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Artist grantee urges San Francisco Arts Commission to disclose staff criteria after high panel scores went unfunded
Summary
At the SFAC special meeting May 5, grantee and artist Nilufar Lehi said unpublished staff criteria overrode high peer-review scores in the Arts Impact Endowment "New Creative Opportunities" funding round and asked the commission to disclose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.
Nilufar Lehi, an organizer and longtime San Francisco artist, told the San Francisco Arts Commission on May 5 that unpublished staff criteria were used to override high review-panel scores in the Arts Impact Endowment "New Creative Opportunities" grant competition.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"I've since learned that unpublished and non transparent staff criteria such as racial diversity, geographic districting, and first time versus returning grantees were used to override panel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 Lehi's allegation that staff-applied, unpublished criteria altered outcomes raises questions about transparency in a process that, as the commission and staff have repeatedly described, relies on panel review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."
