SDVAN Summary: City of San Diego Creative Economy Report on Creative Business and Non-Profit Communities

 By Patricia Frischer

Creative Economy Report: Key Findings

City of San Diego and San Diego Regional Policy & Innovation Center just published their full report with the headline that $10.8 billion dollars was generated in San Diego by the Creative Business and Non-Profit communities.  The data is from 2022. The report is heavy going to read but they presented some key finding which I have tried to translate from data-speak to regular English. There are no stories included in the report and no illustrations…very sad for a creative industry report! These figures are not drawn from the Arts and Economic Prosperity 6 County-Wide Unveiling – Advocating locally for the Arts (Picked RAW Peeled by Patricia Frischer) report which is only about non-profit arts and culture. The summary below is only for the City of San Diego and is a combined report of for-profit and non-profit entities. 

At $10.8 billion dollars, the creative industries are 3.7% of the county’s gross regional product (GRP) in 2022—supporting total jobs across the county economy of almost 170,000, including 82,467 direct creative economy jobs, and nearly 87,000 indirect jobs.

The creative economy as a proportion of San Diego’s regional economy has been steadily shrinking over the past ten years, hitting its lowest point in 2021 at 3.51% of GRP before starting to bounce back to 2019 levels in 2022.

Digital Media, of the thirteen industry groups studied, contributed the largest to San Diego’s total GRP, while the Printing and Publishing sector suffered job losses. The number of creative firms in the region has not bounced back after the pandemic, with 6,179 firms in 2022 compared to 7,386 firms in 2019.

In San Diego, average annual earnings in the creative economy rose across all creative industries between 2012 and 2022 (averaging from $46,808 to $64,663). However, pay is very variable with high-earning creatives working in Digital Media ($156,497) and Communication Arts ($97,351), but lower-earning creatives working in Visual & Performing Arts ($28,594) and Fine and Performing Arts Schools ($22,475).

With 58% white, and 55% male in the arts, compared to a county population of 43% White and 50% men, it is revealed that Black, Hispanic, and Asian are underrepresented. But over the past ten years, that percentage has been increasing substantially in the right direction. There are still equity issues in the creative economy maintained by management and employers, not by employees or self-employed.

Surprisingly, the high cost of living, government regulations and limited work space does not stop talent from coming here but it does not keep it here. Self-employment is a growing sector but that makes for a less stable life. Over 80% of creative businesses are small businesses with less than 20 employees, and almost all (97.7%) are for-profit, and only 2.3% is nonprofit.

To address some of these concerns and tap the great potential of our region it was suggested we need to:

Provide Affordable Housing and working spaces
Create incentives to grow creative business so they can have more full time employees and a more stable income
Review regulations that increase cost
Ensure more funding from government and the corporate sector
Add More networking and collaborations opportunities to create a sense of community
Create Art as a career in curriculums
Encourage paid internships and apprenticeships
Increase the awareness of the region’s arts locally, nationally and internationally
Integrate the creative economy into the Economic Development strategies
Help pay for memberships to professional organizations

 In April, we will be seeing the strategic plan for the new SD County Commission of Arts and Culture.  I am greatly anticipating that. Until then, I am hoping for more images, more stories and clearer language in these research reports. 

In January, 2024 I have posted two more articles about advocacy: 
Americans for the Arts Advocacy 101: Advocating for the Arts in 2024 Picked RAW Peeled by Patricia Frischer

A+ Arts Blog Why weren’t we asked? by Patricia Frischer 

SDVAN Summary: Americans for the Arts Advocacy 101 - Advocating for the Arts in 2024

by Patricia Frischer

 

Find out what elected official cares about and then relate your stories to that issue. 

A new series Advocating for the Arts in 2024 presented by Americans for the Arts with webinars on advocacy was just launched.  I have listened to the first one which was 1 ½ hours and made a brief summary for you. But I recommend that you watch the video yourself if you are wanting to advocate for funding or get your message out.

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They worked to make the process easy and make everyone comfortable so that an army of advocates can make sure that the arts are fully supported.  One voice can make a big difference, and a united voice can be very powerful.

