65B - ARTS AND CULTURE MASTER PLAN

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Santa Ana Arts Future Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan Peer Panels Best practices in the local arts agency field involve the utilization of peer panels to evaluate grant proposals and selection of artists. Peer panels are advisory to the Arts Commission, which in turn is advisory to the City Administration and City Council and Mayor. o Reviews grant applications, public art proposals, etc. o Conducts aesthetic and quality review o Recommends artists/arts groups for grants, or public art projects o Qualifications: • Appointment by the Arts Commission • City residency not required • Professional level expertise in one or more arts disciplines Recommendation 2.2: During the initial phase of implementation of this plan, the current structure and placement of the Arts Commission should be retained, after which time it should be reevaluated. The Arts Commission is currently housed within the Community Development Agency. It is recommended the Arts Commission remain with Community Development. In the future, as the Community Arts and Cultural MasterPlan is implemented, consideration should be given to alternative placement within the City organization chart, including the City Managers' Office or the Department of Planning and Building. Consideration should also be given to nonprofit alternatives or quasi -government alternatives, such as an Arts Council to serve as the City's arts agency. Recommendation 2.3: Develop a staffing plan to allow for the incremental implementation of the arts and cultural plan. According the 2015 Americans for the Arts national arts census, more than 77% of local arts agencies in the country have at least one paid professional staff. Those that do not are generally very small communities where volunteers carry out arts functions. Santa Ana is a community with a robust arts and creative community and is in need of a City staff for plan implementation. This arts and cultural plan is a large and complicated undertaking, spanning ten years. While it is understood that limited staffing resources are available in the first 2-3 years, as implementation moves forward, staff should be added incrementally. Initially, the minimum needs will be a staff director for the Arts Commission (assigned from the City Manager's Office) and an administrative assistant from the Community Development Agency. Apublic art program coordinator in the Department of Planning and Building will also be a required position. Recommendation 2.4: Explore long-term funding options for arts and cultural investments and to ensure implementation of this arts and cultural plan. Currently, the City's arts budget, apart from the annual item for the Bowers Museum, is approximately $175,000 from the General Fund and may not increase significantly in the early period of plan implementation. However, the exploration of alternative funding sources is recommended as part of the City and Taskforce responsibilities. Municipalities use a variety of strategies to support arts and cultural development. The following are approaches that should be considered as this plan moves toward implementation. It is noted that the General Fund allocations are the most common source of municipal arts support. 25 65B-29