ARTS POSITIONS

2003 Arts Democratic Club Questionnaire

1.  What will you do to make the Arts a top priority of your administration?  Please name your specific initiatives.

The Mayor sets the tone for the city and can effectively model the premise that the Arts are an essential part of San Francisco’s cultural and economic vitality.  In order for the city to thrive, we must have a vibrant cultural scene and make San Francisco a haven for artistic talent.  The arts give us our identity as a community; they also draw new people, fresh visions, and new economic opportunity to our community.  A commitment to art and cultural initiatives citywide will be a hallmark of my administration.  If elected Mayor, I will implement the following policy initiatives, among others:

Make the Mid-Market nonprofit/arts district a reality.
The making of a mid-Market arts district has been long discussed. The time to make it real is now.  With commercial vacancies at historic highs and rents low, providing dedicated non-profit office and working arts/entertainment space for rehearsal, performance, studio production and gallery exhibition would revitalize this economically challenged area, encourage the greater pedestrian and street-level presence that will also ensure the safety of the people who live and work in the area. Additionally, it will foster a diverse and culturally tolerant atmosphere that will respect the needs and desires of both newcomers and longtime residents.

Reactivate the proposal to create a new creative/educational campus at Pier 70 on the Central Waterfront
Pier 70 boasts large floorplate buildings and flexible spaces that are well-suited as art and cultural space. Working with the Port, the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, the Planning Department and local arts and educational institutions, I will develop facilities at Pier 70 to provide skills training, creative arts education and incubator space for small producers, designers, artists and craftspeople.   This will also respect this area’s role as a historic working waterfront, nurture its emerging profile as a developing contemporary neighborhood, and create a buffer zone against the economic pressures on the arts that were so vividly experienced during the tech boom.

Renew our historic commitment to public art, public works and a distinctive public realm
Our Civic Center plaza was conceived as a beaux-arts jewel, Coit Tower boasts an inspiring collection of WPA murals, the San Francisco Art Institute and the old Pacific Stock Exchange feature heroic paintings by Diego Rivera, the Mission District continues the proud mural tradition and our waterfront has just welcomed a monumental sculpture by Claes Oldenburg.  We have done much in the past to make art a part of our public realm, and we need to do more in the future.  First, we must act to unite our various public art programs under a common vision — I will link the public art programs currently administered by the SF Arts Commission, the Redevelopment Agency and the Planning Department under the curatorial supervision of an Arts Commission to which I will make strong and broadly representative appointments. Then we must affirm the ability of the Arts Commission to fulfill this curatorial role — both soliciting and recommending art projects of the highest caliber, and performing the education and public outreach functions necessary to ensuring community-based consensus for these projects.  As Mayor, I will fully support the Arts Commission and its professional selection committees so that they can commission a full range of public art that is daring and, when appropriate, daringly traditional.  I will support art that is conceptually bold and that builds community, responsive to both to its particular site and the special character of San Francisco.  We must make room in our city both for art that affirms who we are now, and art that leads us in new directions.  Finally, we must ensure that concerns about quality-of-life issues in the public realm do not cause us to forego the substantial public benefit of art.  If a fountain causes a public nuisance, we must work to mitigate those nuisance factors, not destroy the fountain.  The saddest city of all would be a city that chooses to have no art because it “just causes problems.”

Improve Art Education for Children and Youth
The young people of today will determine San Francisco’s cultural and economic future, which is why it is essential that we revitalize art education in our schools. Art is no longer a significant of our school curriculum; we rarely have school art competitions, and music and dance programs are few and far between.  The dismantlement of the California Arts Council due to the State budget crisis lends a new urgency to this situation, since it directly endangers programs for San Francisco children and youth.  

Historically, I supported a $657,000 appropriation by Mayor Brown toward arts supplies and field trips and a $600,000 appropriation by the Board of Supervisors toward music programs, for our public schools. As Mayor, I will work to foster new public-private partnerships to compensate for this lost support. I will challenge local artists to become involved in nearby schools and work to find the incentives for them to do so (exchanging studio or performance space for arts instruction, as Dance Mission has done with Horace Mann Middle School). Successful programs such as Alvarado Elementary School’s Artist in Resident Program and the School of the Arts must be nurtured and expanded so that more children can reap their benefits.  On all levels, I will encourage the SFUSD and the Arts Commission to work together to make the arts once again a cornerstone of education.

Nurture the Film Industry
Building the film and theater industries is a central part of my overall economic development plan for San Francisco.  Film production offers a tremendous multiplier effect in terms of dollars spent, and I believe it is a responsibility of City Hall to take a strong role in making this city a more attractive place for filmmakers and in marketing San Francisco’s myriad of opportunities for film and media businesses.

