County Money for the Arts Update

 

An Arts Initiative subcommittee of the County Commission for Arts and Culture has started a series of meeting to advise staff how the $2.75 million can be fairly distributed to the artist and arts community of San Diego county.  

As a reminder the County Board of supervisors voted to give the following amounts

·       $1 million annually for direct artist grants

·       $500,000 for affordable creative spaces

·       $250,000 for artist residencies within County departments

·       $250,000 for binational arts investment in the San Diego–Baja California region

·       A one-time $500,000 investment in the Black Arts & Culture District

·       Creation of  policy for Arts & Cultural Districts, with no funding but hopes for money from private sources.

·       $250,000 for of these new grant programs. There is currently one full-time staff member Christine Jones and  administrative funds will be used for an one year intern position of $67K.   

An overall plan was presented by Ms. Jones with five phases. Phase one is finished as that is directed by the supervisors.  They are now in Phase 2 to sort out how the all this will function. Phase 3 is agreeing and building out the programs including Key Features of each one, Application and review process and Evaluation Criteria and that should be completed in early fall. Phase 4 is to launch the programs and phase 5 is evaluating as this is money for five years of fund. ($2.25 million per year through 2030)

They hope to launch the first three programs before the end of the year. That includes:

Fieldwork: Practice Based Artist funding $1 million
SPACE: Art Centered working studios and showing spaces $500K
SD AIR: Artist in Residence $250K

The one-time funding of $500K is an investment in the Black Arts & Culture District which has its own board  and plan and will simple be reporting back to the County Commission. Binational arts investment in the San Diego–Baja California region for $250K was not discussed fully because the county binational liaison is working on this. 

In a first July meeting, Ms. Jones researched best practices and outlined why each of the seven buckets of funding was important and what could be expected benefits to the county. Discussions were then opened in the second August meeting on the nuts of bolts of how these programs would role out. You can listen to this meeting yourself on the county site.  

It was a robust discussion with many viewpoints and a healthy way to involve all members of this subcommittee as they work toward a presentation to the full County Arts and Culture Commission. The important questions that were raised and have to be sorted out are as follows:

What  will really help to keep artists of quality in San Diego?

How do you actually create a supportive community of artists?

How can each application be tailored for each project and still remain as simple as possible?

How do you judge the success of the project?

How do you define who is underserved?

Who selects who get the funding? Is it peer review or hybrid of peer/random selection.

How much money goes to how many artists? Or residencies? Or Space projects?  Is there a cost per hour expected? How many hours could be expected? Should funding be varied or set.

What is the cycle of the program? One year, 18 months to allow for cross over or more?

How much of the total $2.75 million above the $250k designated for admin goes to admin cost? National Endowment for the Arts and other grant-makers allows 10%. Ms. Jones is suggesting an additional  $500k  of program funds for additional services for artists, county departments and organizations. For example: What exactly will technical assistance entail? How much will it cost to share final outcomes? What are the specific budget items for that $750K? this amount is 36% of the total allocation for administration.* 

It is still early days for programs of this size and scope, for a newly appointed administrator and a commission that is only 3 years old. But so far, the progress that is being made is impressive and the consideration that all parties are showing to maximize the result is to be admired. But shouldn't artists in our county get as much funding out of these programs as possible?

*Sept 3, 2026 Update: The committee has now discussed the $1/2million for further administration cost for services and the money has been returned to the original buckets for artists, art spaces and artist residencies. Services will still be supplied but out of the $250,000 that was designated by the County Supervisors in their instructions. The county has urged for a simplified process. 

A Day in the Life of Patricia Frischer

 

Patricia Frischer: Me, Too. Paper Doll Insurrection Series, 2025 

A Day in the Life of Patricia Frischer (as might be reported by Dorothy Parker, if she had AI)

• 6–8 a.m. – I wake early, though I refuse to rise before eight on principle. While the rest of the world rushes toward productivity, I conduct bed exercises and read a mystery on Libby. I heroically resist Instagram scrolling, which has the curious ability to devour sixty minutes in three bites. Messages on text, WhatsApp, and Instagram are inspected periodically—one must keep abreast of modern gossip.

• 8–10 a.m. – Breakfast is yogurt with chia seeds and fruit, which sounds healthier than it feels. On chilly mornings I sit in the sun with The New Yorker. I read the art pieces, the cartoons, and anything else that seduces me before my tea gets cold. After that comes the ordinary theater of civilization: dressing, makeup, and persuading the bed to look less like a crime scene.

