San Diego Visual Arts Network: Sharing our Mission

 

Artwork by Patricia Frischer

As the founder and coordinator of the San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN) and as a working artist, I want to share our revised Mission, Vision, Core Value and Commitment with you.  

Mission
The San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN) is committed to connecting and promoting visual artists with organizations and the public to create a vibrant, collaborative art ecosystem across San Diego County. We are dedicated to celebrating creativity, amplifying the  diversity of voices, and enhancing access to the arts for all.

Vision
We envision a thriving, inclusive, and dynamic San Diego visual arts community that values artists, engages the public, and uses art as an economic driver while enriching the lives of its residents.

Core Values

1. The visual artist is central  to our mission.
2. Mentorship: Legacy building can only be achieved generation to generation
3. Education: We foster art education as a tool for empowerment and lifelong learning for artist as well as enthusiast.
4. Recognition: Mapping is one way we can identify all the participants in our cultural ecosystem. Awards, exhibitions, reports help us recognize excellence.
5. Collaboration: We cultivate meaningful connections among artists, galleries, museums, community groups, and local government. An infrastructure of spokespersons is our strength.
6. Inclusion: There is a type of  artist for every sort of appreciator. Artist should not have to pay to display. There is a balance of genre, ethnicity, age and even mediums in our programs.
7. Accessibility: We are committed to reducing barriers to art appreciation and participation.

Commitments

• Artist Advocacy: We will advocate for additional funding,  organized visibility, and opportunities for local artists.
• Community Dialogue: We nurture relationships between artists and the public through events, workshops, exhibitions, blogs, social media and community partnerships.
• Cultural Preservation: We will honor San Diego’s diverse cultural heritage and shine light on underrepresented visual artists.
• Digital Presence: We continue to develop an accessible online platform for connecting, promoting, and discovering San Diego’s visual arts community.

Join us in building a stronger arts community! Whether you’re an artist, curator, collector, administrator or art enthusiast, there’s a place for you in the San Diego Visual Arts Network. Together, we can shape San Diego into a world class visual art destination.

SD Art Prize 2024, Gabriel Boils, Francisco Eme, Marisol Rendon.

Patricia Frischer, patricia@sdvisualarts.net 760.943.0148

Improving the Process for Public Art for the County of San Diego.

Anne Mudge's sculpture installation in County Admin building

A recent survey was done with art professionals and artists who have been involved with public art projects for the County of San Diego by our County Commission for Arts and Culture. The result of that survey were made public as is in keeping with all work of the commission. What follows is my brief summary of that document.

The survey ended with the goal of a public art program. But I am choosing to put that first:

• Celebrate community and local artists by putting art in public spaces within the community which expands access to the arts. Public Art inspires, educates, and creates an interesting, beautiful experience for people.
• To welcome visitors to the project sites to show what makes us a world class city.
• Centralize administration of a public art program under the Arts and Culture Program and standardize the implementation of the ordinance to meet national best practices i.e. a facilitation between government and art.   
• To tell the story of San Diego County and to show the diversity of artists in both rural and city sites.

·   

·    Let then go to what works well with the County of San Diego’s public art process:

The reinstatement of the County Art Commission is viewed as a great development with the engagement of the Commission’s Public Art Committee now involved with each project.  When qualified professional public art project management collaborate with the County facilities director and contractors/inspectors who have experience with art installations, the projects go more smoothly.

Now,  what doesn’t work well with the County public art process?

• The 0.5% allocation for public art is seen as low and has not increased over time, making it challenging to have the desired impact.
• .The County's artist agreement is problematic for artists, as it takes away their copyrights and ownership, and the language needs to be revised to better support both the artists and the County.
• There is a need for clear and transparent guidelines and SOP applicable to all projects.  
• Consistent community input in the selection and discussion process does not always happen.

Finally,  what are the recommendations and challenges  to improve the County public art process to make it more efficient, inclusive, or impactful for artists, communities, and other stakeholders?

