HomeMy WebLinkAbout65B - ARTS AND CULTURE MASTER PLANe. I Wn DR M1 1
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE:
AUGUST 16, 2016
TITLE:
REVIEW AND ADOPTION OF THE ARTS
AND CULTURE MASTER PLAN
{STRATEGIC PLAN NO. 5,4A)
CITY MAN R
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Review and adopt the Arts and Culture Master Plan.
DISCUSSION
CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY:
APPROVED
❑ As Recommended
❑ As Amended
❑ Ordinance on 18' Reading
❑ Ordinance on 2nd Reading
❑ Implementing Resolution
❑ Set Public Hearing For
CONTINUED TO
FILE NUMBER
On January 15, 2015, the Arts and Culture Commission voted to release a Request for Proposals
(RFP) for the development of the Arts and Culture Master Plan for the City of Santa Ana. The
purpose of developing an Arts and Culture Master Plan is to create a common vision for the role
that arts and culture should play in Santa Ana, as well as to ascertain what pieces of that vision
can guide policy and programming to enhance the quality of life for Santa Ana residents,
businesses and visitors. On May 5, 2015, City Council approved the agreement with the Cultural
Planning Group (CPG) to develop the City-wide Arts and Culture Master Plan.
The development of the Arts and Culture Master Plan included three phases: Community
Engagement and Research; Santa Ana Arts and Culture Master Plan Development; and Santa
Ana Arts and Culture Master Plan Presentation and Approvals.
The methods used to develop the Arts and Culture Master Plan included a strong community
engagement component to ensure public participation. This included a community survey,
community-based discussions, meetings and individual interviews with artists and other
community stakeholders, and Town Hall meetings. Approximately 1,000 individuals from the City
participated in the development of the Arts & Culture Master Plan.
A steering committee composed of community stakeholders was also formed to help guide this
process. There were eight official site visits by CPG and four supplemental site visits by their sub -
consultant. During these visits, CPG met with residents and stakeholder groups, including elected
and appointed City officials, community leaders, business leaders, faith leaders, education
leaders, artists, local arts providers, youth and senior groups, and potential funding partners.
Additional details are provided in the Community Engagement Report (Exhibit 1).
65B-1
Review and Adoption of the Arts & Culture Master Plan
August 16, 2016
Page 2
Many opportunities were made available for the community to give input and as a result, multiple
points of view from the community were considered during the development process. The
community's engagement in this process has shown an overwhelming support for the adoption of
an Arts and Culture Master Plan,
The Arts and Culture Master Plan (Exhibit 2) provides both a roadmap and a City and community
agenda for promoting arts and culture in Santa Ana. The Plan identifies eight goals with
accompanying strategies and initiatives, including recommended implementation partners,
timelines, and metrics. The goals are highlighted below:
Goal 1: Foster a City-wide culture of equity, inclusion, and access.
Goal 2: Work collectively towards a robust infrastructure for the arts in Santa Ana inclusive of
City policy, staffing, and sustained funding.
Goal 3: Create the conditions where artists and creatives thrive professionally and arts and
cultural organizations have the resources required for sustained success.
Goal 4: Support and expand arts and cultural programming to engage all populations throughout
the community.
Goal 5: Support existing and create new opportunities for youth to engage in artistic and creative
activities and career pathways.
Goal 6: Identify community spaces for artistic and creative collaborations and create a roadmap
for new cultural facility development through City and organizational partnerships.
Goal 7: Preserve Santa Ana's unique heritage while creating arts and cultural opportunities
through new placemaking initiatives.
Goal 8: Create visible and interactive arts opportunities for engagement through public art.
The City and community stakeholders both have roles to play for successful implementation of
the Arts and Culture Master Plan, which is phased over a ten-year period. The City will be the
primary lead, although participation of many stakeholders is required to fully accomplish each of
these goals.
On July 21, 2016, the Arts and Culture Commission recommended that the City Council adopt
the Arts and Culture Master Plan (6-0, Alvarado absent).
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
Approval of this item supports the City's efforts to meet Goal #5 - Community Health, Livability,
Engagement & Sustainability, Objective #5 (Promote a strong arts and culture infrastructure),
Strategy A (Work closely with the Arts and Culture Commission and local artist organizations to
develop an Arts Master Plan which will ensure all cultural programming, events and activities
receive appropriate attention and resource support).
65B-2
Review and Adoption of the Arts & Culture Master Plan
August 16, 2016
Page 3
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
Jorg E. Oarcia
Senior stant
City Manager's Office
Exhibits: 1. Community Engagement Report
2. Arts and Culture Master Plan
L• -
Lt m
I
Y3
�y
v�
��
(( _ 5
'r �
u.a_.ar,� . _.
The Santa Ana Arts Future Team
City Leadership
Mayor Miguel Pulido
Mayor Pro Tem Vicente Sarmiento, Ward 1
Councilmember Michele Martinez, Ward 2
Councilmember Angelica Amezcua, Ward 3
Councilmember David Benavides, Ward 4
Councilmember Roman A. Reyna, Ward 5
Councilmember Sal Tinajero, Ward 6
City Manager, David Cavazos
Project Manager, Jorge E. Garcia
Arts and Culture Commission
Don Cribb, Chairperson Citywide
Representative
Lisandro Orozco, Ward 1
Marytza Rubio, Ward 2
Frank Gutierrez, Ward 3
Mike McGee, Ward 4
Mario Alvarado, Ward 5
Sandra Pena Sarmiento, Vice Chairperson,
Ward 6
Consultant Group
The Cultural Planning Group
Jerry Allen, Partner
Linda Tara Flynn, Ph.D., Partner
Victoria Plettner-Saunders, Consultant
Tomas Benitez, Consultant
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Steering Committee
Alicia Rojas, Santa Ana Community Artist(a)
Coalition
Ana Urzua, Campaign Coordinator, Santa Ana
Building Healthy Communities
Dawn S. Reese, Executive Director and Co -
CEO, The Wooden Floor
Delilah Snell, Patchwork Show & Alta Baja
Market
Denise Rios, Santa Ana High School Student
Eve Kikawa, Dean of Fine and Performing Arts,
Santa Ana College
Jason Holland, Vice President, Community
Engagement, Segerstrom Center for the Arts
John D. Spiak, DirectorlChief Curator, CSUF
Grand Central Art Center
Julie Perlin Lee, Vice President of Collections
and Exhibition Development, Bowers Museum
Manuel Escamilla, City of Santa Ana
Mark McLoughlin, Board President, High School
Inc.
Moises Vazquez, Community Health Worker,
Latino Health Access Wellness Corridor
Richard Espinachio, Restaurateur
Richard Stein, Executive Director, Arts Orange
County
Roxanna Samaniego Owings, Coordinator,
Special Projects, Santa Ana Unified School
District
Sara Guerrero, Artistic Director, Breath of Fire
Latina Theater Ensemble
Victor Payan, Director, Media Arts Santa Ana
Advisory capacity: Robyn MacNair, Visual and
Performing Aarts Program Specialist, Santa Ana
Unified School District
o � ',
2
Santa Aria Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Executive Summary
Introduction
Santa Ana came together as a city and a community to create this first Arts and Cultural 10 -
Year Master Plan, following the formation of the City's 7 -member Arts Commission two years
ago. This plan is a result of a yearlong community engagement process inclusive of over 1,000
Santa Ana voices and rigorous research. It reflects the rich heritage of Santa Ana, the unique
character of the community, and the visions and aspirations of all residents of the City.
The guiding principles for this plan are
To promote a Santa Ana brand highlighting the city's authentic heritage, its creativity,
and its richly diverse community.
To honor and reflect all members of the community regardless of age, gender, ethnicity,
backgrounds, or socioeconomic status.
• To provide access for every child and resident to arts and creative programming.
To honor and support the contributions of every artist, arts, cultural, and creative
organizations and businesses.
To create a pathway to financial stability for the arts and creative sector inclusive of a
variety of funding options.
As the seat of government for Orange County, Santa Ana is a remarkable community of
different industries with a large population of government employees, a high concentration of
artists and creatives, and significant cultural institutions. It is a city with an extraordinary
heritage and an authentic, unique identity setting it apart from other regional and national
cities. Building infrastructure to promote support and promote this identity and the arts,
cultural and creative industries is a priority of the plan, and should be a priority for the City and
the community. All of Santa Ana's residents, workers, and creatives can be stewards for
successful implementation — creating opportunity, infrastructure, ongoing support, and a new
future for Santa Ana.
"Concentrating creativity through both physical density and human capital
enhances economic development. By locating firms, artists, and cultural
facilities together, a multiplier effect can result." — American Planning Association
65B-7
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Cultural Equity as a Guiding Principle
Americans for the Arts defines cultural equity as that which:
"...embodies the values, policies, and practices that ensure that all people—
including but not limited to those who have been historically underrepresented
based on race/ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic
status, geography, citizenship status, or religion—are represented in the
development of arts policy; the support of artists; the nurturing of accessible,
thriving venues for expression; and the fair distribution of programmatic,
financial, and informational resources.
Cultural equity, access, and inclusion are part of the national conversation in not only the
nonprofit arts and culture sector, but in many communities and organizations. Cities and local
agencies across the country are currently developing policy statements, programs and broad-
based initiatives to address cultural equity concerns. An example close to the heart of Santa
Ana is the LA County Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative (detail provided in Appendix).
These conversations emerged in the planning process' community conversations and survey
results and are reflected in the plan recommendations. Residents, community leaders,
business leaders, and educational partners call for the plan to lend its support to the larger
communitywide challenge of promoting equity for residents from all backgrounds and
lifestyles.
Arts and Creativity as Economic Development for Santa Ana
Nationwide, the arts and creative industries are fast becoming the new economy. Likewise,
Santa Ana's arts and creative industries contribute greatly to the overall economic prosperity of
the city. This comes with a growing recognition of the importance of the arts industry to the
vitality and economic prospects of cities and communities. The American Planning Association
recently made the following assessment of the role of the arts in the economic health and
vitality of a community. Arts, culture, and creativity will:
• Improve a community's competitive edge
• Significantly contribute to the development of a skilled workforce
• Attract new and visiting populations
Integrate the visions of community and business leaders
As stated in the APA paper, in the last decade, economic development has shifted from
emphasizing firm -based approaches to overtly acknowledging the development of human
capital in a community and its arts, cultural, and creative opportunities. Leaders in the field of
planning and economic development are developing noteworthy, creative approaches to
making places of any scale more satisfying to this workforce, while increasing economic
viability and competitiveness.
t Americans for the Arts (2016). Statement on Cultural Equity, available at http./lwww.american§_foqt!e�grLs.Qry/eL
ra I -eq u ity.
om w •
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
The data on Santa Ana's creative economy indicates that it is significant and growing.
Workforce data from Americans for the Arts and Dun and Bradstreet show that in the category
of "Arts Jobs per 1,000 Residents" Santa Ana has more jobs (10.3%) than larger US cities like
San Antonio, TX (8.28%), Long Beach, CA (7.59%), and San Jose, CA (6.59%). Santa Ana also
has a slightly higher percentage of "All Jobs that are Arts -Related" (2.08%) than the United
States as a whole (1.9%). The city's percentage of all businesses that are arts -related (3.67%)
is higher than the average for the 100 largest American cities (2.69%). This includes the
fashion, culinary, digital and media arts industries, independent gallerists and more.
Without specific data readily available on the direct and indirect impact of Santa Ana's creative
community on the local economy, the 2015 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los
Angeles Region provided available data on Orange County as a whole. This report indicates:
"Orange County has a higher rate of increase (9.7111o) projected for jobs in the
creative sector over the next five years than Los Angeles County (7%). Creative
industry employment in Orange County increased in two of the last three years,
with a robust 5.3% gain occurring in 2014. "3
Creative people, as well as many others, want diverse cultural amenities. High concentrations
of cultural workers and attractions make an area more appealing by improving quality of life
and by drawing visitors to the area. Additionally, the educational and outreach services
provided by nonprofit arts organizations play an important role in training the next generation
of creative individual s.3 Because of a multiplier effect, the Otis Report indicates that growth in
one area can have positive consequences for others:
"Growth is expected across the entire creative economy but the pace will vary
by industry. The largest percentage gains will occur in those industries that are
tied to real estate and construction activity: architecture and interior design,
furniture and decorative arts, and industrial design. Improvement in the overall
P Otis College of Art and Design (2016), "The 2015 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the
Los Angeles Region". Prepared by the Los Angeles County Economic Development
Corporation, p 34.
3 Ibid. p. 56
L•
ARTS-REIATED
BUSINESSES
A
` e
Census Bureau
Total Numberof
Total Numberof
Total
-
Total
percentage
Papulation
BUSINESSES
JOBS (January
Arts -Related
Arts -Related
Percentageof Al)
Arts -Related
Arts -Related
o4 All /obs
CITY
(2013 Estimate)
(January 2015(
2015(
BUSINESSES
Busin¢sses Par
Buslnessesthat
JOBS
Jobs Per 1,000
that are Arts
1,000 Residen
are Arts-Relat¢d
Residents,._
-
(January 2015)v
1-
(January 2015)=
Related f=
US
3.90%
2.9M
1.90%
Laredo, TX
248,142
10,147
85,444
211
0.85
2.08%
1,711
6.90
2.00%
Santa Ana, CA
334,227
14,394
365,524
52B
1.58
3.67%
3/442
10.30
2.08%
Fill CA
316,619
14,289
142,200
460.
1.45
3.22%
1,369
4.32
0.96%
Anshelm,CA
345,012
18,020
164,313
706
2.05
3.92%
3,246
9.41
1.98%
Long Beach, CA
469,428
20,114
172,421
967
3.06
4.81%
3,565
7.59
2e7%
Portland, OR
609,456
49,441
431,678
3,438
5.64
6.95%
15,590
25.58
3.61%
Sart lose, CA
998,537
47,131
391,623
2,024
2.03
4.29%
6,579
6.59
1,68%
San Antonto, TX
1,409,019
69,341
655,811 1
2,92912.06
4.22%
11,6691
8 11
13B%
Without specific data readily available on the direct and indirect impact of Santa Ana's creative
community on the local economy, the 2015 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los
Angeles Region provided available data on Orange County as a whole. This report indicates:
"Orange County has a higher rate of increase (9.7111o) projected for jobs in the
creative sector over the next five years than Los Angeles County (7%). Creative
industry employment in Orange County increased in two of the last three years,
with a robust 5.3% gain occurring in 2014. "3
Creative people, as well as many others, want diverse cultural amenities. High concentrations
of cultural workers and attractions make an area more appealing by improving quality of life
and by drawing visitors to the area. Additionally, the educational and outreach services
provided by nonprofit arts organizations play an important role in training the next generation
of creative individual s.3 Because of a multiplier effect, the Otis Report indicates that growth in
one area can have positive consequences for others:
"Growth is expected across the entire creative economy but the pace will vary
by industry. The largest percentage gains will occur in those industries that are
tied to real estate and construction activity: architecture and interior design,
furniture and decorative arts, and industrial design. Improvement in the overall
P Otis College of Art and Design (2016), "The 2015 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the
Los Angeles Region". Prepared by the Los Angeles County Economic Development
Corporation, p 34.
3 Ibid. p. 56
L•
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
economy will yield increases in household incomes that will spur growth in art
galleries, entertainment, and toys."4
An investment in Santa Ana's creative capital can provide a wide range of positive outcomes
for the community. People working within Santa Ana's creative sector already feel that
something great is happening in Santa Ana. They described their desire to work in Santa Ana
over other cities as being about a "strong sense of a thriving entrepreneurial community on the
cusp of something larger."
Community Engagement
This plan is defined not as a City Arts and Cultural Master Plan, but rather a Community Arts
and Cultural Master Plan, with many non -City agencies and individuals willing to partner with
the City for plan implementation. The community sees the opportunity and the need for a
pathway to success for a more vibrant Santa Ana - through a call for cultural equity, access to
the arts, neighborhood revitalization, and more positive and promising career options for Santa
Ana youth. A rigorous engagement process informs this plan. Highlights of the engagement
include:
• A Santa Ana Arts Future Town Hall attracted over 100 people who voiced their aspirations and
visions for the arts and cultural life of the city.
• Over 300 arts and cultural leaders, business leaders, individual artists, and City leadership
participated in discussion groups and in-depth interviews, sharing their visions for their
organizations and the city.
• Over 420 people completed the Santa Ana Community Survey.
• Over 350 community members attended open houses and community meetings held at various
local gathering places around Santa Ana.
A set of unifying themes emerged from the engagement process which informed the goals of
the plan:
" Ibid. p. 56
1. Cultural Equity, Access and Inclusion
2. Infrastructure for the Arts
3. The Creative Workforce
4. Communitywide Access and Engagement
5. Youth Arts Programs and Education
6. Spaces and Places
7. Placekeeping and Placemaking
8. Public Art
65B-10
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Summary of Goals and Recommended Strategies
The plan provides both a bold roadmap and a City and community agenda for success. There
are eight goals with accompanying strategies and initiatives. Each goal includes recommended
implementation partners, timelines, and metrics.
Goal 1: Foster a citywide culture of equity, inclusion, and access.
1.1: Explore cultural equity initiatives taking place in other cities and develop and implement an
appropriate cultural equity effort in Santa Ana.
1.2: Work to eliminate access barriers to arts and cultural programming for all residents.
Goal 2: Work collectively towards a robust infrastructure for the arts in Santa Ana inclusive of
City policy, staffing, and sustained funding.
2.1: Organize the City arts program and organizational structure in alignment with best practices
in the local arts agency field.
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.
2.3: Develop a staffing plan to allow for the incremental implementation of the arts and cultural
plan.
2.4: Explore long-term funding options for arts and cultural investments and to ensure
implementation of this arts and cultural plan.
Goal 3: Create the conditions where artists and creatives thrive professionally and arts and
cultural organizations have the resources required for sustained success.
3.1: Support and strengthen the burgeoning creative economy in Santa Ana.
3.2: Develop a capacity building initiative for arts and creative enterprises.
3.3: Develop a capacity building program for the nonprofit arts and cultural sector.
3.4: Raise awareness of the positive impact of arts, culture, and creativity on Santa Ana's overall
economic development.
Goal 4: Support and expand arts and cultural programming to engage all populations
throughout the community.
4.1: Develop a Neighborhood Arts Program facilitating arts and creative opportunities for every
neighborhood and community group, ensuring equitable distribution of resources.
4.2: Create life-long learning programming that is available to under -served constituencies
including homeless, veterans, seniors, and disabled populations
4.3: Ensure greater long-term success of traditional, historic and contemporary festivals, and
events
65B-11
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Goal 5: Support existing and create new opportunities for youth to engage in artistic and
creative activities and career pathways.
5.1: Develop a Youth Arts Access Program.
5.2: Support arts education in the schools by identifying and implementing partnerships and
collaborations between the community (arts organizations, creative businesses etc.) and the
District that strengthen its progress towards goal achievement.
5.3: Develop collaborative programs between major institutions, arts organizations, SAUSD,
Santa Ana College and creative businesses, to develop career pathways.
Goal 6: Identify community spaces for artistic and creative collaborations and create a
roadmap for new cultural facility development through City and organizational partnerships.
6.1: Explore artist live -work space projects with a nonprofit developer of arts facilities.
6.2: In concert with the placemaking initiatives, develop creative maker spaces and vacant
storefront programming to activate spaces. Create an artisans market/incubator.
6.3: Develop a long-range, cultural facilities development plan, in concert with arts stakeholders,
arts and cultural organizations, and other higher education and private sector partners.
Goal 7: Preserve Santa Ana's unique heritage while creating arts and cultural opportunities
through new placemaking initiatives.
7.1: Develop a comprehensive placemaking program to enhance the economic, community and
arts development of various neighborhoods in the city.
7.2: Partner with a consortium of vested groups to develop a comprehensive plan for the cultural
preservation of the legacy and history of the city, inclusive of historic mural preservation and
distinctive architecture.
Goal 8: Create visible and interactive arts opportunities for engagement through public art.
8.1: Develop a Public Art Program.
Implementation
The City and the community each have roles to play for successful implementation of the
Santa Ana Arts Future Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan. The City will be the primary
lead, although participation of many stakeholders - educational institutions, businesses,
community organizations, neighborhood associations, and individuals - is required to fully
accomplish each of the goals.
The plan recommends the establishment of a Leadership Taskforce appointed by the City, to
oversee the implementation of this plan. The Taskforce should be comprised of plan
stakeholders in the community from a variety of sectors, City officials, and interested residents
65B-12
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
and artists. Current Steering Committee members are interested in continuing their role as part
of the Taskforce and will be of great value for implementation.
Although the plan is phased over a 10 -year period, a commitment of new resources from the
City is required for full implementation. This commitment will grow over the years, resulting in
the eventual establishment of an Office of Arts and Culture.
65B-13
ol ) ; lag
i.z,•46
Santa Ana Arts Future
Cornmunity Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Introduction
Santa Ana's First Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Arts and culture are among a community's most powerful assets. They distinguish each
community and allow residents to better understand and celebrate the uniqueness of their
lives. Arts and culture are a competitive tool, strengthening many elements of civic life,
including the economy, workforce development, education, youth development, neighborhood
development, redevelopment projects, sustainability, and cultural equity. An increasing body of
research documents how thoughtful cultural policy is essential to civic health and to personal
health.
Cultural planning is a primary tool for organizing the best use of this critical asset. Cultural
planning is an integrated, place -based approach to planning and development taking into
account the arts and cultural landscape of a community, social and cultural equity, youth
development, and other areas.
This plan exists because of Santa Ana's dedication to the goal of creating a vibrant community
through arts and creativity. The community demonstrated in many ways its commitment to a
visionary and effective first arts and cultural plan for the city. This commitment is reflected in
diverse community input, rigorous data collection, and thoughtful engagement by the entire
planning team throughout the process, and it informs the heart of this plan.
Santa Ana: Arts History
The following is a summary of Santa Ana's Arts History developed by Santa Ana native Manuel "Manny"
Escamilla, local historian and Archivist for the Santa Ana History Room at the Santa Ana Public Library.
The full document is in the Appendix.
