Episode 6: Policy Wins, Updates & Visions for the Future!

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CA Arts & Culture Summit Panel “Policy Wins, Updates & Visions for the Future!” - Photos Courtesy of Doug Cupid Photography

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"For the first time, we are centering artists in our work with an equity-centered, artist-centered cultural plan... with a big emphasis on affordable housing and live-workspace for artists” - Jonathon Glus, City of San Diego

In this dynamic panel, arts leaders share transformative wins in advocacy, equity, and cross-sector partnerships, highlighting groundbreaking initiatives like creative workforce programs, cultural planning, and arts funding reforms. These stories showcase the power of creativity to drive community impact. Watch, listen, and learn how arts can shape our future!

Jennifer Laine-Executive Director, San Benito Arts Council

Jennifer Laine is a passionate arts advocate and has spent the majority of her career increasing arts and cultural equity at the local, regional and state level. Since 2010, she has served as Executive Director of the San Benito County Arts Council, a local arts agency based in Hollister, California, where she has raised millions of dollars of arts funding for her rural community, built the county’s Executive Director, San Benito County Arts Council Board Member, CA for the Arts | President, CA Arts Advocates Jennifer Laine largest Arts in Education Program and developed dedicated arts programs and services for some of the county’s most under-resourced residents, including students with disabilities, incarcerated youth and economically-disadvantaged families. In 2022, Jennifer was part of a collaborative effort to bring in over $5 million in state arts funding for individual artist grants and creative workforce development to the Central Coast region and is currently working with the California Department of Transportation on two Clean California Highway Beautification Projects in District 5.

Jennifer is a board member with California for the Arts/California Arts Advocates, serving as Board President and Policy Chair of CAA, and is also on the leadership team of the statewide Coalition of County Arts Agencies. Jennifer holds a B.A. in Art History from UC Santa Cruz and a M.A. in Global Studies from the University of Leipzig, Germany. In 2023, she was awarded “Woman on the Year” by Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas. Jennifer lives in her hometown of Hollister with her three wonderful children, Henry, Anabelle and Sam.

Felicia Shaw-Executive Director, San Diego Art Matters

Felicia W. Shaw is an experienced nonprofit arts management executive with a career spanning over three decades. She has served in executive and director level leadership positions, including the Women’s Museum of California, the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis, the San Diego Foundation, and the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, where she launched a variety of Executive Director, San Diego Art Matters Board Member, CA for the Arts / CA Arts Advocates Felicia Shaw programs and initiatives early in its history that continues today. She currently serves as executive director of the San Diego ART Matters (formerly the San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition), an arts service organization with a 30+ year history of successful advocacy efforts across local, state, and national levels.

Felicia’s commitment to the arts extends to leadership within various organizations and committees, including an appointment to the San Diego County Commission for Arts and Culture representing District 4, and board service with Californians for the Arts and California Arts Advocates, the Mingei International Museum, and Moxie Theatre. She is also a member of the San Diego Art Prize selection committee. Previously, she served on national boards, including the Americans for the Arts – United States United Arts Federation, Grantmakers in the Arts, and CERF+, a nonprofit serving the needs of craft artists throughout the United States. She is a recipient of numerous arts and civic leadership awards, most recently recognized by the San Diego Business Journal in 2022 as a Black Leader of Influence Honoree and the San Diego Metro 2022 “Woman of Accomplishment.” Felicia supports many civic causes and is a member of the Southeast San Diego Rotary Club and the Democratic Woman’s Club of San Diego.

Jonathon Glus-Director of Arts & Culture, City of San Diego

Jonathon joined the City of San Diego in November 2018. He leads and facilitates the strategic vision of the office. Prior to working in San Diego, he was the Director of Culture and Creative Economy for the City of Sacramento, CA where he led the city’s first cultural planning process in more than 20 Director of Arts & Culture, City of San Diego Vice President, CA for the Arts | Board Member, CA Arts Advocates Jonathon Glus years. Jonathon set in place an assessment of Sacramento’s film sector and an equity audit of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. Prior to Sacramento, he served as the first CEO of Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) for more than nine years. While at HAA, he worked closely with a board of more than 30, multiple committees, staff and partner agencies including Visit Houston, the Greater Houston Partnership, cultural districts and universities. Jonathon co-chaired the tourism committee of Visit Houston, partnered on multiple cultural tourism initiatives, and lead two studies on the creative economy in Houston region. He was also the chairman of the board of Texans for the Arts (TFA), a statewide arts advocacy organization. 

