September 11, 2012
COMMUNITY ARTS, EDUCATION, AND GRANTS COMMITTEE
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
2:30 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70
________________________________________
MINUTES
1. Roll Call
Present:
John Calloway
Chuck Collins
Sherene Melania, Chair
Roberto Ordeñana
Absent:
Kimberlee Stryker
Staff Present: Tom DeCaigny, Lucy K. Lin, Judy Nemzoff, Robynn Takayama, Tyra Fennell, Beatrice Thomas, Alexandra Wilder, Cristal Fiel
2. Cultural Equity Grants Program Director Report
Director of Grants Lucy Lin gave an update on the Cultural Equity Grants program’s (“CEG”) status. She began by acknowledging that the past month of transition has been hectic due to the departure of former director San San Wong, staff changes, the subsequent stalled work left over from the summer, as well as her transition into the role of interim program director.
Ms. Lin reported that all grants have been consolidated into two deadlines: September 27th for Cultural Equity Initiatives Level 1 and Level 2 (“CEI-L1 & L2”), Individual Artist Commission (“IAC”), Arts &Communities: Innovative Partnerships (“ACIP”) and Arts for Neighborhood Vitality (“ANV”) and November 8th for the Organization Project Grant (“OPG”) and the Native Arts and Cultural Traditions grant (“NAACT”). She highlighted the differences between each grant program and explained that a total of six public workshops have been offered.
In order to deal with the short staffing of CEG, the peer panel review process for CEI-L1 & L2 has been combined and the ACIP applicant pool limited to Realization proposals from applicants who received Exploration grants in last year’s, grant cycle. Additionally, because the ACIP and ANV grant programs do not fall under CEG’s governing legislation, these grants will be determined based on a staff review process.
Commissioner Calloway upon hearing about the ANV grant, designed to target arts activities in neighborhoods, asked how neighborhoods were defined.
CEG Program Associate Beatrice Thomas explained that CEG looks at both, supervisorial district and geographic boundaries determined by streets, when assessing neighborhoods.
Commissioner Ordeñana asked if staff had received any feedback regarding the changes in this year’s grant programs.
Ms. Lin responded that there had been very little negative feedback, but some disappointment regarding lost grant opportunities. She then shared that CEG turns twenty years old next year and that this milestone age comes at the appropriate time for assessment and is aligned with the agency-wide strategic planning endeavor.
Ms. Lin followed up with an update on the vacant 3549 Program Associate temporary staff position.
Director of Cultural Affairs Tom DeCaigny interjected that this vacancy occurred when Ms. Lin stepped into the role as interim director. He explained that in fairness to Ms. Lin, they needed to keep her original position available, for her to return at the end of her tenure as interim director, thus it was necessary to make the 3549 Program Associate a temporary position.
Commissioner Melania asked when staff was hoping to have the position filled.
Ms. Lin responded that she and Director DeCaigny were still discussing how wide the search should be given the urgent need to fill the position.
Mr. DeCaigny added that because the position is a temporary, they have some flexibility in how widely the job is posted and that they are working with Deputy Director Rebekah Krell to determine the timeline. He further explained that, while they have filed the request for the position, the City’s HR department is backlogged due to their transition to Emerge, a new city payroll system and many HR requests have been left at a stand still. He then underscored that the CEG 3549 position and the accounting 1654 position are two of the agency’s main priorities.
Ms. Lin highlighted some of the service changes CEG has made due to staff reductions including: no draft narratives, emailed applications, and fewer grant workshops.
Commissioner Calloway expressed interest in the outreach methods used to advertise the workshops.
Ms. Lin responded that they utilized the CEG listserv, which has more than 3000 contacts.
Director DeCaigny asked Ms. Lin to speak about a grant workshop, CEG was asked to participate in, organized by House Representative Nancy Pelosi’s Office.
Ms. Lin explained that she would be representing CEG, along with a number of local, regional and national funders of the Bay Area. She noted presenters from the Foundation Center and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Director DeCaigny noted that ten people had already expressed specific interest in CEG and he hoped that reaching this new audience would produce potential constituents, thus widening the applicant pool.
Commissioner Melania expressed interest in hearing about the event.
Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
3. Community Arts and Education Program Director Report
Community Arts and Education (“CAE”) Program Director, Judy Nemzoff, introduced the new WritersCorps Program Associate, Alexandra Wilder. Ms. Wilder was previously the managing director at the 92nd Street Y Poetry Center in New York, where she organized literary events and youth writing programs. Ms. Wilder stated that she was excited to join WritersCorps and move to San Francisco. Ms. Nemzoff stated that the committee would introduce the new WritersCorps teaching artists at the October or November committee meeting.
Commissioner Collins asked Ms. Wilder how she found out about the job. Ms. Wilder said she applied for the opening for the 3549 position with the Arts Commission and she wanted to live in San Francisco. Director DeCaigny clarified that the Arts Commission was one of the only agencies that had the 3549 classification and it was posted broadly to fill four different positions with the agency, including the WritersCorps program associate.
Ms. Nemzoff then moved onto an update on National Arts in Education Week (“NAiEW”), which was given by Tyra Fennell, arts education program manager. Ms. Fennell showed the committee the artIMPACT poster series that would be installed along the MUNI T-line. The poster series would promote the importance of arts education through the lens of celebrities that were stakeholders in the arts in San Francisco. The list of San Francisco celebrities was vetted through the CAE staff and the Creative Impact Alliance—a group of individuals representing different arts and arts education organizations in the Bay Area that programs around NAiEW. The poster series features: actress and comedienne Margaret Cho; dance choreographers Alonzo King and Sean Dorsey; performance artists Rhodessa Jones; visual artist and arts education pioneer Ruth Asawa; and Bayview-native, soul sensation Martin Luther McCoy, who would be performing at the Asian Art Museum reception celebrating NAiEW.
Commissioner Collins asked if any of the other featured celebrities would be at the reception event.
Ms. Fennell stated that Sean Dorsey and Martin Luther McCoy would be in attendance, and maybe Rhodessa Jones. She said that each of the artists was given a digital version of the posters to share on their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. She added that the posters were designed by Arts Education Associate, Marissa Mossberg, who has a background in graphic design.
Ms. Fennell stated that in addition to the reception event and Arts Providers Alliance of San Francisco’s annual Arts Education Resource Fair, there would be a yearlong online calendar promoting arts education events throughout the Bay Area.
Commissioner Collins asked when the event would take place and when posters would go up.
Ms. Fennell stated that they would be installed during the week and the reception event was on Thursday evening, September 13, at the Asian Art Museum.
Commissioner Collins asked if there had been outreach to the Beacon initiative.
Ms. Fennell stated that Kevin Truitt’s office gave her an email list for the event.
Director DeCaigny added that it was an exciting initiative and a great example of the Arts Commission’s need to outreach more broadly. He mentioned that in the Civil Grand Jury report, the Civil Grand Jury felt that the Arts Commission did not have a high enough profile, but he thought that the artIMPACT poster series would be a visible campaign on public transportation and was a direct response to some of the feedback given in the report.
Ms. Fennell stated all the Bay Area mayors were invited to attend the NAiEW reception, and that Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s office expressed interest in having the poster series run along Alameda County (“AC”) Transit.
Ms. Nemzoff said that this was a great opportunity to build Bay Area-wide interest and partnership.
Commissioner Collins asked if the Creative Impact Alliance included Marin and San Mateo county representatives.
Ms. Fennell stated that she would like to see more organizations participate. She added that none of the major museums are part of the alliance, but mostly performing arts venues.
Commissioner Calloway asked why there was no Latino artist in the poster series. He added that the posters look fantastic and that he’s glad Martin Luther McCoy was part of it.
Commissioner Collins asked why the Creative Impact Alliance did not outreach to Sheila E.
Ms. Fennell stated that it was a blind-vetting process. For Sheila E, people felt that she was more Oakland-based than San Francisco based.
Commissioner Collins commented that the original list created was a good one to use for next year. Commissioner Melania said that the poster serious was fabulous and was glad the Arts Commission would receive broader attention.
Director DeCaigny said that he would have a one-on-one meeting with Superintendent Richard Carranza. He said he would be happy to bring up any topics the committee was interested in to the meeting.
Commissioner Calloway said that he would like to strengthen the relationship between the Arts Commission and Visual and Performing Arts (“VAPA”) office.
Commissioner Melania stated that she would like to see a report of the Arts Education Master Plan assessment.
Ms. Nemzoff stated that she would invite the VAPA office to the November committee meeting.
Ms. Nemzoff moved onto a brief update of the Bayview Opera House (“BVOH”) renovations. She told the committee that the team was behind schedule, but they anticipate building closure by June 1, 2013. The plan was to open nine months later.
