Episode 35: Intersection for the Arts

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A transcript, lightly edited for clarity and length, follows.

Show Guests: Randy Rollison,Executive Director and Allison Snopek,Deputy Director, of Intersection for the Arts

Voices of the Community Introduction: Welcome to voices of the community which explores critical issues facing Northern California communities. We introduce you to the voices of community thought leaders and change makers who are working on solutions that face our fellow individual community members neighborhoods cities and our region. This is George Koster your host. 

Series Introduction: This episode is part of our series exploring COVID-19’s impact on nonprofits and small businesses in San Francisco. We started the series back in April 2020 during the height of the first phase of the Covid 19 pandemic and the Shelter In Place requirements. Over these past nine months, the Covid-19 pandemic and economic meltdown have wiped out millions of jobs in both the nonprofit and small business sectors as well as shuttered tens of thousands of small business operations.

The goal of the series is to shine a spotlight on the nonprofits, small businesses, and their staff who are struggling to deal with the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on their operations, services and sustainability. The series of interviews we conducted features voices from a cross-section of organizations that make up the fabric of our community.  Each of them brings a unique perspective on how they and we are dealing with the issues facing our community during the global pandemic and economic depression.

Show Guest Randy: In terms of the community itself as they felt the absence of the things they've come to count on from the arts community, that ability to just go out and see a show or go to a gallery. So, there may be a, new appreciation once we reopened and are able to convene again in person for what that meant. And the beauty of that. But you know, I think that, you know, in terms of the people who are working in the cultural sector and everything, it's exposed even further our vulnerabilities, the fact that we're always working in the margins. And then when something like this hits it's catastrophic in so many cases.  

Episode Intro - Show Host George: In this episode our featured voices are Randy Rollison the Executive Director and Allison Snopek the Deputy Director of Intersection for the Arts. This week’s show with Randy and Allison is part of our end of year theme to highlight the importance of nonprofits in our community. Our conversation focuses on the arts and culture organizations they work with and to get their insights into how the Covid-19 pandemic is impacting these organizations that bring joy and inspiration to our communal lives.

We wanted to provide some economic context to our conversation with Alison and Randy, so we asked How big is the arts and culture economy in San Francisco? The latest in-depth study we could find was a 2015 Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 national economic impact study that was conducted by Americans for the Arts in partnership with the San Francisco Arts Commission. According to the study the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates 1.45 billion in annual economic activity and supports 39,699 full-time equivalent jobs.

An update to this 2015 survey can be found in an ongoing survey dashboard that Americans for the Arts has recently launched to track the economic impact of the coronavirus on the arts and culture sectors. The survey provides arts and cultural organizations an opportunity to report their data into the survey which in turn generates survey results in a dashboard from a national level to a zip code level. From the 100 plus organizations in San Francisco County who’ve participated in the Americans for the Arts survey, to date the economic impact of covid-19 on the arts and cultural sector is a loss of over 20 million dollars to San Francisco County. The survey also found that 96% of organizations have canceled events, there have been over 60 thousand staff laid off, as well as over 49 thousand furloughed. Over 60 percent saw reduced philanthropic giving and have limited cash reserves with over 30 percent unable to make payroll and 24 percent closing. Other results from the survey found that 11percent of the organizations who haven’t closed were not confident their organization will survive the impact of covid-19. Even with all of this bad news 89 percent of the arts groups are delivering artistic content to raise community spirits and morale during social distancing / quarantine

On a national level according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the creative economy employs 5.1 million Americans and contributes $877 billion annually to GDP.

Show Host George: I'm joined remotely via zoom by Randy Rollison, the Executive Director and Allison Snopek, the Deputy Director of Intersection for the Arts. Thank you for being here, Randy and Allison

Show Guest Randy: Nice to be with you

Show Guest Allison: Yeah. Thanks for having us

Show Host George: So, Randy I like to turn to you first and please provide, our audience, a little overview of who is Intersection for the Arts and the kinds of services that you provide individual artists and art organizations here in the Bay Area.