• The 0.5% allocation for public art should be increased to 1%.
• The feedback suggests that providing mentorship or consulting support for artists who have not created public sculpture before would be beneficial. Allowing data on why work was rejected will help to improve future submissions.
• Updating the current county public art ordinance to reflect national standards by adopting policies and guidelines for various aspects of the public art program. For example: simplifying the language in RFPs to be more artist-friendly and building insurance needs into the budget to support artists.
• Increasing the involvement and reporting to the County Art Commission, with the qualified public art consultants working as partners.
• Allowing artists to retain copywrite of their own and be able promote that artwork
• Publishing an art inventory and a comprehensive art policy booklet outlining best practices and clarity would benefit all parties.
• Centralizing the implementation and administration of the ordinance with a qualified public art professional as an employer of the department.
• Standardizing the system for public input and making sure it is presented in multiple languages.

The recommendations emphasize the need for a more inclusive approach to public art installations. Many of the above recommendation would move to a more equitable systems for less experienced artists as well.   

We are so pleased to announce 4 large artists commissioned project in the county:

The City of Escondido's Public Art Commission is seeking qualified artists or teams for the Grand Avenue Art Project, focusing on large-scale art piece to be placed in the roundabout, currently under construction, on Grand Avenue and Broadway. Submissions are due Feb 28 but questions due by Feb 3. The commission fee is $350,00 plus $100,000 for companion pieces

The County of San Diego Animal Care Shelter is making a call for artists for commissions of artwork or purchases. In a variety of mediums from $500 to $50,000 for a new 20K square foot shelter in Santee. There is one large outside sculpture and 7 walls of art needed. Applications are due March 3. More info: Leah Goodwin.

The City of San Dieg is making a call for artist for the Ward Canyon Park Public Art Project. An artist or artist team is sought to design, fabricate and transport permanent, site-specific artwork for the park improvements and consult during installation of artwork with a budget of $110,000. The Deadline for applications is Feb 11.

The Imperial Beach Arts Bureau is making a call for  South Bay artists to for a Tourist Destination Marker in Imperial Beach.  Installation in 2026/2027 at the end of the IB Estuary on Seacoast Blvd. they want a sign, plaque or any other standing concept that invites people to pose and take photos not to exceed 6' wide x 6' long x 9' tall. For more info: ibartsbureau2@gmail.com

How the Arts in California could be affected by the recent election

Californians for the Arts put on a recent webinar about State of Funding and Legislation for Arts, Culture and Creativity

The most interesting part of this presentation was made by Priscilla Quiroz from Shaw Yoder Antwih Schmelzer & Lange, the advocacy, public affairs and association management firm in Sacramento. Yes, this is a lobbying firm. She was the only one that actually addressed the topic. She pointed out that the democrats still have a super majority in both the CA Senate and Assembly. There are now more women  than ever (58) and coming close to a majority (61 men) in the senate, and there are lots of new members as during this election some of the older members retired or decided to try for higher offices. There is a feeling that a  more moderate approach will be forthcoming and this conclusion is based on the bills that passed and were defeated.

Governor Newson has set aside $25M for the department of justice to fight a variety of national law suits against CA.  He has worked to get that done before the new president is inaugurated. This includes protecting civil right, reproductive freedom, climate action and immigrant families, We in the arts realize this is more than the whole budget of the CA Arts Council but these are important concerns.  

Please note: Even though our state only spends  54 cents per person to support the arts, California made it into the top ten most vibrant art states in the country, but only just at #10. This is ranked by per capita supply, demand and public support for the arts by SMU DataArts. San Diego county ranking in Arts Vibrancy is just above 90%.That means it is higher than 90% of other counties in the USA. Not too bad, but we are brought down by public/government support and the lower numbers employed by the arts indexes.

There was concern that there would be a $60 billion deficit in CA this year, but it turned out to be only $2 billion, so even though there are projections for a $20-$30 deficit next year, that has yet to be determined.

