CREATION OF AN
ARTS, CULTURE, AND
LIBRARY COMMISSION
Brian Simons, Library Director
Eric Engelbart, Deputy City Manager
WHY THE ARTS
ARE SO IMPORTANT
• Art is an expression and celebration of culture.
• Art says something about who we are, who we were, or
who we want to be, either explicitly or through the
interpretation of the observer.
• Art communicates in ways words cannot and art can
surpass language barriers.
2 ARTS IN
SAN LEANDRO
November 2013: Arts & Culture Town Hall Meeting
2014: Formation of Arts Commission
2015: Commission begins meeting
2016: City Council allocates $100K annual budget dedicated to the arts, to be administered by the arts commission
2017: Public Art Master Plan created
2018: Staff support shifted from RHS to CMO
2018: Commission announces arts grants pilot program
2019: Arts grants awarded
2019: City Council reduces annual funding to $75K as
part of citywide budget reductions
3 BACKGROUND
ARTS IN
SAN LEANDRO
City of San Leandro Public Art Master Plan
Vision Statement:
“Arts and culture in San Leandro inspire openness
and change, reflecting its people, diverse
population, history, innovation, and the beauty of
its natural environment.”
4 ARTS IN
SAN LEANDRO
City of San Leandro Public Art Master Plan:
• “Cultural and artistic resources foster economic
development and tourism, revitalize urban areas, and
improve the overall business climate by creating a more desirable community within which to live and work.”
• “It also helps to attract and anchor a large and diverse creative sector, enriching San Leandro’s cultural identity which is a key component of economic vitality.”
• Captured themes from residents who expressed interest in elevating the performing/visual arts and outlined
16 recommendations to achieve that end.
5 ARTS IN SAN LEANDRO
City of San Leandro Public Art Master Plan – Example
Recommendations:
• Establish Special Project Grants to support local non-profit arts and culture organizations for community-based arts activities within San Leandro limits.
• Develop an annual Arts and Culture Work Plan with the assistance of a consultant, as needed, for review and
approval by the San Leandro Arts Commission.
• Develop artwork maintenance practices to ensure the
public art collection is in good condition.
• Encourage partnerships and strategic alliances to conceive and implement projects. 6
7 ARTS IN SAN LEANDRO
The Arts Commission has made some progress toward achieving the vision, themes, and recommendations expressed in the Arts Master Plan.
EXAMPLES of ART COMMISSIONS ACTIONS
• Commissioning of Curiosity Sculpture by Mildred Howard (authorized by City Council in 2020)
• Installation of sculptures in the Hesperian Triangle
• Issuance of 2 rounds of public arts grants
• Facilitated installation of various murals, public art installations, mosaic tiles, speakers, & live events
• Development of new street banners for Bancroft Ave & Wicks Blvd 8 CURRENT IMPEDIMENTS
Although the Arts Commission has been working to diligently, challenges remain, such as:
• Constrained ongoing annual arts budget.
• Lack of a development project funding requirement for public art. • Finding viable sites to put public art.
• Lack of a nonprofit fundraising partner analogous to the Friends of the Library.
• Lack of bandwidth to support grant funding.
• Lack of established maintenance practices to ensure the public art collection is in good condition.
OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES
• Quorum, attendance, and appointment issues.
• Lack of agenda items.
• Commission staffing capacity issues exacerbated with newly formed Community Police Review Board.
• Expertise Gaps.
• Library-Historical Commission and Library staff do not have the expertise to conduct landmark and architectural historical preservation review for permitting.
• Arts Secretary in City Manager’s Office was meant to be temporary and lacks arts expertise.
• Inefficient use of resources.
• Library has a stronger bench and experience with art. • Community Development has more touchpoints with architectural historic preservation.
9 In addition to the specific Arts Commission impediments to progress, there are some operational challenges that impact a number of commissions, especially the Arts Commission and the Library Historical Commission.
0 2
4 6
8 10
12 14
Arts Meetings
with Absences
LHC Meetings
with Absences
Arts Cancelled
Quorum
LHC Cancelled
Quorum
Arts Cancelled
Agenda
LHC Cancelled
Agenda
Engagement Issues - Absences and Cancelled Meetings
2019 2020 2021 2022
CHALLENGES
ATTENDANCE & MEETING CANCELLATIONS
10 CHALLENGES
FINDING APPOINTMENTS
11 = Filled Seat
• Over the years, LHC and especially Arts Commission has struggled to find people to fill Commissioner seats.
• District 4 Arts seat has been vacant over a year.
• The At Large vacancies also can be a challenge to fill. • Dist. 1 Arts Commissioner and Dist. 2 Library-Historical Commissioner accepted seats on the Community Police Review Board.
Arts Commission
At Large At Large At Large Dist. 1 Dist. 2 Dist.3 Dist. 4 Dist. 5 Dist. 6 Filled
Expiring 2022 2022 2022 2022 2024 2022 2024 2022 2024
CHALLENGES
EXPERTISE GAPS & INEFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES
12 • Community Development Department works with
architecture, buildings, developers, design, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); however, the architectural historic preservation duty is under the LHC rather than PC/BZA.
• Library and Museum conduct arts programming, work with artists, and collect, preserve, tell, and celebrate the historical and cultural stories in visual, audio, and written formats; however, the Secretary of the Arts Commission is under the City Manager’s Office.
