Episode 9: How to Buy Your Performance Space | CAST & CounterPulse Real Estate Model

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CounterPulse Performances and Building along with CAST programs and projects they’ve supported

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"The resilience that we have to live through booms and busts and pandemics and continue to serve the community, continue to drive foot traffic, continue to create economic opportunities for local people to have jobs and work and express themselves is just incredible. And so if you're struggling with a storefront or a vacancy or empty space, just remember to think about the arts” - Julie Phelps

This episode is part of our special series on how the arts and culture sector is coming back from the COVID-19 pandemic and features voices from the Co-Production of Arts For A Better Bay Area State of The Arts Summit held at the Strand Theatre in San Francisco on June 28th 2023. The focus of the summit was on rebuilding our communities through the arts. Among the breakout sessions, one topic resonated deeply: “Housing for the Artist Workforce”

In a post COVID-19 pandemic market place where affordable housing and real estate pose significant challenges, a revolutionary idea emerged from the ABBA summit's breakout session: leveraging post-pandemic market dynamics to empower arts and cultural organizations to acquire their own performance spaces.

Join us as we delve into this exciting possibility with two esteemed guests: Julie Phelps, Artistic and Executive Director of CounterPulse, and Joshua Simon, Senior Advisor at the Community Arts Stabilization Trust. They will unravel the innovative real estate model that enabled CounterPulse to purchase their own performance space—a groundbreaking model that could transform the landscape for arts communities nationwide.

Don't miss this captivating episode of Voices of the Community, where dialogue sparks change and every voice resonates.

Julie Phelps - Artistic & Executive Director, CounterPulse

Julie Phelps works at the intersection of aesthetics and activism as a celebrated curator and performance artist. Resisting singular descriptions of her work, Phelps enacts intentional imprecision and strategic responsiveness. As Artistic & Executive Director of the interdisciplinary, experimental arts space CounterPulse, Phelps combines grassroots community engagement and institutional frameworks to create a dynamic home for art and culture. Most recently, Phelps raised $7 million to renovate and acquire CounterPulse’s building, launching a new model for placing arts at the center of community development as the pilot project of the Community Arts Stabilization Trust. CounterPulse’s facility is acclaimed by the press and featured in architectural reviews, receiving the 2017 Inspiration Award from CONTRACT magazine. Phelps has funded and launched a curated and acclaimed program of performing arts events, community-based programming, and international cross-cultural exchange projects, and tours nationally and internationally as a speaker, U.S. representative, and dance artist. Learn more at www.juliephelps.net  

Joshua Simon - Senior Advisor, CAST [Community Arts Stabilization Trust]

Joshua Simon is dedicated to building vibrant, affordable, healthy neighborhoods. He serves as Senior Advisor for Community Arts Stabilization Trust. For 20 of the last 40 years, Joshua worked for East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, culminating as Executive Director. He directed EBALDC’s Real Estate Development Department from 1994–2006, overseeing the development of mixed-use complexes that combine affordable rental apartments with community and retail complexes. He also spent seven years as Director of Real Estate Consulting at the organization now known as Community Vision, where he helped nonprofits to plan and finance their facilities. For 10 years before EBALDC, he worked for a variety of nonprofit affordable housing organizations including Project Artaud, Chinatown Community Development Corporation, Resources for Community Development, among others. Throughout his career, Joshua has been an active civic leader, serving 13 years as an elected School Board member for Emeryville Unified School District. He served on many nonprofit boards and civic committees to address education, affordable housing and urban policy, including SPUR and Northern California Non Profit Housing Association. He now serves on the Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council. Joshua holds a B.A. in Architecture from UC Berkeley and M.S. in Real Estate Development from MIT.

CounterPulse

CounterPulse is a dynamic movement of experimental art that sparks personal transformation and builds enduring community. We provide space and resources for emerging artists and cultural innovators, serving as an incubator for the creation of socially relevant, community-based art and culture. CounterPulse acts as a catalyst for art and action; creating a forum for the open exchange of art and ideas, sparking transformation in our communities and our society. We work towards a world that celebrates diversity of race, class, cultural heritage, artistic expression, ability, gender identity, and sexual orientation. We strive to create an environment that is physically and economically accessible to everyone. Find out more about CounterPulse’s upcoming events, Artist Residency & Commissioning Program, Open Calls, and job opportunities. Make a Donation and become a member to support affordable space and professional resources for thousands of artists and arts lovers, and help fund our Neighborhood Arts Program, TenderArts. Get engaged as a volunteer to support artist productions, meet folks in your creative community, and make a difference by giving back to a thriving and dynamic arts community at CounterPulse in San Francisco! Rent production space at CounterPulse for your next event and theatrical production to support CounterPulse’s programming. Dive into the whole story behind Julie and CounterPulse’s efforts to buy their performance space 80 Turk

Community Arts Stabilization Trust - CAST

Mission: To create stable physical spaces for arts and cultural organizations to facilitate equitable urban transformation. This seed of an idea that was incubated through NCCLF evolved into what is now known as the Community Arts Stabilization Trust. With a $5 million grant from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation to launch CAST’s first two pilot projects, CounterPulse and Luggage Store Gallery, CAST set out on its mission to slow the exodus of artists and arts organizations in the Mid-Market neighborhood of San Francisco by buying two buildings, leveraging New Markets Tax Credits, and holding the asset for a period of seven years until the arts partner was strong enough operationally and had enough funds raised to buy their building back from CAST and acquire a permanent home. Founded in 2013, CAST has helped transform access to space for nonprofits in the Bay Area, at a time when artists were being priced out left and right in San Francisco and particularly vulnerable to an escalating commercial real estate market. Find out more about the model, programs/services, partnerships resources, and partnering with CAST, looking for space and supporting their work.

Videos

Find out more about the CounterPulse’s Purchase of their Performance Space and CAST’s Services Model

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