Julie Baker of CA for the Arts then gave us a run down of the state of the arts projects which are numerous. We know there was  lots of federal and state money for recovery and relief from the pandemic with that often being a one -time payment. Now lots of federal funding are stopping. And there are many cuts for example the Cultural District funding went from $30 million down to $10M.(More info: North County Networking Event: Affordable Housing for Artists through Cultural Districts.) The Arts in the Park program went from $25 M to $14m. There is a big need for sustained funding so that the fight for funding does not have to be won over and over again.  (more info: State Funding Proposed Cut for the Arts)

In San Diego County, in particular, the Creative project is called Far South/Border North where artists, cultural practitioners, and organizations implemented 71 campaigns across 20 sectors, from education and healthcare to environment and transportation and various artistic and creative forms, from performing arts, visual arts, and literature to music, film, and media. Their work involved 700 artists, created 940 jobs, and engaged people across 37 zip codes in the region’s most disproportionately impacted communities. It brought awareness to urgent issues shaping our region today – including public health, civic engagement, climate, and social justice. 

The other programs that were discussed included:  Prop 28 arts education, AB812 for artist housing connected to Cultural districts,  individual arts fellowships, SB127 a new workgroup to make a strategic plan for the creative economy, two part of prop 4 #91000 ($20m) and #94000 ($25m) from the Natural Resources Agency.

She ended with the announcement that for the first time the creative arts are being identified as an official strategic sector. This has never happened before.

And finally, Julie Baker talked about  the Californians for the Arts Policy Priorities for 2025/26: i.e. protect, invest, build. 

The two other presenters were concerned with the film industry:

Kerri Wood Einertson, SAG-AFTRA Film Industry  announced that they are asking the CA government to double their tax credit incentive program from $330 to $750M per annum to keep film project in CA.  This needs to happen to stay competitive with the enormous rise in film making throughout the world.

Alex Torres, NIVA CA is a lobbyist for the film industry who discussed the crisis in live entertainment industry's ticketing practices. The secondary sales market has nothing to do with the production of the product, but they making a profit off the industry and not giving anything back to it. There are lots of bills that have been proposed about this issue, some good, most bad, and none have passed. This is a real problem with no known solution yet.

You can watch the entire  video of the presentation.

To read about how the election affect the arts at the national level: And the Pendulum Swings: How the election results of 2024 will affect the arts A+ Art Blog by Patricia Frischer

And the Pendulum Swings: How the election results of 2024 will affect the arts

 By Patricia Frischer

In a zoom webinar in November,  American from the Arts (AFTA) arranged a panel of speakers to try to give us a clearer picture of what the future might mean for the arts post-election. These last days before the end of the year are always called the Lame Duck session, and very little is expected to happen until the handover. The word often used to describe our future is uncertainty.

We know that there was a lower turn out for this election, but Trump did manage a bigger majority. The Republican only have a very slight majority in the House and but now also hold the Senate. This is known as the trifecta and is very powerful. Although cabinet appointments from the house and senate could affect these balances, only time will tell. 

Bill Harper, partner Harper Downing, helped us understand that Trumps may well shift arts funding priorities with major cuts expected:

·       Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies will be discontinued

·       America’s 250^th birthday celebration plans in 2026 will be ramped up. (Maybe a big opportunity for the arts)

·       An emphasis on art programs that reach more rural areas and veterans

·       Even more support of small businesses

·       More individuals will be helped by the arts, especially those loyal to Trump.

David Reed, Policy Director Brownstein,  tacked the subject of the Reconciliation process: this is a special way to fast track certain budget legislation in the Senate by enabling just majority (instead of a 60-vote supermajority) for budget issues only with no filibuster from the Senate allowed.  Reconciliation cannot affect the NEA which is discretionary funding. But caps could be put on spending and tax reduction in general could ultimately affect the arts. Then there is Schedule F, which is a way to fire civil servants and gov appointed positions, and that could undermine the arts. Good news is that tax deductions for charity donation might come back for non-itemizers.

Americans for the Arts sees the Republican strategy as one to raise disruption where ever possible. But we all know the government could strive for more efficiency.  There will probably be work force reduction and re-locations, and a mandate to come back to in person office work but with a smaller government.  Some describe this a death by a thousand cuts. Time will tell as the civil service is a well organized body that goes through political and appointed leadership changes over and over.

