San Diego Awarded $6.4M To 80 Art Groups In 2014

This is KPBS Midday Edition, I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. The arts are a good investment in S an Diego. That's the conclusion of the latest arts and culture report from the city. The report highlights how nonprofit arts organizations contribute to student education, Q2 wrist in our city longer and it helped Ernst San Diego the title of one of the worlds smart cities. That's quite an endorsement considering just. San Diego was losing or on the verge of losing some major arts institutions like the San Diego Opera. Joining me to talk about the new it phenomena and community impact report on nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in San Diego are Allen's I do, cochair of the San Diego regional arts and culture coalition and Executive Director of NTC, welcome. Thank you. Candice Eley is public relations manager with the San Diego Tourism Authority. Welcome to show. Thank you for having me. Candice, what's the purpose of compiling this report? This is really a chance for the coalition to share that with the community the results of the effort they've put forth in the last year to work with the local arts and culture organizations. So the commission spent $6.4 million in funding -- in the last year. As result of that those organizations put back into our local economy $191 million. So that's one of the major findings, that some of the numbers, what did you find out about how the arts organizations affect tourism? This any good Tourism Authority works very closely with the commission as a marketing partner to help and promote San Diego as a cultural destination. Sothe research of this any good Tourism Authority has done shows that the average cultural tourist as compared to just your average San Diego tourist, spent about two days longer when they visit and they spent close to $350 more during that stay. So that makes a very attractive as they come to San Diego they will spend more which of course then goes back to the city utility collections and we have more money to spend on programs for the city. Alan, what define most significant coming out of this report? I did it is been helpful for me Friday because we are currently making the case or funny for the arts especially from the public sector at every level. It is a good snapshot because the commissions been doing these for several years now to see where we are right now, how the city's investment in arts and culture is paying off, what are some of the trends in terms of numbers of jobs being created the numbers of students were being reached, the lots of money that's put back into the sector and also because city monies only about 9% of all the to be to revenue that arts and culture organizations are nonprofit once received, how is the rest of the Tubin income and it is been growing very well. Our city has been very generous and arts groups have been very resourceful and reaching out to state and federal sources and growing those sources of revenue as well. How does the city health arts organizations financially? How does the process work? To the organizations put in individual request? Yes. The citiescommission for arts and culture has a panel review process. We follow an application, it is very. It wants to know about our programs, what we are doing with tourist, what we're doing and neighborhoods, what we are doing in schools, the level of programming, audience served and it is reviewed and if your panel process. There are commissioners were appointed by the Mary in Cito camps along with other art knowledge people in the community. There is ranked on a scale of one to four and then soon as the budget is no, the obligate funds on a percentage basis based on your ranking. So the better organizations the ones with the higher ranks get a greater percentage of the request they need. Or that they had. So that the money the city provides is really a great base of operating support. There are very so sources of funding that just help with the general things like keeping the doors open, salaries, insurance, not very sexy things that some of the individual donors want to help pay for so this has been a great basis to help businesses they successful arts businesses stay successful as businesses. If you could, Candice, give me some idea of the actual institutions that receive money from the city. Absolutely, what's really nice is that it is a very diverse cross-section of institutions so everyone from the larger organizations like the La Jolla Playhouse and Museum of contemporary art down to some smaller ones like the -- performing arts group and given him model Railroad Museum so it is a really wide group and answers in report this year it was 80 institutions that did receive funding. I'm interested in following up on something you said, Alan, about the public support. Last year at this time the fate of San Diego Opera was hanging by a thread. Now it seems to be starting a healthy new chapter. What do you thinkthat we learned about how important the arts are in San Diego from the response of the public to the opera's troubles? Let me start with you, Alan. It is funny because we've seen this before with the San Diego Symphony and how the public from the grassroots level came forward with the Opera can really make sure that we're going we are going to keep in Opera. They felt that we want a big city without having a successful Opera. 50 years of being out in the community, all those great programs, Sony schoolkids had a chance to sit Opera but the time they grow up they have an affinity for our Opera so it was very commendable that San Diego did a great job pick we know so many different cities run the country that have lost their operas and disabilities. They said it couldn't be done, Candice, when they were trying to reorganize the trying to see the opera could stay afloat. What do you think that says about with the arts me to San Diego end? Which will be been great working with the commission for arts and culture is I've been able to spend a lot more time with our local arts organizations and the people that support them and they are such a strong community here of people who really do you want to see arts flourish here and I've spoken with a lot of people web wanted to know how the San Diego Tourism Authority can help do outreach for arts organization so that something we really have been working on a lot in the last year to make sure that people are aware of those offerings which then in turn will help with financial support. I was going to point out in the