I think that a customer-service orientation can make a huge difference in promoting San Francisco.  I would expect the Film Commission to ensure that the first “handshake” from the city to a filmmaker is a positive experience:  inquiries are handled in a professional and helpful manner, and assistance is available in complete Use Agreements, etc. The Mayor’s Office can market our beautiful city to filmmakers and make this a friendly city to film in.

San Francisco has been one of the most supportive communities in the nation to independent filmmakers. The Arts Commission and the Film Commission both have roles in continuing to foster the industry and assist it in being a stronger pipeline for major film production. In the year 2005, the International Independent Film Convention will be hosted in San Francisco. At least $6 million in revenue will result from having people from all over the world come into town to learn and share with the San Francisco film industry. As a for-profit creative industry that brings significant benefits to local artists, craftspeople, technicians, businesses and non-profit organizations alike, film merits a key role in our overall arts and culture policy.

2.  What will you do to make SF a leading city in North America for cultural tourism?

While art should be an essential part of the urban experience of all San Franciscans, the city needs to launch higher-profile events to make it the premiere cultural destination in the country.  I have recently partnered with local singers and songwriters to organize a concert in Golden Gate Park with leading Bay Area musicians, and we will include a venue for local artists to exhibit their work.  We must launch major art expositions and work with Parks and Recreation to initiate more outdoor art festivals.   The upcoming artSFest (2004) is a good example of the possibilities of a fully integrated interdisciplinary arts festival that draws upon both public and private support and will appeal to SF residents and tourists alike.

I will call on the hospitality industry and the Visitors and Convention Bureau to develop a strategic marketing calendar built around leading cultural events and attractions. When our museums mount major exhibitions, we must support them with hotel packages and marketing campaigns.  Hotels should be guiding tourists to the Chagall Exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, to the Pan-Pacific exhibit at the Asian Art Museum and to the Art Expo at Fort Mason, as well as to theatrical and musical performances from small art houses to major companies such as the SF Ballet, Symphony and ACT.  Likewise, our major public festivals, from New Year’s in Chinatown to Carnivale in the Mission to LGBT Pride Weekend in the Civic Center/Castro should be featured as elements in the distinctive cultural calendar of our city.

Finally, we must work to ensure that San Francisco is a safe and welcoming place to all tourists.  This is less a question of creativity than of day-to-day attention to detail.  Our transit systems need to be clean, well-run and well-signed so that tourists can get from North Beach to the Mission and beyond (and not just from the Airport to Downtown) easily.  Our streets need to be clean, safe and pedestrian-friendly.  Folks need to feel as good about going out at night as they do during the day.  If we do all these things to promote art and create a positive public realm in which to enjoy it, people will come.


3.  What will you do to increase the percentage of funding for multicultural arts organizations, to more accurately reflect the City’s diverse populations?

Diversity is one of San Francisco’s greatest assets.  The Arts Commission will continue to include leaders in the multicultural art organizations who will ensure that multicultural programs get their fair portion of funding.  Additionally, the task force’s grant-writing team will aggressively pursue the wide state and national opportunities available to multicultural art programs, including grant programs such as “Challenge America” and “Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth.” I also strongly support plans to revitalize art in the Bayview Hunters Point District, and will make every effort to ensure the following two city-funded projects begin in a timely fashion:
        The renovation and expansion of the Bayview Opera House into a full-fledged Performing Arts and Multimedia Training Center, dedicated to the promotion of the visual, performing, musical and literary arts, and focusing on intensively preparing young adults for careers in arts-related fields.
        The creation of a Bayview Technological Arts Center, a performing arts and multimedia center that will prepare youth to participate more fully in the arts, will nurture creativity and will provide neighborhood children and teenagers with challenging arts programs.  The Center will include a creative arts and technology studio that provides after-school programs, classroom partnerships, and special projects.

4.  What actions will you take to increase overall arts funding in the next four years, especially for small to mid-sized arts organizations?

Small and mid-sized arts organizations are especially vulnerable in times of economic downtown.  Even in the best of economic times, the first few years are crucial to the survival of such organizations.  I would look closely at the allocation of the Hotel Tax Fund to ensure that small and mid-sized arts organizations are getting the support they need.  I would also to provide in-kind support to the extent possible through city planning, zoning and permitting initiatives (for example, ensuring that an appropriate amount of arts/non-profit/community space is a part of any redevelopment plan).  On the other hand, I think it is also important that arts and non-profit organizations demonstrate the extent of their contribution to the cultural life of the city in order to justify continued funding.  We can’t afford to put poorly managed or non-productive organizations on governmental “life support” when so many vital organizations are underfunded.


