and requested more information.

   Commissioner Melania agreed. She asked for an email of the dates and times of the upcoming panel reviews.

   Ms. Lin noted that the Organization Project Grant (“OPG”) panel review is coming up in February and explained that while the IAC grant supports funding for individual visual, literary, and media artists, the OPG offers funding to presenting organizations and organizations creating new work.

   Commissioner Collins stated that it would be helpful to pinpoint ideal times to attend each of the panel reviews.

   Ms. Lin mentioned that Commissioner Calloway has attended a panel review in the past and asked if he had any insights to share.

   Commissioner Calloway responded by reiterating the importance for the Commissioners to attend a panel review.

   Mr. DeCaigny stated that he attended the policy discussion for the Cultural Equity Initiatives (“CEI”) grants. He noted that staff does a good job at discussing the process as a whole, and uses the opportunity to capture feedback from panelists on elements such as scoring, application materials, evaluation criteria, and field and discipline trends. He suggested the policy discussion is the best place for Commissioners to gain insight in to the review process.

   Ms. Lin reported that CEG has completed staff reviews for the Arts for Neighborhood Vitality (“ANV”) and Arts and Communities: Innovative Partnerships (“ACIP”) grants. There were five ACIP and nine ANV applications. To streamline the process, CEG utilized agency staff to conduct the review process. The ANV grant supports neighborhood festivals and was program inherited from Grants for the Arts. Ms. Lin mentioned that CEG Program Associate Beatrice Thomas coordinates the ANV and ACIP grants.

   Ms. Thomas pointed out that the ANV and ACIP are key grant opportunities in CEG’s portfolio because of their broad reach across city districts. They both encourage partnerships between arts and non-arts sectors. She continued to explain that the deep ties to community groups and links to the arts makes them particularly special.

   Commissioner Melania voiced her concern regarding the ACIP grant changes. She asked about the grants limited application pool, which restricted access to new applicants.

   Ms. Thomas responded that CEG needed to make adjustments due to reductions in staff capacity and a vacant position. Because ACIP is one of two grants not governed by the cultural equity legislation, staff has the most flexibility in how the administration of the review process takes place. She explained that eligibility for the ACIP grant was limited to applicants who had successfully completed Exploration or planning grants in the past two grant cycles (2010–2011 and 2011–2012). She noted that the intention was to give, these grantees, the opportunity to fully realize the projects they had begun in the exploration phase.

   Ms. Lin added that the ACIP grant looks at developing partnerships and that building trust takes time and effort. Past grant recipients in these categories have been seeding relationships over the past two years. Staff did not want to limit their process and wanted to give the opportunity for these exploration projects to be realized.

   Commissioner Melania appreciated that there is benefit in continuity and seeing a project through, but, noted that it is important to allow new applicants access to grant opportunities as well.

   Ms. Lin stated that ACIP was originally intended to be a three–year program. The ACIP grant is now in its sixth year. Staff has not had the time to sit down and assess the programs in relation to capacity, feasibility, and sustainability but is eager to investigate this during strategic planning.

   Commissioner Calloway expressed that he likes these two grant programs and that they are among his favorites. Stating that connecting an organization that may not think of doing art with artists is an invaluable connection made.

   Mr. DeCaigny underscored that for the past four years, ACIP has had an exploration as well as an implementation component. In fairness to recent exploration grantees, the commission wanted to make sure they had an opportunity to implement their projects. He further explained the history of the ACIP funding, which falls under the general fund. Historically, ACIP was in part funded by a one time $1.5M add back by Mayor Gavin Newsom. Mr. DeCaigny continued explaining that funding assessment and analysis is part of what is needed is to determine the best model and the appropriate scale for the grant moving forward.

   Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
    

5. Cultural Equity Grants Review Panelists
   Commissioner Melania asked the commission if there were any questions or comments for the motion.

   Commissioner Calloway asked if the panelists were for a specific grant program coming up.

   Ms. Lin replied that the panelists presented are for the IAC visual and literary panel reviews. The panelists consist of writers, editors, educators, poets, curators and visual artists. She added that staff composes the panels to reflect the pool of applicants, the city of San Francisco, and the range of projects submitted.

   Mr. DeCaigny inquired if Ellen Oh would be serving on the IAC visual panel.

   Ms. Lin responded that Mr. DeCaigny is correct.