He was Executive Director of Arts & Culture for the City of Pasadena, CA where he led multiple cultural tourism initiatives and partnerships, represented that city with the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition & Festival, and led the city’s cultural planning process, in partnership with the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission. Jonathon began his career with city arts agencies in Evanston, IL, and his arts career with the International Sculpture Center, in Washington, DC where he wrote for SCULPTURE magazine and traveling exhibitions internationally. He studied urban economics and public policy at Indiana University, and art and architectural history at University of Illinois. He also studied at University of Kent, in Canterbury, England, where he focused on British urban policy.

Andrea Hansen, M.F.A.- Executive Director, Kern Dance Alliance / Program Director, KDA Creative Corps

Andrea Hansen is the Executive Director of the Kern Dance Alliance (KDA) and Program Director for the KDA Creative Corps headquartered in Bakersfield, CA. Celebrating over 30 years working in the arts, Andrea has experienced a vast career across the United States as a professional dancer, choreographer, college professor, and as an arts administrator. She received her B.A. in Dance and Political Science from Mercyhurst University and graduated Magna Cum Laude with an M.F.A. in Choreography from the University of Arizona. Executive Director, Kern Dance Alliance / Program Director, KDA Creative Corps Andrea Hansen, M.F.A. Andrea launched her arts administration career in Arizona as the Development Associate and Performing Arts Coordinator at Scottsdale Arts. 

She was responsible for the organization’s fundraising initiatives, and she implemented arts education curriculum, facilitated artist relations, and presented world-renown artists. In 2015, she co-founded the Kern Dance Alliance (KDA), a nonprofit arts agency elevating California’s Central Valley community through grant-making, programs, and services. KDA proudly supports historically and systematically excluded artists and arts organizations by responding to the needs of the community and creating pathways to make the greatest impact. KDA has provided services to over 70,000 people, raised nearly $5 million to enhance the Central Valley’s arts offerings, and has been recognized in the region as an arts leader. Additionally, Andrea is an advocate working with California legislators and state agencies to ensure arts funding is equitably allocated to the Central Valleys. Most recently she secured $1 million from the California state budget to support the Historic Bakersfield Fox Theater.

Megan Morgan-Race & Equity Manager, California Arts Council

Megan Morgan is a writer, artist, speaker, yoga teacher, podcast host, and the Race & Equity Manager for the California Arts Council where she oversees all aspects of the agency’s Racial Equity Action Plan development, implementation, and reporting. One aspect that is integral to her work is using their agency Decision Support Tool, which helps them to make decisions using an equity lens. Race & Equity Manager, California Arts Council Megan Morgan She is passionate about being active in and promoting inclusivity in the arts, and beyond, graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute with her MFA in photography and her BA in Art & Art History from the University of Toronto.

Megan’s photography work is highlighted in the Harvard University Press journal, The Image of the Black in Western Art Volume V: The Twentieth Century, Part 2: The Rise of Black Artists in an essay by Dr. Deborah Willis, edited by David Bindman and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. In 2023 she was one of four women selected for the BOLD Speaker Series where brave women share live, vulnerable stories in community to empower themselves and others, and she also spoke at the 2023 Capitol Creative Alliance 

Anne Bown-Crawford-Artist/Designer/Consultant, ABC et cetera Design Consultancy

Anne Bown-Crawford is an artist, designer, teacher, and consultant within the context of arts & culture, the creative economy, and education. Her sphere of influence spans the design of organizational and regional community-building to the development of strategies to link creatives and creative industries with interdisciplinary economic development nationally, and as a creative arts curriculum designer. She is also a new media studio artist currently working in the realm of art & science.

Artist/Designer/Consultant, ABC et cetera Design Consultancy Anne Bown-Crawford Anne is currently a senior consultant for the California State Parks program Arts in California Parks, designing and implementing the program that infuses the natural landscape with public art. As an artist in residence for Google’s Quantum AI Research Labs and a principal in DRAWEVERYWHERE’s Creative Exchange Program, Anne contributes to the arts & science discussion by infusing innovation and creativity into the cultural heart of the GQ Labs. Her role is to inspire the staff with thought provoking, mindful, and compassionate engagement through art and design.

