[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6570282,"mediaKeyId","3217818-f4e45b1b7f26c141f80e7669da684d52","parentId",3217818,"title","SF Arts Commission begins strategic-plan visioning; community survey finds grants and artist basic needs top priorities","audioSeconds",628,"startMs",670000,"endMs",1298000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3217818-f4e45b1b7f26c141f80e7669da684d52&start=670&end=1298","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3217818-f4e45b1b7f26c141f80e7669da684d52/thumbnail_670000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6570282/San-Francisco-City/San-Francisco-County/California/SF-Arts-Commission-begins-strategic-plan-visioning-community-survey-finds-grants-and-artist-basic-needs-top-priorities","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6570282-4dc87106d9097dee189186d8df3d96e5/orig.mp4?Expires=1772833913&Signature=LHanXfjFjXs0EwWbQ7aLmLoZXlSSgut0c9U7twwnqB2L~gsehHu7nm-M0LdHcICzF-r6MzPhuW7MpKXpKPRaAwpWauk1aQyV18lvaENLFT8sCmcze0jKjiBJsJfDhSgP3O5SeYNlIJ2rVNvBJJqraqaIVnIqpUHCa7LdOIqMkyBnLI2-4Fu~jL~FSxbC2KfeH1FSoTDVNQRnJRFE4OzD0mE6IxRyYZ~dnSNnDPByIYQHtWBTHDwEOnnxqDj4l~ZV~pGvXEBdunuNWkwdf1-cGJCwvlYhY2fJCtLjVmNSe~o1RdHN9pRXn-Nx1UUtd8jf1WXWTp0GOZUW55wsOsvKkw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of San Francisco","date","2025-05-07T00:00:00Z","article","The San Francisco Arts Commission on May 5 opened a multi-hour strategic-planning workshop with a presentation from AMS Planning and Research that summarized public engagement and research ahead of a new five-year plan.

Consultants Bill Blake and Lauren Frankel told commissioners the research had reached \"nearly a thousand people,\" including stakeholder interviews, an online community survey, and in‑person open houses. The survey received about 730 responses and the team said roughly 100 stakeholders and more than 100 open-house participants also contributed input.

Key findings presented to commissioners and staff included strong public support for direct grantmaking, continued investment in cultural centers, and high value placed on public art. At the same time, the consultants said many respondents reported low awareness of SFAC programs: only about a third said they were well informed about the commission's work.

\"Grant making just really tops the list,\" Lauren Frankel said as she summarized survey responses that placed unrestricted or direct support to artists and organizations above other functions.

The research highlighted a repeated theme that emerged across stakeholder interviews and community input: basic needs for artists — particularly housing, stable compensation and health-care access — were a top priority when participants were asked to choose three funding priorities. Commissioners and staff raised the need to consider how the agency could work with other city departments to address those issues.

AMS also presented a peer-city scan showing a range of organizational models. Blake noted some cities (Austin, Chicago, Denver) have consolidated multiple arts- and events-related functions under single departments; others (Los Angeles, New York, Seattle) keep arts funding and commercial event or tourism functions separated.

Commissioners took part in a facilitated exercise to articulate what the commission should \"stand for\" and \"stand against,\" then used a resource-allocation exercise (pom-poms) and a 20-year hypothetical press-release exercise to identify desired long-term impacts and immediate priorities for the plan.

Commissioners and staff discussed next steps for the planning timetable. AMS described the work as moving into phase 4 (visioning and goal-setting) through the spring and summer, followed by business planning and budgeting work in a phase 5 that would feed a final plan to the mayor and Board of Supervisors. AMS and SFAC staff said they would continue work with the commission's strategic-planning steering committee and staff representatives in coming weeks.