   Commissioner Melania gave the following motion:
   Motion to approve the following individuals as grants application review panelists for Cultural Equity Grants:
   Jordan Bass, Managing Editor, McSweeney's Publishing
   Chinaka Hodge, Poet and playwright
   Glen Helfand, Independent writer, critic, curator, and educator
   Oscar Villalon, Managing Editor, ZYZZYVA
   Victoria Scott, Visual artist and sculptor
   Monica Ramirez-Montagut, Senior Curator, San Jose Museum of Art
   Ellen Oh, Program Administrator, Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University
   Barbara J Reyes, Writer and Adjunct Professor, University of San Francisco

   Moved: Calloway/Ordeñana
   Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
   The motion was passed unanimously.

6. Capitalization for Arts Organizations in Preparation for Cultural Equity Initiatives Recommendations

   Ms. Lin facilitated a discussion on capitalization for arts organizations and introduced, guest speaker and arts funder Tere Romo, Program Officer at the San Francisco Foundation (“SFF”).

   Ms. Lin reported that she, Mr. DeCaigny, Community Arts and Education (“CAE”) Program Director Judy Nemzoff, and CEG and CAE staff have been brainstorming structures to discuss relevant topics at commission meetings. She explained that the presentations are meant to bring up field-wide topics, which include arts grantmaking, grantees, key leaders, and staff. These monthly presentations will be a way to get issues on the table as the program and the Arts Commission enters into strategic planning.

   Ms. Lin referred to a report on capitalization amongst arts organizations from the Nonprofit Finance Fund, which Commissioners were invited to read. She hoped that it would spark a conversation about the capitalization of arts organizations and where they stand with the principles and content presented in the article. She highlighted that many organizations are operating on a day-to-day basis and are struggling to run their programs and as a funder is important to understand the challenges and barriers they are facing. Ms. Lin added that it is also important to consider capitalization on a national scale and the viewpoints of other funders. She introduced Ms. Romo, as an informed grantmaker in the area of capitalization and explained that she invited Ms. Romo to speak about the SFF’s strategies and how change capital has informed them. She explained that she invited Ms. Romo, so the Commissioners could hear from other funders and gain multiple perspectives.

   Commissioner Melania commented on the article stating that it was difficult to compare a large organization like the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation with the organizations that CEG funds. She asked how change capital ties back into what CEG is doing and if this work is applicable to CEG.

   Ms. Lin responded that in the grantmaking arena, funders are thinking about those issues in terms of sustainability. She explained that what staff is seeing in the field is organizations with an ongoing surplus, small surplus, or deficit.

   Mr. DeCaigny added that the idea of change capital is important because the Arts Commission is funding organizations that are in smaller categories. How the Arts Commission can better support these organizations to build a healthy infrastructure and capacity is a critical question. He further suggested that the commission needed to examine how building a board, historical barriers, and the transfer of wealth plays into an organizations health and ability to capitalize. This information could shed light on questions like why some organizations grow in scale and others not and how the commission might mitigate those barriers and capacity issues.

   Commissioner Calloway commented that there is a difference in difficulty between small to mid-sized organizations and that lack of capacity in terms of money and staff, has a significant impact.

   Ms. Romo began by explaining her work around capitalization. The bottom line is how to get organizations to create a surplus across any size budget. Ms. Romo continued to explain that it is like personal finances, how can you generate savings when you are struggling to get the bills paid at the end of the month. She disagreed with the article’s approach and suggested that funders move away from this viewpoint, so that not only large institutions are being included in these type of studies. She noted that some large institutions are too big to fail.

   Ms. Romo further described the impact that came out of a two-year strategic planning process at the SFF. It was agreed that the foundation’s function was to be a community foundation and that social justice should be woven into all programs. She explained that a community foundation is like a bank for donors. Most of the money that goes out is donor advised funds. If you are a donor, you set the amount, give two to three times a year and can suggest where your money goes. When the funds are pulled together, it becomes unrestricted invested income that comes into the foundation’s programs. She stated that the foundation wants to educate their donors and let them know of their programs and their relationship to social justice.