There was then a presentation of the new members and the old guard that are supporters of the arts in the House and Senate by Tooshar Swain, Public Policy Director AFTA, and Olivia Tarpley., Public Policy Manager AFTA,  There was a lose of some key champions for the arts and lots of unknowns. But the bipartisan Senate Cultural Caucus leadership is still very strong with Susan Collins (R Maine) and David Reed (D Rhode Island) and House Art Caucus  with Mike Turner (R Ohio)  and Chellie Pingree (D Maine) with good track records.

When it comes to Governors and Mayors, although there were changes, the balance stayed about the same and almost equal. There are just a few more split legislatures. Split legislatures made for good government in general so that may be a good sign.

You have to remember that the local not federal agencies are the largest funders for the arts. But there was speculation that if the NEA was somehow eliminated, then those states that gave matching funds to the NEA might also stop their funding. Good news is that the few ballot initiatives for funding the arts around the county did pass, although AFTA did say it was hard to track this information. If you know of any others, please contact jay@artsusa.org.

Finally there was a strong please for extra support through advocacy and engagement.

Here is the link to see the Webinar slide show yourself:  https://www.americansforthearts.org/advocate/2024-post-election-webinar-impact-on-the-arts

The webinar  can be viewed here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pWLz8e73eg&t=8s

Here is the link to add your support: https://www.artsactionfund.org/arts-action-center?vvsrc=/campaigns/119049/respond

The is the link to the June AFTA conference in Ohio: https://afta2025convention.org/

If you want to know more specifics about California then The State of Funding and Legislation for Arts, Culture & Creativity in California is on Dec 11 at noon PT presented by Californian for the Arts. With the 2024 election, more than 25% of the CA legislature is new, Federal Funding resources are increasingly uncertain and the California state budget remains unstable.

There is a further Americans for the Arts Webinar on Jan 22 at noon PT: Advocacy 101: Introduction to the new 119th Congress

Carol Rogers: How the Arts helped me find community

This month I am dedicating the A+ Art Blog to Carol Rogers who gave a TedX talk in Escondido about her volunteer efforts in October this year. 

Her very impressive list of volunteer associations include:
Museums and Arts Growing Escondido Culture (MAGEC) Co-founder and Facilitator since 2016 
Escondido Downtown Business Association, Board Member  from 2019 
Esco Alley Art – Founding committee member in 2021
Escondido Public Art Commission newly elected Chair but committee member since 2023
Escondido Community Foundation Board Member 2024

Carol Rogers is a also a new board member of the North County Arts Network  where she is on the Government support committee which advocates for paid arts administrations in all cities.

She is dedicated to bringing more attention to the arts in her community.  Enjoy the talk below. 

 

The First City of San Diego Cultural Plan

 

The City of San Diego draft  Cultural Arts Master Plan has been released.  This is the first ever cultural plan for the city of SD and was led by Jonathon Glus over the last 18 months. The plan outlines four main goals, each with specific strategies and actions:

1. Centering Artists: Support artists and cultural organizations through affordable spaces, expanded funding, and capacity building.
2. Arts in Community: Increase access to arts and culture throughout the city, with a focus on historically under-resourced areas.
3. Creative Entrepreneurship: Foster growth of the creative economy through business support, workforce development, and industry partnerships.
4. Global Creative City: Elevate San Diego’s profile as an international hub for arts, culture and creativity. 

Some of the strategies we appreciate include:

Expand San Diego’s branding image to incorporate the arts, culture and creativity.

Create a formal designation and support program for arts and cultural districts and creative enterprise zones.

Expand funding available for individual artists and Create artists fellowships or residencies

Facilitate targeted convenings,

Streamline procurement and contracting processes

Expand existing “culture pass” programs leading to free access

Julie Dixon Evans from KPBS adds to that list with the following strategies for funding: “The "Penny for the Arts" policy, which allocates 9.52% of Tourism Occupancy Tax revenue to art and culture; research and development of an "admissions fee" for public/private entertainment and sporting events; a foundation to lead funding efforts; …partnerships with the specific goal of affordable housing for artists and affordable creative spaces…”.

