July 8, 2013 | San Francisco Arts Commission

Full Commission - July 8, 2013

MEETING OF THE FULL ARTS COMMISSION
Monday, July 8, 2013
3:00 p.m.
City Hall Room 416
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

Minutes

Commission President JD Beltran called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m.

Roll Call
Commissioners Present
JD Beltran, President
Gregory Chew
Charles Collins
Simon Frankel
Dorka Keehn
Roberto Ordeñana
Abby Sadin Schnair
Marcus Shelby
Janine Shiota
Jessica Silverman
Barbara Sklar
Kimberlee Stryker
Commissioners Absent
Sherene Melania, Vice President
Leo Chow
Cass Calder Smith
Gwyneth Borden, ex officio
Approval of Minutes
This item was withdrawn.
President’s Report
President Beltran reported that Mr. DeCaigny was in Zurich for the opening of the San Francisco-Zurich Sister City exhibition, meeting with his counterparts there.
She commended former Commissioners John Calloway and Amy Chuang, both ending their terms on the Commission, for their years of service to the City, including several performances Mr. Calloway had contributed at different times.

Mr. Calloway said that he had learned a lot during his tenure, and would miss his colleagues, and he thanked former Mayor (now Lieutenant Governor) Newsom and Mayor Lee for the opportunity. Ms. Chuang agreed that it had been a pleasure to work with fellow Commissioners and staff, and that she too had learned a lot. She was also grateful for the opportunity to serve.

President Beltran added that she was very impressed to witness both Mr. Calloway and Ms. Chuang grappling with difficult issues at Street Artists Committee meetings. She added that Ms. Chuang’s Mandarin language fluency was a great asset to the Committee. She noted that Mr. DeCaigny regretted that he was not here to mark their departure, and hoped to plan a gathering soon to recognize their contributions.

President Beltran introduced the two new Commissioners recently appointed by Mayor Lee, Abby Sadin Schnair and Janine Shiota. She explained that Commissioner Schnair was a photographer with a particular interest in architecture and interiors, and had served on the boards of a number of local nonprofits. President Beltran said that Commissioner Shiota, a San Francisco native, is an event producer and writer. Both Commissioners thanked her and said they were looking forward to getting to work with the Commission.

Turning to strategic planning, President Beltran reported that a steering committee has been named, including herself, Commissioners Chow and Collins, and staff representatives: Public Art Program Senior Project Manager Jennifer Lovvorn, Cultural Equity Grants Grants Associate Weston Teruya, WritersCorps Program Manager Melissa Hung, Deputy Director Rebekah Krell and Mr. DeCaigny. She asked Commissioner Collins to report further. He reported that a half-day public meeting on Treasure Island was an excellent discussion on the Commission’s core values, mission and vision. The consultants gathered the strands of that discussion and have begun crafting them into concise statements for further review. He added that there would be many opportunities for community engagement.

President Beltran reiterated that everyone was welcome to give their input, and there would be ongoing reports to Commissioners and staff, as well as community outreach. She added that if Commissioners had particular people in mind as key representatives of the community, they should forward those names to staff.

Finally, President Beltran said that she would appoint Commissioners Schnair and Shiota to the Committee posts vacated by the departing Commissioners Calloway and Chuang, and would revisit Committee appointments later in the year.

There was no public comment.
Director’s Report
In the absence of Mr. DeCaigny, Deputy Director Rebekah Krell began the report with WritersCorps. She reported that they have seven teaching artists working with some 1,100 youth in a number of districts in the City, at sites including schools, community centers and Juvenile Hall, along with three new sites in Bayview. She pointed to copies of the anthologies on hand at this meeting, and discussed some of the year’s events, including the temporary installation of Steps to Poetry at the Main Library.
She reported that several City department representatives and Millennium Partners are in discussions with leadership of the Mexican Museum to come to an agreement about their space in the project. She explained that the property had been under the jurisdiction of the City’s Redevelopment Agency; with the statewide dissolution of Redevelopment, the parcel at Third and Mission was transferred to the successor agency. President Beltran explained that the development in question was across from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, next door to the Contemporary Jewish Museum; the development plans called for a tower with the lower level to house the Mexican Museum, and the museum’s relationship with the Arts Commission was still to be determined.

