Bay Area budget crunch
HOW CUTBACKS IN LOCAL SERVICES WILL AFFECT YOU

By Mike Zapler and Ken McLaughlin
San Jose Mercury News

The budget crunch facing local government is about to hit home in ways Bay Area residents will see from their doorsteps and feel in their bank accounts. <a href=http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/5795724.htm target=_blank>more</a>

2003 NEA grants top $66 million
$4.6 million to be shared by state groups

Jesse Hamlin, Chronicle Staff Writer

The National Endowment for the Arts will hand out $66 million to arts groups across the nation in its second and biggest round of grants for fiscal year 2003.

Of the grants just announced, about $4.6 million will be divvied up among 120 California organizations, with the California Arts Council receiving $962, 000 and 53 Bay Area groups splitting $1.7 million. They range from Berkeley's Aurora Theatre Company, which got $6,000 to support its family theater program,
to the San Francisco Symphony, which received $200,000 for a public TV series featuring Michael Tilson Thomas and the orchestra.

S.J. arts groups wary of mayor's funding proposal
MANY FEAR THEY WOULD HAVE TO COMPETE WITH VITAL CITY SERVICES; COMMISSION TO WEIGH IN

Mark de la Viña
San Jose Mercury News

The majority of San Jose arts groups are frowning upon a proposal from the mayor that offers them the option of a potentially more stable city funding source than they have had during the current economic downturn. <a href=http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/6516601.htm target=_blank>more</a>

Hard times for arts center
Budget cuts forcing Richmond program to make painful choices

Janine DeFao
SF Chronicle

Richmond -- On any given night, Richmond's East Bay Center for the Performing Arts pulsates with a mix of sounds, from pounding African drums to swinging jazz tunes. <a href=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/08/18/BA279299.DTL target=_blank>more</a>

San Jose Rep in the red

Mark de la Viña
San Jose Mercury News

Hit by the double whammy of a decline in subscriptions and donations, San Jose Repertory Theatre has reported a $675,000 deficit for the fiscal year 2002-03. <a href=http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/7207763.htm target=_blank>more</a>

Valley arts groups face volatile future
BUDGET DEFICITS, NEW INITIATIVES COULD MAKE 2004 A CROSSROADS IN SAN JOSE

Mike Antonucci
San Jose Mercury News

Nobody's sure if the South Bay arts world rode out a crisis this year or is just perched on ice that has yet to crack. <a href=http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/living/7573798.htm target=_blank>more</a>

Gavin Newsom says he's crazy about art -- but time will tell if he can transcend wonkishness to usher in a shining renaissance of the arts in San Francisco

Steven Winn, Chronicle Arts and Culture Critic

When Gavin Newsom spent a semester in Italy during his junior year in college, he fell in love with pre-Renaissance art. Sure, he appreciated the Renaissance masterpieces, San Francisco's mayor-elect said the other day, "the Baroque and Rococo less so." What excited the young Newsom most, in 14th century works by Duccio, Giotto and others, were the early stirrings of perspective in Western art, the quest to represent three dimensions on a two- dimensional plane. "I was fascinated with that incredible shift in thinking."

As Newsom takes center stage in City Hall with his swearing in Thursday, San Francisco's panoramic arts world awaits the new perspectives and conceptual shifts that may come with a new mayoral administration. Fingers are crossed -- with some eyes skeptically rolling at the idea -- that a kind of arts renaissance could be in the works for San Francisco in 2004 and beyond.

S.J. summit seeks to boost arts funding

ORGANIZERS SAY VALLEY FIRMS ARE BEHIND NATIONAL AVERAGE IN SUPPORTING CULTURE

By Mike Antonucci

Mercury News

More than 150 civic leaders are expected to meet in San Jose this week to kick off a new era of cooperation, expansion and prominence for South Bay and Peninsula arts and culture organizations.

S.J. funds for grants scarce

EXPECTATIONS LOW AS GROUPS WAIT FOR $1.8 MILLION

By Mark de la Viña

Mercury News

In March, as San Jose arts groups lined up before the Arts Commission to make their cases for city grants, they spoke passionately about the concerts, exhibitions and programs they planned to present.

Not just a mayor, but an art lover, too?

David Wiegand
SF Chronicle

That was some lively little get-together the mayor had with about 200 San Francisco artists last week at the Veterans Building Green Room. <a href=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/12/DDGU16J48H1.DTL target=_blank>more</a>

LETTERS TO DATEBOOK

Fuzzy math in the arts
Editor -- Your article ("Top arts groups face 25% funding trim," May is a masterpiece in deceptive reporting.

Aiding the arts -- and artists

ATTRACTING CREATIVE PEOPLE IS THE FIRST STEP IN BUILDING CREATIVITY FOR SILICON VALLEY'S PROGRESS

By Jack Fischer

Mercury News

It was five minutes into the recent Silicon Valley Arts Summit, called to look for ways to bolster anemic support for the arts in the South Bay, when I was seized with a sinking feeling that I'd already been on this bus.

'Beach Blanket Babylon' tips its hat to S.F. arts groups

Catherine Bigelow
Friday, May 28, 2004



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Invitation of the week

Steve Silver Foundation/Beach Blanket Babylon Producer Jo Schuman Silver celebrates the 30th anniversary of the nation's longest running musical revue by honoring local arts organizations with a signature song, special guests, and a donation of $100,000 to four arts organizations

Bay Area arts groups snag $4 million
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
The Hewlett Foundation of Menlo Park announced nearly $4 million in grants this week to Bay Area arts organizations, including $210,000 to the Walnut Creek-based California Symphony and $75,000 to a Mexican music and dance center in San Pablo.