All of this calls for more staffing positions besides coordination with Park and Rec and Libraries. There were lots of convening with the Commission , staff and with the public to complete this document and recommendations are still be accepted.  It is hoped that the plan called Creative City will be approved by the City Council early in 2025. 

Both Carlsbad and Oceanside  have an approved up to date arts master plans and Encinitas has had one percolating for years. We would like to see all cities set these goals and have strategies to achieve them. 

Don't miss the Creative City Open House on Sept. 7, 2024, at the Comic-Con Museum from 9 a.m. to noon to learn about the cultural planning process. Mayor Todd Gloria will kick things off with opening remarks and an overview of the draft cultural plan. The remainder of the morning will be organized around informal conversations about the draft recommendations where you can share input on the draft plan. Event details are available at sdcreativecity.com under Get Involved. 

A little reminder, the  City of SD Arts and Culture and Community Festivals Funding Program is now open until Sept 13. 

Arts Prescriptions

 

The four-part series of Arts and Health Webinar is presented by California for the Arts. The first one I am reporting on is Health Benefits of Arts Engagement and the Importance of Involving Community Organizations in Research.

Please note: It was important for me to understand the difference between Arts Prescribing and Social Prescribing. Jill Sonke answered my question as she explained in her text to me that there are five areas of social prescribing:  Arts & Culture, Heritage, Nature, and Physical Activity. Much of the webinar includes all these areas, but I tried to concentrate on Arts and Culture, naturally.

The poet Ivory Rose set the stage for this discussion on Social Prescribing with a specially commission work. Bringing a little art into this talking head event was appreciated.

Alan Seigal  runs  the website Social Prescribing USA  which has a mission to make social prescribing available to every American by 2035. He divided the needs into crisis areas, Mental Health, Aging, Health Care,  and Civic Capitol.  

Art Prescribing can improve all these areas by reducing anxiety, depression, PTSD, blood pressure, diabetes. By bolstering immune system, improving brain cognition, managing pain, improving fine motor skills and coordination, developing empathy, boasting confidence and identity, improving memory, increasing civic engagement and social tolerance, lessen loneliness while increasing inclusion.

There are no side-affects with an art prescription. It is cheaper than meds and has the extra benefit of dealing with many inequality issues.

The plan is you still to go to your GP who refers you to a social prescribing service and they then assess and direct you to the best possible prescribing services by asking questions like: What matters to you?  What brings you joy and meaning?

Seigal pointed out that in the beginning using the existing health system  is prudent as that is where the money is now. But in the future, any trained person might advise am art prescription.

Jill Sonke  area is research. You need evidence-based policies if you are going to drive investment. She thinks we are on the cusp of that happening in the next five years. Thirty countries already use social prescription, lead mainly by the British. But there are 40 pilot projects in the USA and out of 23 studies, 17 are for art prescribing. The next steps are public awareness. Art Prescription Field Guild can help with that.

Although we don’t know what form this will take in the USA, system outcomes show that we gain in health equity, return on investment, health system cost savings to name just some of the areas being explored. The studies already show that older adults have 20% less chance of being depressed if they engage in one art activity a month. This art for health push will impact all the arts ultimately to increase participation.

Christina Eskridge gave the last presentation. She started the Elevate Theater Company to combine her interest in the art with training in health. They aim to create space for audiences and artists to explore health and well-being through the art of storytelling. She is also on the board of  Arts for EveryBody a  national  data gathering project. Take the survey to help them fulfill their mission.

During the presentation there were a number of organizations mentioned that have been working in this field. NOAP National Organization in Arts in Health is the grandfather of these but all the links above plus the recent  CA Art and Health Summit 2024 will be a real education for those wanting to know more.

P.S Don’t forget our own SD based Prebys Foundation Local Healing through the Arts and Nature Initiatives giving grants in this field.