Santa Ana's history and future revolve around arts and creativity. The City was founded in 1869
shortly after the end of the American Civil War. The community transformed from a ranch
economy into an agriculturally based society. Merchant -farmers utilized sketches and
lithographs to `convey the image of a prosperous and established town.i5 Crate label art
promoted the nascent Orange County region as a land of abundance free from harsh Eastern
winters. In the 1890s, the increasing ease of travel to Southern California began to encourage a
greater number of artists to settle, explore, and create their own interpretations of movements
within the global art community, and the region's pristine natural resources and stunning
landscapes gave rise to the California Impressionist movement.
In 1936, in the middle of The Great Depression, the Bowers Museum opened with public
support and Santa Ana City Hall was built. In the 1960s, the tectonic shifts in society set into
motion the beginning of Santa Ana's growing art scene. The most critically productive decade
of art in Santa Ana came next, with numerous emerging artists and places such as the Floating
Wall Gallery at the Santora Building. Santa Ana's emerging Latino majority reflected the larger
changes the 1970s had on the City's artistic legacy. Many professional artists were
experimenting with cultural symbols, and others created some of Santa Ana's oldest
community-based murals.
s Bricken, Gordon. The Civil War Legacy in Santa Ana. Santa Ana, Calif., Wilson/Barnett Publishing, 2002. Pg. 10
11
65B-15
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
In the 1980s, residents began to see the economic value of creating a strong arts and culture
infrastructure. The foundation for the current art scene was laid in place with the gradual
creation of the Grand Central Art Center, Orange County Center for Contemporary Arts,
Orange County High School of the Arts, The Wooden Floor, and Orange County Therapeutic
Art Center. Independent gallery spaces began to emerge and artists used other vacant spaces
to produce their art and market themselves across the street from the Bowers.
Many changes throughout the years have created challenges and opportunities for artists and
creatives in this historically rich arts city. As of 2016, more artists, public art, and creative
entrepreneurs are actively contributing to Santa Ana's arts and culture scene than ever before.
As stewards of this legacy, the City and the community as a whole should preserve, promote,
and value the work of previous generations and the long tradition of creativity in the Golden
City.
Santa Ana: Arts Today
Santa Ana is a rich and growing arts and creative community. The arts, cultural, and creative
ecosystems present an opportunity for Santa Ana to be a thriving city that honors and
preserves heritage while building on new creative energy. The Santa Ana Community Arts and
Cultural Plan is a roadmap for success, building on the shared vision that emerged throughout
an extensive community engagement process.
The idea of developing an arts and culture master plan has seeds in the City's five-year
strategic planning effort. A review of the community input for that plan indicates a high level of
interest in developing the community's access to arts and cultural activities and the desire for
the City to take an active role in that endeavor.
Understanding the context for cultural planning in any city is critical for ensuring that the plan
addresses that community's needs in ways that are grounded in authenticity. In Santa Ana this
contextual exploration helped the planners understand the demographic, economic, and
cultural factors that impact Santa Ana residents' hopes, aspirations, and challenges.
Santa Ana is unlike any other city in the Orange County region. While many of the neighboring
cities flow seamlessly and homogeneously from one to the other, one driving through Santa
Ana from a bordering town will immediately feel that they have entered a unique place; one
described as having "a distinct charm and a heart." Murals freely distributed on walls
throughout the city tell stories of locally historic and heroic people, events, and places. Each of
the 64 neighborhoods create a patchwork quilt of communities within the city at large, each
distinctive for its geographic location and the people who live there.
In Santa Ana historic homes coexist alongside modern condominiums; up and coming bakeries
and hip new restaurants are side by side with iconic fruterias and taco shops; and botanicas
and quinceanera shops sit next to trendy streetwear stores. Creative agencies, art galleries,
studios, artists, and popular gathering places inhabit lofts and offices in the Santa Ana Artists
Village downtown. Santa Ana has an extraordinarily strong community of individual artists,
particularly visual artists, who want to work in Santa Ana into the future. Cultural institutions
such as the Bowers Museum and The Wooden Floor help form a fuller complement of offerings
that together create the city's rich cultural life.
12
65B-16
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
At the same time, multiple studies report concerns shared by residents - gentrification,
increased costs of housing, the potential loss of cultural identity, gang violence, and a large
homeless population, among other issues. Unmaintained commercial areas exist throughout
the city with vacant and abandoned buildings creating eyesores amongst the strip malls and
commercial district of South Main Street, for example.
Santa Ana also lacks some resources required to support increased cultural activity and
development of the creative economy. The city does not currently have the infrastructure to
enhance visitorship due to the lack of downtown hotels and convention or meeting facilities.
And while it has many strong and well -loved cultural assets on which to build, there are not the
range and quality of performance and exhibition venues needed to support greater artistic and
audience development.
Yet despite this, Santa Ana is without a doubt a community with great pride in its history,
tradition, and culture and with that comes a naturally cautious attitude for many towards the
kind of growth that often changes the very nature of historic towns like Santa Ana. As a result,
an issue at the forefront of this planning process and at the heart of community engagement
was the desire to incorporate and balance the diverse interests, voices, and peoples of Santa
Ana. Planning participants often articulated the need to find ways to reconcile what often
appear to be competing interests: the traditional and the new, young and old, affluent and
underserved, and everyone in between.
The City of Santa Ana is dedicating resources to this first arts and cultural plan and there is a
committed cadre of arts patrons, consumers, and advocates prepared to support the City's
efforts for its arts and cultural development.
Community Engagement
The planning team conducted a comprehensive community engagement process. It officially
launched on January 27, 2016 with the Santa Ana Arts Future Town Hall and continued
through April 1, 2016 with the close of the community survey. It employed a mixed -method
research protocol using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Community
engagement activities included:
• A town hall and community open house events
• Stakeholder discussion groups and interviews
• A community survey
• Stakeholder -led discussion groups and meetings
• A review of existing research and planning initiatives
Additional efforts were made to ensure a wide range of responses. Efforts included specific
Spanish language meetings as well as open houses with translation. All information and survey
materials were translated into multiple languages. Throughout the process the following core
questions were asked:
13
65B-17
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
What do you value about Santa Ana's arts and cultural life?
® What is your vision for Santa Ana's future?
What do we need to get there?
Highlights of the community engagement include:
The Santa Ana Arts Future Town Hall, held at Santa Ana College, attracted over 100 people who
voiced their aspirations and visions for the arts and cultural life of the city. The emotionally
inspiring keynote speaker, Josefina Lopez, a Chicana playwright perhaps best known as the
author of the play Real Women Have Curves, kicked off the process. Other speakers for the City
of Santa Ana included Kelly Reenders, former Executive Director of the Community
Development Agency and Sandra Pelia Sarmiento, Artist and Arts Commissioner. Jerry Allen,
Lead Consultant from The Cultural Planning Group, spoke as well.
Over 300 arts and cultural leaders, business leaders, individual artists, and City leadership
participated in discussion groups and in-depth interviews, sharing their visions for their
organizations and the city.
® Over 420 people completed the Santa Ana Community Survey. Presented in three languages
(English, Spanish, and Vietnamese), the survey explored respondents' priorities, visions, and
satisfaction with arts and cultural activities, as well as their obstacles to participating, attending,
and engaging in creative activities.
Over 350 community members attended open houses and community meetings held at various
local gathering places around Santa Ana including the Delhi Community Center, and the Bowers
Museum. A large Spanish-speaking gathering at The Immaculate Heart of Mary attracted 200
residents.
Additional community meetings reached residents in all of the City's six Council Wards.
A complete report on the community engagement efforts is found in the Appendix.
14
M�I•
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Unifying Themes
Santa Ana: Vision and Aspirations
Without question, the creative places, spaces, and people of Santa Ana are not restricted to
the arts in the traditional sense of the word. The definition of arts workers, artists, and creative
workers encompasses traditional artisans, muralists, public artists, arts educators, technology
workers, graphic designers, culinary professionals, historic preservation professionals, and
more. Santa Ana is a community proud of its history and heritage, and a community yearning
to develop a brilliant future for its next generations.
Guiding principles
Promote a Santa Ana brand highlighting the city's authentic heritage, its creativity, and
its richly diverse community.
Honor and reflect all members of the community regardless of age, gender, ethnicity,
backgrounds, or socioeconomic status.
• Provide access for every child and resident to arts and creative programming.
• Honor and support the contributions of every artist, arts, cultural, and creative
organizations and businesses.
• Create a pathway to financial stability for the arts and creative sector inclusive of a
variety of funding options.
The following summary uses organizing themes representing the community's expressed
needs, aspirations, and visions. The themes are a powerful message for leveraging Santa Ana's
creative soul, while acknowledging and addressing its current challenges. Santa Ana residents
share a deep pride in their historical roots, their artistic heritage, and current abundance of
artists and creatives. They share a belief in the power of arts and creativity to build bridges and
solve some of the most pressing concerns facing Santa Ana, such as educational challenges,
at -risk youth, health issues, affordable housing, the rising cost of living, and the effects of
gentrification.
Thames of the Pian
1. Cultural Equity, Access and Inclusion
2. Infrastructure for the Arts
3. The Creative Workforce
4. Community Access and Engagement
5. Youth Arts Programs and Education
6. Spaces and Places
7. Placekeeping and Placemaking
8. Public Art
15
65B-19
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Cultural Equity, Access and Inclusion
The related issues of cultural equity, access, and inclusion are part of a national conversation
in the nonprofit arts and culture sector. They also emerged as dominant themes in Santa Ana
community conversations and survey results. The arts and culture sector makes the case that
a diverse and inclusive society creates a stronger nation - and thus a stronger Santa Ana.
Elevating the conversation of cultural equity and access for all in Santa Ana can help to
address significant economic, social, and demographic issues evident in the community; it can
create a platform for the whole community to succeed through acceptance, participation, and
fair representation, building a vibrant city that embraces equal opportunity.
Residents enumerated the ways in which barriers to a truly inclusive community with regards to
access exist: a lack of transportation, event times that make attendance difficult for families,
costs of participation, programs that do not reflect one's heritage, and not feeling socially
comfortable or welcome at cultural institutions and events. Participants want to see the City
help with addressing these issues of equity, access and inclusion by working to remove
barriers to participation and supporting opportunities for expanded participation wherever
possible.
Infrastructure for the Arts
"Love to see a higher
Cultural equity was a dominant topic of conversation throughout the
"To us (Latinos) art
engagement process. Participants called for the plan to lend its support
and culture is not
something extra; it
to the larger communitywide challenge of promoting equity for residents
is who we are - our
from all backgrounds and lifestyles. Cultural equity includes honoring,
lives, the way we
respecting, and celebrating the dominant Mexican culture, as well as all
live, that things we
other cultures in Santa Ana.
teach our children."
supportive of the arts and the arts community. However, there is
--Discussion group
Participants are concerned about the impact of cultural bias in the city
participant
and in the cultural sector. Participants referred to equity as ensuring
accessible and affordable opportunities for all residents regardless of
socioeconomic status,
background, disabilities, or age. Equity also refers to the perception of
inequity of funding sources for organizations and artists in the community.
Residents enumerated the ways in which barriers to a truly inclusive community with regards to
access exist: a lack of transportation, event times that make attendance difficult for families,
costs of participation, programs that do not reflect one's heritage, and not feeling socially
comfortable or welcome at cultural institutions and events. Participants want to see the City
help with addressing these issues of equity, access and inclusion by working to remove
barriers to participation and supporting opportunities for expanded participation wherever
possible.
Infrastructure for the Arts
"Love to see a higher
A true community engagement process provides broad feedback from
level of engagement
all groups of a community. It is a common attitude among residents in
from the City of Santa
any city to express skepticism and/or frustration with municipal
Ana to uplift youth
government as a part of that engagement. Santa Ana residents and
who are aspiring
stakeholders expressed this skepticism in most of the community
artists."
meetings. They strongly voiced their perception that the City is not
-Survey respondent
supportive of the arts and the arts community. However, there is
optimism that a citywide arts and cultural plan can build bridges among
communities, the City and its residents.
The creation of an Office of Arts and Culture within the City that is staffed with experienced
arts professionals who can represent the needs of the arts and creative community is part of
the solution they envision. Many participants expressed the belief that if the City plays a
greater role in supporting arts and culture, it can help impact significant issues facing Santa
Ana such as public safety, educational attainment, employment, and affordable housing. They
IET
65B-20
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
feel the City should play the role of convener, working to build relationships with artists and
organizations, integrating artists and creatives into the City's decision-making process, and
providing access to and information about resources that can help build creative capacities.
Residents and artists want to play a role in improving the City's streets and overall image.
Ideas include having artists work with the City to beautify the streets and neighborhoods,
activating public spaces and vacant lots with programming, and developing cultural hubs in
areas such as South Main, the Santa Ana Zoo, and the Santa Ana Train Station area.
Arts and cultural funding is seen as a longer-term goal and residents think the City can help to
secure a dedicated funding stream. Experienced staff can explore innovative funding
opportunities, secure funding for nonprofit organizations, and work with the City on arts and
cultural events.
Many participants expressed frustration with not knowing about arts, cultural, and creative
events or activities in the city. People want improved access to information about events,
performances, youth activities, neighborhood festivals, and arts learning opportunities
(workshops, classes). They want existing organizations and the City to work together towards
development of a one-stop shop for information about arts and creative happenings and
resources. Assessing current marketing resources and exploring technology partnerships to
create promotions that address how people get information can accomplish this goal.
According to the survey, residents most often look for community information via direct
communications from organizations, as well as social media, and word of mouth.
The Creative Workforce
Artists, creative entrepreneurs, and leaders from nonprofit organizations participated
enthusiastically in the discussions. For artists, the needs revolve around community and City
support. They seek better grant opportunities, professional practices training, programming
and support for start-ups and entrepreneurial programs. Organizations, artists, and
entrepreneurs want to work with the City to review and streamline permitting, zoning, and
licenses for events and business establishment.
Many participants made new acquaintances just by attending a
"!n Santa Ana you
meeting for this process and expressed the desire for more. This
have to create your
may include better connections through networking events to
own path - this
contributes to the
improve their prospects for employment, finding new creative
uniqueness of the
projects, and engaging in artistic exchange. Ideas included creating
community,"
a business association that works with all creative business and
-Discussion group
artists that help to nurture, educate, and empower.
participant
Arts and cultural organizations want more grants and funding options
to facilitate their ability to provide arts programs for families; encouragement of partnerships
and collaborations; and access to tools such as capacity building support systems, training
workshops, and professional development. Many felt that the creation of a City arts agency
could enable the implementation of some of these support programs.
17
65B-21
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Communitywide Access and Engagement
While cultural equity policy supports systemic change, programming can provide actionable
solutions to ensuring broader and more diverse cultural participation.
When asked about barriers to creative engagement, top issues cited were: not hearing about
opportunities (61 %), traffic and parking issues (43%), inconvenient times (26%), and
affordability (25%). Respondents also cite a lack of feeling socially comfortable or welcome at
cultural events (20%). Although this may not seem a significant percentage in number, it is
significant when comparing to other communities. When asked about barriers to creative
engagement for their children, respondents were asked to indicate which barriers they
experienced in the past 12 months. The most prevalent barrier, cited by 40% of all
respondents, is affordability of existing programming. The second most prevalent barrier is the
challenge parents experience juggling work commitments with arts and creative activities.
Residents expressed the desire and need for more affordable opportunities for families to
participate in classes, workshops, and events in their own neighborhoods; for responsive and
relevant programming for people of different backgrounds, ages, and abilities; and for more
experiential programming. Different generations of residents share a vision of intergenerational
opportunities to exchange stories about history, heritage, and future aspirations; also,
spontaneous happenings in the downtown area such as dance parties for seniors or college -
run storytelling pop -ups.
"There is a story to
Festivals and celebrations are exceptionally good at bringing people
tell here. Let's do it
together across the city and facilitating the sharing of cross cultural
with the arts and
traditions and experiences. Santa Ana residents would like to see the
the distinctive
City support the signature festivals and events already taking place
culture of Santa
throughout the city, as well as considering other community events.
Ana'
Discussion group
These include an international dance festival celebrating all cultures and
participant
a literary festival to promote literacy and education for Santa Ana's
Y P Y
young people.
Youth Arts Programs and Education
"Our youth need the Creating opportunity for young people is a top priority for residents.
opportunity to build Across all of the research, youth access and programming were
successful careers in dominant themes. The community envisions a future for Santa Ana's
the arts. That is the children as one that is rich with arts opportunities, job creation, safe
future of Santa Ana's places to play, and a healthy social fabric.
economy. "
-Discussion group Many of Santa Ana's youth are challenged by gang and drug activity,
participant overcrowding at home, and few places to go for constructive activities
during out of school time. While an arts and cultural plan by itself is not
able to solve socio-economic issues such as these, it can encourage the creation of more and
better opportunities for youth in and through the arts, which in turn can provide positive
interventions with successful outcomes.
The input received from families during the planning process indicated that they want offerings
for their children to include affordable after school and weekend programming (especially in
IN
65B-22
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
outlying neighborhoods), classes at more convenient times and locations, and transportation
options. Additional programming ideas include developing a cultural pass for youth for different
arts, culture, and culinary organizations; providing incentives to motivate increased success in
school; and scholarships for students.
Visual and performing arts education for students is the responsibility of both the community
and the school district. In 2015, Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) approved a new
Visual and Performing Arts Strategic Plan. Many conversations took place regarding the ways
in which the District's plan and the Arts and Cultural Master Plan could reinforce and
strengthen each one's outcomes. Two focus areas in the District's plan that have clear
connecting points to this plan are Career Pathways and Community Ties, and Facilities and
Resources.
Spaces and Places
Identifying spaces and places where artists and residents can collaborate and where youth can
pursue their artistic and creative endeavors are high priorities. Participants emphasized the
need for affordable spaces in the community to perform, rehearse,
"More spaces in exhibit, and make art. Parents, youth, and cultural organizations alike
neighborhoods that desire safe places for young people to gather after school and on
are accessibleand
openntoweekends to participate in creative activities. These spaces would
to allall where
people collaborate enable opportunities for community members to gather, create,
and learn." collaborate, and attend arts events. Residents also noted the loss of
-survey respondent several places for gatherings that were identified as "non -alcohol"
specific and which provided underage young people with places to
enjoy music or dance activities.
Linking existing arts and cultural centers to the neighborhoods, and better utilizing the libraries
and Teen Centers for programming, were all ideas that came out of community conversations
and interviews. Residents feel there are accessible spaces that people either do not know
about or that are underutilized. Creating an inventory of all spaces in Santa Ana could make
them available for use by arts organizations, artists, and residents. Flexible or mobile spaces
and amenities are potential low cost opportunities that were discussed as well; examples
include portable dance floors for dance organizations, and mobile arts spaces and labs.
There is also a desire for a large performing arts space for shared used by the community,
organizations, and educational institutions. They seek a mixed-use facility that has greater
flexibility and availability than those currently associated with educational institutions such as
Santa Ana College and SAUSD.
Placekeeping and Placemaking
Creative placemaking and placekeeping were both identified during the community
engagement process as high priorities for future community arts and cultural activity. These
activities can be the subject of combined or separate initiatives.
Some areas identified by the community as being ready for placemaking and/or placekeeping
include the Calle Cuatro/4th Street area, the Santa Ana train station complex, and portions of
South Main Street.
19
65B-23
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
The National Endowment for the Arts uses arts economist Ann Markusen's definition of
creative placemaking. She asserts that in creative placemaking, public, private, nonprofit, and
community sectors partner to strategically shape the physical and social character of a
neighborhood, town, tribe, city, or region around arts and cultural activities.
"[Creative placemaking is]
... the intentional use of arts
and culture to shape the
physical, social, and
economic future of
communities, which
strengthens economic
development, promotes
civic engagement, and
contributes to quality of
life. In short, art is a verb,
and creative placemaking is
using art to change a
place."
- Kimberly Driggins, former
associate planning director,
District of Columbia
Santa Ana has all the elements for creative placemaking already
at its disposal: working artists in a variety of creative sectors,
public sector organizations dedicated to strengthening quality of
life and community engagement, a collaborative spirit, a city of
neighborhoods and areas in which placemaking can be
developed, and residents who are enthusiastic participants.
Placekeeping, on the other hand, addresses the importance of
honoring the cultural lives of the community, of making sure the
cultural history is protected and preserved. Jess Solomon,
Executive Director of Arts in Praxis suggests, "Placekeeping has
been described as the active care and maintenance of a place
and its social fabric by the people who live and work there. It is
not just preserving buildings but keeping the cultural memories
associated with a locale alive, while supporting the ability of local
people to maintain their way of life as they choose."
Often there are concerns that creative placemaking initiatives will lead to gentrification, tourism
or development. These concerns are not unwarranted and should be addressed as part of the
process through municipal zoning, development and housing policies, as well as through
carefully designed community and stakeholder engagement efforts.
Public Art
In Santa Ana, public art is a priority for residents for multiple reasons,
"We want to see art including city beautification; engaging youth with mural art; showcasing
integrated into the national, regional, and local artists; addressing public safety; and
everyday in our activating public spaces. Santa Ana residents are proud of the city's
city."
,-Discussion group history and heritage and want to express this in tangible, visible ways.
participant
Many see the definition of public art as permanent art installed in public
spaces, but the definition and impact of public art on a community is
much broader. Public art is a community investment in creativity that
shapes, enhances, and activates public spaces. In its best realization, public art has the power
to transform communities, invigorate and energize their populations, inspire passion and
enthusiasm about the built environment, and engender communal ownership in artworks and
the neighborhood at large. Public art has turned communities from anonymous series of
spaces into rich landscapes reflecting history, embracing and honoring cultural differences,
and teaching social values. Public art moves beyond improving aesthetic quality within
neighborhoods and communities, by reinforcing social connections and fostering improved
health outcomes.
20
65B-24
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
This plan presents eight ambitious goals arising from the plan's eight Unifying Themes. Within
each goal, there are recommended strategies and initiatives—some are already in process and
positioned for early wins, others are longer term and will require substantial resources and
sustained effort. Together, these goals and strategies provide a roadmap for Santa Ana to
become an even more vibrant arts community.
Following each recommendation are details to guide implementation efforts:
Implementation Lead: The intended organization, department, or institution who will lead
the implementation.
Implementation Partners: Potential organizations or businesses identified as the best
partners for implementation.
Tirneline: Near -Term (1-3 years), Mid -Term (4-7 years), Long -Term (8-10 years)
• Resources: Estimated expected resources required for implementation.