Show Guest Randy: Well, Intersection for the Arts has been around since the early 1960s. And it was actually founded by artists who were working in the Tenderloin to reach the youth there and help them out. And it's carried forward a tradition of working with artists who are deeply invested in community over all these decades.
We were based in, North Beach for a while, and then the Mission, and then now we're, downtown in Civic Center. And we used to have a really robust theater and gallery program. And then the organization had to reinvent, in 2014. And what we did was decide to focus on one of the key things that had been a, through line for Intersection, which is its supportive artists in their work.

So, Intersection used to have like a radio show, back in the sixties and seventies about opportunities throughout the Bay area, and then we were one of the first adopters of fiscal sponsorship, which is the ability to be able to use, an organization's 50- C3 extend that use to others who are working for the same charitable purpose. And, so that has been, a very robust program all through the decades. And so, when we reinvented, we really changed the focus solely to providing artists and cultural workers with resources in order to thrive. So, we do that through fiscal sponsorship, but we take a more holistic approach, and we work with artists, who are creating these amazing, organizations.

And there, accidental administrators. And so, we really want to, you know, help them, develop their professional capacities and their ability to, raise money, write a compelling pitch for support. What is the business model underneath there, organization or their individual artist's practice? So we provide a lot of workshops, mentor-ship, coaching, technical assistance, and, really, like I said, take a holistic approach, because it can be pretty lonely work when you start out one of these enterprises. And then we want to let them know that, you know, they're within a community and there's a support system for them.

George: Thank you. That was great. Allison, could you kind of walk us through the artists and art organizations that you work with at Intersection for the Arts?

Show Guest Allison: Yeah. So, we currently have about one hundred and fifty-seven members who are under fiscal sponsorship. That number is constantly growing and fluctuating. And we're working with artists and arts organizations that use their work in the arts and cultural sector to make a positive impact within their communities.

So, most of them are working with historically under served populations and then creating and providing access to the arts. Most are in the Bay Area, but some projects, have a broader reach. And there's a wide range of the types of organizations and artistic disciplines that we're working with.

So, for example, we have groups that do work to bring arts to correctional facilities. We have community cultural centers, like the American Indian Cultural Center and the Tahitian Cultural Center. We've got groups that work in music, dance and theater doing performance out in the community and community programming.

We've got arts education groups doing, work with youth both in and outside of schools. We work with arts, advocacy groups, literary arts groups that allow people to tell their stories visual arts groups that are doing community murals and interactive activations out in the community. And of course, we have Voices of the Community, one of our newest fiscally sponsored projects, this podcast telling the important stories of non-profits and non-profit workers and the valuable work they're doing. All of our members are listed on our website the intersection dot org under the meet our members sections.

So, folks can go to the site and learn more about all of our projects read about their missions click through to their direct websites and see everything that's going on there.

George: Thank you. So, turning back to you, Randy. Here we are going into month nine of the pandemic and the subsequent economic meltdown. How has COVID 19 and the economic downturn along with AB-5 impacted the organizations and funders that you work with?

Randy: Well, it's been quite a year, hasn't it? You know, we started the year first grappling with AB-5 and the impacts that, we were seeing, you know, especially in the arts, which is a sector that has relied particularly on the gig economy, I mean, musicians were the original gig artists.

So how it was starting to impact and what the realities are that were suddenly hitting us on the ground, having to change all these people from independent contractors to employees and, you know, the attended costs, it's like an extra 13% in people's budgets. So, we were just starting to grapple with that and then COVID hit and, I can only describe it as, as kind of like a body blow to the sector. You had a number of different things happen immediately like performances canceled, you know, and folks were reeling from the realities of that they'd already invested a lot in the shows and then their ticket sales, weren't going to materialize and it started playing out in little ways like that, but it was also a blow to the community that is used to gathering in person and what was the new reality? And simultaneously everybody was grappling with it on a personal level. So, you've got your arts enterprise that you're working on and everything and suddenly there's this enormous upheaval.  