Commissioner Collins asked how the outdoor design of the theater was resolved after the April meeting when project consultant Deborah Frieden showed the committee proposed designs.
Ms. Nemzoff stated that the designs went through Civic Design Review committee for two phases, and they had been approved by the Historic Preservation and the San Francisco Planning Commission. The designs had received a lot of positive support. The construction would leave the programmatic area of the building open, but all the other designs were still in place. She said that she would give a presentation about raising additional funds for the renovation project on a later date.
Commissioner Collins asked what the outstanding financial fees were.
Ms. Nemzoff said that she would present a wish list, and would like the time to compile it for the presentation.
Commissioner Collins commented that there was a huge amount of civic energy in the reconstruction of the Palace of Fine Arts. He said that many organizations got together to push that forward because they thought it was an important project. He wanted to see that same sort of energy put into the renovation of the BVOH and to look at it as an example for cultural equity. He added that for that project, both public and private funding was important.
Ms. Nemzoff said that the project team intends to go to the Arts Commission and community and City partners to raise additional funds for the project’s program areas. She would be working with Ms. Frieden to figure out the wish list. She added that there was an Artisan Ball and fundraiser to benefit BVOH in December and would provide more information on that event at upcoming meetings.
Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
4. Cultural Center FY2011-2012 Final Reports
Ms. Nemzoff gave a brief overview of the reporting process. She stated that as required by legislation of the Hotel Tax Fund, each fiscal year the Cultural Centers are to provide Management and Program Plans (“MPP”) and budget, as well as a year-end final report. Ms. Nemzoff clarified that the reports include specific requirements as part of the legislation, but also provide the opportunity for the Cultural Centers to supply a narrative explaining their successes and challenges for the year. For FY2011-2012 midyear report due in April 2012, the Cultural Centers were required to submit drafts of their FY2011-2012 final report and FY2012-2013 MPP. Ms. Nemzoff and CAE Program Manager Robynn Takayama reviewed and provided feedback to each of the Centers. Centers were required to submit completed copies of the final report on August 24, 2012 and the MPP on a rolling deadline. The reports were required to provide data for the Commissions support of the FY2012-2013 budget and to assure that reports, which are public documents, were of the highest quality and represent the Centers in the best possible light.
Ms. Nemzoff reminded the committee that each commissioner was assigned to be a lead read and secondary read on each of the Centers to supplement the comprehensive reviews of the reports by Ms. Nemzoff and Ms. Takayama.
For the comprehensive reviews, Ms. Nemzoff and Ms. Takayama compared the FY2011-2012 MPP with the FY2011-2012 final report to review what each of the Centers’ goals were, if they had met them, and how they addressed their challenges and successes. Ms. Nemzoff stated that they wanted to make sure that reporting was consistent, that the Centers were showing growth, and that they were being accountable to their outlined goals.
Ms. Takayama reviewed both the final report and MPP of each Center in one so that the commissioners were better informed before acting on each of the motions in the next agenda item. She said that the committee would review SOMArts Cultural Center and Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center at the next committee meeting.
Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
Explanatory Documents: FY12 African American Art and Culture Complex Final Report; FY12 Bayview Opera House, Inc. Final Report; FY12 Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Final Report; FY12 Queer Cultural Center Final Report
5. Staff Review of FY2012-2013 Management and Program Plan and Budgets
Ms. Takayama gave a broad overview of the reports. She noted that the Cultural Centers were doing strong programming that was relevant to their communities and receiving great press coverage. Ms. Takayama said that that the Arts Commission was invested in seeing the Cultural Centers thrive, represent themselves well, and raise other funds.
Throughout the reports, Ms. Takayama and Ms. Nemzoff noted the specific areas for improvement for each of the Centers: 1) the Centers needed clearer objectives and goals and had been recommended to use the SMART goals (an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely) that Director DeCaigny introduced; 2) the Centers needed to better understand programming measurements that included commissions, premieres, and broadcasts; and 3) in the facilities section of the MPP, the Centers provided a wish list for what the Arts Commission should work on rather than stating what the tenant organization would do to improve or maintain the building.
To address and support these areas of improvement, the Arts Commission would provide professional development workshops for the Center directors where they could develop their MPP goals and improve the quality of their reporting. Ms. Takayama stated that the Centers would be required to refine their MPPs with clearer goals and objectives by December 3, 2012 to help make year-end reporting more clear.