Votes at a glance: The meeting also included a consent calendar vote. Commissioner Beltran moved to approve the consent calendar and Commissioner Walker seconded; the motion was approved unanimously by commissioners present.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","City of San Francisco - Video Open Video Only in Windows Media Player - May 07, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","AMS Planning and Research presented research at the San Francisco Arts Commission's May 5 special meeting showing nearly 1,000 community engagements. Respondents ranked direct grantmaking, cultural centers and public art as top priorities and called for better interdepartmental coordination and support for artist housing and basic needs.","taxTitle","San Francisco City, San Francisco County, California","taxId",5751,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6570286,"Artist grantee urges San Francisco Arts Commission to disclose staff criteria after high panel scores went unfunded",187,269000,456000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3217818-f4e45b1b7f26c141f80e7669da684d52&start=269&end=456","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3217818-f4e45b1b7f26c141f80e7669da684d52/thumbnail_269000.jpg","/articles/6570286/San-Francisco-City/San-Francisco-County/California/Artist-grantee-urges-San-Francisco-Arts-Commission-to-disclose-staff-criteria-after-high-panel-scores-went-unfunded","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6570286-e2e8aecb03110af87e4111c7e0a2c2b8/orig.mp4?Expires=1772833913&Signature=cgNUrXfn4UqUMIACBH2HtmPfV6yOSjeiImJy9X74JK18XBA7GyL9fe0bW8K2IiM-H-lP1x6c2higvo-G~2Gs9XJY4gptoeASD5VsVmMQkzc7EGukbJgf-6nut0yvjoIBsJqWQPxBI4VVvSZdNt1E~AIogllUgDygwwRaLSEJZGvE~-E-rmiRc0ArELeur6OURr4wVA8Ymz2VI7AU~lbzZ6H--SWawbnAaze6BI2ey-xbx3DH8NVKBjCr9nYQZNIS2f2SuPUhUIt90AKZvZL9dPm4mnWREUgyd2hkNqkoTJmFx9nFN4hMUWY6hO4vbMthGqJEFrCoSKSSweFwrzP9mw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Nilufar Lehi, an organizer and longtime San Francisco artist, told the San Francisco Arts Commission on May 5 that unpublished staff criteria were used to override high review-panel scores in the Arts Impact Endowment \"New Creative Opportunities\" grant competition.

The comment came during the commission's public-comment period at a special meeting held at the Port Commission Hearing Room. Lehi said several applicants from one subpanel earned scores in the 90s yet were not recommended for any of the 14 available grants while applicants from the other subpanel with scores in the 80s were funded.

\"I've since learned that unpublished and non transparent staff criteria such as racial diversity, geographic districting, and first time versus returning grantees were used to override panel scores, in the final allocation process,\" Lehi told commissioners. She said the subpanels had been created \"due to the volume of applications this year\" and asked the commission to review the process.

Lehi said she did not want another applicant to lose funding, but asked the commission to disclose the specific criteria used and to \"explore to remedy the situation whether through additional funding or some other process.\" She said she had discussed the matter with a staff member, \"Miss Denise Pate,\" and found Pate \"caring and candid,\" but that applicants were told different review expectations than were later applied.

President Collins and meeting staff acknowledged the public comment and closed the public-comment period after Lehi finished. The transcript records no formal response or vote on Lehi's request at that meeting.

Why it matters: Grant awards are a primary way the Arts Commission distributes city resources to artists and organizations. Lehi's allegation that staff-applied, unpublished criteria altered outcomes raises questions about transparency in a process that, as the commission and staff have repeatedly described, relies on panel review as a central component of award recommendations.

What the speaker asked for: Lehi asked the commission to disclose the staff criteria used in final allocations and to \"explore to remedy the situation whether through additional funding or some other process.\"","At the SFAC special meeting May 5, grantee and artist Nilufar Lehi said unpublished staff criteria overrode high peer-review scores in the Arts Impact Endowment \"New Creative Opportunities\" funding round and asked the commission to disclose criteria or provide remedies.","actionData","errors"]

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SF Arts Commission begins strategic-plan visioning; community survey finds grants and artist basic needs top priorities

Artist grantee urges San Francisco Arts Commission to disclose staff criteria after high panel scores went unfunded