Lilia Gonzales Chavez-Executive Director, Fresno Arts Council

Lilia Gonzáles-Chávez M.A., a native of Fresno County, and an advocate for the arts for over 40 years. She served on the Board of the Fresno Art Museum and the Board of the Fresno Arts Council prior to being appointed Executive Director in 2011. In 2016 she was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the State Summer School for the Arts by Governor Jerry Brown and was reappointed in 2018. Governor Gavin Newson appointed her to the California Arts Council in Executive Director, Fresno Arts Council Lilia Gonzáles Chávez 2020, where she served as Chair of the Council from 2021 through 2023. She is a performing artist with over thirty years teaching and performing Ballet Folklórico. Lilia has worked in the education and the arts fields first as a teacher and advancing through management and leadership positions in public and nonprofit organizations.

At the Fresno Arts Council she led the organization to provide arts services in the State Prison system and local jail. Under her leadership the Council has increased outreach to rural communities with a designated Rural Outreach Fund to support the transportation of artists and audiences to and from rural parts of Fresno County. She created a Teaching artists training program to increase participation of local artists in the schools and is credited for establishing the Fresno Poet Laureate program. Her advocacy was instrumental in establishing the City of Fresno Arts Access Fund that will provide an estimated $5 million annually for Arts in the City of Fresno for 30 years. Lilia is a co-founder of Arte América’s, the Latino cultural arts center in Fresno and served as its principal administrator for ten years. She is the recipient of the Judge Armando Rodriguez Legacy Award for Social Justice, the Fresno County Schools Leadership in Arts Award, and the Arte Americas Rebozo Award for Community Service. Lilia will be receiving an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from California State University, Fresno this May.

Shira Lane-Founding Executive Director, Atrium 916

Shira Lane is a serial entrepreneur and the driving force behind Atrium 916, a trailblazing Creative Innovation Center for Sustainability. With almost two decades as a documentary filmmaker, under Unleashed Productions, Shira has journeyed through the most challenging terrains, from war zones to natural disaster sites. Her collaborative work with national nonprofits like (RED), the Founding Executive Director, Atrium 916 Shira Lane National Stewardship Action Council, and Earthjustice, have garnered awards, raised crucial project funds, and catalyzed significant policy changes.

In 2016, Shira founded America’s first upcycle market, Upcycle-Pop. This evolved into the Atrium, a thriving 34,000-square-foot collaborative event and artist co-working space focused on circular economy and zero waste initiatives. Shira initiated Sacramento Creative Economy Meetings and became the forefront of arts advocacy efforts within the City of Sacramento, bridging the gap between the arts community and the city. These advocacy efforts, in collaboration with Mayor Steinberg, led to $30 million being invested into the creative sector, the highest amount of any city in the nation. Atrium 916 continues to push boundaries with creative system solutions, art exhibits, solar-powered mobile activations, educational PBS media, and sustainable economic development programs including an Incubator and an Accelerator. Always working within the community to build a kind, creative, and sustainable future.

San Diego Art Matters

San Diego ART Matters seeks to strengthen San Diego’s creative ecosystem and advocate for greater public and private investment in the people and institutions that make our region's arts and culture sector thrive. In 1990, a little over a year after the City of San Diego amended its hotel/motel tax to include a set aside for arts and culture, the City Manager proposed to zero out the accumulated arts fund to close a gap in the City’s general budget. The proposal set off a shock wave across the arts and culture sector, forcing more than 150 nonprofit arts and culture organizations to galvanize, speak with one voice, and work together to fend off the crippling cut.

The story of how local advocacy efforts ultimately saved the arts is also how San Diego ART Matters was formed – then as the San Diego Arts and Cultural Coalition and later as the San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition (SDRACC). This group of concerned citizens has never stopped working to promote, preserve, and protect the arts for the benefit of the community. Finding out more about what San Diego ART Matters services and how to get involved as a Member and Making a Donation. Check out all of their research and impact.

City of San Diego’s Arts and Culture

The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) is responsible for the City's arts, culture, and creative industries. Specifically, DCA advances an equitable and inclusive creative economy and arts ecosystem in San Diego that reflects the region's cultural diversity and informs San Diego’s brand as a global city. DCA’s mission is to advance and drive an equitable and inclusive creative economy and cultural ecosystem by investing in the work of artists and creatives and the institutions and systems that amplify creative work and experiences, cultivating local participation and access, and advancing San Diego as a global city.