5.  What initiatives will you sponsor to increase the number of artists living and working in San Francisco?

I co-sponsored Tom Ammiano’s resolution to grant $1.5 million dollars to the California Lawyers for the Arts to provide rent subsidies and down payments for purchasing buildings for art-related non-profits.

I am sponsoring workforce housing to provide more affordable residences for the many San Franciscans who provide necessary services to the city, including firefighters, nurses, and policemen.  However, I recognize that artists contribute an invaluable service to the city, for the economic and cultural vitality of the city depends on fostering a thriving artistic community.  I will initiate plans to ensure that a portion of the new workforce housing units provide local artists with affordable housing, and ensure that San Francisco’s artists can actually afford to live in the city.
     
I will also coordinate efforts between building owners and the art sector to help bring arts back to empty buildings.  I will also encourage the involvement of local philanthropic partners and the private sector to generate more funds for local organizations such as Arthouse, a fantastic joint program developed by California Lawyers for the Arts and the San Francisco Arts Commission that provides information about artists’ studio and live/work cultural facilities.

The Arts and Cultures Task Force will be a tremendous asset and resource to local artists seeking funds, for the grant-writing team will be aggressively pursuing state and federal grants, while the creation of a centralized database of all funding opportunities will ensure that artists have greater access to all state and federal resources.


6.  As Mayor, what actions will you take to streamline the City’s cultural offices and to increase both the accountability and effectiveness of these offices?
    
A highly qualified and well-respected Arts Commission should have a leadership role in overseeing the cultural affairs of the city.  The Commission should work intimately with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the MOED, the SFUSD, Rec and Park, Planning and other departments to ensure that our precious arts dollars are well spent and that art and cultural opportunities are broadly representative of the needs and desires of San Francisco’s diverse population.  As Mayor, I will commission the SFAC to create a Master Plan for the Arts (just as we have master plans for city building and development) to facilitate the collaboration of the diverse city departments involved in some form of arts administration.  

I am also implementing CitiStat, a computer program that will greatly improve accountability and effectiveness in every city department by providing data on management and spending for all city programs and city services including cultural offices. The program will track the progress of city-funded art projects to ensure that plans are being implemented in a timely fashion; it will track spending to ensure sound fiscal management; it will ensure that all proceeds from the city’s 2% for the Arts ordinance (requiring 2 percent of total project construction cost for civic/public projects be invested in art enrichment) are properly spent.

7.  How will you use your position as Mayor to help art organizations secure state, national, and international opportunities?  Please list specific opportunities.

San Francisco enjoys an unusually high level of local support for the arts in comparison to other cites nationwide.  Our Hotel Tax Fund is a model of its kind.  At the same time, state and national support for the arts continues to dwindle, at least at the governmental level (witness the recent fate of the California Arts Council).  As Mayor, I would use every opportunity provided to stress the need for continued arts support at the state and federal level — for school arts programs, multicultural programs in all genres, etc.  Whenever possible I would make the success stories of San Francisco’s investment in the arts an argument for increasing funding at these levels, both state and nationwide.

I would also charge the San Francisco Arts Commission with the task of ensuring that we are aggressively pursuing foundation and other private philanthropic support as appropriate.  I would ensure that the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development works cooperatively with such private philanthropic initiatives as the San Francisco Foundation to ensure that San Francisco’s artists and non-profit groups understand the complete range of funding opportunities available to them.

Finally, I would encourage international exchange opportunities to bring the best of world culture to San Francisco and to ensure that the world sees the best cultural production of our city.  Programming initiatives such as the upcoming artSFest are important mechanisms for focusing regional and international attention on the arts in San Francisco.  Our city’s rich resources of foreign consulates and cultural affairs programs (Alliance Française, the Goethe  Institute, etc.) represent opportunities to facilitate  cultural exchanges, especially showcasing the work of emerging artists.  We need to look not only inward, but outward as well in order to reflect the rich multicultural traditions of our community.

8.  What will you do to expand industrial arts and crafts in San Francisco in the next four years?  Please list specific industry objectives.

The most important challenge facing industrial arts and crafts in San Francisco is maintaining the physical space and support services necessary to these activities.  As residential building takes priority over commercial and office building, and as neighborhood improvements put the economic squeeze on light industry, manufacturing, lab and production space, etc. to relocate, it becomes ever more crucial to encourage the broadest range of small business opportunities, including industrial arts and crafts, that are essential to the economic health and wellbeing of the city.  As Mayor, I will work with the Planning Department to ensure that areas are designated where businesses that “make things” are given first priority and can continue to thrive, especially in the southeastern sections of the City, including the Central Waterfront and Bayview Hunters Point.  Working through the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and with the Chamber of Commerce, I will establish an economic development program to support new and expanding businesses with financing and technical support.  My office will also work to fund a microloan program to provide seed-money for small business start-ups in the creative arts, from graphic design, printing and post-production work to metal fabrication, stage crafting and beyond.

