Proposed merger makes San Francisco arts advocates nervous

Steven Winn, Chronicle Arts and Culture Critic
Wednesday, June 9, 2004



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Faced with a proposed city and county of San Francisco budget for 2004-05 that merges Grants for the Arts with the San Francisco Arts Commission, streamlines both agencies, necessitates staff cuts and trims almost $1.5 million, arts administrators and advocates are apprehensive about an uncertain funding future.

Walnut Creek finds cultural costs add up
By Theresa Harrington / CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Walnut Creek officials view their city as the leading regional center for the arts in the Bay Area outside San Francisco -- but at a price.

S.J. passes out arts grants

FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF CUTBACKS

By Mark de la Viña

Mercury News

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday approved $1.8 million in grants to 56 arts groups for 2004-05, down from $2.5 million in 2003-04.

Newsom brings down curtain on proposed arts merger -- for now

Jesse Hamlin, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, July 5, 2004



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Faced with stiff opposition from the San Francisco arts crowd, Mayor Gavin Newsom has dropped his controversial budget proposal to merge the city's Grant for the Arts program with the San Francisco Arts Commission -- at least for now.

Marin council gives money to support community art

Janet Somers, Special to The Chronicle
Friday, July 9, 2004



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In a small, windowless office in downtown San Rafael crammed with computers and littered with books on filmmaking and copies of "The Hollywood Reporter," a group of at-risk teenagers and young adults are perfecting their pitches to raise money for a feature film about an inner-city girl who works her way out of gang life. They've already created a business plan calling for a budget of $150,000.

2 arts programs in S.J. eliminated

CITY BUDGET, MANPOWER CUTS ARE CITED

Anita Amirrezvani, Mercury News

Two city-sponsored programs that have brought dozens of multicultural artists to San Jose stages since 1993 have been eliminated because of municipal budget and manpower cuts, reported Jerry Allen, deputy director of the city's Office of Cultural Affairs.<a href=http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/9521726.htm target=_blank>more</a>

Dancing through thick and thin

LOS LUPEÑOS DE SAN JOSÉ TROUPE HANGS ON DESPITE HARDSHIP

By Mark de la Viña
San Jose Mercury News

Few arts groups have taken it on the chin as hard as Los Lupeños de San José. <a href=http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/10597455.htm target=_blank>more</a>

Show us the money! City debates new ways to slice the pie in an era of tough times for arts funding.

Jesse Hamlin, Steven Winn, Chronicle Staff Writers

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The new millennium has been tough on the arts. With public money shrinking and private donors cutting back, arts groups are competing more fiercely than ever for tight dollars. Even in San Francisco, a widely admired national model for arts funding, it's a struggle. Everyone from the strapped Mission District sculptor to the big-budget San Francisco Opera is feeling the crunch.

Which is why the latest round of squabbling about city arts money has been so contentious. A task force that spent a year hammering out proposals that could dramatically change how San Francisco funds the arts has again polarized the local arts world. The city-appointed body -- whose 21 voting members were picked to represent each supervisorial district and arts groups of varying budgets -- is expected to approve its draft report today. It then gets passed along to the Board of Supervisors, which will review the recommendations and, depending on the political will of the moment, either act on them or not.

Economy keeps Bay Area dance companies on their toes
By Laura Casey
Staff Writer
Posted: 02/02/2009 01:00:00 AM PST

Moving Arts Dance Center in Concord has a "never say die" attitude, says executive director Scott Belding. He is confident that even in this economy the company's early February performance of "Beauty From Darkness" will sell out.

The modern dance organization — which boasts a dance school and its own small, 100-seat theater — has paired with the unusual heavy metal string quartet Judgement Day to boost interest in and attendance at the February performance. This partnership is just one way the organization has reconceived its business model to stay afloat in a shaky economy.