13 PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
1. Merge the Arts Commission and the Library-Historical Commission into an Arts, Culture, and Library Commission.
2. Transfer the duties of landmark designation and architectural historic preservation in the Municipal Code to the PC/BZA.
3. Direct staff to explore Municipal Code changes that would generate a dedicated ongoing funding stream for the arts.
4. Reallocate an additional $75,000 in one-time excess funds from the Sesquicentennial program, to be dedicated
exclusively for the Arts.
14 BROAD-BASED ACCOMPLISHMENTS
OF THE PROPOSED SOLUTION
• Multifaceted solution for multifaceted issues
• Multiple Commissions and Departments are experiencing challenges, misalignments, inefficiencies, and impediments to better outcomes; therefore, the proposed solution addresses more than one area.
• Maximizes community engagement opportunities
• A merged commission provides more frequent, meaningful, substantive agendas and action items.
• Promotes Commission meeting attendance.
• Reduces cause for meeting cancellations.
• Facilitates filling Commissioner seats.
• Addresses staffing capacity issues:
• Provides the Community Police Review Board the dedicated staff support it will need. • Library has more line staff to dedicate to arts initiatives. • Aligns expertise:
• Library hosts authors, actors, musicians, dancers, sculptors, painters, chefs, etc. • Community Development assists PC/BZA with historical preservation and landmarks.
BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED
SOLUTION FOR THE ARTS
• The vision of the Library as the “Soul of the Community,” as a place that expresses and celebrates the cultural diversity in our community, activates the Arts Master Plan recommendation to “...recognize cultural diversity, language, and access as integral features of all programs and activities to broaden participation in the arts.” • Library is already a place where people come to share, learn, experience, express, and celebrate together.
• Art in all its forms (painting, sculpture, writing, culinary, music, dance, etc.) are performed and taught to express and celebrate cultures at the Library.
BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED
SOLUTION FOR THE ARTS
• Facilitates the best possible environment to drive the actions needed to achieve the vision, goals, and potential expressed in the Public Art Master Plan.
• Alignment with Library expertise with arts programming. • Greater bench strength allows for better staff bandwidth. • Leverages the positive reputation of the San Leandro Public Library to further develop artist, business, & resident relationships with the arts. • Ability to leverage existing robust library communication channels to drive community involvement.
• Easier onramp for more people to engage with art – all are welcome. • Provides a structure for arts and culture to be “distributed throughout all neighborhoods of the city,” as stated in the Arts Master Plan. • Library facilities across the city engage and activate residents. • Expands outreach into all corners of the community.
BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED
SOLUTION FOR HISTORICAL
PRESERVATION
17 558 Joaquin Ave. San Leandro, CA 94577
857 Estudillo Ave. San Leandro, CA 94577
• PC/BZA that is involved with permitting will provide
direction to landmark and architectural historic
preservation with the guidance from the
Community Development Department.
• Owners of Mills Act eligible properties will have a
more direct route to pursue Mills Act opportunities
and have a direct connection to the Community
Development Department to guide and evaluate
their efforts with expertise in architecture, buildings, developers, design, and the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) .
• In instances where PC/BZA needs further assistance
with the specialty of architectural preservation,
Community Development staff can more easily
identify relevant consultants for those occasions.
BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED
SOLUTION FOR THE LIBRARY
• More engagement around the arts and an alignment with the vision of the library as a community hub where culture is expressed and celebrated. • More opportunity for outreach into our community through art. • Facilitates a deeper dialogue around art and library topics when commissioners have diverse interests and lenses of understanding.
• Moving the architectural preservation efforts to PC/BZA under the guidance of the Community Development Department allows the new Arts, Culture & Library Commissioners and Library staff to focus on areas they excel and have expertise in, to deliver the best services and outputs for the community. 18 RECOMMENDATION
CONSISTENT WITH THE RULES COMMITTEE
RECOMMENDATION, STAFF RECOMMENDS THE
COUNCIL APPROVE
19 1. Adoption of proposed ordinance to:
a) Merge the Arts Commission and Library-Historical
Commission, creating a new Arts, Culture & Library
Commission.
b) Transfer the duties of landmark designation and
architectural historic preservation in the Municipal Code to the PC/BZA.
2. Direct staff to explore Municipal Code changes that would generate a dedicated ongoing funding stream for the arts.
3. Reallocate an additional $75,000 in one-time excess
funds from the Sesquicentennial program, to be
dedicated exclusively for the Arts.
TRANSITION TIMING
OUT OF 17 SEATS, 13 ARE VACANT OR TERM EXPIRES
20 = current seat filled and term not expiring
With the number of vacancies and terms expiring, the impact of changing commission structure is limited as it pertains to sitting commissioners.
The new commission would take effect in January 2023.
= current term expiring
= seat currently vacant
2022
Expiring 2022 2022 2022 2022 2024 2022 2024 2022 2024
Arts At Large At Large At Large Dist. 1 Dist. 2 Dist.3 Dist. 4 Dist. 5 Dist. 6 LHC Youth At Large Dist. 1 Dist. 2 Dist.3 Dist. 4 Dist. 5 Dist. 6
THANK YOU
Brian Simons, Library Director
Eric Engelbart, Deputy City Manager