| Throughout
history the arts (visual, performing and written) and culture have defined
communities and nations. All great nations have recognized that the arts
are vital to a society's well being and cannot survive without public
and private patronage.
Art, regardless of
one's age or ethnicity, is humanity's first model for sharing experiences
and communicating value and meaning. Art, both a process and a product,
is a way of experiencing life. Art expresses the rich multicultural diversity
of the County.
For the past decade,
the County has not supported the arts to the same level of that of Santa
Clara and San Francisco counties. In the summer of 2000, the County Board
of Supervisors instructed the County Manager's office to research and
prepare for the County a cultural plan that would have the following goals:
- Identify the available
cultural facilities in the county
- Increase networking
and communication between arts organizations
- Increase advocacy
- Increase visibility
and audience development for arts organizations and artists
- Increase support
of funding
- Provide stronger
arts education programs
- Recognize the value
of diversity in the arts
- Provide more opportunities
for art in public places
The Grand Jury's investigation
focused on the creation of the San Mateo County Cultural Plan 2002, the
formation of the Arts Commission, the County's contract with ARTshare,
Inc. (ARTshare) as a contract arts partner, the initial level of funding,
and the proposed implementation strategy contained in the Cultural Plan. |
| A
Cultural Feasibility Study was begun in the summer of 2000 that included
meetings with community leaders in government, education, arts, and the
media, and other interested groups. In the summer of 2001, San Mateo County
retained the consulting firm Creative Planning, Inc. to facilitated meetings
with cultural planning leaders, conducted key interviews and focus groups,
and held workshops with representatives of local arts commissions. In
April 2002, the Board of Supervisors issued the San Mateo County Cultural
Plan 2002.
Through
a Request for Proposal process, ARTshare, a non-profit corporation, demonstrated
its experience and reputation for promoting the arts in San Mateo County
and was awarded a two-year contract to accomplish the goals of the Cultural
Plan. This $110,000 contract covers the following services:
- Promote, support
and encourage the arts and cultural activities
- Provide excellent
customer service to the residents of the county by ensuring that information
about the arts is readily available upon request
- Maintain the San
Mateo County Government Center Gallery with visual works of art created
by citizens of the county
- Raise funds to
finance art in education, grants for artists, outreach, public art exhibits,
and other visual and performing arts programs
- Prepare and distribute
a monthly calendar of arts/cultural events
- Maintain a website
to include a calendar of events/newsletter
- Work closely with
all arts organizations in the County of San Mateo
- Begin planning
and coordinating an annual countywide festival to showcase artists and
arts organizations for the community
- Partner with the
San Mateo County Arts Commission to develop, implement, and update the
county's Arts Strategic/Cultural Plan
The Board
of Supervisors later established the Arts Commission in accordance with
the Cultural Plan and appointed a five-member commission with a representative
from each supervisor's district. However, the Board of Supervisors has
not committed funding for the arts beyond the initial two-year period.
ARTshare
made its first report to the Board of Supervisors and the Arts Commission
in July 2002 that showed ARTshare is meeting the goals of the Cultural
Plan. |