Turning to the budget, Ms. Krell reported that the agency’s budget presentation to the Board of Supervisors had gone well. She reviewed the presentation, as posted online with the agenda for this meeting.

Referring to the slide about conservation funding, President Beltran observed that the agency had rarely had sufficient funding to conserve the City’s art collection, so the increased amount budgeted for this year was extremely welcome. She added that this supported the importance of ArtCare and the potential Friends of the Arts organization. She thanked Ms. Krell.

There was no public comment.
Consent Calendar
President Beltran severed item 7 of the Consent Calendar, regarding the grant to the African American Art and Culture Complex and subgrantee Queer Cultural Center, because of a potential conflict of interest for Commissioner Ordeñana, as he has previously explained.
There was no public comment, and the Commission voted unanimously to approve the entire Consent Calendar with the exception of item 7.

RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-157:
Approval: RESOLVED, that this Commission does hereby adopt the following items on the Consent Calendar and their related Resolutions:

Approval of Committee Minutes
1. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-158: Motion to approve the Civic Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes of May 20, 2013.
2. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-159: Motion to approve the Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee Meeting Minutes of June 11, 2013.
3. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-160: Motion to approve the Visual Arts Committee Meeting Minutes of June 19, 2013.
  Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee Recommendations (June 11, 2013)
4. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-161: Motion to approve the proposed 2013-2014 Management and Program Plan (“MPP”) and budget for SOMArts Cultural Center for a grant not to exceed $596,044.
5. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-162: Motion to approve the proposed FY2013-2014 Management and Program Plan (“MPP”) and budget for Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts for a grant not to exceed $533,381, contingent upon revisions.
6. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-163: Motion to approve the proposed FY2013-2014 Management and Program Plan (“MPP”) and budget for Bayview Opera House for a grant not to exceed $317,891, contingent upon revisions.
7. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-165: Motion to approve Phase 1 of the California Academy of Sciences West Garden Café Addition.
8. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-166: Motion to approve Phase 2 of the Washington Square Restroom Project, with the condition that the recess in the screen above the utility door be eliminated.
9. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-167: Motion to approve Phase 3 of the San Francisco International Airport Air Traffic Control Tower Project, with the condition that the lighter-colored material presented will be used for the louvers.
10. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-168: Motion to approve Phase 1 of the the Airport Terminal 3 East Improvements Project.
  Visual Arts Committee Recommendations (June 19, 2013)
11. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-169: Motion to approve Eric Powell’s final design for the Cayuga Playground main entrance gate.
12. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-170: Motion to approve the following arts professionals as potential panelists for the Vermont Street Stairs artist selection panel: Kevin Chen, Program Director, Intersection for the Arts; Courtney Fink, Executive Director, Southern Exposure; Lex Leifheit, Executive Director, SOMArts Cultural Center; Ellen Oh, Program Administrator, Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University; Renny Pritikin, California College of the Arts faculty; Rebeka Rodriguez, Program Director: Education & Community Engagement, Intersection for the Arts; Maysoun Wazwaz, Program Manager, Mills College Art Museum.
13. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-171: Motion to approve the following temporary nature-based art projects for implementation at the Kezar Triangle as proposed by the Kezar Triangle Arts Coalition: Groundworks, by Daniel McCormick and Mary O’Brien; Growth Rings, by Cameron Hockenson; Untitled (fence beading project) by Streetcolor and as conceived by the Kezar Triangle Arts Coalition: Quigley House Project; and The Plot to Grow Art.
14. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-172: Motion to approve the design and installation of the temporary art project, Green the Excelsior Through Art, which consists of five art panels by artists Katherine Kodama, Matt Christenson, Nico Berry, Zoe Ani and Michael Hall, to be installed for a period of five years on the front of the Excelsior Branch Library at 4400 Mission Street. The project is sponsored by the Excelsior Action Group.
15. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-173: Motion to approve the following finalists for the 2014-15 Art on Market Street Kiosk Posters Series as recommended by the Art on Market Street Selection Panel: Sergio De La Torre; Lauren DiCioccio; Anthony Discenza; Robert Minervini; Ranu Mukherjee; and Zachary Royer Scholz.
16. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-174: Motion to approve the final installation of the nine bronze chairs that comprise the artwork Domestic Seating, 2012, by Primitivo Suarez-Wolfe as installed on Duboce Avenue near Church Street.
17. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-175: Motion to approve the project outline for Van Ness Avenue BRT calling for the selection of an artist to work with the Van Ness BRT design team to develop opportunities for the integration of art into the transit system platforms.
  Commissioner Ordeñana left the room, and the Commission voted unanimously, with his recusal, to approve the following item.
18. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-164: Motion to approve the proposed FY2013-2014 Management and Program Plan (“MPP”) and budget for African American Art and Culture Complex for a grant not to exceed $582,294 (including $483,690 to African American Art and Culture Complex and $98,603 to sub-grantee Queer Cultural Center), pending receipt of a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) between the grantee and sub-grantee, and contingent upon revisions.
  Commissioner Ordeñana returned to rhe meeting room following the vote.
Committee Reports and Committee Matters
1. Civic Design Review Committee—Cass Calder Smith, Chair
  1. In the absence of Commissioner Smith, Commissioner Keehn reported that Civic Design received some recent good press, in two articles by John King of the San Francisco Chronicle. She reported that the United States Postal Service proposed a “GoPost” pilot project which would place large kiosk structures in the middle of the sidewalks in several Market Street sites. She noted that Mr. King agreed with the Committee that they were more like buildings and that the pedestrian walkway was an inappropriate location. She added that the Committee thought the idea of making parcel shipping and delivery more accessible was a good one, and hoped the Postal Service would choose more appropriate placement.
    She reported that the Committee approved an exciting project by Mark Cavagnero at the California Academy of Sciences which will allow them to remove a big plastic tent currently blocking the view of Maya Lin’s sculpture; the Committee thought this a great addition to the Renzo Piano-designed building.
    