   Ms. Romo reported that when she started as program officer, the arts and culture program underwent realignment with the foundation’s social justice values. Before shifting the program’s approach, Ms. Romo engaged in research through readings, meetings with other funders, and executing an internal assessment of the last three years of grantees in her funding portfolio. She focused on the impact of guidelines and simple components such as grant size. Under former leadership, the grants strategy had been to spread the money broadly. Ms. Romo noted that this approach would have been effective if the program were able to distribute more money, but the $5,000 grants do not do much in terms of impact.

   Commissioner Collins asked what the SFF’s total grant budget was for the arts and culture program.

   Ms. Romo responded that in 2008, after an approximate budget of $5M, the arts and culture program was cut nearly in half because of the economic downturn. In addition, the foundation trustees took a chunk of the funding allotment to give to food banks and social service agencies for three years. The three-year period ends this year, however, Ms. Romo stated that the program cannot depend on getting that money back. Currently, she has $1.5M for the program to spread across five counties, multiple disciplines, and various sized organizations.

   Commissioner Collins asked how many organizations were funded through the SFF arts and culture program.

   Ms. Romo responded that 106 were funded this year and 105 the year prior.

   Commissioner Collins inquired on the number of new applicants.

   Ms. Romo answered that there were twelve new applicants in the program last year.

   Commissioner Collins followed up by asking if this was a consistent number.

   Ms. Romo explained that the foundation likes to maintain relationships with organizations that are doing good work. This strategy also allows for recognition as those organizations receive consistent funding, other funders may be encouraged to contribute. Ms. Romo continued saying that due to the economic downturn and finite funding amounts, the program could not continue to fund such a high number of grants. As a new strategy, they are shifting to fund a smaller number of grantees to make a more substantial impact. She pointed out that unlike large organizations, smaller organizations do not have resources like board members or donors to depend on. She examined how the arts and culture program could impact small organizations through large grants and a long-term commitment. Ms. Romo explained that her objective is for small organizations to build surpluses, because funders will not fully fund projects or contribute to organizations with negative incomes balances. She stated that the goals of the program include quality, participation, reaching underrepresented communities, and a diverse reflection of the Bay Area. These all culminate into the ultimate goals of excellence, equity, and access. The program is now serving organizations with budget sizes between $100K and $2M.

   Commissioner Collins asked if any of the grantees are working with fiscal sponsors.

   Ms. Romo stated that some grantees were fiscally sponsored. Although she does not push organizations towards fiscal sponsorship, she is supportive of Intersection for the Arts, Dancers’ Group, and Galería de la Raza for the service they are providing to the arts community.

   Commissioner Collins commented that it might be healthier for smaller organizations to cut out overhead and work with a responsible fiscal sponsor, but felt that Ms. Romo did not believe fiscal sponsorship was completely the answer.

   Ms. Romo responded that she wants organizations to be able to speak for themselves and that there is a thin line between her as a funder dictating and nurturing. She acknowledged that there is a power relationship.

   Commissioner Collins expressed the need to signal to the community that tough decisions on financial responsibility and sustainability have to be made.

   Ms. Romo stated that to help an organization develop, she wants to understand where that organization wants to go. She added that small and mid-sized organizations are under a lot of stress and are an endangered species in the field and that some organizations representing and serving the community are not getting the resources. She is working to figure out how her program can impact their capitalization and get them to a better point. Ms. Romo spoke of the foundation and explaining that this new strategy would be a long-term ten-year approach. She plans to continue working with other funders to figure out how they can work in concert to help build strong organizations. One idea is to focus on organizations that are cultural hubs and community anchors.

   Ms. Takayama asked for clarification regarding the investment in a multi-year commitment versus multi-year funding.

   Commissioner Melania asked if the new initiative involved a ten-year commitment.

   Ms. Romo stated that the strategy is a ten-year initiative that will involve working with a grantee cohort of fifteen organizations and other funders, with the ultimate goal of building surpluses. Ms. Romo explained that providing organizations with other non-funding based opportunities is also a form of support. For example, the Lorraine Hansberry Theater is undergoing tremendous stress. She said that finding them a home might be a solution. There may be an advantage with the mid-market redevelopment plans or with the American Conservatory Theater (“ACT”), whom they have a pre-existing relationship with and is also involved in the redevelopment plans. Ms. Romo expressed that she is trying to help in facilitating, not dictating, that opportunity.

   Ms. Lin affirmed that Ms. Romo is trying to find support strategies for the organizations.