Metrics: Success metrics for community impact.
This plan is inherently a community arts and cultural plan. While the City is the lead for many of
the strategies, the community holds a critical role in the realization of the plan's success.
Implementation partners include arts and cultural organizations, higher education institutions,
the school district, creative sector businesses, economic development organizations,
neighborhood associations, and individual residents, artists, community advocates, and others.
21
65B-25
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
1. Cultural Equity, Access and Inclusion
Goal. toaster equity, inclusion, and access In the city's carts and cultural development,
Cultural equity, access, and inclusion in the arts are national as well as local concerns. These
issues played a significant and sometimes dominant role in the planning process's community
conversations and survey results.
Participants want this Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan to encourage the City to
commit its support to the larger communitywide challenge of promoting cultural equity for all
residents, referring to equity as the accessibility to and affordability of opportunities for cultural
participation and artistic expression regardless of socioeconomic status, background,
disabilities, or age. Residents -Latino and non -Latino alike -are concerned about the impact of
cultural bias in the city and in the cultural sector.
For cultural equity to be systemic, the City, its Arts Commission and future Office of Arts and
Culture must take a leadership role in implementing model programs. They must also create
avenues for community conversation by leading discussions about how to ensure that arts
organizations appropriately reflect the diversity of the community throughout the organization,
on their boards and in their staff, as well as in audience members, performances, exhibits, and
educational programming.
Americans for the Arts' new cultural equity policy is based in part on an acknowledgement that
1. In the United States, there are systems of power that grant privilege and access
unequally such that inequity and injustice result, and that must be continuously
addressed and changed.
2. Cultural equity is critical to the long-term viability of the arts sector.
3. Everyone deserves equal access to a full, vibrant creative life, which is essential to a
healthy and democratic society.'
Thus the case can be made that a well -represented, diverse and inclusive society creates a
stronger nation and that achieving this begins "at home." How this is reflected in the arts and
cultural community includes ensuring:
1. A representation of leadership on boards of directors, advisory councils, and
commissions that is reflective of the city's population;
2. Efforts to broaden and diversify a cultural institution's audience so that it becomes
more inclusive of the community at large; and
3. That there is similar diversity of organizational personnel at all levels; and that there is a
commitment to presenting and exhibiting work that reflects the community an
organization serves.
6 Americans for the Arts (2016). Statement on Cultural Equity, available at _htgp://www.americansforthearts.org/about-
ame rica ns-for-the-arts/statement_on-cultu ral-equity.
22
65B-26
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Recommendation 1.1: Explore cultural equity initiatives taking place in other cities and develop
and implement an appropriate cultural equity effort in Santa Ana.
Initiative 1.1.1: Create an advisory council with leadership from a cross section of the community to
engage in the research and creation of an initiative.
Initiative 1.1.2: Identify model programs and methods being used in other communities to increase the
diversity of audience members, exhibits, and performances.
Initiative 1.1.3: Survey local arts and cultural organizations regarding the racial, ethnic, and generational
compositions of their boards and staff to understand what needs should be addressed to support more
equitable and inclusive organizational leadership.
Implementation Lead: City staff and Lead community organization (i.e. Arts OC, The Arts Roundtable),
OC Human Relations Commission
Implementation Partners: Local community leaders and cultural institutions; educational institutions,
nonprofit organizations, creative organizations
timeline: Short-term (Years 1-3) to Mid-term (Years 4-7)
Resources: Staff time, limited financial resources for meeting support and logistics
Metrics: Creation and implementation of a Cultural Equity, Access and Inclusion initiative
Recommendation 1.2: Work to eliminate access barriers to arts and cultural programming for all
residents.
Initiative 1.2.1: Convene arts and cultural institutions and residents for discussion about barriers,
including financial (cost), geographic (transportation), attitudinal (feeling welcome), and cultural
(relevance).
Initiative 1.2.2: Using information gathered through community conversations, develop and implement a
plan with arts and cultural institutions that encourages increased participation among those community
members who are identified as "underserved audiences."
Initiative 1.2.3: Develop and implement a means for evaluating efforts and outcomes to measure success
and identify areas for improvement.
Implementation Lead: Community Development Agency Lead/ / Arts OC (as convener)
Implementation Partners: Local artists and cultural institutions; educational institutions, nonprofit
organizations
Timeline: Short-term (Years 1-3)
Resources: Staff time; limited financial resources for meeting support and logistics.
Metrics: Development and implementation of a plan for barrier elimination and the identification of
successful outcomes through program evaluation.
23
65B-27
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
2. Infrastructure for the Arts
Goal, Woe* collectively towards a robust infrastructure for the arts in Santa Ana inclusive of
City policy, staffing, and sustained funding,
There are generally recognized best practices for developing arts policy and programming and
defining the roles in these specific areas for City Council, the Arts Commission, and any other
advisory peer panels or taskforces. See the Appendix for a profile of local arts agencies.
Recommendation 2.1: Organize the City arts program and organizational structure in alignment
with best practices in the local arts agency field.
The following represents standard practices in the arts and cultural field for defining the
respective roles of:
• Mayor's Office and City Council
o Appoints Arts Commission members
o Authorizes budgets for arts and cultural programs
o Approves arts policies and arts program guidelines
o Authorizes contracts for grants and arts services
o Responds to citizen input and concerns
o Qualifications:
• City residency
• Overall vision for the City
• Elected by the citizens
Arts Commission
The Arts Commission is a seven -member Commission appointed by the City Council
and Mayor. They act in an advisory capacity to the City staff and City Council and are
not a policy -setting body. The budget is appropriated by the City Council. The Arts
Commission:
o Articulates vision for arts and cultural development
o Recommends policy and program guidelines to City elected and appointed
officials
o Recommends grant allocations, public art selections, etc.
o Ensures appropriate citizen participation in arts programs
o Qualifications:
• City residency
• Civically engaged
• Passionate about the arts
• General knowledge of the arts
24
M�l•
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
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Several recommendations to develop a fund for arts infrastructure include:
Voluntary millage fee promoted via utility bills
« Dedicating a percentage of business taxes and fees
Dedicating Hotel/Motel tax dollars
Applying for grants such as:
o ArtPlace America Grant (up to $500,000)
o National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Grant (up to $250,000)
o California Arts Council Creative California Communities Grant (up to $70,000)
If the City decides to proceed with a live -work venue, a combination of a bond issue, tax
increment and private fund-raising could augment the resources that the nonprofit
developer would be raising.
Comparative cities Identified for their similarity of size or high Hispanic population and as examples of aspirational arts cities.
Over the longer term, the City should seek to institute a dedicated revenue stream to fund its arts and
cultural development programs. Examples include:
Many cities, including many in California, allocate a portion of the Transit Occupancy
(Hotel) Tax for the arts.
More than 600 municipalities allocate between 1 % and 2% of CIP project budgets for
public art.
Some cities extend the percent for art requirement to new private commercial, industrial
and residential development.
Some cities broaden the definition of public art in their percent for art policy to include
arts programming in public spaces.
Some cities (Denver, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh) have created arts and cultural
funding districts that dedicate sales or property tax to fund the arts. It should be noted
that such dedication of taxes to specific purposes requires a 2/3rds vote of the citizens
under California's Proposition 13.
Sometimes Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) collect funds to support funding for
the arts.
« There are many cities that have created Friends of the Arts organizations or foundations
26
65B-30
FY2016 Budget Data for City Arts Funding in
Comparative Cites
City
Population
Hispanic
City Funding for theArt
PerCapita
Source i
CityTOT
Notes onUse
Riverside
314,000
52
$ 3,754,372 $
11.96
General Fund
13°
City Arts and City Owned Museum
Oxnard
204,000
76°
$ 1,657,249 $
8.12
General Fund
10
City Arts
Pordand
632,309
P
$ 4,279,440 $
6.77
General Fund and % for Art 6°/
Funds Regional Arts and Culture Council
San Antonio
1,380,000
63
$ 9,300,000$
6.74
TOT
H
City Arts and City Owned Museum
El Paso
835,593
81
$ 4,438,156 $
5.31
TOT
9°/
City Arisand City Owned Museum
Santa Ana
331,00079°/
$ 1,649,84 $
4.98
General Fund
11°/$175K
City Arts; $1.47MBowers
San Jose
1,003,000
38°
$ 2,442;322 $
2.44
General Fund
10°
CIryN s
Comparative cities Identified for their similarity of size or high Hispanic population and as examples of aspirational arts cities.
Over the longer term, the City should seek to institute a dedicated revenue stream to fund its arts and
cultural development programs. Examples include:
Many cities, including many in California, allocate a portion of the Transit Occupancy
(Hotel) Tax for the arts.
More than 600 municipalities allocate between 1 % and 2% of CIP project budgets for
public art.
Some cities extend the percent for art requirement to new private commercial, industrial
and residential development.
Some cities broaden the definition of public art in their percent for art policy to include
arts programming in public spaces.
Some cities (Denver, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh) have created arts and cultural
funding districts that dedicate sales or property tax to fund the arts. It should be noted
that such dedication of taxes to specific purposes requires a 2/3rds vote of the citizens
under California's Proposition 13.
Sometimes Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) collect funds to support funding for
the arts.
« There are many cities that have created Friends of the Arts organizations or foundations
26
65B-30
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
to generate private funding for the arts.
Southern California
Transient Occupancy Tax
For vacant buildings, cities have established fees/fines
Comparatives
for buildings that remain vacant for extended periods of
Costa Mesa
8%
time. This program has proved very successful in cities
Fullerton
10%
such as San Antonio.
Irvine
10%
Newport Beach
10%
Implementation Lead: Community Development Agency;
Tustin
10%
City Manager's Office
City of Orange
10.1%
Implementation Partners: Arts & Creativity Leadership
Taskforce
San Diego
10.5%
Timeline: Begin Short -Term (Years 1-3) for staffing plan and
Santa Ana
11 %
funding options; Mid to Long -Term for Office and
Laguna Beach
12%
implementation of select funding options.
Buena Park
12.08%
Resources: Staff time; City resources; consultant time
Garden Grove
14.5°/%
Metrics: Completed plans and policies; staff aligned with
implementation needs; ongoing monitoring of progress by
Anaheim
15%
Taskforce.
3. The Creative Workfare
Goal: Create the conditions in which artists and creeatives thrive professionally and arts and
cultural organizations have the resources required jor sustained success.
Santa Ana is a hub of creativity and innovation. Fueled by entrepreneurial energy, deep pride of
place, and a "can -do" spirit of community and collaboration, a creative workforce has found a
home in Santa Ana. This is evidenced recently by the many start-ups in the city. Creative
entrepreneurs find connections with one another and describe the city as "a hub of culinary
innovation," having "an urban feel, kind of like being in downtown LA but smaller," and "a
micro -community that creates a place I can be a part of."
Students and many adults expressed the desire for clear pathways for themselves to build
careers in Santa Ana's creative sector. There are many programs available through local
colleges to support either career reinvention for those who have been displaced by the
changing economy or are re-entering the workforce. Partnerships are needed between the
creative sector and educational institutions that identify creative career pathways and provide
assistance with navigating them, as well as increasing local knowledge of available
professional development and training programs. Such partnerships can support greater local
economic and job growth in the creative sector.
Additionally, discussion group participants spoke of the need for mentoring programs that can
connect experienced creative entrepreneurs with those who are just starting out. This was
especially true in the culinary professionals' discussion group where participants related the
challenges of starting a restaurant or other culinary enterprise.
While there are small business development support programs through the Small Business
Administration and SCORE, for example, several of those that have successfully launched
creative businesses found that their business development needs were somewhat different
than those in other professions. Developing a customized capacity building program that
27
65B-31
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
brings the most relevant of both approaches together with knowledge that is specific to
creative business development and Santa Ana's business environment could be an innovative
approach to growing a successful creative economy.
There is great optimism and drive to create and succeed, despite frustrations with the
perceived lack of support from the City related to their business development needs. The most
common of which is the often reported high cost of maintaining a business permit and the
permitting processes themselves that they feel "slow down progress and innovation." There is
the perception that the City is not "entrepreneur friendly." Many want the City to be a "partner
in business development" but do not currently experience a positive relationship.
Recommendation 3.7: Support and strengthen the burgeoning creative economy in Santa Ana.
Initiative 3.1.1: Develop a Creative Economy Master Plan
Initiative 3.1.2: Participate in one of the several arts and the creative sector economic impact studies
such as the Creative Vitality Index through WESTAF.
Initiative 3.1.3: Support the City initiative of IT infrastructure development needed for the creative
economy, and fiber optic Internet deployment as part of enabling the digital arts.
Implementation Lead: Community Development Agency
Implementation Partners: SBA Santa Ana; Santa Ana College; small creative businesses
Timeline: Short -Term (Years 1-3); Mid -Term (Years 4-7) for Creative Economy Master Plan
Resources: Staff time and infrastructure development costs; Creative Economy planner
Metrics: Creative sector access to business development resources and stronger revenues to the local
economy
Recommendation 3.2: Develop a capacity building initiative for arts and creative enterprises.
Initiative 3.2.1: Work with existing workforce and business development programs in the area to create a
capacity building initiative for creative start-ups, solopreneurships, and ready to launch businesses.
Initiative 3.2.2: Create a mentorship program to pair experienced creative entrepreneurs with those who
are starting up or need creative business development advice.
Initiative 3.2.3: Investigate incentives for support and formation of small creative businesses including
microloans and grants.
Initiative 3.2.4: Promote and connect the Freelancers Program at Santa Ana College with the creative
community.
Implementation Lead: Community Development Agency; City Small Business Office; Arts OC
Implementation Partners: Santa Ana College; small creative businesses, artists and cultural
organizations, restaurateurs
Timeline: Short -Term (Years 1-3) to Mid -Term (Years 4-7)
Resources: Staff time; grants to be identified
Metrics: Number of successful small, creative businesses; internally defined metrics
EE
65B-32
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Recommendation 3.3: Develop a capacity building program for the nonprofit arts and cultural
sector.
Initiative 3.3.1 Work with local nonprofit management and arts service organizations to develop or make
available programs designed to strengthen arts organizations' capacity to achieve mission fulfillment.
Initiative 3.3.2 Create a mini -grant fund for nonprofit arts and culture organization board and staff
members to apply for scholarships to capacity building programs and workshops.
Initiative 3.3.3. Develop an arts and culture manager mentorship program to pair experienced arts
managers with those who are coming up in the field.
Implementation Lead: Community Development Agency
Implementation Partners: Arts OC, One OC
Timeline: Short -Term (Years 1-3) to Mid -Term (Years 4-7)
Resources: Staff time; consultant fees; grants to be identified
Metrics: Number of programs offered each year and number of organizations/arts managers who
participate.
Recommendation 3.4: Raise awareness of the positive impact of arts, culture, and creativity on
Santa Ana's overall economic development.
Initiative 3.4.1: Work with current city branding and marketing consultants to develop a marketing and
communications program to promote the awareness of arts and cultural activity to residents and visitors.
Initiative 3.4.2: Work with current city branding and marketing consultants to convene organizations
working on elevating the image of Santa Ana and to ensure arts and culture are integrated into the brand
strategy.
Initiative 3.4.3: Participate in the Creative Vitality Index to determine quantifiable data regarding the
impact of local arts and culture organizations on Santa Ana's economy.
Initiative 3.4.4: Work towards greater inclusivity of creative sector information and economic impact data
in Citywide conversations about economic and workforce development.
Implementation Lead: Community Development Agency, City branding and marketing consultants
Implementation Partners: Chamber of Commerce; downtown organizations and businesses
Timeline: Short -Term (Years 1-3)
Resources: Staff time
Metrics: Branding agencies to use their established perception metrics; increased economic activity in
arts and culture sector; data to support economic impact of the arts.
29
65B-33
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
4. Communitywide Access and Engagement
Goal. Support and expand arts and cultural programming that engages all populations
thraurghout the community.
Santa Ana residents have a high level of personal participation in artistic and creative activities.
The community attends museums, neighborhood festivals, arts exhibits and craft shows,
performances at nontraditional and traditional venues, and most importantly, engages in
creative activities in their homes. However, residents would like to see even more opportunities
available for themselves and their children. Residents expressed the desire and need for more
affordable opportunities for families to participate in classes, workshops, and events in their
own neighborhoods; for responsive and relevant programming for people of different
backgrounds, ages, and abilities; and for more experiential programming
Community arts programming can span a variety of genres (general interest, hands-on
learning, participatory activities, etc.) and provide opportunities for cultural activity for residents
of all ages. Often we associate community arts programs with educational offerings, but they
can also encompass neighborhood, intergenerational, and cross-cultural activities like dances,
music making, and exhibitions. The goal is to create reasons for people to come together and
share participation in activities that connect cross sections of people through common
interests.
Local arts agencies around the country provide programming to residents and visitors in
several ways. Many cities use a "contract for services" process that funds community groups
and arts organizations through a grants program for neighborhood festivals and celebrations.
In this way the City supports programs rather than produces or presents them. The City can
provide logistical support with permits and navigating City processes. In other cases, the local
arts agency may actually administer a program - for example, a public art program.
Alternatively, the local arts agency might "incubate" a program, such as a multicultural or
international arts celebration, with the intention of eventually spinning it off to an outside
agency.
Citywide events, programming, and festivals provide municipalities with opportunities to serve
large numbers of constituents, present local artists and creativity, celebrate cultural heritage
and amplify the identity of a community. This is best accomplished through consistent
investment and a partnership between the City and the community.
Festivals are intended to attract a consortium of interests from local artists and arts
organizations (and associated local interests such as SAUSD) to corporate sponsors and
advertisers, as well as public and private foundations.
Smaller scale festivals, over a day or a weekend, are highly effective in unifying a city's cultural
resources to address the goals of community celebrations. The results from this plan's survey
and research highlight the community's desire for opportunities to showcase local artists, the
traditional arts, the history and heritage of community groups, and events that directly address
significant social issues in Santa Ana such as youth education. Suggested festivals include:
30
65B-34
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
A Literary and Writers Festival, anchored by a book fair, encouraging reading and
writing, keynoted by a local "Big Read" style project, in which everyone is reading a
selection that is Santa Ana centric. One example is One Book San Diego.
A Music Festival with multiple venues throughout the city in traditional and non-
traditional settings.
A Jazz Festival presented over several days in different venues, including workshops,
lectures, and films.
A Fringe Festival (Arts for the People) with programming throughout Santa Ana
highlighting many genres and peoples including professional and avocational artists and
artisans.
Recommendation 4.1: Develop a Neighborhood Arts Program facilitating arts and creative
opportunities for every neighborhood and community group, ensuring equitable distribution of
resources.
Initiative 4.1.1: Create a City grants category for qualified organizations to provide youth arts programs
after school or on weekends. Funded programs would require one arts organization, one community
organization and at least one experienced teaching artist. City funding should require at least a 1:1 cash
match to encourage community ownership and leverage City resources.
Initiative 4.1.2: Expand programming in the libraries, the Teen Center, and community centers by
developing small-scale arts and creative activities reflecting local interests. Provide staff training to
support and facilitate these activities and identify underutilized community facilities for programming and
transportation options. Program locations, days, and times should accommodate the wider community.
Initiative 4.1.3: Engage qualified artists to provide programming in neighborhood settings for all ages as
well as with homeless persons, veterans, and disabled.
Initiative 4.1.4: Support creation of a mobile arts program that moves throughout the city like a book
mobile.
Initiative 4.1.5: Explore the use of underutilized facilities to serve as arts centers for neighborhood arts
programs. Provide incentives for their use with community arts programming.
implementation Lead: City Community Development Agency
Implementation Partners: SAUSD, Garden Grove Unified, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana Public Library
and Teen Center, nonprofit arts organizations and businesses, health & human service nonprofits and
veterans group.
Timeline: Mid -Term (Years 4-7)
Resources: Redirection of existing budget line items, staff time for program development and logistics
as well as for preparing proposals to potential funding agencies.
Metrics: Evidence of program implementation and increasing levels of community participation when
surveyed annually.
Recommendation 4.2: Create a lifelong learning programming that is available to underserved
constituencies including homeless, veterans, seniors, and disabled populations.
Initiative 4.2.1: Work to develop a veterans and seniors program providing discount tickets, discount art
supplies and materials, access to venues and transportation, and scholarships to workshops and
classes.
31
65B-35
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Initiative 4.2.2: Arts organizations and institutions collaborate to start a "Buddies Program" pairing
residents and arts patrons with senior and retired people who want to attend the theatre, movies, or
other events for assistance with transportation and companionship. Create opportunities downtown and
in neighborhoods for dance parties for seniors at off-peak times with live bands that will encourage
social and active participation in music and dancing.
Initiative 4.2.3: Expand the Santa Ana Oral History Project in tandem with local libraries, high schools,
and higher education institutions Qournalism studies) creating storytelling opportunities for all residents
to share their life stories of Santa Ana.
Implementation Lead: Community Development Agency; City Library
Implementation Partners: Nonprofit organizations, libraries and educational institutions, health & human
service nonprofits and veterans group
Timeline: Mid -Term (Years 4-7)
Resources: Staff time and funding from existing budgets or state/federal grants
Metrics: Increased numbers of seniors and veterans active in arts and cultural activities, larger archive of
local stories.
Recommendation 4.3: Ensure greater long-term success of traditional, historic and contemporary
festivals and events.
Initiative 4.3.1: Convene representatives from all City departments and agencies involved in special
events permitting, as well as event promoters, for the purpose of identifying strategies that streamline
the permitting process and reduce costs. Specifically review permitting for events held on private
commercial property.
Initiative 4.3.2: Consider consolidating responsibility for all special events permitting activities within a
single coordinating department or as part of the existing Code or Permitting Offices.
Initiative 4.3.1: Create an inventory of festivals and events.
Implementation Lead: Community Development Agency
Implementation Partners: City departments/agencies involved in permitting; special event promoters
Timeline: Short -Term (Years 1-3)
Resources: Staff time
Metrics: Streamlined permitting process and reduced costs for City services
BYO
65B-36
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
5. Youth ,Arts Programs and Education
Coal= apport existing and create new opportunities for,young people to engage in artistic and
creative activities and career pathways.