Part 2: Strategies for Innovative Funding & Partnerships in Arts & Health Initiatives  was August 21 and billed as a chance to learn about diverse strategies to secure creative funding and form impactful partnerships that are driving meaningful change.⁠ 

I was only able to hear Elizabeth Markle, PhD, Co-Founder/Executive Director from  OpenSource Wellness. Her group set up a program with only experiential workshops. Each one is geared to the people present as there is no set program, But the concept is that the way forward is 1. Movement i.e. exercise, 2. Nourish i.e. diet,  3. Connect i.e. community, 4. Be i.e Stress reduction. The arts can fit into all these categories. They already have proof of concept which has helps with funding. Their clients has experienced a drop in emergency visit, lower blood pressure, and a better rate of consuming fruits and vegetables.  They have been so successful that they had to decide whether to spread the program nationwide, or become  trainers to the trainers. Knowing how important local contacts are in the process the chose the education route of Health and Wellness trainers.  They have been using the YMCA for this project development. I loved her description of how to raise money to support all these efforts: Braided funding i.e. interwoven at all levels. 

 

In the third seminar on September 4th: Exploring Workforce Development for Arts & Health Initiatives  we learned more about efforts in Scotland and Chicago but the info presented by Ping Ho for the Arts and Healing Initiative was the most stimulating and most local as it is out of LA.    There program SEA (Social and Emotional Arts) was clear and repeatable with lots of information on their website. There are one day workshops and certificate programs. They not only train the trainers but have expanded to train some of the youth to become leaders. None of the pilot and developed programs have yet cracked the insurance payment hurdle, but the data now being gathered some certainly help to push that forward. 

In the fourth and last seminar on Advocacy and Public Policy for Arts and Health Initiatives

Julie Baker from California for the Arts gave the steps to take for an advocacy for Art Prescriptions using the messaging Artist are the Second Responder. Legislature created to make April Arts and Culture month using that message to re-enforce that artists are essential. CAC has made health one of the 7 priorities of the organization. In 2024, introducing AB2250 to get insurance to pay for screening of art as a social determinant of health.  

Steps for advocacy:
Plan your campaign
Create Awareness
Generate Engagement
Encourage Action
Sustain Momentum

So one last suggestion for everyone reading this: Start to talk up Art Prescriptions so we create a buzz on this subject. 

Of course, it is best for you to watch the sessions for yourself. Here are the videos below:

Session One

Session 2

 

Session 3

 

Session 4

What is your vision? What is your passion?

 

In the last few years, I have seen proof that if you have a vision and group together with like minded people, there is a distinct possibility that vision will come to be.  I have a list of those dreams like; the San Diego Visual Arts Network, the San Diego Art Prize, the  SD County Commission for Arts and Culture, and the Pacific View Art Center. They are all realities now.

Recently I realized that I have some new visions:

The county wide Arts and Culture Tourism Agency.

A cultural district designation for all the cities in our county.

Paid full time art administrators in our all cities.

A push to have Art Prescriptions issued by doctors and paid for by insurance companies

A line items for all the school district budgets adding transportation for arts and culture field trips.

Affordable housing for artists.

I am not saying I will personally be working on all of these ideas, but I do love to plant seeds in fertile ground. So maybe not in my life time, but maybe for the good of the arts community, some of these visions will come true.

Do you have a vision for arts and culture in San Diego?  Advocacy is all about putting our voices together.  I would love to hear your voice.

Patricia Frischer State of the Arts Advocacy, LIFE Lecture

 

In this hour lecture, you can learn about all the Advocacy issues that are currently affecting the arts in the county of San Diego. There is also a presentation of some of the visual arts exhibitions on view in SD for the summer and fall of 2024. This is presented by Patricia Frischer coordinator/founder of the San Diego Visual ArtsNetwork and Interim Chairman of North County Arts Network. The lecture was video tapped at MiraCosta College in Oceanside by the LIFE Organization.

Advocacy issues covered are: 

• Civic Arts
• Public Arts
• Affordable Housing for Arts through Cultural District
• Government Funding

Exhibitions areas covered are: 

• In North County Now
• In Central San Diego Now
• In the whole county for the summer
• Future exhibitions to watch for in the fall

There is a particularly interesting question and answer period at the end of the lecture not to be missed.