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to share my plans for making art and cultural activities centerpieces of civic life and economic wellbeing in San Francisco.  In order for San Francisco to thrive, we must nurture our creative resources at all levels.




Note: The following four answers were provided to Independent Arts & Media.  


1. What is your vision for arts education in public schools?

Arts education is a powerful gateway to academic success, giving all children a forum for exercising their creativity and those who learn differently another model for achievement at school.  The arts help develop mental and physical capacities and help children develop socially and emotionally.  Investing in art opportunities for our children now will affect San Francisco’s cultural future.

And yet -- we no longer have school art competitions. Music and dance programs are few.  The recent budget cuts to the California Arts Council suggest that the struggle to fund arts education is not going away any time soon.  

As Mayor I will work to foster public-private partnerships to compensate for lost support. I will challenge local artists to become involved in schools and work to find incentives for them to do so (e.g., by exchanging studio or performance space for arts instruction, as Dance Mission has done with Horace Mann Middle School). Successful programs such as the Alvarado Elementary School Artist in Residence Program and the School of the Arts must be nurtured and expanded.  I will encourage SFUSD and the Arts Commission to work together to make the arts a cornerstone of education.

2. What specifically will you do to increase public funding and other support for the arts?

The Mayor’s Office must help attract more federal and state money as well as philanthropic support for the arts and other vital community services.  I believe that best way to do this is to establish a Resource Development Office (RDO) whose function it is to identify and develop financial resources at the federal, state, local, corporate and philanthropic levels, as well as coordinate and integrate City departments’ grantwriting and grants administration activities. The RDO will generate millions of new dollars to create a healthy city, and importantly, provide more funding for arts programs.  

I would also look at the allocation of the Hotel Tax Fund to ensure that small and mid-sized arts organizations are getting the needed support, and I will work to rebuild the tourism industry in this city, which has suffered greatly in the last few years.  A healthy tourism and convention business keeps the hotels filled, and thereby enriches the Hotel Tax Fund, which is a widely copied model for arts support nationwide.  I will provide in-kind support to the extent possible through city planning, zoning and permitting initiatives (for example, ensuring that an appropriate amount of arts/non-profit/community space is a part of any redevelopment plan).

3. How will you ensure that arts funding is distributed to traditionally underserved communities as well as the mainstream?

Diversity is one of San Francisco’s greatest assets.  The Arts Commission will continue to include leaders in the multicultural art organizations who will ensure that multicultural programs get their fair portion of funding.  Additionally, the task force’s grant writing team will aggressively pursue the wide state and national opportunities available to multicultural art programs, including grant programs such as “Challenge America” and “Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth.” I strongly support plans to revitalize art in the Bayview Hunters Point District, and will make every effort to ensure the following two city-funded projects begin in a timely fashion:

        The renovation and expansion of the Bayview Opera House into a full-fledged Performing Arts and Multimedia Training Center, dedicated to the promotion of the visual, performing, musical and literary arts, and focusing on preparing intensively preparing young adults for careers in arts-related fields.

        The creation of a Bayview Technological Arts Center, a performing arts and multimedia center to prepare youth to participate more fully in the arts, nurtures creativity and provides neighborhood children and teenagers with challenging arts programs.  The Center will include a creative arts and technology studio that provides after-school programs, classroom partnerships, and special projects.

4. Describe your past work on behalf of San Francisco artists.

Historically, I supported a $657,000 appropriation by Mayor Brown, and a $600,000 appropriation by the Board of Supervisors toward arts supplies and field trips, and music programs, respectively, for our public schools.  I co-sponsored Tom Ammiano’s resolution to grant $1.5 million dollars to the California Lawyers for the Arts to provide rent subsidies and down payments for purchasing buildings for art related non-profits.

I am the only Supervisor to offer the Workforce Housing legislation the Board, to provide more affordable residences for the many San Franciscans who provide necessary services to the city, including artists, firefighters, nurses, and policemen.  I recognize that artists contribute an invaluable service to the city, for the economic and cultural vitality of the city depends on fostering a thriving artistic community.  I will initiate plans to ensure that a portion of the new workforce housing units provide local artists with affordable housing, and ensure that San Francisco’s artists can actually afford to live in the city.  I will also coordinate efforts between building owners and the art sector to help bring arts back to empty buildings.