Arts education and arts programming for youth is a citywide concern and a priority for
strengthening the arts and cultural fabric of any community. There are many avenues to arts
enrichment and arts education already in Santa Ana. In addition to standards-based arts
education in the schools, many young people benefit from arts programs in neighborhoods
that provide creative and productive afterschool and weekend activities while ensuring kids
have safe environments during out of school time. Arts and culture organizations throughout
the city offer in -school artist residencies, out of school programs, field trips and other forms of
arts enrichment. City managed classes for all ages in community and recreations centers
provide educational and avocational arts activities at relatively minimal costs. SAUSD has
recently updated its district -wide visual and performing arts strategic plan and will be
launching its first arts conservatory at Santa Ana High School in 2017.
Many of the model programs found in cities throughout the country begin with municipal
support and incentives for developing partnerships with other public and private sector entities
to leverage limited resources. The California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the
Arts have grant funding for arts programs that engage teaching artists through collaborative
residencies as well as community arts training programs to train artists to work in communities.
Arts organizations are eligible to apply for funding alone or in partnership with the City,
community and social service organizations.
Sharing culture and traditions through the arts are another way to provide young people with a
sense of history and grounding in their community. Resources for passing on traditional art
forms from one generation to the next are available through the Alliance for California
Traditional Arts (ACTH). Their Apprenticeship Program encourages the continuity of the state's
traditional arts and cultures by contracting master artists to offer intensive, one-on-one training
to qualified apprentices.
Strengthening the school to career pipeline with arts and creative workforce training programs
provides young people with ways to envision a career path that aligns with their creative
interests. Partnerships and collaborations between creative businesses and arts education
focused on career development can build a pipeline from school to career encouraging
students to stay in Santa Ana. The SAUSD Career Technical Education Program (CTE)
provides career technical education and workforce preparation that contributes to student
academic and career success and the community's economic development. Programs such as
the Culinary Arts and New Media Academies at Valley High School; Digital, Visual, and Media
Arts Academies at Godinez, Saddleback, Santa Ana and Segerstrom High Schools, and the
Fashion Design and Merchandising Academy at Santa Ana High are all programs that could
benefit from collaborations with creative businesses and arts organizations that align with their
curricular foci.
Recommendation 5.1: Develop a Youth Arts Access Program.
Initiative 5.1.1: Address barriers to participation by working with arts and cultural institutions and other
community-based organizations to provide free attendance for youth citywide.
33
65B-37
Santa Arta Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Initiative 5.1.2: Provide low-cost or no -cost public transportation options for youth to attend arts and
cultural events and classes throughout the city.
Initiative 5.1.2: Expand the availability of low cost arts classes at City parks, recreation and community
centers. Many of these programs are currently managed by the City and fee-based. These are usually
the least expensive options available to residents without access to private studios.
Implementation Lead: Community Development Agency, Santa Ana College
Implementation Partners: SAUSD, City Parks and Recreation, home, private, and charter schools, arts
and cultural institutions, Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA).
Timeline: Mid -Term (Years 4-7)
Resources: OCTA, fees for services.
Metrics: Plan implementation, increased youth attendance at arts and culture events and classes,
increased youth ridership on public transportation to arts and culture events and classes.
Recommendation 5.2: Support arts education in the schools by identifying and implementing
partnerships and collaborations between the community (arts organizations, creative businesses
etc.) and the School District that strengthen its progress towards goal achievement.
Initiative 5.2.1: Provide equity of access for all students to community arts events of all disciplines
(dance, theatre, music and visual arts) as patrons, performers, and exhibitors.
Initiative 5.2.2: Continue to look for methods of using joint -use agreements between the City and SAUSD
to provide more expansive arts education programs.
Initiative 5.2.3: Encourage the creation of standards-based arts partnerships between arts organizations
and schools in fulfillment of the SAUSD Arts Strategic Plan, by supporting arts and community groups'
efforts to seek funding for arts education programs through the California Arts Council and/or the
National Endowment for the Arts.
Initiative 5.2.4: Connect teachers with community artists to provide discipline -specific support as well as
arts engagement opportunities that nurture teachers' confidence with arts instruction in the classroom
and their own artistic practice.
Implementation Lead: SAUSD/Arts OC
Implementation Partners: Local arts organizations, youth development organizations, and artists
Timeline: Short -Term (Years 1-3)
Resources: SAUSD funding resources, state and national arts grants
Metrics: Evidence of SAUSD progress towards achieving Arts Strategic Plan outcomes.
Recommendation 5.3: Develop collaborative programs between major institutions, arts
organizations, SAUSD, Santa Ana College and creative businesses, to develop career pathways.
Initiative 5.3.1: Develop a directory of existing internship and apprenticeship opportunities and plan
expansion of paid opportunities for youth in the arts, design, technology, and other creative sectors.
Paid internship and apprenticeship opportunities can include the culinary, graphic and digital design,
mural painting, arts administration, front and back -of -house careers, and others.
Initiative 5.3.2: Hold an annual or semi-annual "Swap Meet" for those who want to collaborate on
developing programs that strengthen career pathways in the arts. People can swap business cards,
meet new people who are like-minded and network. Make it open to a wide variety of related private,
public, and non-profit organizations and individuals.
34
M•
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Initiative 5.3.3 Engage all parties involved with Career Technical Education and Santa Ana's workforce
development in a consortium that identifies career pathways from high school through to job
securement in an arts and culture organization or creative field and then creates navigational systems to
help participants through the pipeline.
Implementation Lead: Higher Education Institutional Lead; SAUSD; Chamber of Commerce
Implementation Partners: SAUSD/Career Technical Education, charter and private high schools, higher
education institutions, the Santa Ana Partnership, High School Inc., Santa Ana Work Center WIOA
program.
Timeline: Short -Term (Years 1-3) to Mid -Term (Years 4-7)
Re.SOUrces: Partner's staff time, meeting and logistics, website costs for directory
Metrics: Increased participation by students in career development programs, placement figures for
those who are hired into the arts, culture and creative sectors.
6. Spaces and Places
Goah Identify carom unhy spaces for artistic and creative collaborations and create a roadmap
for new cultural facility development throulth city and ofrgaaizziiional partrner.�'hirrs.
Santa Ana is facing many of the same challenges as other cities throughout the nation —
affordable housing, the positive and negative affects of gentrification, and the challenge of
finding space in an urban core. It is beyond the scope of a cultural plan to solve the issue of
gentrification as it is more appropriately addressed though City housing and economic
development policies. Nonetheless, there are opportunities to identify existing vacant and
underdeveloped spaces in the City to be used for arts purposes at a low cost.
Throughout the planning process, stakeholders repeatedly noted the lack of quality arts spaces
and venues. It should be understood that venues are essential tools for the creation and
presentation of quality art. The needs are great. Downtown lacks a well-equipped performance
hall. Some Santa Ana arts institutions actually do most of their performances outside Santa
Ana. There is support for a joint partnership between the City and Santa Ana College to
develop a major performance hall. Likewise, smaller performance and exhibition venues
throughout the city are lacking. There is a great need for rehearsal space. Many planning
participants called for the creation of a major multicultural arts center, with theaters, dance
studios, galleries, and classrooms.
Similarly, there is a dearth of spaces for artistic creation. Artists have called for "maker spaces"
with shared tools for art creation in all disciplines. They call for a "hub" or gathering place for
artists to collaborate and exchange ideas. Other ideas include a "Museo des Artes" style artist -
driven or co-op gallery. Small arts organizations call for the creation of an arts incubator,
providing shared office space and technical assistance for small and emerging arts
organizations.
Live -work artist spaces are an opportunity for Santa Ana. There are several nonprofit arts
space developers who work with municipalities across the nation. For example, in the Working
Artists Ventura (WAV) project, 65 live -work units were developed (new construction), with
several market rate units on the upper stories and gallery/retail space at the ground floor. Total
cost of the project was $57 million. The City of Ventura's contribution was just $2.5 million,
35
65B-39
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
primarily for land acquisition and pre -development costs. The nonprofit developer funded the
remainder of the project ($54.5 million) through grants, unit sales, and tax credits.
Vacant properties affect the activity and architecture at street level, diminishing the pedestrian
experience. Often, these buildings and storefronts are held for speculative purposes. San
Antonio, Texas developed a program of a vacant building/storefront month fee. This
encourages the owner to develop the property, sell it, or give the spaces to artists and cultural
organizations on a temporary basis until it is rented or sold.
A long-term recommendation is the development of an overall strategy for cultural facilities
plan. This requires a thoughtful planning effort, given the resources required for development
of new facilities. Cultural facilities development is certainly an area where a well -conceived plan
might yield significant non -City resources and partnerships.
These cultural venues need not, in every instance, require design and construction of new
structures. There are several existing buildings in Santa Ana with the potential for adaptive
reuse with feasibility determined as part of the cultural facilities planning effort. Additionally,
artist live -work spaces are another option with the opportunity to secure support and funding
from national nonprofit organizations.
Recommendation 6.1: Explore artist live -work space projects with a nonprofit developer of arts
facilities.
Initiative 6.1.1: Engage a nonprofit arts space developer to survey demand for live work facilities in Santa
Ana and to assess available properties.
Initiative 6.1.2: Should the demand and infrastructure assets be confirmed, consider a City bond issue
and private fundraising campaign to develop a live work facility.
Implementation Lead: Department of Planning and Building
Implementation Partners: ArtSpace or similar national nonprofits, local public and private developers
Timeline: Long Term (Years 8-10)
Resources: Initial investment for ArtSpace evaluation; subsequent capital funding to develop facility
Metrics: Number of artist live -work spaces in Santa Ana
Recommendation 6.2: In concert with the placemaking initiatives, develop creative maker spaces
and vacant storefront programming to activate spaces. Create an artisans market/incubator.
Initiative 6.2.1: Assess the availability of existing unused or vacant spaces and properties throughout the
city and create an inventory of potential spaces.
Initiative 6.2.2: Work with a placemaking firm such as ArtSpace to explore the use of vacant spaces for
creative placemaking through a Creative Spaces Consulting Visit.
Initiative 6.2.3: Create a public/private partnership to develop economically viable creative
maker/incubator and retail spaces in various locations throughout the city.
Implementation Lead: Department of Building and Planning; Chamber of Commerce
Implementation Partners: Local public and private developers, creative businesses, City Small Business
Division
Timeline: Mid -Term (Years 4-7) to Long Term (Years 8-10)
Resources: Funds for planning; staff time; potential future plan implementation costs
3I1
MM
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Metrics: TBD, number of new spaces developed, number of people served, etc
Recommendation 6.3: Develop a long-range, cultural facilities development plan, in concert with
arts stakeholders, arts and cultural organizations, and other higher education and private sector
partners.
Initiative 6.3.1: Identify and utilize parks properties and other City -owned or acquired properties to be
repurposed for arts and cultural programs.
Initiative 6.3.2: Work with local stakeholders to develop an arts venue plan.
Initiative 6.3.3: Develop an inventory of murals in the city. Modeling from the California Art Preservation
Act, develop City policy for the preservation of murals.
Implementation Lead: Department of Building and Planning
Implementation Partners: Santa Ana College, local public and private developers
Timeline: Short-term to Long -Term
Resources: Initial investment for planning experts
Metrics: To be included in plan development and implementation
7. Placemaking and Placekeeping
Goat: Presevve Santa Ana's unique heritage, while creating ruts and cultural opportunities
through new placenaaking initiatives.
Finding a balance between the old and the new, the traditional and the progressive, is one of
the greatest challenges and greatest opportunities for Santa Ana. Santa Ana's current
population is newer and younger than in the past decades, but all generations want to see the
preservation of heritage while exploring opportunities for activation of streetscapes.
Richard Florida describes placemaking as "the confluence of economic development,
community development and cultural development." Many cities now realize that arts and
culture play a critical role in economic and community vitality. In many cities, the presence of
artists can be the harbinger of positive change - new restaurants and businesses, upgraded
commercial and residential buildings, in -migration of young professionals and/or increased
property values. While efforts must be undertaken to limit the negative effects of gentrification,
most of these changes are positive developments for a neighborhood.
Santa Ana has a rich natural and built history, supported by 57 neighborhood associations,
three national historic districts, and a legacy of cultural activities dating back 150 years. Local
organizations dedicated to Santa Ana's historic preservation conduct public tours of its
architectural legacy and its historic murals and signs. Santa Ana's distinctive architecture and
historic buildings should be recognized and preserved. Placekeeping efforts may include a
comprehensive cultural preservation plan and/or establishing historic districts as ways the City
and community can preserve the legacies and histories of Santa Ana. In addition to preserving
existing architecture, it is important to focus on new additions to the built environment. The
Department of Planning and Building has plans to create a division of urban design within the
City government.
37
65B-41
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Recommendation 7.1: Develop a comprehensive placemaking program to enhance the economic,
community and arts development of various neighborhoods in the city.
Initiative 7.1.1: Identify arts and cultural districts outside of the downtown where artists and arts -related
businesses may relocate. In developing these zones, consideration should be given to such tools as
zoning overlay districts, incentives, and subsidies to encourage development of the zones.
Initiative 7.1.2: Expand and improve pocket parks with functional and aesthetically pleasing creations.
Consider artist -designed elements such as benches, playground equipment, fencing, small murals, and
landscaping designs.
Initiative 7.1.3: Develop a street activation program inclusive of street artists, interactive public art, small-
scale performance spaces, and pop-up galleries and performances. Particularly in the case of the
proposed empowerment zones, an ongoing program of street activation, buskers, small performance
spaces and pop-up galleries could be an important strategy for launching the zones successfully.
Initiative 7.1.4: Investigate a vacant storefront program, vacant building tax surcharge, or fagade
improvement program. (Cross-reference with 6.2)
Initiative 7.1.5: Explore resources for funding creative placemaking initiatives such as the California Arts
Council's Creative California Communities grants program and the National Endowment for the Arts' Our
Town grants.
Implementation Lead: Department of Building and Planning
Implementation Partners: Local public and private developers, Business Improvement Districts and
Neighborhood Associations, Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Council, arts and culture
institutions.
Timeline: Mid -Term (Years 4-7)
Resources: Potential state and federal arts grants programs and Community Development Block Grants
Metrics: To be included as part of the program based on outcomes from plan
Recommendation 7.2: Partner with a consortium of vested groups to develop a comprehensive
plan for the cultural preservation of the legacy and history of the city, inclusive of historic mural
preservation and distinctive architecture.
Initiative 7.2.1: Identify opportunities within the City for Santa Ana Cultural Trails and work with the
Historic Commission to install high-quality, artistic plaques and historical markers throughout the city to
note local history.
Initiative 7.2.2: Create policies and regulations protecting historic landmarks against developers and
provide incentives and tax abatements for historic preservation and restoration. Review the Mills Act
processes to ensure more equitable outcomes balancing historic preservation with planned
development.
Initiative 7.2.3: Conduct a citywide historic survey, updating the results of the 1980s Heritage OC survey.
Initiative 7.2.4: Identify key buildings in need of seismic retrofitting. Work to pass bond measures that
finance building owners to rehabilitate seismically unstable buildings.
Initiative 7.2.5: Identify key Mid -Century architecture and other missing buildings to be added to the City
Historical Register that are currently outside of its scope.
Implementation Leads: Department of Planning and Building; Historic Resources Commission
Implementation Partners: Various, depending on specific initiatives
HE
65B-42
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Timeline: Begin in Short -Term (Years 1-3) on-going
Resources: Staff and Commission time
Metrics: New policies and related reports as identified
8. Public Art
Goak Create visible and interactive aas apportun lies j6n enpocyement t'hroRyli public ai,t.
Since 1959, when Philadelphia adopted the first percent for ordinance, more than 600
municipalities have followed suit including numerous related agencies, such as metropolitan
transportation agencies and airport authorities. These programs result in enhancement of the
built environment, increased economic development, enhanced community identity and pride,
and other benefits. In the early years of the public art movement, most programs allocated one
percent of civic capital improvement project budgets for art. Now, many programs allocate two
percent for art, recognizing the importance of developing art projects commensurate in scale
to the underlying capital improvement project.
In another recent development, cities have extended the percent for art requirement to new
private commercial, industrial and multi -unit residential developments with permit valuations in
excess of some reasonable threshold. This is done for aesthetic enhancement as well, not
unlike the landscaping requirements that are usually imposed on private developments. In
some cases, the developer pays an in -lieu fee if they do not place public art in their
development. Occasionally, the developer is offered incentives to participate such as relaxation
of parking or setback requirements, adjustment of floor area ratios, etc.
Other possibilities include a citywide mural art program that is especially appropriate in Santa
Ana. Often a temporary art program can add excitement and activation of the streets. Some
communities use public art to define distinct neighborhoods. As the public art program begins
to develop, the City should consider development of a Public Art Master Plan to guide long-
term development of the program. Public art guidelines, policies, and procedures can be
developed in detail. Procedures for periodic review of the collection would be established,
ensuring maintenance and conservation of the collection. A detailed inventory of current
artworks, sculptures and murals would be created, assessing the current condition of the art
collection. It is recommended that a professional public art manager administer the plan.
Recommendation 8.1: Develop a Public Art Program.
Initiative 8.1.1: Adopt a two percent for art ordinance or policy for all City CIP projects.
It is recommended the program utilize professional art selection panels (see Recommendation 2.1
regarding peer panels). The intent of the program is to select artists as members of the design team for
the underlying capital project. The panels select artists, not specific artworks, in most instances. Artists'
selections are referred to the Arts Commission for review and recommendation to the City Council for
approval. In certain projects, community outreach and engagement is part of the selection and approval
process.
Initiative 8.1.2: Consider extension of the public art requirement to new private commercial, industrial
and multi -unit residential development.
39
65B-43
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
This initiative would have two approaches. If the private developer wishes to place the art within the
project, the contribution is 2%, matching the City's commitment. However, if the developer does not
want to place public art, the developer has the option of making a 1 % in -lieu fee to the City to be used
for any arts -related purposes. This may be a source of funding for the needed professional public art
coordinator. The artist selection process for private development art projects involves negotiations
between the developer and staff from the Planning and Building Department.
Initiative 8.1.3: Develop a City Public Art Master Plan and develop a comprehensive inventory of the
city's public art and murals.
Implementation Lead: Department of Planning and Building; City Council
Implementation Partners: Arts Commission; Planning Department; Budget Department; private
developers;
Timeline: Short -Term (Years 1-3)
Resources: Staff time and possible consultant fees (if not completed with City staff)
Metrics: Completed Public Art Master Plan and future increases in resources for public art
Santa Ana Arts Future
Community Arts and Cultural Master Plan
Leadership for Implementation
The Arts Future Leadership Taskforce
Successful plan implementation requires a leadership body to guide the plan through the
different phases and to manage partnerships of the City government, community
organizations, private sector business, and residents of Santa Ana. It is recommended that an
Arts Future Leadership Taskforce be established to monitor plan implementation and success
metrics, help identify outside funding sources, and cultivate community good will and support.
The Arts Future Leadership Taskforce should be comprised of plan stakeholders in the
community from a variety of sectors, City officials, interested residents, and artists. Current
Steering Committee members may be interested in continuing their role through the Taskforce.
As plan implementation moves closer to establishment of an Office of Arts and Culture, the
Taskforce and Arts Commission will work with the City staff to reorganize plan oversight. Initial
actions of the Taskforce are:
Develop a detailed timeline for implementation based on the plan's short, mid, and long-
term goals.
Create an internal communications plan allowing for open, transparent communication
between the Taskforce, the City, and the Arts Commission, as well as among plan
partners and participants.
Develop a process for monitoring the goals, initiatives, and success metrics.
Work with the City and partners to explore funding options as recommended in this
plan, and to identify additional sources.
41
65B-45
uommunity
EXHIBIT 2
65B-46
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Table of Contents
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 3
The Community Engagement Process........................................................................................ 3
MethodologyOverview.................................................................................................................................3
Overall 2016 Project Timeline...................................................................................................................4
Highlightsof Engagement............................................................................................................................4
SurveyMethodology.......................................................................................................................................5
ResearchReview..............................................................................................................................................5
DataAnalysis......................................................................................................................................................5
SantaAna: Vision and Aspirations.................................................................................... 6
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................6
CulturalEquity and Inclusion.....................................................................................................................6
Youth Support Systems and Programming...........................................................................................7
TheEnvisioned City Role..............................................................................................................................7
Arts and Cultural Programming................................................................................................................8
Affordable Spaces and Facilities................................................................................................................9
Artists, Creatives, and Arts and Cultural Organizations..................................................................9
Access to Information on Arts and Culture........................................................................................10
The Community Vision for Santa Ana..................................................................................................10
Santa Ana Community Survey Summary.......................................................................12
RespondentProfile.........................................................................................................................12
Summaryof Findings.....................................................................................................................14
PersonalParticipation................................................................................................................................14
Attendance.......................................................................................................................................................14
Barriers..............................................................................................................................................................16
Satisfaction with Arts and Cultural Offerings
Community Priorities ..............................................
Communications........................................................
65B-47
17
18
19
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Introduction
The Community Engagement Process
The Santa Ana public engagement process officially launched on January 27, 2016 with
the Santa Ana Arts Future Town Hall and continued through April 1, 2016 with the close of
the community survey. A mixed -method research effort using both qualitative and
quantitative methodologies was employed. Public engagement activities included:
• A town hall and community open house events
• Stakeholder discussion groups and interviews
• A community survey
• Stakeholder -led discussion groups and meetings
• A review of existing research and planning initiatives
Additional efforts were made to ensure a wide range of responses. Efforts included specific
Spanish language meetings as well as open houses with translation. All information and
survey materials were translated into multiple languages. The following core questions were
asked:
• What do you value about Santa Ana's arts and cultural life?
• What is your vision for Santa Ana's future?
• What do we need to get there?
Methodology Overview
The triangulation approach to the community engagement process ensured authentic and
deliberate engagement with a broad cross section of Santa Ana community members and
stakeholders. The goals were to:
• Bring together multiple points of view to inform the planning process
• Create legitimacy and a sense of shared responsibility for the cultural plan
• Identify creative assets within communities
• Cultivate new partners/allies and collaborations
• Stimulate broad awareness and momentum for Santa Ana Arts and Cultural Plan
The approach provided multiple entry points for all residents, communities, and sectors of
Santa Ana to participate through community-based conversations, meetings, and
interviews facilitated by the consultants, a town hall, and a community survey. It was
3
MM•
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
specifically designed to ensure the process collected input from residents of all
backgrounds and those for whom English is a second language.