• 10 a.m.–noon – The email avalanche arrives—60 to 90 notes, all demanding wit, diplomacy, or patience. I answer questions, remind people to list on SDVAN, and occasionally pretend I will get around to my own art career. I have two exhibitions this year, both featuring my Paper Protest Dolls. Invitations to juror shows are declined (mercilessly); invitations to sit on panels are accepted (foolishly). Running the San Diego Art Prize consumes hours with artists, selectors, writers, committees, catalogs, lesson plans, videos, and social media approvals. It is a miracle I remember my own name.

• Noon–2 p.m. – Sometimes I attend a County Commission for Arts and Culture meeting on Zoom, where I raise my digital hand and contribute my two cents—an amount that, if compounded, should soon be worth a dollar. I root enthusiastically for their success.

• 2–3 p.m. – Lunch with my husband Darwin, the day’s principal meal and often its happiest. Leftovers become stir-fries; his chili becomes my chili-mac. There is always salad. Desserts, if they survive dinner parties, are reincarnated as truffle balls dipped in chocolate. One per day keeps decadence respectable.

• 3–4:30 p.m. – A meeting of the North County Arts Network, where I serve as chair. We discuss art, culture, creativity, and how to encourage the entire county to notice them.

• 4:30–7 p.m. – If daylight allows, we attend an art opening. San Diego offers so much art that choosing among it feels like turning down suitors. I arrive early, take photographs before crowds obscure the view, and later write reports for the Picked RAW Peeled blog.

• 7–9 p.m. – The dull but necessary acts of adulthood: laundry, dishes, scheduling doctors, taxes, nonprofit paperwork, accounts, websites. Glamour, thy name is paperwork.

• 9–11 p.m. – Television murmurs in the background while I work in the studio. Mysteries, cooking shows, or anything funny will do. With my hands busy I make art—Paper Protest Dolls or decorated sheets that become greeting cards. No two are alike. Glitter is welcome. A girl must sparkle somewhere. Instructions for Unrest: Art Against Complacency opens at  Space 4 Art @ Art Produce Gallery in North Park from April 18 to May 14. This is a grouping of contemporary protest art reflecting some of the angst of our current political state.  More info: 619. 500-ARTS. Golly, gee whiz, I am in this show!

• 11 p.m.–2 a.m. – The late shift: more emails, editing photographs from exhibitions, posting videos to Instagram (which apparently prefers motion to stillness), researching the shows I’ve seen, and writing blog posts while the impressions are fresh. If sleep interrupts the process, the morning usually brings the missing thought.

Not every day looks quite like this—I pace myself when possible. I celebrate occasions, adore champagne, attend weekly yoga, and walk with Darwin to collect fallen limes from the alley so he can make an excellent whiskey sour. I employ a cleaner and a gardener because my back has begun filing complaints.

Life also includes the occasional drama: a sick friend, a leaky roof, a confused bird trapped in the living room. But as a fully volunteer arts organizer, the days are never empty.

I try to do less. I suspect I never will.

After all, life is not a rehearsal—it’s opening night, and each of us insists on top billing. 

A shout out to my dear friend Kira Corrillo Corser, who has written this song and put together this video for her Compassionate Art project. Fragile Planet Blues is part of Compassion Corridors mapping project. Let her know if you have a project for compassion and would like to be included. Charter for Compassion

Robert Williams is Fearless Depictions at Long Beach Museum of Art

This exhibition of Robert Williams is a wild ride. His images are hyper-detailed almost shockingly so. But that is because of the subject mater with is provocative, nightmarish and humorous all at the same time.

His career started in 1965 with designs for hotrods, but in 1967 he was working at Zap Comics. By 1994 he had started Juxtapoz Art and Culture Magazine. The 54 works in this show are all from 2007 to the present but although the look is of comics, they have no panels, no strips…they are all one compact image. This is a master draftsman merging fine art with a cartoon style. 

A close look at these images, and you see a subversive personality. Read the complex explanation of the wall text written by Williams and you soon realize that the joy of making the image is paramount. He doesn’t really care what you think, or what the images even mean to him. I think the joy of letting it all lose on the canvas is what feeds him. The first images here are all about the artist who is creating and how damned they are.  The next set makes fun of the fantasy of a perfect life and corporate greed. There are also two large scale sculptures and  small sculptures called Miscreants that are 3-D printed and lots of magazines. But it is the painting that are his Fearless Depictions.  

I was so drawn to this work, that the stop in Long Beach on our way home from Los Angeles, was a delight. I highly recommend taking a day trip (an hour and a half if the traffic is good). We enjoy our take away from The Original Thai Barbeque...huge portions and wonderful coconut soup. And the view from the Museum of the Pacific Ocean is a delight. 