But you've got your personal thing I’m stuck in my home and I don't know what this is. There was remember those first few weeks were just like, I fully don't understand this. And then if you were trying to keep things going, like we were with Intersection because we needed to make sure that the artists and everything were going to, you know, we could get the checks out the door.

You know, I think we came up with like three different operating scenarios over the weekend before the shelter in place order happened. How were we going to keep things going? And everybody experienced that. So, it's two profound things happening simultaneously.  And you know, everybody kind of put away AB-5 for a little while, while we grappled with the larger reality of COVID, but it's now coming back into play. So, it's two viruses at once, basically.

George: Thank you, That's a really good description. So, Allison, since you're working, every day with all of the various, individual artists and organizations, what are some of the needs that you're seeing that the arts and cultural community can use during the pandemic and economic impact?

Allison: So as Randy mentioned, you know, the arts sector, you know, relies heavily on coming together as a community and being in person whether that be for performances or workshops or whatever it is not being able to gather in person is a huge shock. And you know, that oftentimes can reflect their revenue streams as well if they're not selling tickets to performances and whatnot. So really just learning new ways to pivot and, you know, come up with virtual programming or outdoor programming and finding new ways to stay connected to their constituents and to stay motivated and to stay sane through all of this and stay creative and inspired.

And you know, also financially having, to dig into their organizational budgets and figure out how to make things work during this time. So, what we've done to kind of address this and recognize, the need for information and resources. So, we try to keep our projects in the loop about, any emergency funding that we learn about. We have an awesome COVID-19 artists resources page that is extensive and continually updated that provides resources for emergency funding, legal resources, and other tools for learning how to pivot and stay connected. We've got, an extensive artist resource directory providing arts business skills information about granting organizations and just trying to provide the tools and information for the community during this time of need.

George: And so my next question is really, for both of you, I'm going to go back to Randy in this one to start with, so with you know, the economic and the pandemic, and again, the AB-5 component of it, what do you feel, will be the largest impact on not only the artists, the organizations, but also the community itself and then our local economy?

Randy: Well, I think that, you know, in terms of the community itself as they felt the absence of the things they've come to count on from the arts community, that ability to just go out and see a show or go to a gallery. So, there may be a, new appreciation once we reopened and are able to convene again in person for what that meant.

And the beauty of that. But you know, I think that, you know, in terms of the people who are working in the cultural sector and everything, it's exposed even further our vulnerabilities, the fact that we're always working in the margins. And then when something like this hit it's catastrophic in so many cases. But we’re, a resilient and adaptable bunch. And I think it's showing in the way people are responding to this how adaptable we are.

Allison: Yeah, I would, second that and you know, one positive impact is, knowing that we can be inventive and active and come up with ways to be creative and come to terms with this new reality, essentially and finding ways to connect and express ourselves in new ways, oftentimes from home and still staying active and connected with our, arts communities.

George: Thank you.  So, Randy you've both been at this for a while, what are some of the strategies that you've identified and or that you have been working with through foundations and other nonprofits in our local City and County of San Francisco that we could execute to address the COVID 19 impact on nonprofits?

Randy: Well, I think that the first thing that comes to mind for me is, how are we going to adjust these organizations then the foundations, the government to be more, agile and to be able to bend these rigid structures to accommodate things like this as they come along. And, you know, it was interesting seeing the responsiveness of the foundations and the government right away, some could move quickly the smaller foundations and say, we're going to start issuing, you know, some emergency grants.

Others are just big machines and can't move quickly. So, they were kind of hamstrung by their own restrictions. And so, I think that, you know, what this will probably do in terms of say the funding sector is, that they will come together, and probably rethink a certain amount of how they do respond to the needs of community in crisis.