DCA’s vision is a champion for a cultural capital with a global reputation for its diverse and innovative creative workforce, cultural vitality and wholly unique art experiences and opportunities for all. DCA staff of professional arts administrators facilitates DCA’s programs and initiatives. DCA interacts with the City’s Commission for Arts and Culture, which serves in an advisory capacity to the Mayor, City Council, and DCA. The Commission's primary role is to promote, encourage, and increase support for the region's artistic and cultural assets, integrate arts and culture into community life, and showcase San Diego as an international tourist destination. The Commission is composed of 15 volunteers appointed by the Mayor. More information about the duties and functions of the Commission is set forth in the San Diego Municipal Code: Commission for Arts and Culture and the Commission for Arts and Culture - Rules and Regulations

Fresno Arts Council

The Fresno Arts Council is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization originally established in 1979 under the name “Alliance for the Arts” by local artists, arts organizations and interested individuals who wished to create a voice for the arts in the Central San Joaquin Valley. By Memorandum of Understanding, the FAC serves as the local arts agency for the City & County of Fresno and is tasked to support and promote the arts industry. Our mission is to enrich people’s lives through the arts, and our purpose is to foster an arts community that recognizes and honors the contributions of its citizens to the arts. We are managed by a volunteer board of directors, and our agency solicits financial support from foundations, membership dues, and government and corporate funders as well as private donors.

Our current arts programs & services include: The 559 Mural Project, ArtHop, Arts Alive in Agriculture Juried Exhibition, Arts in Education, African American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley, City Hall Gallery, City of Fresno Poet Laureate, Desvgn, Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce FRIENDS Storytelling Project, The Horizon, The Janka Project, Libóta Mbonda Fresno African Drumming Group, LitHop, Poetry Out Loud, Smithsonian Institute Fresno Sculpture Directory, Yonsei Memory Project; technical assistance workshops, united arts advocacy, local liaison for the California Arts Council, city and county consultant for public art, fiscal receivership for individual artists and arts groups or initiatives. Past art programs: California Veterans Project, Creative Fresno Digital Mural Map, Dining with the Artists, Fres.co, Fresno County Fair Project, Hanford Multicultural Theatre Company, Out Words, SomosFres.co, Teresa Flores (artist). Find out more about the Expanded Access to Arts and Culture Funding and Open Calls along with supporting their work via donation and membership

Kern Dance Alliance

Kern Dance Alliance (KDA) is a nonprofit advocacy organization promoting and supporting dance and the arts in Kern County. Since 2015, KDA has supported the arts in California’s Central Valleys through grantmaking, programs, and services. KDA has offered arts-related opportunities to over 60,000 community members, raised over $450,000 to enhance Kern’s arts offerings, and has been nominated for six Beautiful Bakersfield Awards. KDA services provide social, emotional, physical, and financial support for creatives and the greater Kern County community. 

KDA has been successful in elevating Central Valley communities through cross-sector arts programs that teach educational endeavors like math and reading, assist with healthcare like improving life with dementia and aiding with disabilities, and increase quality of life like uplifting the marginalized. KDA impacts Kern County by utilizing the arts to encourage learning, healthy living, understanding, and acceptance. Through unique programs, KDA incites our community with passion, creativity, empowerment, and innovation. Find out more about KDA Programs and their KDA Creative Corps, and check out the Creative Corps interim impact report along with learning how to Get Involved through Membership and Donation

ABC et cetera Design Consultancy

Designing for Innovation & Connection - As a consultant, my focus is on nurturing innovation and community connectivity within the realms of art, education, public art, and creative industry economic development. I firmly believe in taking an integrated and holistic approach to program and project planning and implementation, which is key to achieving my clients' desired outcomes.

