MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
OF THE ARTS COMMISSION

Monday, July 27, 2015
12:30 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70

Minutes
 

President Beltran called the meeting to order at 12:37 p.m.

1. Roll Call
   Commissioners Present 
   JD Beltran, President
   Abby Sadin Schnair, Vice President
   Simon Frankel
   Roberto Ordeñana
   Paul Woolford
    
   Commissioners Absent 
   None
    
2. Public Comment
   There was no public comment.
    
3. Director’s Report
   Mr. DeCaigny reported on the City budget process, which was scheduled for a final vote by the Board of Supervisors on July 28. He reported that the Board had allocated one more addback, for an international arts festival in District 1. President Beltran recalled the difficult budget struggles when she first came to the Commission and when she served as Interim Director, and was enormously pleased to see the historic increases in this year's budget. She applauded the efforts of Mr. DeCaigny and Deputy Director Rebekah Krell; he noted the strategic activism of the arts community.
    
   Mr. DeCaigny reported on the development of the Treasure Island public art master plan, which was covered by KQED, Architectural Digest and others recently. Noting that the funding was from private 1%-for-art fees, he pointed out that there would be many opportunities for public comment and input throughout the yearlong planning process and the the twenty-year implementation.
    
   Mr. DeCaigny announced that Deputy City Attorney Susan Dawson is reviewing the bylaws with staff, and will discuss the revised bylaws with the full Commission in the fall. Staff noted that the September 11 office move to 401 Van Ness necessitated at least the change of address within the bylaws, and thus presented an opportunity to review them more fully.
    
   Mr. DeCaigny announced the cancellation of the full Arts Commission meeting and the Executive Committee meeting in August, and announced that Committee meetings, panels and other meetings would be scheduled at 401 Van Ness beginning in September, although the full Commission would continue to meet in City Hall.
    
   Mr. DeCaigny reported that the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development presented a Forest City development agreement proposal involving very significant community benefits for arts and culture. He reviewed the history of the Community Arts Stabilization Trust (“CAST”), which expects to accept the donation of the Dempster Building to operate as a dedicated arts and culture facility. He referred Commissioners to the Planning Commission’s website for the entire draft of the agreement.
    
   The Committee discussed its role in innovative policymaking to support the arts, and requested a presentation to the full Commission on the Public Art Trust and its enabling legislation. Mr. DeCaigny reported that he and Ms. Krell would be joining other City staff to tour a project in Sacramento as part of their research on fulfilling the Mayor’s directive on affortable housing. He also reported briefly on the artist displacement survey, and his discussions with City departments and other parties on the issue of displacement and affordability.
    
   There was no public comment.
    
4. Arts Commission Donations
   Mr. DeCaigny invited Director of Public and Private Partnerships Rachelle Axel to discuss this motion. She explained that the motion covered all individual direct donations made to the Arts Commission over the last two years, for both general and restricted support. Mr. DeCaigny added that many of these donations were made prior to the founding of ArtCare as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit “friends” organization. Ms. Axel added that all of the donations are tax-deductible, and many were in response to the year-end request letter which will no longer be sent out. She explained that those donors who had completed a form specifically requesting that their gifts remain anonymous did not have their donation amounts listed. Finally, she explained that when the Arts Commission’s website is revamped, donations will be listed there, obviating the need for similar motions in the future.
    
   Commissioner Ordeñana recused himself from voting on this motion because one of the donors, Zephyr Realty, is also a donor to his employer, the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center. He left the room at 1:18 p.m.
    
   There was no public comment, and the motion was unanimously approved as follows, with the recusal of Commissioner Ordeñana.
    
   Motion to retroactively approve the acceptance of 28 donations to the Arts Commission totaling $27,975 for support of the Civic Art Collection’s maintenance, WritersCorps and the SFAC Galleries. The donors who each contributed more than $100 in the aggregate are: Eva Yarmo, the Rothman Family Trust, David Wessel, Diane B. Wilsey, Elin Barnes, Joyce Friedman, Sylvia Brown, Swig Family Foundation, Diane Goldstein, Edward Lin, the Taube Family Foundation, Trax Ceramic Gallery. These donors also include Lauran Weinmann and Jeffrey Weinmann ($500), Myra Block Kaiser and George Kaiser ($1,000), Ian Berke ($200), Amy Ress ($300), Zephyr Realty ($2,500) and Boston Properties ($7,500).
    
   Commissioner Ordeñana returned to the room at 1:19 p.m.
    
5. Market Street Prototyping Festival Grant
   Mr. DeCaigny pointed out that Ms. Axel works both on seeking private resources in support of the Arts Commission’s work and also public resources; he invited her to discuss this motion. She explained that, in accordance with the idea expressed in the strategic plan that the Arts Commission should not compete with its grantees, the state and federal funds sought by the Arts Commission are primarily limited strictly to local arts agencies. She described the project, and discussed the role of partners, including the Planning Department and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Ms. Axel explained that the National Endowment for the Arts has accepted only one application per city for the Our Town grant, and San Francisco had been successful two out of three times. (They have begun to accept two applications per city.)
    
   The Committee discussed the Living Innovation Zones projects and other Market Street activation initiatives.
    
   President Beltran said that while she had previously served on the Board of Directors of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, her term has ended and she thus is not required to recuse herself from this vote.
    
   There was no public comment, and the motion was unanimously approved as follows.
    
   Motion to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into a grant agreement with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in the amount of $75,000 to support the next phase of the Market Street Prototyping Festival, based on secured funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
    
6. New Business and Announcements
   Mr. DeCaigny noted that while the September meeting of the full Commission had to be rescheduled because of the Labor Day holiday, the next Monday, September 14, conflicts with the Rosh Hashanah holiday, and staff was working on finding a different date.
    
   He reported that he expected to report to this Committee on findings from the displacement survey, as well as the upcoming tour of working artist lofts in Sacramento; the Committee suggested that a representative of the Bureau of Architecture join the tour.
    
   The Committee discussed the timing of the President’s appointment of the Nominating Committee.
    
   President Beltran announced upcoming shows of her work in San Rafael, at Root Division and in the Silicon Valley Art Fair.
    
   Mr. DeCaigny explained that he would be on vacation at the end of August and the beginning of September, and that Ms. Krell was Acting Director in his absence.
    
   Commissioner Woolford reported that his project, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration campus at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, would be featured in the August issue of Architectural Record.
    
   There was no further new business or announcements, and no public comment.
    
7. Adjournment 
   There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:48 p.m.
    

posted 8/6/15 5:00 p.m. spr
approved 9/15/15

 

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.