But it goes back to, and I think that, this is true of organizations that we run into everything. How agile can we be? And I think that’s, a key strategy. We've got to be built to be nimble. So when things like this do come along and they will come along again how do we build an organization once again, like I said, isn't so rigid that it can't bend to accommodate things. They build buildings to withstand earthquakes. So, we need to build our organizations accordingly so that we can withstand things like this when it comes up again.

George: Thank you. I’m hoping that, all three kind of get together. The foundations government and non-profit sector can come together. And one of the nicest things that I've seen come out of it is the idea of funding general overhead. Instead of the traditional, let me fund a project, you know, show me your data, et-cetera. Turning back to Alison, so folks who are watching or listening to this, how can they get engaged in supporting Intersection for the Arts and the organizations that you support?

Allison: Yeah. So, I mentioned earlier our website, the intersection dot org we've got a page there called meet our members. So, you can see all of the members that are currently fiscally sponsored, and you can donate to them. There's a handy little donate button for each Project. And you can also click through to their websites and learn more about what they're doing and attend their virtual programming.

Spread the word about what they're doing. I mean, we're again on lock-down in a, you know, shelter in place, stay at home order and you've got to be looking for some entertainment. So, check out what all these groups are doing. It's really impressive to see the way that that folks have pivoted to continue their work virtually and otherwise.

George: And since you work with the artists firsthand, could you share a story that you think kind of exemplifies the ecosystem and community, that Intersection for the Arts is fostering?

Allison: Yeah, so, as I've said earlier, I've been so impressed to see how, folks have pivoted. And one really impressive, very, visual, organization that has done great work is “Paint the Void.” They saw an opportunity in all the boarded up storefront windows around San Francisco and the Bay Area and thought, you know, why don't we organize artists to make murals on all of the boarded-up spaces and create statements for you know, how we can come together, how we can address things that are going on politically, social justice, and just COVID and just get some artwork out there. So that's a really, really wonderful product to be able to go out and see and see something tangible happening.

Randy: The other one is, and it's actually created by the same folks that is Paint the Void is the Safety Net Fund. And this was really inspiring.  They contacted us on March 16th, which was the day everybody started sheltering in place to set up a fund so that they could raise money to help other artists.

And over the course of the months, they raised around $700,000. And they put out an application process you know, if you met certain things, you could get a $500 grant. And it was a simple thing. But the impacts, you know, I think about 1100 grants went out which helped people just put cash in their pocket. So, it was artists helping other artists. And that was really, you know, very moving to see them do something like that.

George: I feel like intersection for the arts is kind of one of those organizations in the background that's, enabling all these amazing arts and cultural, work on the streets, but people don't really see that you're in the background making this happen. So Randy, since you've been there for a while, what do you feel has been one of the biggest impacts of Intersection for the Arts um, on the San Francisco community?

Randy: Yeah, people don't pay attention to the soil, just the flower that's popping out of it.  And when you think about it, you know, over, time, the organizations that came out of Intersection like Litquake was a fiscal sponsored project, Galeria de la Raza. All these, organizations that are, a core part of the arts ecosystem in the Bay Area. A lot of them did come up through Intersection and the care and tending of those organizations in their early years. At some point probably most San Franciscans have been touched by Intersection in some way whether they know it or not.

George: Thank you. So final question for both of you, I'm going to start with Alison. What would you see as positive things coming out of this economic financial crisis to support not only artists and the nonprofit sector, but our community at large?

Allison: Yeah. So, having to move to virtual platforms you know, kind of being forced to learn that new skill of being comfortable with zoom and being comfortable with putting your work onto the virtual platform it can be really challenging for certain folks and for certain disciplines. But it's an amazing skill to have, and it allows for the work to be shared even more broadly. So you know, a global audience can now view the work that's being done since, accessibility for the work that's being done. I think that's one of the very positive things that has come out of this.

George: And how about you, Randy?