Overall 2016 Project Timeline
• January 27: Opening Town Hall with Josefina Lopez
• January - April: Community conversations, discussion groups, individual interviews,
an advocacy workshop, and the survey which was open to the public
• April - May: Research analysis and preliminary strategy development
• May - June: Draft plan development
• June - July: Stakeholder workshops, and a second Town Hall
• August: Plan adoption by City
EMEFU! 4.
• The Santa Ana Arts Future Town Hall, held at Santa Ana College, attracted over
100 people who voiced their aspirations and visions for the arts and cultural life of
their city. The emotionally inspiring guest speaker, Josefina Lopez kicked off the
process. Other speakers for the City of Santa Ana included Kelly Reenders, Former
Executive Director of Community Development and Sandra Pocha Pena, Artist and
Arts Commissioner. Jerry Allen, the Lead Consultant from The Cultural Planning
Group, spoke as well.
• Over 300 arts and cultural leaders, business leaders, individual artists, and City
leadership participated in discussion groups and in-depth interviews, sharing their
visions for their organizations and their city.
• Over 420 people completed the Santa Ana Community Survey. Presented in three
languages (English, Spanish, and Vietnamese), the survey explored their priorities,
visions, and satisfaction with arts and cultural activities, as well as their obstacles to
participating, attending and engaging in creative activities.
• Over 350 community members attended open houses and community meetings
held at various local gathering places around Santa Ana including the Delhi
Community Center, and The Bowers Museum. A large Spanish speaking gathering
at The Immaculate Heart of Mary attracted 200 residents.
• Additional community meetings reached residents in all of the City's six Council
Wards.
GI
�•
•
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
As a complement to the other forms of community engagement, the Santa Ana Community
Survey provided an opportunity for residents to lend their voice to the planning process.
The survey sought residents' opinions, attitudes and preferences of arts and cultural
activities and events in Santa Ana, as well as their opinions of and visions for the future of
Santa Ana's arts and cultural landscape. The main objectives of the survey were too:
• Explore resident visions for the future
• Explore opinions and perceptions about arts and cultural programming,
opportunities, and space for Santa Ana's artists and residents
• Explore arts programming needs for families with children
• Explore residents' opinions on citywide priorities for arts and cultural opportunities
The online survey was open to residents of the City of Santa Ana from January 2016
through April 2016. A total of 420 respondents completed the surveys. Significant
differences are noted in the Survey Summary.
A thorough review of previous demographic, social, and arts and cultural research
conducted in Santa Ana guides and aligns the Arts and Cultural Plan's development with
the City's policies, plans, and goals. Please see Appendix for Background Research
Summary.
Data Analysis
The qualitative data from the community process includes meetings conducted in the
community, and notes from meetings. Qualitative analysis tools and software (Dedoose)
identified main themes across all data sets. For the Santa Ana Community Survey, the
results were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 24.0) and are
based on the responses received for each question. Significant differences are noted where
applicable in the Survey Summary.
65B-50
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Santa Ana: Vision and Aspirations
Introduction
Santa Ana is a community rich in creative peoples and creative assets. As discovered
through the robust community engagement process, these creative places, peoples, and
things are not restricted to the arts in the traditional sense of the word. The definition of arts
workers, artists, and creative workers encompasses traditional artisans, muralists, public
artists, arts educators, technology workers, graphic designers, culinary professionals,
historic preservation professionals, and more. Santa Ana is a community proud of its
history and heritage, and a community yearning to develop a brilliant future for its young
residents and its youth.
The following summary of findings is organized into themes representing the community's
expressed needs, aspirations, and visions. The themes are a powerful message for
leveraging Santa Ana's creative soul, while acknowledging and addressing its current
challenges. Santa Ana residents share a deep pride in their historical roots, their artistic
heritage, and current abundance of artists and creatives. They share a belief in the power
of arts and creativity to build bridges and solve some of the most pressing concerns facing
Santa Ana, such as educational challenges, at -risk youth, health issues, affordable housing,
the rising cost of living, and the effects of gentrification. This report provides a reflection of
the collective voice arising from the community engagement. It is fundamental to strategy
development for the Arts and Cultural Plan as well.
"To us (Latinos)
Cultural Equity and Inclusion
art and culture is
not something
Cultural equity was a dominant topic of conversation throughout the
extra, it is who we
engagement process. Participants called for the plan to lend its support to
are, our lives, the
the larger communitywide challenge of promoting equity for residents
way we live, the
from all backgrounds and lifestyles. Cultural equity includes honoring,
things we teach
our children."
respecting, and celebrating the dominant Mexican culture, as well as all
-Dlacusslon group
other cultures in Santa Ana. Participants are concerned with the impact of
participant
cultural bias in the city and in the cultural sector. Participants referred to
equity as providing accessible and affordable opportunities for all residents regardless of
socioeconomic
status, background, disabilities, or age. Furthermore, participants want arts
programming more
connected to their heritage and culture. Equity also refers to the
perception of inequity
of funding sources for organizations and artists in the community.
Barriers to cultural equity cited include transportation, event times, cost, and feeling
sociably comfortable and welcome in cultural institutions and at events. Participants want
to see the City help with addressing equity issues by working to remove barriers to
participation and helping to support opportunities for expanded participation.
65B-51
"This Is the first
time I feel proud
1 live in Santa
Ana. Being
involved in the
arts gives me a
reason to he
connected.'
-Discusslon group
participant
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Creating opportunity for youth in Santa Ana is a top priority for residents.
Across all of the research, youth programming and youth access was a
dominant theme. Residents envision a future for the children as one with
rich arts opportunities, job creation, and one without exposure to gang
violence or other negative social situations. Santa Ana's youth face great
challenges including low educational attainment, exposure to violence, and
other issues. Over 40% of Santa Ana's youth do not graduate from high
school. This is a shocking statistic and while the Arts and Cultural Plan will
not "fix" these very large problems, it can create better opportunities for youth by providing
consistent learning pathways in the arts, cultural and creative sectors.
Families want opportunities for their children to include affordable after school and
weekend programming for youth (especially in outlying neighborhoods), classes at more
convenient times and locations, and transportation options. Additional programming ideas
include developing a cultural pass for youth for different arts, culture, and culinary
organizations; providing incentives to motivate increased success in school, and
scholarships for students.
"Love to see a The Envisioned City Role
higher level of
A true community engagement process provides broad feedback from all
engagement
from the City of
groups of a community. It is a common attitude among residents in any city
Santa Ana to
to express skepticism and/or frustration with municipal government as a
uplift youth who
part of that engagement. Santa Ana residents and stakeholders expressed
are aspiring
artdsts."
this skepticism in most of the community meetings. They voiced strong
-Survey respondent
sentiments that the City is not supportive of the arts and the arts
community. Although there is optimism that a citywide arts and cultural plan
can build bridges among communities and between the City and its residents. The creation
of an Office of Arts and Culture within the City with experienced arts professionals who can
represent the needs of the arts and creative community is part of the solution they envision.
Many participants expressed the belief that if the City plays a greater role in supporting arts
and culture it can help impact significant issues facing Santa Ana such as public safety,
educational attainment, employment, and affordable housing. They feel the City should play
the role of convener and work to build relationships with artists and organizations and
integrate artists and creatives into the City's decision-making process.
Residents and artists want to play a role in improving the City's streets and overall image.
Ideas include artists working with the City to beautify the streets and neighborhoods,
65B-52
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
activate public spaces and vacant lots with programming, and develop potential cultural
hubs in areas such as South Main, the Santa Ana Zoo, and the train station.
Arts and cultural funding is seen as a longer term goal and residents think the City can help
to secure a dedicated funding stream. Dedicated arts and culture staff can explore
innovative funding opportunities, secure funding for nonprofit organizations, and work with
the City on arts and cultural events.
"There Is a story Arts and Cultural Programming
to tell here. Lets
Santa Ana's personal participation in artistic and creative activities is high.
do it with the arts
and the distinctive
The community attends museums, neighborhood festivals, arts exhibits
culture of Santa
and craft shows, performances at nontraditional and traditional venues,
Ana."
and most importantly, engages in creative activities in their homes.
-Discussion group
participant
However, residents do not think there are enough opportunities available
for themselves and their children. There are significant barriers to participation including
cost, transportation, feeling welcome, work commitments, and the timing and location of
classes and activities. Residents express the desire and need for more affordable
opportunities for families to engage in classes, workshops, and events in their own
neighborhoods; for responsive and relevant programming for people of different
backgrounds, ages, and abilities; and for more experiential programming. Different
generations of residents share a vision of intergenerational opportunities to share stories
about history, heritage, and future aspirations; spontaneous happenings in the downtown
area such as dance parties for seniors, or college -run StoryCorp type pop -ups for learning
experiences.
Santa Ana residents would like to see the City support the signature festivals and events
already happening throughout the city, as well as look at other community events. These
include an international dance festival celebrating all cultures and a literacy festival that
could promote literacy and education for Santa Ana's young people.
Public Art is also a priority for residents for many reasons that include city beautification;
engaging youth with mural art; showcasing national, regional, and local artists; addressing
public safety; and activating public spaces. Santa Ana residents are proud of the city's
history and heritage. Developing cultural tourism opportunities and programming relevant to
the heritage of Santa Ana is seen as an important expansion to current programming.
65B-53
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Affordable Spaces and Facilities
'More spaces in
neighborhoods Identifying spaces where artists and residents can collaborate and where
that are accessible youth are safe to pursue their artistic and creative endeavors are high
and open to all priorities. Participants emphasized the need for affordable spaces in the
where people
collaborate and community to perform, rehearse, exhibit, and make art. Parents, youth
learn." and cultural organizations alike desire safe places for young people to
-Survey respondent gather after school and on weekends to participate in creative activities
These spaces would enable opportunities for community members to
gather, create, collaborate and attend arts events. Linking existing arts and cultural centers
to the neighborhoods, and better utilizing the libraries and Teen Centers for programming
were all ideas that came out of community conversations and interviews. Residents feel
there are accessible spaces that either people do not know about or that are underutilized.
Creating an inventory of all spaces in Santa Ana may avail them for use by arts
organizations, artists, and residents. Flexible or mobile spaces and amenities are potential
low cost opportunities that were discussed as well; examples include portable dance floors
for dance organizations, and mobile arts spaces and labs. There Is also a desire for a large
performing arts space for shared used by the community, organizations, and educational
institutions. They seek a mixed-use facility that has greater flexibility and availability than
those currently associated with educational institutions such as Santa Ana College and
Santa Ana Unified School District.
Nin Santa Ana you Artists, Creatives, and Arts and Cultural
have to create your Organizations
own path" - this
contributes to the Artists and leaders from arts organizations participated
uniqueness of the enthusiastically in the discussions. For artists, the needs revolve
community." around community and City support. They seek better grant
-Discussion group
participant opportunities, professional practices training, programming and
support for start-ups and entrepreneurial programs. Organizations
and artists want to work with the City to review and streamline permitting, zoning, and
licenses for events and business establishment. Many participants made new connections
and collaborations just by attending a meeting for this process and expressed the desire for
more. This may include better connections through networking events to improve their
prospects for employment, finding new creative projects, and engaging in artistic
exchange. Ideas included creating a business association that works with all creative
business and artists that helps to nurture, educate and empower.
Arts and cultural organizations want more options for grants/funding for organizations to
provide arts opportunities for families; opportunities for more partnerships and
collaborations; and the development of capacity building support systems, training
workshops, and professional development.
65B-54
"Expand the arts
throughout the
entire city,
opening
opportunities
throughout the
communities and
make families and
kids involved in
them."
-Survey respondent
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Access to Information on Arts and Culture
Many participants expressed frustration with not knowing about arts,
cultural and creative events or activities in the city. People want improved
access to information about events, performances, youth activities,
neighborhood festivals, and arts learning opportunities (workshops,
classes). They want existing organizations and the City to work towards
development of a one-stop shop for information about arts and creative
happenings and resources. This can be accomplished by exploring
current efforts and technology partnerships to create promotions that
address how people get information. According to the survey, residents look for community
information via direct communications from organizations, as well as social media, and
word of mouth.
The Community Vision for Santa Ana
The following are direct quotes from meetings, interviews, and the survey describing a
vision for Santa Ana and the ideal state of the future if this plan is a success.
"The City as a destination and a Journey. One that you can only discover a little at a
time, but one that is constantly full of surprises, where you find yourself saying 'this is
Santa Ana' and feel a warm glow and a sense of pride when you do so."
"I Imagine the eclectic and exciting mix of traditional, cultural arts from both this local
area and abroad swirled up with contemporary avant garde arts. This diversity enables
us as a community to build cross-cultural bridges and awakens hopeful curiosity and
joy. „
"Santa Ana offers accessible, affordable and encouraging programs that target our
youth to engage them in creativity and community involvement, and keep them out of
trouble. "
"1 % of funds for future developments in the city will beset aside for the arts similar to
Philadelphia's program. The public schools will all have the state mandated 45 min of
arts instruction a week implemented through programs similar to 'All the Arts for All the
Kids' in Fullerton. There will be grants available for working artists and scholarships for
students going into the arts."
"There is growth in theater and performing arts. A space to host these activities. A
Santa Ana Performing Arts Center. Host / produce / create work reflective of existing
community."
10
65B-55
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
"A mixture of cultural arts activities that is accessible to all for the purpose of educating
the overall community - inclusive of all cultures."
"A partnership with non -profits, the City and Santa Ana College to develop a
community theatre on the SAC campus that would seat 500 and be used for both
community and college performances."
"Accessibility, diversity (of programming and audiences), variety of arts programming
available to all members of Santa Ana residents, regardless of age, background, socio-
economic conditions or other circumstances."
"Collaboration between arts organizations, and the City; the city is actively supporting
the arts."
"Arts brought outside the scope of museums and the confinement of small festivals.
Public (made) murals and artistic graffiti. Something to catch the eye of the busy
everyman. And an incorporation of art in the early school levels."
"Authenticity. Santa Ana finds a way to make experimental, innovative and small
businesses, entrepreneurs and artists thrive. Frameworks and platforms for people to
participate in and build sophistication and new networks for the community to thrive.
Our people and relationships and proximity are our greatest asset."
"Expand the arts throughout the entire city, opening opportunities throughout the
communities and make families and kids involved in them."
"More spaces like EI Centro Cultural but in neighborhoods so that it's easily accessible.
A greater appreciation for the different cultural expression from the different regions
that people are from."
"More sophisticated art venues. The presence of satellite venues. Cultural centers that
draw individuals from out of town to Santa Ana. Organizations that garner national
attention."
"More plays, independent movies, bilingual programs, connecting neighborhoods with
art - French, Train Station and Downtown."
A place with more murals and public art. More opportunities for professional artists to
earn money from their art. More hands-on arts programs for all ages."
"More multicultural offerings with a global perspective that reflect both the Latino &
Asian legacies of Santa Ana as well as its ethnically diverse future."
11
65B-56
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Santa Ana Community Survey Summary
Respondent Profile
Approximately 70% of all respondents live in Santa Ana with 40% also working in the city.
Twenty-one percent (21 %) work in the city but live elsewhere in Orange County. The
majority of the 8% of respondents who selected "Other" indicate they live outside the city
and visit friends, family, or visit for specific events and happenings in Santa Ana.
Did not Under
65 and disclose, 21. 20I
over, 7,
55.6
years
14/0
Of the online survey respondents, 42%
are female, 21 % are male, 5%
identified as another gender, and 32%
preferred not to answer.
The age range of respondents is broad
with 2% under the age of 21, 30%
between the ages of 21 and 34 years,
24% between the ages of 35 and 44
years, 19% between the ages of 45
and 54 years, and 21 % over the age of
55 years.
Sixty-two percent (62%) of the total respondents consider themselves to be an artist,
craftsperson, or creative worker (regardless of earning income). Of those, 18% identify as
professional artists and 11 % identify as an aspiring artist, while 29% identify as artists who
do art as a leisure activity or hobby. Sixty-five percent of those who identify as professional
artists make the majority of their income from their art (chart below). Thirteen percent (13%)
are business professionals working in the nonprofit arts sector, 8% in the creative sector,
and of the 20% who selected "none" many identified as arts educators.
Personal Participation in Arts Activities
As a leisure activity or hobby
As a professional artist
As a business professional
working in the nonprofit arts field
As an aspiring professional artist
I do not personally participate in
creative activities
None of the above
12
65B-57
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Professional Artist % of total income from artistic practice
% of Surveyed Professional Artists % of total income
40% 100%
17% 76%99%
11% 51%75%
13% 26%50%
19% M-25%
13
M� •
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Summary of Findings
I Create...
Personal Participation
The arts are an integral part of the Santa Ana community and this is
reflected in the survey results When asked how they engage in creative
activities as defined broadly, it is clear there is a high participation rate
of creative activities in the city including culinary arts, dancing, visual
arts, literary activities, and artisan arts and craft -making.
59% Cook creative dishes or meals
57% Read novels, short stories, or poems
38% Dance socially or with a group
35% Paint or drew pictures, or did print-
making or collage
29% Make crafts such as jewelry, sewing,
knitting, or quilting
18% Make videos, short films or
animation
17% Playa musical instrument
17% Work with fiber arts such as knitting,
sewing, embroidery
15% Write novels, short stories, or poems
14% Make digital illustrations or 3-D digital
art
13% Sing in choir, with a group, or solo
12% Make sculptures, woodwork, or
ceramics
10% Write music, composed lyrics
10% Perform in storytelling events or poetry
slams
7% Act in plays, musicals, or theatre
7% Choreograph dance, ballet, modern, etc.
7 % Do mural or graffiti art
The majority of respondents attend museums, small neighborhood festivals, and activities
at small venues such as community centers, at libraries, and arts exhibits and/or craft
shows. When comparing groups, Latino residents attend arts activities at small venues and
neighborhood festivals significantly more than non -Latinos and attend events at traditional
venues (concert halls, etc.) significantly less than non -Latinos.
14
65B-59
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Attendance In Santa Ana
Museums (art, history, etc.)
Small neighborhood festivals/celebrations
Arts activities at community centers, libraries,
Art exhibits or crafts shows
Live performances at concert halls, theaters,
Large scale arts festivals
Live performances/ pop-up performances at
Arts or cultural events for children/teenagers
Food/wine festivals
Creative co -working or "maker spaces'
Residents want to see more arts activities happening in the city including small venue
activities, large scale festivals, live performances at traditional and non traditional venues,
and events for children. When comparing groups, Latinos seek small neighborhood
festivals and activities for children while non -Latinos desire more traditional events at
concert halls and theaters. Younger residents seek experiences such as large scale arts
festivals and older residents prefer gallery shows and craft shows.
What Residents Wants More ...
Arts events/activities at community centers,
Large festivals (music, art, film, etc.)
Live performances at concert halls or
Live performances at nontraditional venues
Arts or cultural events for children or
Neighborhood festivals/celebrations
Food/Wine festivals
Museums (art, science, history, children's,
Art galleries, exhibits or crafts shows
Creative cc -working or "maker spaces"
15
L� M
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Thirty-one percent (31 %) of the respondents reported having children under the age of 18
in their households. Respondents want to see more creative activities offered in the
community for both themselves for children. The top choices are music, visual arts,
dance/movement, and culinary arts classes. Younger respondents (21-44 years) and
females desire dance/movement classes more than older or male respondents and
younger respondents (under 34 years) want digital arts classes significantly more than
others. This provides an opportunity to review the commonalities for community classes
and activities with respect to places, times, and individual versus family options. For
example, individual adults and families with children are highly interested in visual arts
classes and culinary arts classes.
Desired Activities/Classes
Music
Visual Arts
Dance/Movement
+For Children
Culinary Arts
-=For Themselves Theater/Drama
" 2
Voice/Singing
Digital Arts;
Filmmaking/Video
--.
Traditional/Artisan
Creative/Writing/Poetry/Spoken Word
0
When asked what obstacles the respondents experience in attending arts and cultural
activities, the most prevalent barriers, cited by 62% and 42% respectively, are that people
do not hear about activities and events and are challenged with traffic and parking. Other
barriers include affordability of events and inconvenient schedules (25%), and feeling
welcome and comfortable at venues and events (20%). For those with children, the primary
barriers are affordability of activities for their children (significantly for Latinos) and the
availability of affordable childcare (significantly for Latinos and residents 35-44 years of
age). Work commitments are a significant barrier to participation for families (31 %).
16
65B-61
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Barriers to Attendance
Do not hear about them
Traffic/parking is an issue
Cost is too high
Schedules are inconvenient
Do not feel socially comfortable or welcome
Not interested in events/activities offered
Locations are inconvenient
Lack of transportation
Child care issues
Lack of ADA accommodations
Satisfaction with Arts and Cultural Offerings
Satisfaction with the variety, affordability and availability of arts and cultural is low with 10%
or less of the respondents rating offerings as excellent and less than 50% rating as good or
excellent. Across the board, Latinos and younger residents (<44) rate arts and cultural
offerings in Santa Ana as Poor significantly more than other residents.
Arts and Cultural Offerings Satisfaction
Affordability Variety Availability
65B-62
Excellent
+Good
" Fair
u Poor
17
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Community Priorities
When asked what the City of Santa Ana should focus on to meet residents arts, cultural
and creative needs, the top areas are programming for youth, support of nonprofit and
cultural organizations, development of artists in the community and art in public spaces.
This aligns with the overall findings that youth development is a key priority, artist and
organizational support is an area of distinct interest, and that the beautification of the City
of Santa Ana can be augmented with art integrated into the urban infrastructure.
City Support Priorities
Arts/cultural programs for children and youth
Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations
Development of artists in the community
Art in Public Spaces
Arts/cultural programs for families
Arts/cultural events celebrating diversity of
the city
Arts/cultural programs for adults and seniors
Arts/cultural events in neighborhoods
Better accommodations for disabled
residents
65B-63
Santa Ana Arts Future
Engagement Findings Report
Communications
Respondents want to see a comprehensive community arts calendar delivered in electronic
format and also as a community mailer highlighting all happenings in Santa Ana. They also
want to see more visible street level information — banners, posters, etc. Most of the
respondents receive information about arts and cultural events and opportunities through
word of mouth (62%) on social media (55%) and direct communications from organizations
(43%).