    She reported that they approved the San Francisco Airport Control Tower, a really cutting-edge design. She commented that the recent terrible accident at the Airport underscored the importance of the Control Tower.
    
    Commissioner Keehn reported that staff is requesting clarification from the City Attorney’s office on the authority of the Planning Department Historic Preservation Commission and the Arts Commission on projects where there is some shared jurisdiction. She reported that the Committee reviewed some projects where there have been conflicting recommendations to the architects from the two bodies.
    
    President Beltran reported that staff is working closely with other City departments to ensure that they understand the requirement for Civic Design Review for any construction on City-owned land. The hope is that they will come to the Committee early, before Phase 1, to have the benefit of the review when it can be most helpful. Commissioner Keehn added that the relationship with the Bureau of Architecture is much improved from past years.
2. Community Arts, Education and Grants Committee—Sherene Melania, Chair
  1. President Beltran explained that Vice President Melania was unable to attend because of a family illness, and Commissioner Collins gave the report in her absence. He reported that the Committee discussed one of its major areas of responsibility, the Cultural Centers; this was the time for them to submit Management and Programming Plans (“MPP”). He briefly reviewed the structure of the independent nonprofit organizations as tenants of the City-owned Cultural Center facilities, and added that the relationship between the nonprofits, Arts Commission staff and the Commission was growing stronger. He reiterated that the Arts Commission is the landlord to the organizations. He reported that the Committee reviewed the reports and status of the Cultural Centers, and heard from their leadership. He said that the Committee was heartened to learn of the ongoing funding for the events at Bayview initiated by Supervisor Cohen. He reported that there was also a thorough discussion of grants.
    Commissioner Stryker pointed out, for the benefit of new Commissioners, that in addition to SOMArts, the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Bayview Opera House and the African American Art and Culture Complex, there are also “virtual” Cultural Centers without their own facilities: the Queer Cultural Center and the Asian Pacific Islander Cultual Center. President Beltran noted that while the orientation for new Commissioners covered the Cultural Centers, this was a helpful reminder.
    