report it shows 4.2 million people attended an arts and culture attraction last year. That's more than all the games at Petco in Qualcomm put together. [Laughter]'s. I know you like that statistic. Candice, do we know the Mary is just presented his budget for 2016, do we know how much is in the Mary's budget? Yes, we do. The Mary has been a very strong supporter of this penny for the arts that when he was on City Council was approved unanimously at Citi Council level to put 1 cent of the hotel tax that's collected towards arts and culture and each year he's been increasing the budget so this grant year he allocated $10 million to the cities commission for arts and cultures jollity use for programming. Next year itis budgeted at $11.1 million, that's as that could increase. It sure is. To have a sense, Alan, how Sand Hill compares to other cities when it comes to financially supporting the arts? The bottom line dollar is on par with a lot of our counterparts around the country. But a lot of other cities for instant Los Angeles does not grant out nearly as much as the city of San Diego to individual Arjun culture organizations. The run some facilities with their dollars. They have a very large staff doing programming. Our city is very good about new line on the arts organizations why themselves out the neighborhoods, downtown to pay for the programming that they are doing. Last year would we spoke about this one part was highlighted as a community that was being transformed by the arts. Are there any up-and-coming neighborhoods that you are following now, Candice? Absolutely. In this partnership with the commission we actually did a video series earlier in the year we called nine arts districts one Fibrin city and we picked out if you really up-and-coming neighborhoods, NTC of course is an amazing arts and culture destination in point Loma and is really becoming very iconic as a spot. But then also -- there's tremendous artistic energy happening down there with Galleries and art shows and of course Chicano Park has an amazing asset. We really have been try to highlight those pockets of San Diego that don't get as much attention and really show that the arts is the reason to visit that neighborhood. I'm going to give you the opportunity to talk endless bit more about NTC, Alan. And the fact that it is one of the districts that's being highlighted this year. This was unique because it is a civic mandated Arjun culture district. The city of San Diego -- set aside 26 of his toward buildings down at the old Naval training Center as a new civic arts and cultural district. Thecity owns the building much like the due in -- Park and they created a nonprofit foundation to raise the money to renovate the buildings and open it as a new place with the public can be better engaged with work of the group. Werenovated 16 of the 20s it is buildings. We have a different artist, dance groups, museums, art Galleries in residence in these buildings and -- I didn't know it was that many, that's amazing. It is and people could come down and wander and explore and see what's going on down there. But also it is been great to take offended maybe buildings and restore jobs that were lost when the base shutdown. It is been revitalizing the neighborhood using a lot of it spilling over into the areas outside of NTC as well. It is become a cultural tourism destination as being promoted by the Tourism Authority. Tell us about San Diego be named one of the world smart cities. Yes, I will be happy to share that. The San Diego Tier -- Tourism Authority work with National Geographic almost for two years now to help highlight San Diego as a smart city and National Geographic was really looking for cities that had an incredible tech and innovation sector but also the city itself had a quality of life that made it in the able among other cities or goat that was really the reason why National Geographic chose San Diego was the combination of that Balaji and innovation with high quality of life so if folks are got a chance to see the documentary see that places like the ballpark and Chicano Park and the overall atmosphere of our city really played a part in us being named the roles -- cities. It is the only US city? It is actually the only city in North America to be included in that series. That's pretty good. Alot of this report has be without our institutions impact not to risk but San Diego ends. And enhanced student education. How do you see that working in the arts organizations that you are associated with? I see a first-hand at NTC because we've got 28 different nonprofit among our goods there and we bring schoolkids over to the campus where during the school year they can take classes in partnership of resident groups. This is not filtered, these kids are sometimes there are 28 or 32 times during the school year and a gives them an opportunity to take classes that are tied to the curriculum with groups like -- at outside lands, a patient art museum and it helps the teacher say they can see instantly how kids perform differently with there outside of the classroom when they are using a different side of the brain about when they are doing things collaboratively with their classmates and it really helps with their education. Helps them better understand their core curriculum. We also bring over juvenile court community students and for them it is more about changing behavior and attitude in giving them increased self-esteem. Again they are working out things that are different than what they would normally do in the classroom. We sometimes call it first chance because log kits have been before the judge and I learned it cost $98,000 year to incarcerate youth and call for you. If you can keep kids out of prison the small investment of programming like our liberty school program, you are saving a lot of money down the road in creating and doing a lot of good for society. Also one of the things that's highlighted in this program is that we have arts institution starting from the children's Museum back in and basically take kids from the investor age all the way up until when they are adults and you can still learn things as our arts institution. Lifelong learning is important whether you're a little kid in school or senior. There are opportunities at all of our arts program. I want to thank you both coming in and speak with us. I have been speaking with Alan Snyder, cochair of this in the original arts and culture coalition and Candice Eley the San Diego Tourism Authority. Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you.