Randy: I think one of the things that will emerge from this is that we need to come together, especially arts organizations, and share resources. And how do we look at things like our administrative spaces? Do we really need a whole bunch of them, or can we come together like the one we have with our coworking space, it's low-cost space in the heart of San Francisco where you don't have to pay the overhead for a huge office? You can just come in with us you know, we're under the same tent. We're going to need to look at shared back office support, for administrative support for the arts. Can several organizations share one position say a development person or something like that? How do we harness the limited resources and they're going to be even more limited over this next period of time to come together to work in cooperation with one another?

George:  There's going to be lots and lots of empty office space out there, besides using it for housing, which we direly need. Is there an opportunity to, perhaps put together a complete art you know nonprofit center, for example?

Randy: Well, yeah, you know, we are that in a small way right now. But we're having discussions with other groups about coming together around a space Alliance that would do that very thing. And, you know, it's everything from the big idea of like, well, it would have dance studios and Blackbox theaters to just like, can we just share an office space? So, I think that, you know, those conversations are going to continue, and I think they're going to be more important. I also think that, you know, we're going to probably have to, and I've told you know with a couple of funders about this. We may need to see some consolidations, not mergers, but consolidations of organizations because there's going to be limited funding.

George: I think that's realistic given where we are economics right now. Well, let's hope that our latest federal government round comes through between now and the end of the year. I think that will hopefully keep people in their houses and people, on zoom, if you will. Thank you, Alison and Randy, for sharing the wonderful insights into COVID nineteens impact on nonprofits and everybody who's watching and listening.

We're going to make sure that they have intersection for the arts information website, social media, so they can, uh, continue to get engaged in not only support your work, but all of the work that folks that you support as well. So please stay safe and healthy out there as we work our way through this very crazy normal.

Randy: Thank you, George.

Allison: Thank you.

Episode Outro - Show Host George: That’s it for this episode of voices of the community. You have been listening to the voices of Randy Rollison the Executive Director and Allison Snopek the Deputy Director of Intersection for the Arts. Over these past nine plus months of producing our series on nonprofits and small businesses we have introduced you to voices of arts and culture organizations such as the San Francisco Mime Troupe, City Arts & Lectures, San Francisco Performances, Serendipity Films, word 4 word, Axis Dance Company, Presidio Dance Theatre, Peninsula Ballet Theatre, the San Francisco Girls Chorus and performing arts venues like Z Space and the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center

The common theme running through all of the interviews was that our arts and culture community ecosystem is fragile and always underfunded. Many arts and culture nonprofits performers and musicians live on the edge where they aren’t prepared for a catastrophic loss of income. There is too much reliance on big philanthropy and high net worth individual donors.The covid 19 pandemic has shut down all performances which is a big revenue generator for the organizations and forced the organizations to move their operations on line which is generating a lot less revenue. All of the organizations are struggling to sustain their operations until the community can gather together in person to celebrate our arts and culture          

Series Outro: We hope that you enjoy the insights, points of view, and personal stories from the voices of change-makers and their nonprofits and small businesses featured in this series. To find out more and get engaged with the nonprofits, small businesses and staff members, featured in this series please go to my web site george koster dot com and click on Voices of the Community to find links to the extended versions of these interviews and to listen to the entire series. After listening to these stories we hope that you will consider making a donation and volunteering to provide a hand up to your fellow community members.

Series Credits: I want to thank my associate producer Eric Estrada, along with Mel, Michael, Lila and Laura at the San Francisco Public Press and KSFP. To listen to our next episode in this series and to our archived past shows which feature community voices working on solutions to critical issues facing Northern California communities, please go to george koster dot com. While you are on our website please consider making a donation to help us provide future shows just like this one. Please subscribe to Voices of the Community on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or where ever you get your podcasts. Follow us on twitter @georgekoster and please email us with feedback and show ideas at george@georgekoster.com. I'm George Koster in San Francisco and thank you for listening.

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