Commissioner Collins asked if Ms. Nemzoff and Ms. Takayama thought that the poor reporting was a matter of time and priority. He wondered if prioritizing time to do the reports was not as high a priority as programming.
Ms. Nemzoff said that one of the things she and Ms. Takayama discussed was the strength of the Centers’ programming and recognized that the Centers were all doing well. The intent of the recommendation for improving the quality of the reporting was to focus on this important aspect of the SFAC responsibility regarding over sight of required reporting. The Arts Commission did not want to ding the Centers for poor reporting, rather to strengthen skills so their reports would be stronger.
Ms. Takayama said that not all Centers would be required to attend the professional development workshop, as some did a good job of telling their stories. For the others, the Arts Commission would require these professional development workshops so the Centers could develop the skills to tell their story well, which would help them with their grant writing.
Commissioner Ordeñana asked if the issue was about grant writing or fundraising as a whole.
Ms. Nemzoff answered that it was both. The Arts Commission wanted to focus in on what would provide the best support for the Centers in broader terms.
Director DeCaigny added that this was an instance of case making, not just for the Centers as grantees, but for the Arts Commissioner as a funder. He said that when the Controller’s office conducted annual audits of the Centers, they would look to all the reports as a way of benchmarking the performance of the Centers. He said that the Arts Commission would like to help champion resources to support the Centers and stronger reports would mean stronger case making. He said that he understood it was a challenging environment for the Arts Commission grantees, but the Arts Commission wanted to make sure that it was supporting thriving and sustainable nonprofits. He added that when the Arts Commission goes into strategic planning, the professional development workshops would happen in concert with it.
Commissioner Collins commented that professional development was the key to any advancement. He asked if there was a consensus among staff and Center directors that this was needed. He wanted to know if it was a real collaboration and if the organizations felt this was the right remedy.
Ms. Takayama stated that the Arts Commission was going to propose adding the requirement to the grant agreement that funding was contingent upon revision of the MPP to indicate what the goals and objectives of the organization were. Ms. Nemzoff stated that the Center Directors had not yet been informed about the recommendation to participate in skill building workshops.
Commissioner Melania commented that this was based on a past history of having incomplete reports submitted. The Arts Commission wanted to make sure Cultural Center reports were comprehensive and consistent.
Ms. Takayama stated that when she received drafts of the final reports, she gave extensive notes, but some Centers did not incorporate the feedback in their final submissions. This was why the Arts Commission felt there was a need for professional development. In some instances, she saw that feedback was integrated into the reports, but in other cases the reports were left unchanged.
Commissioner Ordeñana commented that he understood there was a reporting issue, but he wanted to know if the Center directors felt they needed professional development.
Ms. Takayama said that some of the Centers talk about prioritizing professional development with staff and that she could see how it has helped the organizations develop as a whole.
Commissioner Collins asked if there would be pushback if the Arts Commission dedicated funds to professional development rather than programming.
Ms. Takayama clarified that the Arts Commission was proposing to pay for the professional development workshops. The funding would not come out of the grants to the Centers.
Director DeCaigny suggested that Ms. Takayama move onto giving her reports for each of the Centers and then the Centers could add during public comment.
Item 5b was taken out of order for 5a.
a. Ms. Takayama gave an overview of BVOH, Inc. She said that it was the Center’s strongest report to date. There was growth in the number of youth participating in summer programs and increased attendance at events. The Center increased its earned income by 50 percent and increased individual giving by 700 percent. The Center brought on a grant writing mentor and the effectiveness could be seen by the Center’s reports.
Commissioner Collins asked how long the building would be closed.
Ms. Takayama said it would be closed for seven to nine months. She added that building closure plans should definitely be in the following year’s MPP. She recommended that the committee move forward with funding.
Commissioner Ordeñana recused himself from the motion, as his employer (the LGBT Center) was holding a fundraiser with the BVOH.
Commissioner Melania made the following motion:
Motion to approve the proposed 2012-2013 Management and Program Plan and budget for Bayview Opera House, Inc, for a grant not to exceed $311,658, contingent upon completion of revisions to the MPP and FY12 Final Report.