   Ms. Romo continued to explain that it is like case management, assessing where organization’s strengths and weaknesses. She added that this is a way to see if they can not only work with each other but also get the chance to take advantage of the support being offered. The SFF’s grant deadline was January 7, 2012 and all organizations chosen for the initiative are currently receiving funds.

   Commissioner Melania asked for more information on the process of selecting the fifteen organizations.

   Ms. Romo explained that there is a cross-section of budgets. Some grantees have budgets closer to $2M and others $100K. Grantees include organizations with spaces and buildings; a cross-section of disciplines and ethnicities; that work closely with communities; representing communities in neighborhoods; and that serve a community of artists. She added that her intent is to uplift the work of these organizations as examples of excellence.

   Commissioner Melania commented that she likes the idea of investing in deeper support. She asked how

   Ms. Romo responds to those who do not get support.

   Ms. Romo answered that other organizations may still apply to their Objective One grant; but will not be able to apply for in-depth funding. She continued to say that funders have to target organizations for who they are and whom they are serving, in terms of cultural equity and social justice. She explained that she also wants to learn from the initiative and be able to share and exchange ideas on capitalization. Ms. Romo concluded that the field could be better served in this way.

   Ms. Takayama asked about how an organization’s operating budget is being used.

   Ms. Romo confirmed that she is approaching capitalization as general operating support. She explained that the process involves vetting organizations and reviewing their financial scope to better help them. She highlighted that the objective is figuring out how to give organizations the income needed to continue their work.

   Mr. DeCaigny inquired about the indicators of success. He asked how success would be defined and evaluated in ten years,.

   Ms. Romo responded that the approach is similar to a contract process where she will meet with each organization and ask them to map their organizational trajectories. She pointed out the importance of knowing the end point they want to arrive at. Ms. Romo described her process in evaluating balance sheets and surpluses. She noted that her program is seeking assistance from the Northern California Community Loan Fund because they do great financial scans and can advise the SFF on the financial health of their constituencies. She can then take that information to a donor.

   Mr. DeCaigny asked for clarification on whom, Ms. Romo was referring to as “they.”

   Ms. Romo answered that her process involves working first with the executive director, as the board does need to be involved at that point. Ms. Romo asserted that in working with the executive director, she is looking for someone in the organization that has capacity and can make a commitment.

   Commissioner Collins commented that organizations in other sectors would look at this as acceptable criteria. He mentioned the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Center for Disease Control as examples. For the arts to be successful, there has to be other components to this process like staff and board involvement.

   Ms. Romo responded that in the arts, it has always been about a diversified income process. What has happened with organizations that serve communities of color is that the government has had to step in because no one else is funding those organizations. She further explained that the government fills the gap but is obligated to serve everyone. Then when there are budget cuts the arts are the first to go because society as a whole does not value the arts. Over the years, support has gone to the larger arts institutions and now those audiences are dwindling along with their earned revenue. The economy has impacted the large institutions and their revenue sources are dropping.

   Commissioner Collins retorted that some of this is about relevance. With public sector funding criteria must be constructed. Not everybody gets to do their-own-thing. He further expressed that the criteria is meeting a social purpose for education and youth development. Principles are formed to help with decision-making. There is always a time when someone is doing their-own-thing. Mr. Collins mentioned that Alonzo King is adding to the canon and training dancers. He differentiated that from someone doing their-own-thing. He asked, in regards to strategic planning, how criteria is formed for this type of process.

   Commissioner Melania noted a study conducted by Stanford University and explained that researchers traveled across the nation vetting the criteria mentioned by Mr. Collins. Ms. Melania then asked how CEG could implement these criteria.

   Commissioner Collins stated that he hopes the commission can bring these criteria to the floor during the agency’s strategic planning. He asserted that what donors do for the arts is different than the role of a public agency. He continued to state that as a public institution, using taxpayers’ dollars, the commission is in a different position than its foundation counterparts.

   Ms. Romo pointed out two criteria of the SFF arts and culture program. First, art as a human right that builds bridges and second, quality is critical. She also asserted that relevance has to be part of the criteria as well.

   Commissioner Collins was concerned that he did not hear anything about education. He interjected that education is an important criteria to cultivate new artists.

   Ms. Romo agreed in saying that she does not segregate education and the arts.

   Commissioner Collins expressed to Ms. Romo that he appreciated the opportunity to consult with her.

