Arts Forum SF

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October 19, 2006

Arts Forum Survey Distributed to Supervisor Candidates

Arts Forum distributed the following survey to the candidates for the Board of Superviors for Districts 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. Responses will be posted soon!

Dear Candidate:

You probably already recognize the important role of arts and culture to the quality of life, economic vitality and reputation of San Francisco. On behalf of the City's arts community, Arts Forum invites you to consider how you will demonstrate your commitment and work with individual artists, arts organizations and arts advocates if you are
successful in your campaign.

Please review and complete the attached questionnaire by FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6. Feel free to contact us if you would like to be connected to a community-based arts organization in your district, or if you have any
questions for us as well.

Your responses will be circulated to more than 400 Arts Forum members, presented at a public "The Arts Get Political" party at CounterPulse on Sunday, October 8, and distributed to the media with an Arts Forum
press release.

DON'T BE LEFT OUT!

Thank you so much for considering how you will promote and protect the arts community here in San Francisco when you become a District Supervisor. We look forward to receiving your reponses.

1. Have you ever served on the board of an arts agency or organization?

2. Describe your current arts activities as a patron, an audience member or worker, etc. What arts events have you participated in recently?

3. Please list three arts organizations or working artists in your district. Do you know them personally?

4. If elected, will you commit to displaying art created by local artists in your office at City Hall and attend arts events in your district?

5. The City's General Plan spells out a vision for the arts in San Francisco: "San Francisco is nationally and internationally acclaimed as a cultural center where the arts are central to the essence and character of the City. It hosts a flourishing cultural environment in which a profusion of art is created, performed and exhibited in adventuresome, creative and often ground breaking ways. The breadth of artistic achievement in San Francisco encompasses many disciplines, cultures, individuals and organizations of all sizes."
http://www.sfgov.org/site/planning_index.asp?id=41421

What does that vision specifically mean to you, and your district?

6. What is your evaluation of and commitment to current city funding for the arts, existing agencies and priorities (such as Grants for the Arts and the Arts Commission's Cultural Equity and Individual Artist Commission Programs, etc.)?

7. What are your priorities for future or increased arts funding?

8. Are you familiar with the recent report by the Arts Task Force?

http://sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/sfac/Arts_Task_Force/supporting/2006/SF_ArtsTaskForceReport.pdf

9. Do you support the Arts Task Force's recommendations to fully restore the statutory Hotel Tax Fund contributions to arts and tourism?

10. If so, what would you do in next year's budget cycle to fulfill that promise?

11. In past decades, a Neighborhood Arts Program was one of the largest recipients of funds from the City's Grants for the Arts; however, that program has been decimated in recent years, and many neighborhoods have limited access to arts and culture close to home. Do you support the Arts Task Force's recommendations to create a new and substantial Neighborhood Arts Program across the entire City?

12. If so, what would you do, as supervisor, to fulfill that promise?

13. Do you support the rest of the Arts Task Force recommendations?

14. Do you find any of the other Arts Task Force recommendations to be particularly valuable to you and your district?

15. As a supervisor, how will you work with artists and arts
organizations in your district to communicate the value of the work
they do to other community-based constituencies, and to encourage and
facilitate partnerships and alliances (e.g., merchants groups,
neighborhood associations, trade unions, social service and healthcare
non-profits)?

16. The City's General Plan lists artists and artisans as a population in special need of affordable housing policies and programs: "Artists have special housing needs for affordable accommodations that provide large wall space, high ceilings, lofts, lighting, and the ability to work at all hours of the day or night. There is high demand for such flexible space in the city, as many of San Francisco’s artists live in apartment units not suitable for such activities. It was estimated that about 60% of San Francisco artists are lower income households, earning less than $25,500 a year in 1990." History has proven that the housing marketplace will not address these special needs on its own.

How will you work to develop and maintain long-term affordable housing and studio space for individual artists and arts organizations?

17. The SFUSD recently created its first Arts Education Master Plan:
http://portal.sfusd.edu/template/default.cfm?page=initiatives.aemp

As supervisor, how will you help the SFUSD find the resources to guarantee implementation of the plan?

18. How do you see the Board of Supervisors working in concert with the Board of Education, the Mayor's Office and the social service sector to provide expanded, coordinated arts education opportunities for children and youth across the entire city, during school hours and after school?

19. Please give an example of an urgent issue in your district and how you would work with artists/arts organizations to address that issue.

Posted by at October 19, 2006 9:54 PM

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