Where people go to find out about happenings in Santa Ana
Word of mouth
62%
Facebook, Twitter, othersocial media 55%
Direct communications from community organizations 43%
Flyers, posters, banners around town 38%
Online Community Calendars 30%
Newspapers 20%
television/news 9%
Radio 6%
None of the above 9%
19
�• M •
History of the Arts
65B-65
The following is a summary of Santa Ana's Arts History developed by Santa Ana native Manuel
"Manny" Escamilla, local historian and Archivist for the Santa Ana History Room at the Santa
Ana Public Library.
The history of the arts can help us to understand how regional forces shaping the Santa
Ana Valley were understood by the people living through different eras of our City's past.
Through these processes various waves of cultures met, clashed, and merged to form a
distinctly Californian experience at the Southwestern edge of the United States. The art and
artifacts that our forbearers left behind continue to offer clues into understanding how our
Golden City came to be.
According to the written accounts left by early Missionaries the region's indigenous
papulation believed that the art of dancing was a sacred pact between the realm of the creator
and the earthly world. These European settlers noted that the people of the region would dance
day and night for entire weeks as part of their religious ceremonies.' The Maze Stone and Bell
Stones found in the Santa Ana Mountains are now located courtyard of the Bower's Museum
and serve as potent reminders that we live on sacred land. The 1776 founding of Mission San
Juan Capistrano marked the displacement, merging, and subsequent creation of a distinctly
regional experience.
This rancho culture that emerged after the ending of the mission system gave rise to a
distinct class of Californios that prized music above other forms of art. Music accompanied
nearly every occasion including baptisms, weddings, funerals, and 'lovemaking'.' Anglo travel
journals noted the popularity of vihuelas, clarinets, harps, and tarimas utilized in increasingly
complicated rhythmic patterns with full audience participation .3 This Spanish -Mexican period
marked the beginning phases of the Santa Ana Valley's integration with the wider world. It was
during this time that first oil paintings began to document the prominent Californio families
overseeing the feudal economy of the region. The sound of their tarimas can still be heard in the
modern fandangos organized by EI Centro Cultural de Mexico musicians that now call Santa
Ana their home.
The City of Santa Ana was founded in 1869 shortly after the end of the American Civil
War by veterans of both the Union and Confederate armies. They utterly transformed the
previous era's ranch economy into an agriculturally based society in which prominent farmers
supported the infrastructure needed to export products to the markets back east. Given the
chronic shortage of labor these merchant -farmers began to utilize sketches and lithographs to
'convey the image of a prosperous and established town .,4 The crate label art also promoted the
nascent Orange County region as a land of abundance free from harsh Eastern Winters.
' Boscana, Ger6nimo, Alfred Robinson, Phil Townsend Hanna, John Peabody Harrington, and Calif.) Fine
Arts Press (Santa Ana. Chinigchinich (Chi-19idh-19ich). Santa Ana, Calif.: Fine Arts Press, 1933. 57
' Ballard, Ray, W.P.A. Research Project #3105 Sponsored by Board of Education, Santa Ana. Vol. Sports
and Recreation, 1936. 8
3 Ballard, Ray. W.P.A. Research Project #3105 Sponsored by Board of Education, Santa Ana. Vol. Sports
and Recreation, 1936. 10
' Bricker, Gordon. The Civil WarLegacy in Santa Ana. Santa Ana, Calif.: Wilson/Barnett Publishing,
2002. 10
M�IM • •
Once these newly arrived immigrants settled into town they would often find themselves
seeking out entertainment at the Sycamore Hall on 5th & Sycamore where the Ramona Building
now stands. Here they would have been surprised to find a performance stage nestled above
the wooden sidewalk supported by the large Sycamore tree in front of the hall.5 The historian
Charles Swanner noted that prior to motion pictures the only entertainment available was at the
Grand Old Opera House completed in 1897.6 Visiting artists to this frontier town included the
traveling minstrel James Pipes of Pipesville,7 poet Joaquin Miller,8 and Orange County's first
pop star Helena Modjeska in the company of future Nobel laureate of literature Henryk
Sienkiewicz.9
By the 1890's the increasing ease of travel to Southern California began to encourage a
greater number of artists to settle, explore, and create their own interpretations of movements
within the global art community. The region's pristine natural resources and stunning
landscapes gave rise to the California Impressionist movement centered around the Laguna
Beach Art Colony. Sculptor Solon Borglum spent time in Santa Ana as the guest of the local
Santa Ana High School Principal before heading back east to create his western inspired
works.10 Notable painters including Evylena Nunn Miller, Orpha Klinker, Frank Coburn, and
Joseph Kleitsch were increasingly commissioned by prosperous local families reaping the
benefits of the wealth created by a booming agricultural economy."
The 1930's marked a turning point in which arts and cultural institutions began to attract
public support. In 1931 the Santa Ana City Council honored the bequest of Charles W. Bowers
and passed Ordinance #939 pledging public funds for the creation of an Orange County
Museum .12 Architects Frank Lansdown of Santa Ana and W. Horace Austin of Long Beach
designed the building with a distinctly regional mission revival design and included interior
murals by Martin Syvertsen.13 The Bowers Museum institution formally opened to the public on
February 13, 1936 in the middle of the depression. Horace Austin would go on to design the
1935 Santa Ana City Hall with the support of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant.
That very same year local sculptress Ada Mae Sharpless debuted the 'Lady of the Lake' at
Echo Park in Los Angeles. World War Two and the immediate post-war demobilization slowed
the number of notable art milestones. However the tectonic shifts the 1960's began to set into
motion the beginning of Santa Ana's growing art scene.
6 Ballard, Ray. W.P.A. Research Project #3105 Sponsored by Board of Education, Santa Ana. Vol. Sports
and Recreation, 1936. 39
6 Swanner, Charles D. Those Were the Days: Recollections of Charles D. Swanner. Self Published,
Elsinore, CA, 1971. 56
Friis, Leo J. Jeems Pipes of Pipesville Visits Santa Ana. Santa Ana, CA: Friis-Pioneer Press, 1980. 7
8 Swanner, Charles D. Those Were the Days: Recollections of Charles D. Swanner. Self Published,
Elsinore, CA, 1971. 8
s Friis, Leo J. The Charles W Bowers Memorial Museum and Its Treasures. Santa Ana, Calif: Pioneer
Press, 1967. 39
10 Friis, Leo J. The Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum and Its Treasures. Santa Ana, Calif: Pioneer
Press, 1967. 45
11 Friis, Leo J. The Charles W Bowers Memorial Museum and Its Treasures. Santa Ana, Calif: Pioneer
Press, 1967. 43
12 Friis, Leo J. The Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum and Its Treasures. Santa Ana, Calif: Pioneer
Press, 1967.14
13 Friis, Leo J. The Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum and Its Treasures. Santa Ana, Calif: Pioneer
Press. 1967.19
65B-67
Despite the lull in local art activities in the immediate post-war years, artists reporting
feeling that the situation was improving due to the influx of new people into the region. By 1963
there were at least two clusters of artists in Santa Ana. The first of which was centered around
the Little Art Gallery on Main Street which sold items displayed at local shopping centers and
the Bowers Museum. Additionally, the Torrana Art League brought together members from
Garden Grove, Tustin, Orange, and Santa Ana for monthly lectures, demonstrations, and
occasional shows." Additionally, the Santa Ana Public Library's Spurgeon Memorial Room was
used for discussion groups, small musical programs, travel films, and exhibits. For the musically
inclined, the Orange County Philharmonic Society, Rare Music Society, and Santa Ana
Chamber Music Society were also providing artistic outlets for the people of the rapidly growing
region .15 The new UC Campus at Irvine opened in 1965 and began to attract baby boomers
ready to experiment with different forms of art.
This experimentation was precursor to what was arguably the most critically productive
decade of art in the Santa Ana. Among these 1970's emerging artists was a young UCI
graduate student Chris Burden operating out of the F -Space Gallery on 1514 East Edinger. He
solidified his international reputation for provocative performance art after being shot in the arm
by a .22 caliber rifle during his 1971 performance of Shoot. 16 The 70's also welcomed acclaimed
sci-fi novelist Philip K. Dick to the Lacy Neighborhood where he would spend his days writing,
taking lunch breaks at the local Trader Joe's, and occasionally posing for photographs in front of
the Saint Joseph's Church across the street from his home.17 Meanwhile, the Floating Wall
Gallery at the Santora Building was promoting the arts 20 years before the concept of the Artist
Village began to take root.16
Santa Ana's emerging Latino majority also began to reflect the larger changes that the
70's were having on the City's artistic legacy. Santa Ana College Art Professor Shifra Goldman
worked tirelessly to advocate for Latino art and artists.19 Orange County artists Sergio O'cadiz
and Emigdio Vazquez worked together on the 1974 MECHA Mural at the Nealley Library the
Professor Goldman helped to champion. O'cadiz and Vazquez continued to create numerous
additional murals across the city that have been treasured by residents as part of the visual
experience of growing up in Santa Ana. O'cadiz was even commissioned to create the concrete
mural covering the 1973 City Hall. Around the same time that these professional artists were
experimenting with cultural symbols, Valley High School student Gilberto Rodarte worked with
friends to place Santa Ana's oldest community based murals on Civic Center and Hawley.20
However, throughout the 1980's art organizations were having a difficult time attracting
enough of an audience to support their ongoing activities compared to other parts of Orange
° Woolley, Beverly. Community Survey of Santa Ana, 1963. 41
1s Woolley, Beverly. Community Survey of Santa Ana, 1963. 42
1s Burnham, Linda Frye. "Linda's List of Artspaces in So Cal 1975-1988." Linda Frye Burnham, August 12,
2014. http://Iindaburnham.com/2014/08/lindas-list-of-artspaces-in-so-cal-1975-1988/.
17 Babcock, Jay. "Philip K. Dick: The Orange County Years." Arthur Magazine, July 2, 2009.
https://arthu rm ag.com/2009/07/02/philip-k-d ick -the -ora nge-cou nty-years/.
16 Walter Wittel. Walter Wittel Performance at Floating Wall. Accessed June 11, 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40wtxfcCOX0.
19 Woo, Elaine. "Shifra Goldman Obituary: Champion of Modern Mexican Art Dies at 85". Los Angeles
Times. September 19, 2001. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/19/local/la-me-shifra-goldman-
20110920.
2° Author interview with Gilbert Rodarte Jr. June 29th, 2016
�I M • •
County.21 By 1984 the Urban Land Institute was advocating for developing the Downtown as an
area for 'Anglo-American items', pottery, artifacts, Mexican art, live entertainment, and puppet
shows, and strolling musicians .22 The plan called for redevelopment of the Yost, establishing art
galleries on West 4th Street, and welcoming Mexican artists and musicians to serve as a
nuclei.23 This concept began to gather institutional support to move forward as an increasing
number of stakeholders began to see the economic value of creating a strong arts and culture
infrastructure.
The foundation for the current art scene was laid in place with the gradual creation of the
Grand Central Art Center, Orange County Center for Contemporary Arts, Orange County High
School of the Arts, The Wooden Floor, and Orange County Therapeutic Art Center. Outside of
the institutional realm, independent gallery spaces began to emerge to fill the art vacuum. By
the early 90's the Caged Chameleon exhibited some of Emigdio's Vazquez's works and was
being promoted by Orange Coast Magazine as a destination for alternative art 24 Additional
alternative friendly spaces like Koo's Cafe and the Dark Arts gallery began to attract coverage
from the LA times .25 The Neutral Grounds Cafe served as a safe zone for the generation of
artists creating their work in the boarded up Santora and the Calafia art gallery provided a place
for local artists to market themselves across the street from the Bowers.
In 2016 there are more public art pieces, gallery spaces, and independent artists actively
contributing to Santa Ana's arts and culture than ever before. As stewards of this legacy we
must not ignore the value of what previous generations have created. Instead we will need to
take steps to ensure that we carry on the long tradition of creativity in the Golden City.
" Woolley, Beverly. Community Survey of Santa Ana, 1963. 41
22 Urban Land Institute. Santa Ana California, an Evaluation of Redevelopment: Potential Plans and
Strategies for the City of Santa Ana, 1984. 3
23 Urban Land Institute. Santa Ana California, an Evaluation of Redevelopment: Potential Plans and
Strategies for the City of Santa Ana, 1984.
24 Communications, Emmis. Orange Coast Magazine. Emmis Communications, 1993. 31
26 Lee Romney. "Vacant Building Reborn as Santa Ana Coffeehouse: Redevelopment: A Group of
Students and Aspiring Artists Open Cafe in Hopes of Luring People back to a Friendly City." Accessed
June 11, 2016. http://articles.latimes.com/1994-09-06/local/me-35323_1_santa-ana.
�I M •
65B-70
Nonprofit Arts Organizations, Santa Ana, CA - Source: National Center for
Charitable Statistics. Cleated with batch.geo.com and Google Earth.
Ward 1 - Red
Ward 2 - Orange
Ward 3 -Yellow
Ward 4 - Green
Ward 5 - Blue
Ward 6 - Purple
65B-71
Name
Zip
Ward
1
The Child Creativity Lab
92705
1
2
Breath Of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble
92707
1
3
Academy Of International Dance
92707
1
4
Orange County Crazies Inc
92701
2
5
Orange County Historical Society
92701
2
6
Old Courthouse Museum Society
92701
2
7
Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society
92701
2
8
Orange County Center For Contemporary Art
92701
2
9
Broadway On Tour
92701
2
65B-71
10
Centro Cultural De Mexico En EI Condado De Orange
92701
2
11
Orange County Elementary Arts Academy
92701
2
12
Orange County School Of The Arts
92701
2
13
Vietnamese -American Arts And Letters Association
92706
2
14
Kavkaz Cultural Center Of California
92703
3
15
Ghostwriters Unite Incorporated
92705
3
16
American Pacific Ballet Company
92705
3
17
Society For Preservation & Encourmt Of Barbershop Quartet Singing
Amer
92705
3
18
Discovery Cube Of Orange County
92705
3
19
The Viola Workout
92706
3
20
Orange County Childrens Therapeutic Arts Center
92706
3
21
The Wooden Floor For Youth Movement
92706
3
22
Charles W Bowers Museum Corporation
92706
3
23
Orange County Fine Arts Inc
92704
4
24
Santa Ana Black Historical Society
92703
5
25
Follman-Young Foundation For The Arts
92704
6
26
Vsa Arts Of California
92704
6
27
Relampago Del Cielo Inc
92704
6
28
Heritage Museum Of Orange County
92704
6
29
Arts Orange County
92704
6
30
Orange County Heritage Council
92799
6
31
The Royal Scottish County Dance Society Orange County Branch
92799
6
65B-72
Crowdsourced
Cultural
65B-73
Crowd sourced Cultural Assets, Santa Ana, CA: Source: Santa Ana Arts
Community Survey. Created with batch.geo.com and Google Earth.
Ward 1 - Red
Ward 2 -Orange
Ward 3- Yellow
Ward 5 - Green
Ward 6 - Blue
65B-74
Name
Ward
Address
Zip
1
Green Heart Families Park and Community
Center
1
602 E Fourth
92701
2
Cambodian Family Center
1
1626 E 4th St
92701
3
Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble
1
216 E Pomona St
92704
4
Mekah Design
1
1601 S Grand Ave
92705
5
Malone's Concert Venue
1
604 E Dyer Rd
92705
6
Child Creativity Lab
1
1815 E Wilshire
92705
7
Raul Anguiano Gallery
1
2100 E. 4th Street
92705
8
TIYAA Foundation
1
505 N. Tustin Ave
92705
9
Delhi Community Center
1
505 E Central Ave
92707
10
A to Z Wholesale Flowers
1
3043 Oak St
92707
11
Santa Ana Sites
2
307 N Spurgeon
92701
12
Centro Cultural de Mexico
2
313 N Birch St
92701
13
Santa Ana Senior Center
2
424 W Third
92701
14
Photonic Playground
2
200 N Bush St
92701
15
Table 87
2
650 S Grand
92701
16
Ad Arts Building
2
10581 First St
92701
65B-74
65B-75
Name
Ward
Address
Zip
17
Birch Park
2
400 W Third
92701
18
Artists Village
2
300 W Second
92701
19
Artsy 101
2
204 E 4th St
92701
20
Batch
2
204 E 4th St
92701
21
F+ Gallery
2
661 N Poinsettia St
92701
22
Beatnik Bandito Music Emporium
2
417 N Broadway
92701
23
Marcas Gallery
2
305 E 4th St
92701
24
Wonderland Studios
2
650 S Grand
92701
25
The Smallest Art Gallery
2
207 N Broadway
92701
26
La Bodeguita
2
927 N Santiago St
92701
27
Gallery 211
2
211 N Sycamore St
92701
28
East End
2
E 4th & N
S ur eon
92701
29
Calle Cuatro Marketplace
2
E 4th & N Bush
92701
30
Orange County School of the Arts
2
1010 N Main St
92701
31
The Ebell Club Theatre
2
625 French St
92701
32
Saint City Session Santa Ana
2
600 N Main
92701
33
4th Street Market Live!
2
201 E 4th St
92701
34
Grand Central Art Center
2
125 N. Broadway
92701
35
The Barrel Room
2
324 W. 4th Street
92701
36
Logan Creatives
2
800 E. Washington
Ave
92701
37
Libreria Martinez Books & Art Gallery
2
216 N Broadway
92701
38
Patchwork
2
198 N Sycamore
92701
39
Konsept DTSA
2
204 E 4th St
92701
40
Brad Brafford LGBT Center
2
305 E. Fourth St.
92701
41
Las Comadres Book Club
2
211 N Sycamore St
92701
42
Underground DTSA
2
200 Third St
92701
43
The Yost
2
307 N Spurgeon St
92701
44
Night Gallery Ceramics
2
201 N. Main St.
92701
45
OCCCA
2
117 N Sycamore St
92701
46
Original Mikes
2
100 S Main St
92701
47
Q Art Salon
2
205 N. Sycamore
92701
48
Mikhailik Architectural Studio for Kids and
Adults
2
125 N. Broadway
92701
49
Santa Ana Train Station
2
1000 E Santa Ana
Blvd
92701
50
Santiago Lofts Art Walks
2
898 E Santa Ana
Blvd
92701
51
Blinking Owl Distillery
2
802 E Washington
Ave
92701
52
Theatre OUT
2
402 West 4th
Street
92701
65B-75
65B-76
Name
Ward
Address
Zip
53
VLVT
2
416 W 4th St
92701
54
The Portal
2
210 E 4th
92701
55
Top Acid
2
313 N Bush St
92704
56
VAALA
2
305 E 4th St
92706
57
OC Children's Therapeutic Arts
3
2215 N Broadway
92706
58
Bowers Museum
3
2002 N Main S
92706
59
Morrison Park Neighborhood Association
3
2801 N Westwood
92706
60
The Wooden Floor
3
1810 N Main St
92706
61
Santa Ana Library
5
26 Civic Center
Plaza
92701
62
Illumination Foundation Ross St House
5
1215 N. Ross
Street
92701
63
Kidsingers/First Presbyterian Church
5
600 N. Main Street
92701
64
Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society
5
120 W Civic Center
Dr
92701
65
Dr Willela Howe -Waffle House Museum
5
120 W Civic Center
D
92701
66
Kidworks
5
1902 W Chestnut
Ave
92703
67
Arts in Motion
5
4300 Westminister
92703
68
Phillips Hall Theatre, Santa Ana College
5
1530 W 17th St
92706
69
Santa Ana College Digital Media Center
5
1530 W 17th Street
92706
70
The Mix
5
1010 17th St
92706
71
Groove Productions Studio
6
2727 Croddy Way
92704
72
Heritage Museum of Orange County
6
3101 W Harvard St
92704
73
The Observatory
6
3503 S Harbor Blvd
92704
74
Immaculate Heart of Mary
6
1100 S Center St
92704
75
Seeds of Resistance
various
76
Southern California Bombazo Fandango
various
77
Concurso de Poesia
65B-76
Local Arts Agency
Census Summary
65B-77
2015 LOCAL ARTS AGENCY CENSUS
EXCERPT FROM THE AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS LOCAL ARTS AGENCY CENSUS
Americans for the Arts defines a local arts agency (LAA) as a private organization or an agency of local
government that promotes, supports, and develops the arts at the local level. LAAs are not discipline-
specific—rather, they work to sustain their entire local arts industry. Each of the 4,500 LAAs in America
is unique to the community that it serves and each evolves with its community—no two are exactly alike.
In 2015, Americans for the Arts partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts to conduct The
Local Arts Agency Census, the most comprehensive survey of the local arts agency (LAA) field ever
conducted. Its purpose was to illuminate the ever adapting role LAAs play in ensuring the arts have a
vital presence in every community.
The survey process was designed by a task force of local arts agency, research, and policy leaders to
ensure relevance and rigor. The Census was composed of both a long -form survey and a short -form
survey that were sent to the 4,377 LAAs in the United States known to Americans for the Arts. A total of
1,127 LAAs responded (641 submitted the long -form; 486 participated via the short -form), providing
invaluable details about their budgets, programs, partnerships, grantmaking, diversity, and staffing.
While the overall response rate was 26 percent, the rate of response from large- and mid-sized LAAs was
very high, while small and volunteer -driven LAAs were under -represented in the survey respondents.
The most important aspect that all LAAs share is the goal of enabling diverse forms of arts and culture to
thrive, ensuring their broad accessibility to the public and building healthier communities through the
arts. To accomplish this work, LAAs are involved in some or all of the following:
• Policy and advocacy: 95 percent champion policies and funding for broader and more equitable
access to the arts.
• Partnerships: 92 percent collaborate with a community agency or organization; 76 percent have
three or more ongoing collaborations.
• Grantmaking: 53 percent provide direct community investment in local artists and/or arts
organizations.
AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
M�l•
2015 LOCAL ARTS AGENCY CENSUS
Legal Status
Until recently, most private, nonprofit LAAs were likely to be found in smaller communities, and public
LAAs were found in medium- and larger -sized communities. The 2015 Census data, however, show a
more equal distribution of public and private agencies across population categories. What does remain
true is that most are private, nonprofit organizations (71 percent) and about three in 10 (29 percent) are
part of the local government.