   Ms. Romo responded that this initiative is an experiment and that she is learning too. She restated the importance of arts organizations staying relevant. She emphasized that different communities deserve to have access to the arts without needing to travel distances and kids need to be able to go to performances see themselves represented on stage.

   Mr. DeCaigny declared a time check. He then commented that the legislative charter for CEG is two-fold. Separately he added cultural centers with specific community spaces and virtual spaces need to be considered as well. He stated that the Arts Commission has a starting place that is already defined and while there may be some parameters, in many ways it is a leader in cultural equity. He explained that strategic planning would be a time to reflect on the state of grantees. He highlighted that the SFAC has decades of experience with cultural centers and must be considerate of how success is communicated across multiple parties given the need to define, articulate, and benchmark indicators of success. He questioned whether other organizations would come up with the same indicators that the agency is examining. CAE and CEG are separate programs with separate strategies, but the commission has a $700K annual investment. The Cultural Equity Initiatives (“CEI”) grants invest $100K over a two to three-year period in each of its grantee organizations, as another way arts organizations are being deeply invested in. He then asked if a two to three-year grant window for CEI is a long enough period of time.

   Commissioner Collins expressed that he would find it immensely helpful if the commission could continue to consult with Ms. Romo.

   Commissioner Melania commented that she thinks this new initiative could be tremendously helpful for the Arts Commission’s process. She agreed with Mr. Collins and suggested that this be documented to use as a starting point for the strategic planning process.

   Ms. Lin expressed that it would be interesting to look at what SFF is funding and what the agency has in common with the foundation and see what there is to learn. She noted that both entities are working with smaller budget organizations that have historical barriers to access and resources. She pointed out that she often sees the same organizations apply to specific CEG grant programs for the same initiatives year after year and asked if that is really capacity building. She concluded by saying that there will be more discussion about this in January when Cultural Equity Initiatives grantees from the past and present are reviewed.

   Commissioner Calloway expressed that he is still struggling with the idea of capitalization and how it will affect strategic planning because it is a dollar based and quantitative and not always qualitative.

   Commissioner Collins explained that capitalization is a proxy for sustainability. It is not just the balance sheet, but also an indication of the capability of the organization to fulfill its mission.

   Commissioner Calloway affirmed that Commissioner Collins has a good point and added that a lot of organizations are saying that they do not want to be a non-profit. He inquired on how that fits in to the discussion.

   Ms. Romo stated that they fund Intersection for the Arts, which is also fiscal sponsor. Highlighting a convening where the SFF brought together a cohort of bigger fiscal sponsors to share and learn from each other.

   Commissioner Calloway commented that fiscal responsibility has helped us move faster.

   Commissioner Collins explained that fiscal sponsorship is a way to get going. He noted that 40% of an organization’s overhead goes to just keeping the doors open and asked if the goal is to support emerging voices, how does that work in terms of criteria.

   Ms. Lin responded to consider how the criteria could change if applied to different communities. She posed the question, do these emerging communities have different characteristics that require different criteria. She noted that due to the limited pool of funding, there needs to be an examination of what the best use of our resources are to meet the needs of our constituents.

   Mr. DeCaigny closed the conversation by stating that this discussion was not meant to be conclusive, but as a touch point to seed some ideas and generate some common ground on how to move forward.

   Ms. Nemzoff commented that she appreciates the depth of the work that Ms. Romo does with her grantee organizations.  

   Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
    

7. Public Comment
   There was no public comment.
    
8. Old Business
   Ms. Nemzoff gave the Committee a revised draft calendar of the CAEG committee meetings and explained that the committee would hear from each of the six Cultural Centers over the remainder of the fiscal year. She also noted that CAE planned to return to the original structure of committee meetings where WritersCorps and Arts Education would give regular, short updates at every committee meeting, rather than hearing from the programs only once or twice a year.

   Explanatory Document: DRAFT Community Arts, Education, and, Grants Committee FY2012-2013 Schedule
    

9. New Business and Announcements
   There was no new business.
    
10. Adjournment
    There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m.

12/21/12 BLT
12/26/12 CF - revisions made
01/04/13 minutes adopted--

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Materiales traducidos y servicios de interpretación están disponibles para usted de manera gratuita.
Para asistencia, notifique a Beatrice Thomas at beatrice.thomas@sfgov.org.