To this end, I adopt a non-linear and iterative planning process that involves understanding users, identifying challenges, questioning assumptions, and redefining problems to create innovative solutions that I can prototype and test. I strongly advocate for designing with a holistic approach that supports and encourages sustainability, while also ensuring a clear return on investment for communities and organizations. The Creative Exchange program fosters a culture of curiosity, challenge, trust, and delight to promote innovation within organizations. Through thought-provoking, mindful, and compassionate engagement, members of the organization are inspired to think creatively and approach challenges in new ways. The program encourages individuals to give themselves creative permission and think outside the box. Building connections and cultivating a creative culture are key components of the program. Find out more about our work

Atrium 916

Atrium 916 is a Creative Innovation Center for Sustainability, engineering solutions that build a kind, creative, and sustainable future for all beings. The Atrium, through community-driven ideas, builds systems and provides support for the formulation of new mission-driven, eco-friendly products, and services that drive a sustainable creative circular economy. We are a collaborative community of creatives and entrepreneurs who are aligned on the idea of doing business for good. With impactful art, space, projects, solutions, support and events. We are a hub where creatives come to connect, experiment, be inspired, collaborate, and innovate towards the omni-considerate future this planet needs.

Atrium 916 is the intersection of creativity, entrepreneurship, and environmental stewardship. We listen intently to our creative community and find ways to engineer their ideas and solve problems. Our programming is designed to nurture the next generation of creative minds and build sustainably Sacramento’s creative economy. Welcome to the Atrium, a kind space, in historic Old Sacramento, available and accessible to all, 5 days a week. We serve over 850 creatives in the greater Sacramento region and have provided educational interactions and art installations to over half a million people since 2017. Find out more about Atrium’s Co-Working Space, Sacramento.Shop, Art Café, Grants and Resources as well as their Creative Economy Community Meetings, becoming a member and supporting their work via donation and volunteering

San Benito Arts Council

The San Benito County Arts Council is an entrepreneurial, nimble, collaborative nonprofit that provides arts programming and serves as a connector, investor, advocate and leader for the arts in San Benito County. Founded in 2006, the Arts Council is anchored by a dynamic, energetic and committed staff and Board of Directors supported by a growing number of people and organizations that includes state and local government, school districts at the County Office of Education, private and public foundations, individuals and businesses. The Arts Council serves all residents of San Benito County with a particular focus on children and youth, artists, and historically marginalized communities.

The San Benito County Arts Council is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Hollister, California, which serves as a State-Local Partner to the California Arts Council. Finding out more about their programs Arts Education, Community Art Education, Dreams Project, Grants and Funding Opportunities, along with becoming a member and staying in the loop via their blog and to support their work via a donation.

California Arts Council

California Arts Council’s vision for their work is a California where all people flourish with universal access to and participation in the arts.

Values

· Community – Authentic intergenerational and intersectional connections

· Accessibility – Inclusion, simplicity and ease, resulting in equitable participation

·Aesthetics – Recognizing all art forms and artistic traditions that enable full and meaningful creative expression

· Autonomy with Accountability – Empowered, responsible generation and allocation of resources

· Relevance – Broad influence, bold leadership and synergizing collaboration for the present, with a sharp eye toward emerging developments and needs of the future

·Equity – Service according to need to prioritize racial injustice, representation and visibility of all groups

Sustainability – Wise, impactful and responsive growth

Find out more about Grants, Programs, their Learning Center, stay up to date on arts in California and sign up for their Blog and check out Collective, the California Arts Council’s statewide opportunities resource.

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Voices of the Community is supported by a grant from the Zellerbach Family Foundation, whose Arts and Culture grants ensure vibrant work is created, new voices are celebrated, and artists and audiences inclusive of the Bay Area’s diverse communities and cultures have opportunities to thrive. Find out more at ZFF dot org

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Thanks to our CoProduction Partner

BAVC Media is a community hub and resource for media makers in the Bay Area and across the country, serving several thousand freelancers, filmmakers, job-seekers, activists, and artists every year. BAVC Media provides access to media making technology, storytelling workshops, a diverse and engaged community of makers and producers, services and resources. Get Training, participate in the MediaMaker Fellowship, become a member and produce shows through the SF Commons program.

Thanks to our CoProduction Partner

California For The Arts - Mission: CFA advances arts and culture in California by raising awareness of programs and services for artists and empowering Californians to advocate for the arts in government, business, and communities.

Vision: CFA envisions California as the most creative state, where artists and arts workers—from designers to musicians—thrive.

California Arts Advocates: This sister organization to CFA ensures that arts are represented in legislation, collaborating with CFA to promote awareness and influence policy decisions.

Get Involved: Become a member, explore their programs, and support the arts in your community.

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