Private LAAs: Of the responding private LAAs, 94 percent operate independently, 4 percent under the
umbrella of another organization (e.g. a Chamber of Commerce), and 2 percent selected 'other.' Nearly
all are 501(c)(3) nonprofits (96 percent) and almost half are designated by their local government as the
official LAA for their community (46 percent).
Revenues typically include a mixture of donations from individuals and businesses, foundation support,
earned -income activities, and grants or service contracts from government. They are likely to be engaged
in programs and services such as marketing, online art and event calendars, audience development,
volunteer recruitment, board development, and individual giving. They partner extensively with non -arts
community organizations as well as with local municipal agencies.
Public LAAs: Operate as part of the city or county and are located throughout the government at
different jurisdictional levels: 79 percent are part of city, 17 percent of county, 3 percent are part of a
unified city/county government, and 4 percent indicated another level such as a special state district.
Their largest source of revenue is from local government, and their largest expenditure is for awarding
grants and contracts to local artists and cultural institutions. They are heavily engaged in partnerships
with other city agencies.
Public LAA Revenue Sources
Private LAA Revenue Sources
e Earned
■ Private Contributions
e Government
•In-Kind/Misc
65B-79
10%
29%
2015 LOCAL ARTS AGENCY CENSUS
Public LAAs within Government
Within local government, a quarter of public LAAs are stand-alone departments or agencies (e.g., a
department of cultural affairs). The majority, however, are located under the umbrella of another
government agency. One in five public LAAs (21 percent) is part of its community's Parks & Recreation
department. Also notable is that 8 percent reside within its government's Economic Development
department. In San Jose, for example, the Office of Cultural Affairs is part of the economic development
department and the director reports directly to the Director of Economic Development.
Where You Can Find Public LAAs
INDEPENDENT agency, department, division, program, or facility within the local government 25%
Parks & Recreation
21%
City/County Manager's Office
14%
Mayor's Office
9%
Economic Development
8%
Community Development
5%
Planning
3%
Tourism
2%
City/County Clerk (or similar)
1%
Other / not listed above
11%
LAA Staff
Three in four responding LAAs (77 percent) employ at least one paid year-round staff member (either
full time or part time). Fifty-nine percent have at least one full-time paid staff person; 18 percent at
least one part-time paid employee or contractor. The remaining 23 percent are run by year-round
volunteers, such as board members (7 percent) or by seasonal paid or unpaid staff (15 percent).
AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
. '
M•
2015 LOCAL ARTS AGENCY CENSUS
Not surprisingly, the larger the organizational budget, the more likely the LAA is to have paid staff.
• Almost all (99 percent) LAAs with budgets of $100,000 or more have year-round paid staff,
either full-time or part-time. At that budget level, 88 percent of organizations have at least one
full-time paid staff, 10 percent have at least one part-time paid staff, and 1 percent has no
dedicated year-round staff'.
• Half of organizations with budgets of under $100,000 (50 percent) have year-round paid staff
who are either full-time or part-time. At that budget level, 23 percent have at least one full-time
paid staff, 27 percent have at least one paid part-time staff, 33 percent have only seasonal staff,
and 16 percent are run entirely by volunteers.
2
Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100.
e "The average LAA" means percentages were calculated first individually and then averaged for all LAAs to avoid assigning
more weight to organizations with larger staffs, budgets etc.
AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
L• •
2015 LOCAL ARTS AGENCY CENSUS
9. Community Development Programs
Over half of LAAs (57 percent) are involved in using the arts to address community development issues
ranging from youth at risk, homelessness, and illiteracy, to the creative economy, cultural districts, and
civic engagement.
49 percent are directly involved in addressing community development issues through their own
arts programming.
• 28 percent are indirectly involved—addressing key local issues through grants or contracts
awarded to artists or arts organizations in their community.
Community Development Issues Addressed by LAAs
*Percentages calculated based on the number of LAAs who address these issues.
Tourism / community identity / branding
40%
86%
36%
Economic development
34°%
86%
32%
Education
32%
81%
51%
Use of public space
29%
88%
39%
At -risk youth
28%
63%
60%
Cultural preservation
26%
68%
47%
Cultural or racial awareness
26%
67%
58%
Civic engagement
25%
79%d
38%p
Health, wellness, and medicine (mental)
16%
52%
63%
Aging
16%
54%
63%
Environmental issues
15%
64%
53%
Illiteracy / literacy
13%
54%
63%
Health, wellness, and medicine (physical)
11%
54%
60%
Local food movement
10%
66%
45%
Social equity
9%
61%
68%
Crime prevention / violence
8%
50%
70%
Homelessness
7%
27%
75%
Transportation
6%
68%
53%
14
MM •
AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
2015 LOCAL ARTS AGENCY CENSUS
Imprison mentlrehabiIitation<
6%
38%
65%
Immigration
5%
36%
70%
Housing
5%
34%
79%
Contested history
4%
50%
71%
Public safety
4%
63%
59%
Substance abuse
4%
46%
62%
Displacement
3%
42%
74%
Teen pregnancy
2%
27%
82%
Other `/ Miscellaneous / Not listed above
4%
75%
29%
10. Partnerships and Collaborations
LAAs are community connectors. Ninety-two percent maintain at least one collaboration or partnership
with public or community agencies such as a school district, Parks & Recreation Department, Social
Services, Economic Development, or a Chamber of Commerce, and 76 percent have three or more
ongoing collaborations.
Sixty percent (or higher) of LAAs partnered with these six types of non -arts organizations:
• Chambers of Commerce
• Libraries
• Local arts agencies in other cities/states
• Convention and Tourism Bureaus
• Colleges/universities/higher education
• Schools
Because partnership and collaboration can mean different things to different people, we asked
respondents to be specific about the actual work involved between the organizations. We offered five
categories of partnership and collaboration, ranging from informal conversations to actively planning and
funding programs together to the arts being fully integrated into the non -arts organizations work.
15
AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
2015 LOCAL ARTS AGENCY CENSUS
12. Services to Arts Organizations
Ninety percent of LAAs report that they provide direct services to arts organizations as a means to
facilitate the operation and responsible growth of their local arts industry and to promote greater
community participation in the arts. These services include seminars and workshops, technical
assistance, central accounting, group health insurance, and advocacy.
LAA Services to Arts Organizations
Publicity and/or promotional services
37%
59%
55%
49%
Facility space (e.g., meeting, performance)
37%
56%
45%
46%
Grants/ financial support
32%
52%
60%
44%®
Seminars and/or workshops
25%
57%
60%
44%
Convening / networking opportunities
26%
50%
66%
42%
Advocacy trainings, services, and support
18%«
44%
53%
34%
Central/shared event calendaring
25%
38%
27%
31%
Technical assistance
18%
37%
54%
31%q
Referrals
20%
38%
39%
30%
Marketing services
16%
37%
35%
28%
Registry / directory
16%
29%
30%
24%
Arts management training
8%
28%
52%
22%
Equipment loans
17%
18%
10%
16%
Shared mailing list
14%
20%
13%
16%
Volunteer recruitment
15%
15%
23%
16%
Block booking (of shows and events, etc.)
14%
16%
10%
14%
Central box office
9%
8%
4%
7%
Central accounting
4%
5%
4%
4%
Health insurance
0%
3%
6%
2%
Central purchasing
1%
3%
2%
2%
Money loans
0%
0%
8%
1%
Other /Miscellaneous / Not listed above
9%
13%
22%
12%
911
AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
2015 LOCAL ARTS AGENCY CENSUS
13. Services to Individual Artists
Eighty-eight percent of LAAs indicated offering at least one service to individual artists in their
community. Most frequently the services they provide are exhibit or performance opportunities (59
percent), marketing and promotion (44 percent), and workshops or seminars (43 percent).
LAA Services to Individual Artists
Exhibit and/or performance opportunities
59%
63%
48%
59%
Exhibit and/or gallery space
54%
65%
46%
58%
Information
47%
62%
59%
55%
Marketing / promotion
35%
53%
41%
44%
Artistic workshops / classes / seminars
39%
46%
47%
43%
Grants / financial support `;
28%
38%-
43%
34%
Artist registry
22%
39%
35%
31%
Business workshops / classes / seminars
19%
39%
46%
31%
Referrals
23%
38%
31%
31%
Residency / teaching opportunities `
28%
32%
37%
31%
Performance space
29%
32%
23%
29%
Rehearsal space
25%
24% :
17%
23%
Employment referrals / job bank
12%
18%
24%
16%
Studio space
15%
19% "'
5%
16%
Mentorship facilitation
9%
16%
17%
13%
Administrative support
13%
13%
13%
13%
Life skills training
4%
12%
23%
10%
Technology / web development
2%
5%
4%
3%
Legal assistance
0%
2%
10%
2%
Insurance
1%
1%
0%
1%
Money loans
0%
1%
2%
1%
Subsidized living space
0%
0%
2%
1%
Other
5%
2%
4%
4%
21
M •
AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
2015 LOCAL ARTS AGENCY CENSUS
14. Services to the General Public
As a means of ensuring everyone in their community has the opportunity to engage with the arts, many
LAAs have services targeted to the general public, such as online arts programming schedules, social
media, and coordinating volunteer opportunities. Services also vary by service area population. For
example, 22 percent of agencies with service area populations of 1,000,000 or more offer apps for
mobile devices, while only 6 percent of those who serve less than 100,000 do so.
LAA Services to the General Public
Calendar of cultural events (Online)
63%
76%
64%
69%
Social media updates, offers, and/or alerts
56%
70%
75%
65%
Calendar of cultural performance and/or events (E-mail)
54%
70%
55%
61%
Artistic workshops, classes, and seminars
61%
56%
39%
56%
Art -making opportunities
57%;
53%
36%
53%
Newsletters /publications
42%
57%
63%
51%
Public performances
58%
47%
39%
51%
Website resources
39%
53%
66%
48%
Festivals
47%
51%
33%
47%
Lectures/educational opportunities
41%
51%
47%
46%
Calendar of cultural performance and/or events (Print)
44%
43%
33%
42%
Directory of arts organizations
22%
44%
40%
34%
Advocacy updates
2.3%
41%
43%
33%
Directory of artists
25%
37%
31%
31%
Scholarships
31%
28%
17%
28%
Public art tours
23%
29%
34%
27%.
Community cultural guides (e.g., educational, historical)
19%
29%
33%
25%
Discounted ticket opportunities
25%
22%
31%
24%
Ticketing service (In -Person)
22%
24%
18%
23%
Ticketing service (Online)
19%
22%p
23%
21%
Bus tours / field trips
15%
23%
23%
20%
Studio tours
11%
18%
7%
14%
f
M • •
AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
MMI
Local Arts Agency
Grants Programs
M - •
Cultural District and Arts -Related Zoning Overlay Models
Portland, Oregon
Design Overlay Zone
The Design Overlay Zone promotes the conservation, enhancement, and continued vitality of
areas of the City with special scenic, architectural, or cultural value. This is achieved through
the creation of design districts and applying the Design Overlay Zone as part of community
planning projects, development of design guidelines for each district, and by requiring design
review or compliance with the Community Design Standards. In addition, design review or
compliance with the Community Design Standards ensures that certain types of infill
development will be compatible with the neighborhood and enhance the area.
https://www.portiandorellg.pov/bps/article/53342
San Antonio, Texas
Zona Cultural
The Zona Cultural is a unique and highly successful district in downtown San Antonio rich with
history and cultural and art centers. The district is 44 contiguous blocks on the west -end of
downtown where San Antonio has its roots and where the city first began. San Pedro Creek,
Main Plaza, Military Plaza, Market Square, and Alameda Theater, among dozens of other
institutions and art installations, are all located in the Zona and serve as symbols of our history
and modern culture.
The mission of the Zona Cultural is to support, develop and link concentrations of cultural,
historic, commercial and entertainment experiences authentic to San Antonio. The Zona
Cultural is where creative lifestyles, business, and education are connected and celebrated,
and where residents and visitors engage with history and the continuing evolution of the
culturally blended community.
http://downtownsanantonio.org/main/zona-cu Itu ra I
Blacksburg, Virginia
Arts and Cultural Overlays
In 2012 Blacksburg Town Council passed Ordinance 1660 establishing an Arts and Cultural
District to provide incentives in designated downtown areas. From this ordinance, three distinct
zones were created. These include a Live Work Sell Arts Overlay Zone; a Tourism Zone; and a
Creative Transitional Zone.
http://www.blapksburg.gov/commun ity/arts-and-culture/arts-and-cultural-district-
incentive -zones
Examples of Local Arts Aaencv Models
Each of the following local arts agencies were selected to provide a range of examples of arts
agency and arts commission structures as well as to illustrate the many ways that municipal
governments have managed or outsourced them.
Minneapolis in particular demonstrates how a range of programs tied to arts, culture and the
creative economy can operate within the City as well as outside it. San Antonio is included here
as an example of a robust agency with a wide range of responsibilities and programs. The
Greater Columbus Arts Council was established by the Chamber of Commerce and today
operates as a separate nonprofit that receives a majority of its funding through a contract with
the City.
Pasadena, CA
Arts and Culture Commission and the Cultural Affairs Division
Housed in: Planning and Community Development Department.
Type: City agency
Staff: 2.75 FTE
Budget: $855,000; not including the Capital Public Art Fund which varies from year to
year depending on current projects, in 2015 is was $166,000.
Structure: The Pasadena Arts Commission advises the City Council on matters pertaining
to the City's arts and cultural program which: fosters public and private partnerships for
providing arts and cultural programs for the youth of Pasadena; promotes access for the public
to the highest quality arts opportunities possible; promotes the work of artists and art groups
and celebrates the City for its ethnic diversity, creativity, and its leadership in arts and culture;
provides grants-in-aid to individual and group artists, cultural groups, and arts organizations;
and encourages the provision of cultural and artistic facilities and features in public and
commercial construction.
The Commission appoints peer panels for specified time periods to: select public art and art in
public places; review and evaluate requests for funding; and advise the Commission on the
allocation of funds from the Cultural Trust Fund.
The Division is charged with the implementation of Cultural Nexus Plan, the 10 -year cultural
plan, the public art in private development and capital improvement programs, and the highly
anticipated Pasadena Arts Night, bi-annual community arts gatherings for Pasadena's citizenry.
The Annual Grants Program is designed to support the creative life of Pasadena through four
grant categories. The Program expands public access to the arts by supporting the work of the
individual artist, bringing the creative process into the classroom, funding annual festivals and
parades as well as planning for and programs in cultural institutions. The programs and
initiatives funded under the arts grants program serve more than 200,000 citizens each year.
In 2015 the City Council adopted Pasadena's first public art master plan while the Division
implemented a new public art initiative, the Rotating Public Art Exhibition Program, which places
temporary artwork City -owned property throughout the city. It began with 11 works displayed.
budget of $855,OOOThis line item does not include the Capital Public Art Fund which varies from
year to year depending on current projects, but was $166,000 in 2015.
Minneapolis MN
Minneapolis Arts Commission and Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Program
Housed in: Department of Community Planning and Economic Development — Planning
Division
Type: City agency
Structure: 17 members; comprised of 5 artists, 5 arts administrators, 7 laypersons.
Council and Mayoral appointments from applications. Seek balance of geographic distribution,
experience in or with the arts, connections with the community, ethnic diversity and
representation from a range of artistic, disciplines. No more than three consecutive three-year
terms
Mission: To encourage arts participation, arts support, and arts making in the City of
Minneapolis and to advise the city council and city departments on all arts -related capital
investments, plans, programs, projects and evaluation.
Public Art Program
Public Art Program is housed in the Long Range Planning Division. Art in Public Places is
comprised of six areas of regular work activity which include art in public places, conservation,
technical assistance to other agencies, public art policy, proposals for art on city property,
proposals for art on private property. It is funded through 1.5% of the Net Debt Bonds each year.
Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Program
This model is included for its approach to both public art (within the City's Planning Department)
and its focus on support for arts and creativity through the Arts, Culture and Creative Economy
program. In Minneapolis, arts organizations are funded and provided other organizational
supports through the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, allowing the City government to focus
its work on the Arts, Culture and Creative Economy (ACCE) program (housed in the City
Coordinator's Office) that supports the arts and creativity in economic development.
The ACCE Program:
• Leverages the Creative Sector towards social and economic growth in the City of
Minneapolis.
• Coordinates arts and creative economy activities;
• Works with the Minneapolis Arts Commission; and,
• Develops arts, culture and creative industry policies around economic development and
programs for the City of Minneapolis.
ACCE focuses on promoting and coordinating City resources to develop the arts as a generator
for economic and social growth in alignment with the following City goals:
• One Minneapolis — residents are informed, see themselves represented in City
government and have the opportunity to influence decision making.
• A hub of economic activity and innovation — entrepreneurs are supported while sector
strengths (such as arts) are leveraged.
• Living well — residents and visitors have ample arts, cultural, entertainment and
recreational opportunities.
• Great places - iconic, inviting streets, spaces and buildings create a sense of place and
welcome our growing and diversifying population with thoughtful planning and design.
One example is Creative CityMaking Minneapolis (CCM) a multi-year, arts -based innovation
initiative within Minneapolis City government designed to advance City priorities through in-
depth collaborations between City departments and highly skilled community artists. Creative
CityMaking Minneapolis is a leading-edge program stewarded by Intermedia Arts, the region's
premier multidisciplinary, multicultural arts center, and the ACCE program at the City of
Minneapolis. Leveraging the power of the creative process as a resource for the City to make
progress on complex challenges, CCM matches experienced community artists with
departmental projects generating new intersections.
Columbus, OH
Columbus Arts Commission and Greater Columbus Arts Council
Columbus Arts Commission
The Columbus Art Commission (CAC) was established by Columbus City Code: Chapter 3115.
CAC members serve without compensation and are appointed by the mayor with the approval of
council. The seven -member commission is comprised of individuals experienced and interested
in the arts, landscape architecture and architecture.
The Arts Commission is housed in the City Planning Department and is charged with oversight
of the public art program. The primary role of the CAC is to approve all art purchased,
commissioned, or accepted as a gift by the City, as well as all art proposed for placement
anywhere within the Public Right of Way or on property owned or leased by the City. CAC
approval is also necessary before any art subject to their approval can be in any way altered or
removed.
The Greater Columbus Arts Council
http://www. gcac. o rg/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/G CAC -An n u al -Report -2015. pdf
The Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) is a nonprofit local arts agency established by the
Chamber of Commerce in 1973 and funded through a contract with the City of Columbus. In that
year, City Council set aside funds to be administered in a grants program by GCAC. Properly
incorporated, nonprofit arts and arts -related organizations serving the citizens of Columbus
would be eligible for funds, which in 1973 totaled $50,000.
In 2015, the City allocated the GCAC $6,289,803 from their hotel/motel taxes to fund, in part,
twenty-six grants totaling $2.8 million for Operating Support and 48 grants totaling $486,737 for
Project Support. In addition, more than $175,000 supported individual artists (supply grants,
65B-91
professional development convenings, artist fellowships and exchanges) and nearly $200,000
provided for capacity building and community impact programs in nonprofit arts organizations.
This model has the dual purpose of enabling the City to manage the art in public spaces
program as it aligns with City planning needs, while allowing the larger role of support and
funding for the arts and culture community at large to be managed by a dedicated organization.
The City is viewed as supportive but is not charged with administering it.
An example of best practices programming is GCAC's Individual Artist Fellowship programs that
provide unrestricted grants to artists of outstanding talent and ability who currently live in the city
of Columbus and/or Franklin County, and have done so for at least one year. Grants in 2015
ranged from $500 to $10,000 and were given to 46 visual and performing artists.
Since the Arts Council's Individual Artist Fellowship program was established in 1986 more than
210 awards have been given in a variety of disciplines. Programs have included visual arts,
crafts, film and video, creative writing, music composition and choreography/movement arts.
Awards are offered in Visual Arts (2D, 3D, photography, and crafts), Media Arts,
Dance/Choreography, Literature and Playwright categories each year.
Oklahoma City
The Oklahoma City Arts Commission and Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
Housed in: City Planning Department.
Staff: 1.5 FTE
Structure: The Oklahoma City Arts Commission is primarily an advisory body with the staff
dedicated to public art. Another nonprofit organization is responsible for major arts and cultural
events and programs in Oklahoma City and
The Oklahoma City Arts Commission was created to advise City Council on artistic, cultural and
aesthetic matters to insure that the City will be attractive and culturally rich. The Commission is
comprised of 15 members, appointed by the Mayor and approved by Council. Six members
serve at large. The Arts Council of Oklahoma City and the Allied Arts Foundation are each
represented by one member. Three members are professional artists, performers and/or
architects. Four members represent other arts and cultural organizations.
The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs in Oklahoma City is a component of the Planning
Department which works with the Arts Commission. Its charges include providing liaison
services for public art initiatives and guiding stewardship of the public art collection as well as
facilitating and implementing the City's cultural planning, the relationships between artists,
cultural organizations, and other groups, and advancing arts and cultural awareness and
coordination in the community.
San Antonio, TX
Department for Culture and Creative Development and the Cultural Arts Board
Housed in: City Managers Office, overseen by an Assistant City Manager also responsible
for Center City Development and Operations; the Convention & Visitors Bureau, Eastpointe &
Real Estate and Office of Historic Preservation
65B-92
Staff: 22 FTE
Total Appropriation: $10,941,745 ($5,970,296 is grants to arts agencies)
Funding Source: Hotel Occupancy Tax
Four Work Areas: Public Art; SA Film Commission; Cultural Facilities; Arts Agencies
The Department for Culture and Creative Development (DCCD) supports San Antonio's creative
industry through research, financial investment, planning, events, and programs tailored to
position the arts as an asset that fuels economic development, cultural tourism, and
neighborhood revitalization. DCCD invests in the creative industry through an annual
competitive funding process that supports the operations, events, and projects provided by arts
and cultural organizations and artists. DCCD also stimulates participation in arts by developing
and implementing marketing strategies that give citizens and visitors access to the arts, and
positioning San Antonio as an exciting place to live, work, and visit. The Cultural Arts Board
(CAB) and the Public Art Board (PAB) are appointed by the Mayor and City Council to advise on
policies and procedures for the office.