    Commissioner Collins presented the following motion; Commissioner Ordeñana recused himself because of a potential conflict which he has previously explained; he left the meeting room.
    
    At the request of President Beltran, Community Arts and Education Program Director Judy Nemzoff explained that the MPPs had been presented at the preceding meeting of the Committee, and because of the timing of their budgets in relation to the final approval of the City’s budget, the motion requested an advance for the Centers. She explained that the Arts Commission was the largest funder for the Centers as well as their landlord, and this advance was required to provide cash flow for the Centers’ summer programming.
    
    President Beltran pointed out that this motion addressed only timing, and that the overall budgets of the Centers had been thoroughly vetted by the Committee, and approved by the full Commission in today’s Consent Calendar.
    
    There was no public comment.
    
    The motion was unanimously approved, with the recusal of Commissioner Ordeñana.
  2. RESOLUTION NO. 0708-13-176: Motion to approve grant advances totaling $507,403 to the following Cultural Centers for the 2013-2014 fiscal year:
    Bayview Opera House, $79,473
    Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, $133,345
    SOMArts Cultural Center, $149,011
    African American Art & Culture Complex, $145,574 (including $120,923 to African American Art and Culture Complex and $24,651 to Queer Cultural Center as subgrantee of African American Art and Culture Complex)
    Commissioner Ordeñana returned to the meeting room after the vote.
3. Street Artists Committee—Gregory Chew, Chair
  1. Commissioner Chew welcomed the new Commissioners, and thanked Commissioners Calloway and Chuang for their excellent service on the Committee.
    He announced that the Committee would hold its next meeting on the coming Wednesday. He noted that the program has now been operating for 41 years, providing licenses for artists to sell their work at locations around San Francisco; there are currently around 400 artists in some 35 different categories, contributing about $4 million to the city’s economic vitality.
    
    Public Comment:
    
    Paula Datesh said that her permit was revoked illegally last year, at a meeting held illegally while she was in the hospital. She said that about a week before that she found a civil filing from Street Artists Program Director Howard Lazar which remained open for three months for lack of service. She said it was closed on May 29. She said that she went to McAllister Street but didn’t need to because there was no service. She said that he had used a videotape, and claimed he didn’t appear. She said this was a clever move on his part to lock her out of the Street Artists Program. She said that the only way she knew was because she had gone to see Ms. Krell about Mr. Tunui and she overheard a phone conversation. She said that she was suing the Arts Commission, that it has been fifteen years, and has really affected her.
    
    There was no further public comment.
4. Visual Arts Committee—Barbara Sklar, Chair
  1. Commissioner Sklar said that it was interesting to the Committee to see the trends, and that there was a lot more temporary art now; two temporary projects had been approved in today’s Consent Calendar. She reported that the Committee had reviewed interesting projects at Kezar and in the Excelsior. She noted that accessibility problems with placement of the bronze chairs in Primitivo Suarez-Wolfe’s Domestic Seating have been resolved and the piece is beautiful. She reported that the Committee discussed a big project, the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit (“BRT”) project, with an eye toward integrating public art into this major redesign of Van Ness Avenue.
    President Beltran invited Public Art Program Director Susan Pontious to discuss the awards given at the recent Public Art Network (“PAN”) conference. Ms. Pontious explained that every year, PAN, the only national organization for public art, a subsidiary of Americans for the Arts, selects fifty projects as the year’s best. She reported that the San Francisco Arts Commission commissioned two of the fifty projects, Ned Kahn’s Firefly and Primitivo Suarez-Wolfe’s Domestic Seating. She added that San Francisco usually wins one award each year, and this year won two, from a pool of over 350 entries. President Beltran added that PAN is really the arbiter of the best public art in the country. She noted that past honorees included Commissioner Keehn’s collaboration with Brian Goggin on Language of the Birds, which was honored in 2009, as was her own collaboration with Scott Minneman, Dark Mirror in San José.
    