Moved: Collins/Calloway
Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
The motion was passed unanimously.
b. Ms. Takayama moved on to review the African American Art and Culture Complex (“AAACC”). She stated that the Center was doing great programming for the community and city as a whole. Their outreach had a concerted strategy for youth and families including outreach through the schools and public housing. Fundraising included $400 from the board, though the Center fell short in their individual giving goal. In reference to the final report, Ms. Takayama said some of the measurements of success were mentioned, but it was not stated if they were met.
For the MPP, Ms. Takayama said that the report did not address any of the feedback provided based on the draft. For example, Arts Commission staff requested a more thorough fundraising plan developed by the board that included their participation and a more specific outreach strategy outlining how tools like YouTube and LinkedIn would be used. However, changes were not reflected in the MPP. The goals section of the report exceeded the two-page limit. She commented that this is one of the Centers she would like to see go through professional development to develop more clear goals and objectives.
Commissioner Melania called for public comment.
London Breed, executive director of AAACC, stated that the Center has had communication issues with Ms. Takayama. She felt that information expected from the reports was not clear between the final report and the MPP. She felt a lot of the confusion was around consistent changes to reporting, especially in relation to facilities. She thought that the reports introduced a lot of new things and that it was not clear what the expectations were of the organizations. Ms. Breed felt that there had been years of communication problems between the Arts Commission staff and Centers. She stated that as a Center director, she didn’t mind change, but she thought it was troubling to hear how information has been communicated. She thought that the Center met its goals. She added that the proposed motion has not been a standard motion. According to Ms. Breed, in the past the motion only had approval of MPP, not both MPP and final report. She said that as a Center director, she understood the need to put things on paper. However, she felt that when the Center tried to plan for a year, things sometimes changed and sometimes things happened that were not planned. She commented that she was fine with having professional development, but she felt that if the Centers needed to go through professional development then the Arts Commission staff should have to go through professional development as well.
Commissioner Melania stated that she was hopeful that things would come up in the strategic plan to clearly delineate what would need to be part of the Cultural Center reporting.
Ms. Nemzoff stated that the reporting forms have not changed since the California Data Project had been incorporated. She felt that what had changed was the in-depth review of the reports. She believed that the issue was about strengthening the story that was being told by the Centers.
Commissioner Ordeñana recused himself from the next review of the Queer Cultural Center (“QCC”).
Ms. Takayama first reviewed QCC’s final report. The Center had built and strengthened collaborations with leading Bay Area organizations of color including Galería de la Raza, Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project, and Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center and continued partnership with the California College of the Arts. Ms. Takayama said the organization’s events were always packed and well attended. The organization continued its mentorship of providing grant writing training to underserved communities. She noted the hire of Kevin Seaman, who previously worked at the San Francisco Foundation. However, she said that there had been a lot of transition with that position in the past two years and wondered how the organization would respond to this. She concluded that the organization did not have any board giving.
Ms. Takayama moved on to review the organization’s MPP. She stated that this was an organization that understood the importance of commissions, had a strong list of supported projects, and articulated this in their MPP. However the organization did not distill three to five key goals and objectives. She said that the fundraising plan harnessed the power of volunteers to raise funds, but did not see the Folsom Street Entertainment contribution as a plan for sustaining and building relationships with individual donors.
Commissioner Melania added that her biggest concern with the report was the lack of board contributions, both in-kind and monetary.
Commissioner Melania made the following motion:
Motion to approve the proposed 2012-2013 Management and Program Plan and budget for African American Art and Culture Complex and sub-grantee Queer Cultural Center for a grant not to exceed $570,876 (including $474,206 to African American Art and Culture Complex and $96,670 to sub-grantee Queer Cultural Center), contingent upon completion of revisions to the MPP and FY12 Final Report.
Moved: Collins/Calloway
Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
The motion was passed unanimously.
Before moving on to the final motion, Director DeCaigny stated that it should be clearly documented how the Arts Commission was requesting the Centers to revise their reports. He also recommended that future motions be separated out from grantee and sub grantee.
Ms. Takayama stated that the City Attorney’s office recommended that the motion be passed as one.
