LOG I N
A RT S
C ONT AC T US
EDU CA T ION
search...
HEA LT H
NEWS
A BOU T
Overview
ARTS Blog
Imagining Central Market
Visibility Awards: Dance & Theater
FAQ
For Grantees
Recipients 2013
Recipients 2012
Recipients 2011
Recipients 2010
Recipients 2009
Impact Grant: Dance & Theater
Recipients 2014
Recipients 2013
California Cultural Data Project
SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants
Recipients 2013
The Arts in Boomtown: San Francisco’s Space Crisis
Recipients 2012
Recipients 2011
ARTS
Jan 24, 2014 | Katie Fahey
Tensions around space and housing amid San Francisco’s red-hot real estate market are about as high as, well, the
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
Recipients 2010
Recipients 2009
pdfcrowd.com
high-rises currently being constructed in the city. Discouraging are some of the reactions fueling the mounting
Arts Pipeline
pressures, eager to pin the blame on one party or another. The majority of mainstream media coverage has
Resources
contributed to the situation by offering only superficial accounts of the issue. Simply said, there’s a lot more to the
Blog
equation than “hipsters,” artists, and the tech industry.
Calendar
Boom & Bust
The space crisis is not exclusive to nonprofit arts organizations and its effects are far reaching to be sure. This issue is
not just about affordability; it’s about availability. Ellis Act evictions, generally implemented to change the use of the
building, are on the rise as the city grows further out of reach for families, long-time middle-income residents, and
other vulnerable populations. As a generally low-income group, artists and nonprofits are often among the first to
feel the pressures of an ascending market. San Francisco is already the city with the nation’s highest rents and many
artists have migrated to the East Bay. No coincidence, ArtPlace America named Downtown Oakland, as one of its Top
12 ArtPlaces of 2013.
Yet among the arts organizations that remain in San Francisco, the space crisis is increasing in urgency, especially for
the smaller ones. Nonprofits are facing evictions, renegotiations of their leases, and a lack of viable alternatives
within the city. In the absence of outside real estate expertise, navigating the tumultuous market of San Francisco is
close to impossible for these organizations, a great number of which are under-resourced and understaffed to start.
New Strategies
The adage may be true: All organizations
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
The adage may be true: All organizations
have a lifecycle. However, many of those
faced with space-related challenges in San
Francisco are not failing by other measures.
Some even receive operations funding from
the city government. Women’s Audio Mission,
for example, has been on a long and
exhausting hunt for a new space. As the only
professional recording studio and music
production training facility in the world run
entirely by women, they are trying to meet
growing demand for their successful
A.C.T.’s The Costume Shop
programs.
photo credit: Myleen Hollero/Orange Photography
Other organizations are testing collective
strategies. Having relocated to the Central Market District in recent years, Center for New Music, PianoFight and
A.C.T.’s The Costume Shop constitute tenant organizations whose spaces have become community hubs through
encouraging membership, co-working, resident ensembles and service sharing with independent groups. In Oakland,
Ragged Wing Ensemble will open collaborative arts space, The Flight Deck, in spring 2014 and similarly institute a
sophisticated tiered membership program.
New Models
While operating a space (let alone owning) is certainly not the best course of action for every organization, the
prospect represents enormous security and longevity for some institutions. At the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, we’re
proud to have played a part in creating the Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST), a new organization whose
mission is to secure space and work with arts organizations to develop their capacity to purchase permanent facilities
and navigate complex real estate issues.
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
CAST was announced publicly in November 2013 at a press conference hosted by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. Just
over a year old, CAST has purchased two buildings in the Central Market District on behalf of the Luggage Store
Gallery and CounterPULSE, two established arts and cultural organizations in the Central Market neighborhood. The
model CAST has adopted allows organizations to either purchase their facilities from CAST at a below market cost
within a seven- to ten-year period, or eventually move to a better suited, alternative space.
Collaboration
Through my work at the
Foundation, I’ve played a small
role in supporting CAST, as it
gains its legs as an
organization. Reflecting on my
experiences, what I find most
striking about CAST is not so
much its innovative model,
which I hope is obvious, but
the depth of collaboration it
represents.
For example, Elvin Padilla of
the Tenderloin Economic
Development Project played a
foundational role in cultivating
key relationships between
property owners and arts
CAST Press Announcement November 13, 2013. From leftt: Jessica Robinson Love,
CounterPULSE; San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee; Supervisor Jane Kim; Eric Rodenbeck, CAST;
Darryl Smith, Luggage Store Gallery.
organizations. The Northern
California Community Loan Fund (NCCLF), largely the mathematical brains behind the CAST model, also provides
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
ongoing, integral project management expertise. The City of San Francisco has supported too, through offering
funding for capacity building to CounterPULSE and the Luggage Store Gallery as they enter this exciting yet
challenging period of fundraising for their facilities.
The list of important organizations involved is long and includes Helicon Collaborative, Ventura Partners, Intersection
for the Arts, Jensen Architects and CAST’s own dynamic Board of Directors. CAST really has taken a village and it will
continue to need more support to effect significant change and successfully assist arts organizations with their
facilities needs at this time, in this city.
A Glimmer of Hope
CAST is not the panacea for all of the facilities-related issues facing arts organizations in San Francisco. There will be
more organizations that will leave the city based on financial and availability issues and there will be plenty of
scapegoats to blame. However, within CAST I see a glimmer of hope amid the legitimately angry noise the space
crisis elicits. I see hope in the public and private partnerships that have enabled CAST’s success and hope in the
recognition of the problem overall. Optimism aside, we have much work to do together yet.
–
Katie Fahey
Associate Program Officer, Arts
Read more about the Kenneth Rainin Foundation’s commitment to CAST.
Read the official press release from Mayor Edwin Lee’s Office.
Email questions or comments to [email protected].
open in browser PRO version
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com
NEW SL ETTER SUBSCR IBE
open in browser PRO version
©2 01 4 Kenneth Rainin Foundation. All rights reserv ed.
Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
pdfcrowd.com