 

Robert Williams: Fearless Depictions
Long Beach Museum of Art
Showing until May 31, 2026
2300 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA
(562) 439-2119
Thursday to Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm

Support Your Local Artists

Top to bottom:

Danielle Dean

Ingrid Hernandez

Tatiana Ortiz Rubio

November 30^th is Artist Sunday when  we encourage everyone of you to buy at least one work of art this year. If you have not already done so or want to buy more, then start the search for your new work art as soon as you can. It can be a gift for yourself or a valued friend or relation. Go to art exhibitions, visit artists sites. (We list more than 1500 local artist on our site alone!)

But there are other ways to support Artists in San Diego besides buying a work of theirs. In our 19^th year the 2026 San Diego Art Prize recipients are Danielle Dean, Ingrid Hernandez, Tatiana Ortiz Rubio who will be showing their work at the Oceanside Museum of Art starting in Sept 2026.We hope you will consider supporting this worthy legacy project.  

Donate to the SD Art Prize 

How does the prize help the over 70 artists that have received it to date?  It gives them all:

Exposure to international professionals

Financial support for their creative work

Improved public education about their art

Name recognition and promotion

How does your donation achieve this? The funds go toward:  

Free catalog, both hard copy and online

Lesson plans for students visiting the exhibition and available online

Honorariums for writers and selectors

Fees for curator and administrator

If you need more incentives to Donate to the SD Art Prize, then watch this space, make sure you are on our mailing list, contact me directly: patricia@sdvisualarts.net

Learn more about the SD Art Prize Artists or go to the new SD Art Prize Website.

Some Holiday Art Markets:

Studio Door Holiday Art Market 2025 in Hillcrest is Nov 6 to Dec 23 is specially curated for affordable art and open right up until almost Christmas Eve.  

SD Made Holiday Market is Nov 15/16 at Liberty Station NTC Park Field will feature over 125 local curated makers.

The Makers Arcade Holiday Fair at Broadway Pier is Dec. 13/14,  is one of two SD shopping event for the holidays with 140+ local makers during the SD Bay Parade of Lights.

Fallbrook International Holiday Show is Nov 1 t Jan 10, 2026 as the Fallbrook Art Center celebrates the season's spirit through a vibrant worldwide showcase of cultural traditions, art, and craftsmanship with an eclectic array of handcrafted items, ornaments, and decorations that reflect the rich diversity of holiday celebrations.

Unexpected Pleasures

 

I am not a car person. Yes, I love the lines of a vintage jag or a cute mustang, but all the sedans of 2025 look the same to me and the colors from any one manufacturer are limited. I did find out that you could have a car wrapped recently, which makes the surface a possible point of display. However, it cost $3K -$6K and I would rather buy a piece of art and support an artist. But our car was beyond repairing after faithful duty and it was time.

That was why it was so unexpected to drive away in my new Hyundai Limited Edition Sonata and experience such pleasure. It turns out it is all about the technology. I never had to take the key out of my pocket. Just grabbing the door handle unlocked this auto. The seat was set back for easy entry, but adjusts automatically to my own comfort position when I shut the door.

I pressed a button and there was no roar or throbbing of engines, I grant you, but the quiet of the hybrid as the screen scrolled alive with a little tinkling theme and the message greeting me personally by name was a nice touch. As I drove, navigation directions magically appeared directly in front of the windscreen, so there was no need to turn my head. Likewise, no turning to see my blind spot as when I activated the turn signal, the side mirror cameras appeared to show me I was safe, or beeped at me to be aware of danger.

I pushed a button, not just to open the trunk, but to close it. I understand the windshield wipers will come on automatically when it rains and if I get blocked in a parking spot, I can use the key fob to start  the car and back out of the space until there is sufficient room to enter the car. I mean, that is pretty close to self-driving!

But the most exquisite feeling for one of the unfortunate women who has had hot flashes for 30 years, was the cooling seats on an 80-degree day. Yes, not just conditioning the air, but seats that radiated coldness directly into my body.  

I thought we were just getting a replacement vehicle. What I received was more than technology making my life easier and safer. It was a renewed hope in our future.

I am using new software that can take one of my images and make an 8 second video just by prompting it on how I want it to move. I can now organize an 8-page strategy into a one-page flyer in seconds. The lesson here is that technology is going to bring us unexpected joys in ways that we don’t even know yet.  The fears of A.I. have to be overcome and the challenges solved so that new experiences can keep us ever young, hopeful and ready for pleasures yet to be discovered.