Director DeCaigny recommended that the Arts Commission revisit this with the City Attorney, as he hated to lose a commissioner’s participation during approval of funding to both organizations. He thought that strategic planning would be a place to look at grant making and legal structures between the Arts Commission and Cultural Centers.
c. Ms. Takayama then reviewed the final report of Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. She stated that the MCCLA continued to be a critical resource for the community including partnerships with the San Francisco Public Library, La Bohemia Productions, and SF Center for the Book; programs were meaningful and well attended. Ms. Takayama said that last year when the committee reviewed the Center’s FY2011-2012 MPP, the committee decided that the report was not ready for review and asked the Center to revise and resubmit the following month. In the final report, the Center pointed out the impact of the delay. The final report stated that the delayed funding impacted the Center’s ability to hire staff and begin planning for the Center’s 35th anniversary celebration. Ms. Takayama concluded that the Centers were required to provide minutes for six community support board meetings, but MCCLA only submitted minutes for four meetings. Because the meetings were scheduled in the MPP, she would check with staff to see if the minutes had been accidentally left out of the final report.
Ms. Takayama moved on to review the Center’s MPP. She observed that the report could be improved by having more clear goals and objectives. After reviewing the Center’s first draft, she asked the Center to have a more thoughtful strategy for engaging audience and outreach, but it was not addressed in the final draft. Regarding facilities, the report gave a wish list of what the Center would like the Arts Commission to address, rather than addressing what work the Center would do and providing an accompanied budget or fundraising strategy. Ms. Takayama stated that it did mention starting a Kickstarter campaign to raise $5000 for new theater chairs. However, she felt overall the Center could use professional development for stronger reporting.
Commissioner Calloway commented that fundraising seemed to be a recurring issue with the Centers. He stated that the Mission district was becoming increasingly gentrified and that the Center should develop a way to tap into the changing demographics. He wanted to see more creative solutions to fundraising rather than just throwing a Kickstarter campaign.
Commissioner Collins stated that his comments ran parallel to Ms. Takayama’s. He said that he did have a chance to speak with the Center director and found that the need for professional development was very strong. In reporting and writing, he felt that there was not a lack of intention. He felt there was a gap of understanding the context of fundraising and felt that professional development would straighten out areas of opportunity.
Commissioner Melania said that issues with reporting have been recurring for MCCLA. In the past, final reports have come back incomplete, which wasted a lot of time for the Arts Commission staff.
Commissioner Collins added that it may be difficult for the commissioners to complete their work if they received incomplete reports. He added that it was not just about professional development, but also the Center’s organizational structure.
Commissioner Melania made the following motion:
Motion to approve the proposed 2012-2013 Management and Program Plan and budget for Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, for a grant not to exceed $522,923, contingent upon completion of revisions to the MPP and FY12 Final Report.
Moved: Calloway/Collins
Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
The motion was passed unanimously.
Ms. Takayama concluded that many of the facilities requests would be addressed through the capital investments made by the Mayor’s Office on Disability (“MOD”) at AAACC, SOMArts and MCCLA.
Explanatory Documents: FY13 African American Art and Culture Complex Management and Program Plan and Budget; FY13 Queer Cultural Center Management and Program Plan and Budget; FY13 Bayview Opera House, Inc. Management and Program Plan and Budget; FY13 Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Management and Program Plan and Budget
6. Public Comment
Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
7. Old Business
Director DeCaigny mentioned that the Civil Grand Jury report highlighted a number of concerns around the Cultural Centers. He said a lot of the recommendations have been responded through the capital investments by the MOD. The Arts Commission was making good headway toward finding resources, in addition to renovations at BVOH. He thought this would build a basis for looking at public and private partnership.
Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
8. New Business and Announcements
Ms. Takayama announced that when she moved into her new position as program manager, she was unable to continue to produce Deep Roots podcasts. However, Cristal Fiel, CAE program associate, had recently taken on this responsibility with Ms. Takayama’s guidance and produced two new podcasts in the past months on the Central Market organization, Holy Stitch, and the new San Francisco Poet Laureate, Alejandro Murguia. She thanked Commissioner Calloway lending his music to the Alejandro Murguia podcast. She noted that KPFA would be airing the podcast on La Raza Chronicles.
Ms. Takayama reminded the committee about Urban Solutions’ third annual 2 Blocks of Art in Central Market neighborhood. She said that this year, the Arts Commission had a more involved partnership with the art walk and was supplementing with performances along Central Market. She said that the mini-grants awarded toward street activation were for 2 Blocks of Art.
Ms. Lin said that if any of the commissioners were interested in a calendar of events from grantees, she could draft an email once a month to the commissioners inviting them to join her for events.
Commissioner Melania said that it would be nice to also have a link up on the website with a calendar of events.
Commissioner Melania called for public comment. There was none made.
9. Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:33 p.m.
CF 9/26/12