Public Art: Public Art San Antonio (PASA) is the City of San Antonio's program that is
responsible for managing public art projects and programs. The public art projects managed
include those associated with the City's capital improvement roarams that connect to the
community through exhibits, presentations, outreach and planning initiatives. PASA works
directly with all City departments and supports local public art efforts of artists, community
groups, partnership organizations and outside agencies. Along with managing public art
projects, PASA also manages programs such as RESYMBOL that feature artworks created by
local artists and activate the downtown cityscape with thoughtfully integrated works. PASA also
manages and programs Culture Commons, made up of a two-story storefront gallery and multi-
purpose exhibit hall in the newly renovated Plaza de Armas building in the heart of Center City.
SA Film Commission: The mission of the San Antonio Film Commission, or Film San
Antonio, is to promote the art and craft of filmmaking in San Antonio to positively affect the City's
economy. The Film Commission can help with location scouting and government liaison
services. We also offer online crew and resource information including casting calls.
Arts Funding: The goal of the Arts Funding and Contract Division is to invest in arts and
cultural programs that deliver excellence, innovation and engage audiences in the unique
experience of San Antonio. To achieve this goal, the Arts Funding and Contract Division has
designed five distinctive programs that support a wide range of arts and cultural organizations,
individual artists, artist collectives and neighborhood groups to collectively animate the
economic vitality of the arts for our diverse community:
65B-93
Models of Local Arts Agency Grants Programs
The following are examples of arts and culture funding initiatives implemented by model local arts
agencies nationwide. They are organized by funding area.
Arts and Culture Organization Grants
San Antonio, TX — Department for Culture and Creative Development
(http://www.getoreativesanantonio. com/ArtsFunding. aspx)
Cultural Arts Operational Support
Multi-year awards that strengthen non-profit arts and cultural agencies with a base of financial
support for operations.
stART Place
One-year awards available to arts organizations, neighborhood associations, and local
artists/artists collectives to support creative projects that provide meaningful community
enrichment and transformation
Technical and Economic Development Assistance
Ongoing competitive assistance program that provides awards designed to help local non-profit
arts and cultural agencies as well as individual artists with small awards aimed at providing
professional assistance in the areas of organizational stability, fiscal management and
professional growth.
San Diego, CA - City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture
https://www. sandiego.gov/arts-culture
Organizational Support Program
The Organizational Support Program (OSP) provides operational support to San Diego's
nonprofit arts and culture organizations through a competitive contracts for services process. It
is the largest grants program for arts organizations in the City of San Diego, funding more than
85 arts and culture nonprofit organizations each year. Organizations are recommended for
funding by the Commission for Arts and Culture following a rigorous application and review
process. Proposals are ranked on a scale of 1 to 4 with rank, annual operating income and total
available funds determining final contracts to organizations.
Organizations are reviewed on a variety of metrics including financial stability, efforts to achieve
diversity in programming, leadership and audiences, educational programs and cultural tourism
impact. The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture is solely funded through a
percentage of the Transient Occupancy Tax.
Cultural Equity, Cultural Exchange
Portland, OR - Regional Arts and Culture Council
(https.-Ilracc.org/grants/)
Arts Equity Grant Program
The Arts Equity Grant program (formerly the Expanding Cultural Access Grant program)
provides financial support to organizations conducting arts and culture projects and
programming for communities of color, immigrants, refugees, underserved neighborhoods,
�.
•.
persons with disabilities, LGBTQ communities, and other under -represented communities. The
goal of this grant program is to further RACC's commitment to ensuring that everyone in our
region has equal access to arts and the fundamental right to express their culture through the
arts.
San Francisco, CA - San Francisco Arts Commission
(http://www. sfartscommission. org/CAE/grants/gran t -programs -and -applications/)
Artists and Communities in Partnership — Arts and Social Change
The Artists and Communities in Partnership (ACIP) grant program offers up to $20,000 of
project support for arts organizations and community-based organizations empowering
underserved communities through the arts. ACIP seeks to foster social justice and equity,
centering artists as leaders for social change. We prioritize funding to partnerships rooted in
historically underserved communities.
San Jose, CA - San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs
(www. sanj o se cu It u re. o rg )
Arts and Cultural Exchange Grants
(http://www.sanjoseculture.org/index.aspx?NID=4907)
The City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs will award a limited number of Arts and Cultural Exchange
Grants to support international artists to travel to San Jose and for San Jose -based artists and art
professionals to travel internationally for art -related activities. Request must come from a San Jose
nonprofit organization, artist or arts professional. Grant awards will range from $2,500 to $5,000 and
maybe used for a variety of arts -related activities including but not limited to performances, exhibitions,
lectures, and/or research. Eligibility is not limited to any particular country, priority will be given to
exchanges that advance the relationship between the City of San Jose and its Sister Cities, as well as
international cities connected to San Jose via direct flights.
Placemaking, Festivals and Events
Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs: (http://culturela.org)
Arts Activation Fund
(http://culturela.org/grants-and-calls/arts-activation-fund/)
The DCA Arts Activation Fund (AAF) supports creative, community -benefit projects in site-
specific areas of Los Angeles. AAF is a bi-monthly fund to support "creative-placemaking"
projects in neighborhoods or near the City of LA's designated Great Streets. Grants up to
$15,000.
San Antonio Department for Culture and Creative Development
(http://www.getoreativesanantonio. com/ArtsFunding.aspx)
Festivals and Community Celebrations
One-year awards available to arts organizations, community groups, artists or artist collectives
to further the presentation, production and preservation of arts and cultural programs that are
unique to the San Antonio experience.
San Francisco Arts Commission (http://www.sfartscommission.org/CAE/grants/grant-
programs-and-applicationsl)
65B-95
Arts for Neighborhood Vitality — Festivals and Events Funding
The Arts for Neighborhood Vitality grant was founded to support small, neighborhood -centered,
publicly accessible art walks and festivals where art and culture are main components. Projects
should be an event—rather than an ongoing program—and should highlight the integration of
arts and economic vitality of the specific neighborhood. Applicants may not apply for multiple
grants from the Arts Commission to support the same project. Grants are awarded directly to the
applicant or fiscal sponsor responsible for managing the project and the budget.
Tucson, AZ — Tucson Pima Arts Council (Tucsonpimaartscouncil.org)
PeoDle. Land. Arts Culture. Engagement: Festival Heritage and Community Celebrations
Initiativ_e_(http://www.tucsonpimaartscounci1.org/wp-content/uploads/2011 /08/PLACE -VI -AP PL -
2015 -2016-D R9. pdf)
The PLACE Initiative Grant is designed to leverage resources and talent within the region to
create arts -based civic engagement projects. In 2015 PLACE VI grants focused on Festival,
Heritage and Community celebrations that occur within Tucson or Pima County. PLACE VI
builds upon the agency's ongoing PLACE Initiative, an arts -based civic engagement platform
designed to encourage community cultural development activities, creating a sense of social
belonging and civic well-being.
PLACE VI highlights and supports the region's informal art and/or heritage practices that exist in
a neighborhood and builds a greater awareness of our region's distinctness and identity. It
strives to enhance one's understanding of the common good and provides a place for
community engagement. It encourages individuals to interact
to achieve common purpose that enlivens a healthy, just and vibrant civil society.
Projects could take the form of arts festivals, public programs or projects, including civic
engagement practices embedded in folk life, heritage practices and neighborhood cultural
activities
Creative Economic Development
Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs: (http://Culturela.org)
http://culturela. org/grants-and-calls/crea tive-economic-development-fund/
Creative Economic Development Fund
With support from the Surdna Foundation, the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) and the City
of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) have partnered together to create the
Creative Economic Development Fund (CEDF). CEDF is a funding opportunity for projects that
will help launch startup ventures or expand micro -sized creative enterprises with five or fewer
employees. The objective is to support creative enterprises that will have a positive economic
development impact in the City of Los Angeles. The partnership will provide grants to
independent businesses, self-employed artists or cultural producers, artist collectives, or
nonprofit organizations with earned income activities that use commercial strategies in pursuit of
an arts or cultural mission. Grants up to $12,500.
Artists in Residence
Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs: (http://Culturela.org)
(http://culturela. org/gran ts-and-calls/artists-in-residence-program/)
Artist in Residence Program
MZO•
The Residency Program supports artists in providing community-based, participatory projects in
self-selected non -arts venues throughout the City of Los Angeles in order to gather, connect,
and inspire audiences with underserved or little exposure to artistic and cultural opportunities.
Residency projects engage participants in a series of artist -led workshops that are highly
participatory and/or educational, and which match thoughtful and meaningful exchanges with
appropriate audiences at host organizations in each City Council District. Grants from $4,000 to
$8,000.
San Francisco Arts Commission
(http://www. sfartscommission. org/CAE/grants/gran t-programs-and-app/ica tions/)
The WritersCorps Teaching Artist in Residence
A three year grant, renewed annually, that provides support to individual teaching artists to offer
free, long-term, in-depth literacy—focused arts workshops to youth at San Francisco community
sites. Sites may include in -school or after-school classes and must include complementary
programming with a neighborhood branch of the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). The
communities prioritized by the grant may include, but are not limited to, youth who are low-
income, impacted by the justice system, pregnant or parenting teens, and/or English language
learners.
Individual Artist Grants
Columbus, OH - Greater Columbus Arts Council
(http.-Ilwww.gcac.org/grants-services/f`or-artists/)
Supply Grants
Grants of up to $500 to offset the cost of supplies to create new work will be considered. For
example: filmmakers can use this grant to purchase film stock; visual artists can purchase paint
or canvas; dancers can purchase music or specialty shoes, etc.
Professional Development Grants
Grants of up to $1,000 to offset the costs of professional development opportunities. Examples
of eligible activities would be master technique classes, enhancing business skills or attending
professional conferences where development opportunities exist.
Performing Artist Travel Grants
Grants of up to $1,500 to offset the costs of traveling for performance opportunities are
considered. Examples of eligible expenses would be airfare, car rental/fuel, lodging, meals, etc.
Film Finishing Funds
Grants of up to $2,500 to offset the cost of post production or completion expenses for artists
with film projects. Examples include editing, sound, or any other expense for the completion of a
film project.
The Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Memorial Fund for Research and Development
Grants of up to $1,000 to offset the costs of traveling for research and development. This can be
related to conceptual research or technical research. Examples of eligible expenses would be
airfare, car rental/fuel, lodging, meals, etc.
Individual Artist Fellowships
GCAC partners with local arts and culture organizations to offer fellowship programs in the
following disciplines: Visual Arts, Dance, Media Arts (Film/Video), Music, Choral Composition
and Playwriting.
4
65B-97
San Antonio, TX — Department for Culture and Creative Development
(http.-Ilwww.getcreativesanantonio.com/ArtsFunding.aspx)
Artist Re -Granting
One-year awards made to non-profit arts organizations whose mission is the funding of local
professional artist advancement. Through the program DCCD wants to enhance both the
creative vitality of our community and the awareness that San Antonio is an excellent
destination for artists of all genres to live and work.
/. ?11111
Examples
AMERICANS
Im"heARTS
STATEMENT ON
AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
STATEMENT ON CULTURAL EQUITY
To support a full creative
life for all, Americans
for the Arts commits to
championing policies and
practices of cultural equity
that empower a just,.
inclusive, equitable nation.
■ DEFINITION OF CULTURAL EQUITY
Cultural equity embodies the values, policies, and practices that ensure that
all people—including but not limited to those who have been historically
underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation, gender,
socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion—are represented
in the development of arts policy; the support of artists; the nurturing of accessible,
thriving venues for expression; and the fair distribution of programmatic, financial,
and informational resources.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & AFFIRMATIONS
• In the United States, there are systems of power that grant privilege and access
unequally such that inequity and injustice result, and that must be continuously
addressed and changed.
• Cultural equity is critical to the long-term viability of the arts sector.
• We must all hold ourselves accountable, because acknowledging and challenging
our inequities and working in partnership is how we will make change happen.
• Everyone deserves equal access to a full, vibrant creative life, which is essential
to a healthy and democratic society.
• The prominent presence of artists challenges inequities and encourages alternatives.
■ MODELING THROUGH ACTION
To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, we strive to...
• Pursue cultural competency throughout our organization through substantive
learning and formal, transparent policies.
• Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs,
and services, and report organization progress.
• Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board,
staff, and advisory bodies.
FUELING FIELD PROGRESS
To pursue needed systemic change related to equity, we strive to...
• Encourage substantive learning to build cultural competency and to proliferate
pro -equity policies and practices by all of our constituencies and audiences.
• Improve the cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and
policies that foster leadership that reflects the full breadth of American society.
• Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity
to make incremental, measurable progress toward cultural equity more visible.
• Advocate for public and private -sector policy that promotes cultural equity.
65B-102
AMERICANS
fortheART✓
This Statement on Cultural Equity was crafted and unanimously adopted by
the Americans for the Arts Board of Directors and staff in April of 2016, and
was inspired and informed by the work, commitment, feedback, and insights of
more than 150 local, state, and national partners from both inside and outside
the arts. It is our hope that this Statement, or some version of it, inspires and
informs you as well.
We encourage you to use it, share it, think about it, and adopt or adapt it for
your organization and community.
Find out more, including how we and many other inspiring organizations and
individuals are taking action toward healthier, more vibrant, more equitable
communities, at www.AmericansForTheArts.org/CulturalEcluity,
At Americans for the Arts, we believe in all the arts for all the people.
With more than 50 years of service, we are dedicated to representing
and serving local communities, and creating opportunities for every
` American to have equal access to a full, vibrant creative life, which
is essential to a healthy and democratic society.
Please feel free to adopt or adapt this language as you would like, or to just
use it for some amount of inspiration. All that we ask Is that you email
clord®artsusa.org to tell us your story if and when you successfully create
the Statement that is right for your organization!
To support a full creative life for all, Your Organization commits to
championing policies and practices of cultural equity that empower a
just, inclusive, equitable nation.
DEFINITION OF CULTURAL EQUITY
Cultural equity embodies the values, policies, and practices that ensure that all people—
including but not limited to those who have been historically underrepresented based on
race/ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, geography,
citizenship status, or religion—are represented in the development of arts policy; the
support of artists; the nurturing of accessible, thriving venues for expression; and the fair
distribution of programmatic, financial, and informational resources.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & AFFIRMATIONS
• In the United States, there are systems of power that grant privilege and access
unequally such that inequity and injustice result, and that must be continuously
addressed and changed.
• Cultural equity is critical to the long-term viability of the arts sector.
• We must all hold ourselves accountable, because acknowledging and challenging
our inequities and working in partnership is how we will make change happen.
• Everyone deserves equal access to a full, vibrant creative life, which is essential to a
healthy and democratic society.
• The prominent presence of artists challenges inequities and encourages
alternatives.
MODELING THROUGH ACTION
To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, we strive to...
• Pursue cultural competency throughout our organization through
substantive learning and formal, transparent policies.
• Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems,
programs, and services, and report organization progress.
• Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within
our board, staff, and advisory bodies.
FUELING FIELD PROGRESS
To pursue needed systemic change related to equity, we strive to...
• Encourage substantive learning to build cultural competency and to
proliferate pro -equity policies and practices by all of our constituencies and
audiences.
65B-104
• Improve the cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting
programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the full breadth of
American society.
• Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related
to equity to make incremental, measurable progress towards cultural equity more
visible.
• Advocate for public and private -sector policy that promotes cultural equity.
65B-105
AGN. NO.
MOTION BY SUPERVISORS HILDA L. SOLIS AND
MARK RIDLEY-THOMAS OCTOBER 27, 2015
As the County of Los Angeles (County) is recognized around the world as a
leader in the arts, its Arts Commission should be at the forefront of encouraging a
constructive County -wide conversation about ways to improve diversity in cultural
organizations, in the areas of their leadership, staffing, programming, and audience
composition. This dialogue is an important first step in developing a thoughtful analysis
and response to recent data indicating a lack of diversity at all levels in many arts
organizations.
For example, on July 29, 2015, the Mellon Foundation issued the first
comprehensive survey of diversity in American Art Museums in conjunction with the
Association of Art Museum Directors and the American Alliance of Museums. The
survey was undertaken to replace anecdotal evidence with hard data. It provides the
first statistical baseline against which progress can be measured for diversifying the
field. Important findings from the study of diversity at museums include:
• Minorities are significantly underrepresented in top positions: As one of
its chief findings, the study documented that among museum leaders, only 4
percent are African American and 3 percent are Hispanic.
MOTION
SOLIS
RIDLEY-THOMAS
KUEHL
KNABE
ANTONOVICH
MOTION BY SUPERVISORS HILDA L. SOLIS AND MARK RIDLEY-THOMAS
OCTOBER 27, 2015
PAGE 2
• Women are in the pipeline for top museum positions: The study found
that there has been a significant movement toward gender equality in art
museums with women now comprising 60 percent of museum staffs and a
majority in the curatorial, conservation, and education positions. These high
level jobs can be a pipeline toward higher leadership positions.
• Minorities have no significant pipeline for leadership positions: The
survey found that no such pipeline for leadership exists for individuals from
underrepresented communities. Although they represent 28 percent of
museum staff, the great majority of these workers are concentrated in
security, facilities, and other jobs that generally are not a pipeline to
leadership positions.
Elizabeth Merritt, Director of AAM's Center for the Future of Museums, noted
during the release of the study that "To thrive in the long term, it is crucial that museums
bring the demographic profile of their staff into alignment with that of the communities
they serve."
The City of New York and others have recognized that diversifying the arts field
is an important challenge not only for museums, but for all arts institutions, including the
performing arts. As a result, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
(Department) launched a major initiative in January of 2015 that includes a
demographic study of the diversity of boards and staff of New York City arts
institutions. The purpose of the study, whose results will be made available within a few
months, is to create a baseline that will help inform more meaningful City-wide
conversation around this issue of diversity and provide an underpinning for adopting
new strategies and implementing best practices to further diversify the field.
The New York initiative includes "peer-to-peer discussions about the successes
and challenges" they experience related to cultivating a diverse field. A major goal is to
"identify and celebrate best practices regarding the cultivation of workforce, leadership,
and audience diversity for adaptation by the field." The Department has noted that "this
65B-107
MOTION BY SUPERVISORS HILDA L. SOLIS AND MARK RIDLEY-THOMAS
OCTOBER 27, 2015
PAGE 3
project has met with enthusiasm from its grantees as well as partners at major
philanthropies, who are all eager to work together to address challenges and share best
practices for this issue."
In its most recent annual report on the status of the arts in Los Angeles, the Otis
School of Design noted that the Los Angeles Region is the creative capital of the state
as well as the nation, with one out of every seven jobs in the County being generated
from an arts -related field. The 2014 Otis Report on the Creative Economy found that
there are almost 200,000 people working in 79 creative occupations in the
County. Nearly half of these creative occupations in the County require less than a
four-year college degree. These findings highlight the importance of opening up job
opportunities in the arts to a wider demographic and including arts instruction in all of
our schools. Currently, Arts for All, the County's initiative dedicated to making the arts
core in K-12 public education, works with 59 out of 81 school districts within the County.
There are a number of "promising practices" to encourage individuals from
underrepresented communities to enter the arts as a career and have a pipeline to
leadership positions. The County's annual Arts Internship Program, coordinated by the
Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Getty Foundation, provides nearly 250
undergraduate interns with meaningful on-the-job training and experiences at the
leading arts institutions in Los Angeles, while also developing future arts leaders to
serve in staff positions, as board members and leaders in nonprofit and civic arts
organizations. The program is the largest paid arts internship program in the country. In
addition, foundation -funded programs like the pilot program of undergraduate curatorial
fellowships at a number of museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
open museums as potential workplaces to students belonging to historically
underrepresented minority groups.
Indeed, as demographics change, diversifying audiences is another challenge;
one which may well be the key to future sustainability of many arts institutions. As the
2014 James Irvine Foundation -funded report called "Making Meaningful Connections"
65B-108
MOTION BY SUPERVISORS HILDA L. SOLIS AND MARK RIDLEY-THOMAS
OCTOBER 27, 2015
PAGE 4
pointed out, "the participant mix for the majority of cultural institutions remains largely
unmixed. It is still the rare cultural organization whose regular participants truly reflect
the socio-economic, ethnic or generational demographics of its wider community."
In an effort to reach out and engage a wider, more inclusive audience, the Los
Angeles County Music Center facilitates a public engagement program which draws
thousands of new, diverse, and younger arts participants. This initiative aims to ensure
the future of that important performing arts institution and was launched with support of
the James Irvine Foundation. Last month, the Music Center Board adopted a Diversity
Framework indicating their commitment to greater inclusion in all aspects of their
organization, from their board and staff to their programming and audiences.
Given that Los Angeles is arguably the most diverse county in the country, as
well as the creative capital of the nation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission
should play a leadership role in implementing model programs and leading discussions
about how to ensure that arts organizations appropriately reflect the diversity of our
communities throughout the organization, including on their boards and in their staff, as
well as in audience members, performances, exhibits, and educational programming.
WE THEREFORE MOVE THAT THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
Direct the Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission to:
1. Establish an advisory group of diverse art/community leaders to work with
arts -related institutions within the County to develop recommendations for
ways to enhance the participation and leadership of individuals from
underrepresented communities in the arts.
2. Work with the arts field and nonprofit and foundation leaders to identify "best
practices" being utilized around the country to expand the diversity of
audience members, exhibits, and performances and encourage individuals
from underrepresented communities to enter the arts as a career, creating a
pipeline for them to access leadership positions.
65B-109
MOTION BY SUPERVISORS HILDA L. SOLIS AND MARK RIDLEY-THOMAS
OCTOBER 27, 2015
PAGE 5
3. Work with each County Department to identify ways in which arts can be
integrated into their programing and make recommendations for
enhancements and how they can contribute to the dialogue.
4. Establish a close working relationship with the New York Cultural Affairs
Department, whose consultant is compiling "best practices" to inform their
work, as well as with others doing similar work, to benefit from their
experiences and findings.
5. Report back to the Board within 180 days in writing with a status report on
recommendations and a final report within a year that would lead to (1)
greater access to arts jobs by individuals from underrepresented
communities, including in leadership positions, and (2) more diverse arts
boards, staff, audience members, and programming at appropriate arts
institutions. The report should also include the results of the discussions with
each County Department to integrate arts into their programming. The
estimated cost of proposed initiatives should be included.
SUP: HLS
(AA/RT)
Ma
65B-110