    Public Comment:
    
    Ms. Datesh made a comment on Pittsburgh.
Public Comment
Ms. Datesh read the following e-mail:
“On June 19th, 2013 the Board of Permits and Appeals found no factual evidence for a street artist permit denial of March 13, 2013. Howard Lazar did not file a response and was reprimanded by the Board for not following the rules. He wanted to postpone the meeting but could not supply medical evidence. He could not supply facts and evidence to support his 6 violations. He ranted for 7 minutes over dismissed cases of 15 years ago.

“John Tenuli, slandered me with gossip and hearsay. I did not spend 2 years In prison in NY. There were over 20 SFPD cops in the room and 3 lawyers who questioned his credibility. He ran out. I suggest that Tenuli stop harassing me and making annoying 911 calls. I am diabetic and went to the emergency room twice because of him.

“Ray Hertz. San Francisco Open a government was present at the March 13, 2013 street artist meeting. He explained procedural issues and lack of evidence. He said there was overwhelming hostility towards me and believed it was not a fair hearing.

“At rebuttal, I explained that I was AGAIN ganged up on and slandered for no real reason. I went to the full commission when these events were going on yet nothing was done.

“Lazar was again reprimanded. He had 41 years to get it right and can not seem to do so.

“No idea why the street artist program of San Francisco is so nutty but someone needs to be supervising Howard Lazar. It is clear that I am not the only one who seems puzzled.

“Lazar seems to enjoy wasting the city"s time and resources on meritless filings.He needs to be supervised and held accountable for his actions.”

Barbara Ockel, Bayview Opera House Executive Director, thanked the Commission for its incredible support to the Opera House, particularly over the past year during the renovations. She appreciated the efforts of Ms. Nemzoff and the Community Arts and Education staff, and the architects on the project, as well as the replacement of funding lost through the winding down of the Redevelopment Agency. Commissioner Collins reported that Supervisor Cohen was extremely laudatory of the work Ms. Ockel and her staff have been doing at the Opera House over this challenging period. President Beltran also praised Ms. Ockel for her work. There was no further public comment.
New Business and Announcements
Commissioner Stryker encouraged everyone to see the Mark di Suvero sculptures at Crissy Field. President Beltran explained that while the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was closed for construction, it was mounting offsite exhibitions around the city in partnership with other organizations. She called the Crissy Field show a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, transforming the field into a giant forest of steel sculptures.
Commissioner Chew recommended the Galleries’ show of Joe Blum’s Bay Bridge construction photographs on the ground floor of City Hall. Commissioner Keehn added that despite the bridge’s issues, the show is a celebration of the workers by one of their own. Communications Director Kate Patterson added that the reception would be held on July 11. President Beltran explained that Mr. Blum got unprecedented access to photograph the bridge.

Ms. Patterson announced a panel discussion on how social activism has shaped the arts in San Francsco at the de Young Museum on Friday, July 12. The panel will include Susan Wels, author of San Francisco: Arts for the City—Civic Art and Urban Change, 1932-2012.

Ms. Pontious announced that a piece from the Civic Art Collection is on loan to the de Young for their current retrospective on Richard Diebenkorn. President Beltran added that another piece was traveling with an important show of work by Jay DeFeo. Ms. Pontious added that a third was on loan to the de Young for the recent Stephen De Staebler retrospective.

President Beltran added that SOMArts was opening a group show by Pacific Rim artists addressing global electronic communication.

There was no public comment.
Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:17 p.m.

10/18/13 spr

Language Accessibility

Translated written materials and interpretation services are available to you at no cost. For assistance, please notify Commission Secretary Sharon Page Ritchie, 415-252-2591, sharon.page_ritchie@sfgov.org.

我們將為閣下提供免費的書面翻譯資料和口譯服務。如需協助，Commission Secretary Sharon Page Ritchie, 415-252-2591, sharon.page_ritchie@sfgov.org.

Materiales traducidos y servicios de interpretación están disponibles para usted de manera gratuita. Para asistencia, notifique a Commission Secretary Sharon Page Ritchie, 415-252-2591, sharon.page_ritchie@sfgov.org.