Start by finding out who your elected officials are. You can find them all on the Americans for Arts Website just by entering zip code.  You are important to them because you can vote for them. Or your organizations make a difference in their district. Or your audiences come from their districts.  

You can make contact with every local city, state, county and federal elected delegates and their staff.  Remember they are real people are at the other end of the phone or email. So, use their names, especially the staffers when contacting them. All offices have processes for meeting online and in person, plus you can attend town halls meetings or meet and greet.  You can also invite them to visit your organization.

When you visit make sure you are prepared. what are your three top issues.  Tell a personal story, maybe a problem that you have so they know what needs fixing. Better still, present the fix as well. Use data (like from the recent AEF6 report) to support your position. Gear the presentation to who you are speaking to so if meeting with local official, speak about local issues. For example, you might show that programs that support equity issues still have a positive economic value for the community.

Leave paper summarizing and adding more information when you leave. But remember to thank them and take a picture before you go to post on social media.

What you are doing is building a relationship network of people so add then to your mailing list and invite them to stuff. Schedule a follow up if needed. If they ask you how much, be prepared to quote a number. It must be a reasonable ask.

Advocacy is about telling your story and educating other about what matters to you in the arts. So, your authenticity and passion are your best tools. If elected officials don’t hear from us, they think everything is OK.

Start young and make advocacy for the arts part of your everyday life.  if you have trouble with the process of getting help, tell them that, as a starting place. Put your issue in social media or a newsletter. Group with other like-minded people to have a strong voice

For the biggest success, find out what elected official cares about and then relate your stories to that issue. There is a super tool for this on the Arts in American website. But find out what their position is by asking them. Then make sure what you ask for will not keep them from getting elected!

If you can identify a problem and a real solution in an existing bill, tell the personal story, supported by data, you can be really effective.

The arts are nonpartisan…not left, right or center.  They secret weapon of the arts is that they unite people.

In north and east and south counties we don’t have a lot of hotels so the Tax On Tourist (TOT) does not amount to much. A percentage for the arts only applies to large government building which have to include art in their building budgets, but those are not often found outside of the City of San Diego.

After watching and listening to this seminar, I realized we could advocate for a local cultural sales tax in our county. California has one of the lowest spending on the arts per capita in the USA at well under a dollar. It is time to get the funding we really need.

Here is an example of what you could do in the next 30 days. 

And here is the schedule for future webinars. 

SDVAN Summary: Arts and Economic Prosperity 6 County-Wide Unveiling – Advocating locally for the Arts

By Patricia Frischer

Any 10 am meeting starts with networking and coffee. The meeting on Jan 25 at the Museum of Photographic Arts (lobby and theater) was a gathering of the great and good of the arts and culture world and both coffee and networking were flowing freely. This is a vital part of any gathering and is what greases the wheels of collaboration. The master of ceremonies  Lee Ann Kim did a brilliant job of continuing that intimate exchange with her knowledge of the arts and her natural charisma.

Lee Ann Kim

She introduced San Diego Poet Laureate, Jason Magabo Perez who with his very potent words represented the entire community that is unheard.  I love the idea of a poet always taking the place of a pledge of alliance or a blessing.

Jason Magabo Perez

The keynote speaking addressing the topic of the results of Arts and Economic Prosperity report in its 6 iteration was American for the Arts Vice President of Research and Policy Randy Cohen. Mr. Cohen is the arts cheer leader demonstrating that the arts mean business and he has loads of statistic and stories to show why that it is important. San Diego County's nonprofit arts and culture sector is a$1.4 billion industry, supporting 19,771 jobs and generating nearly $321 million in tax revenue for local, state and federal governments. You can see the summary of the national launch in our SDVAN report  Not a Nicety, a Necessity: The Arts & Economic Prosperity Report AEP6 by Patricia Frischer.

Just a side note: the entire creative community in our county generated $221 million which is 7.7% of the Gross State Product. And for the first time the creative community in the entire USA passed the $1 trillion which is 4.4% of the Gross Domestic Product.

He added a nice story in this talk about the disappearance of the Mona Lisa when it was stolen and not recovered for 2 years. More people went to the Louvre during that two-year period to see the empty space then had attended the Louvre in the last 5 years together. People do miss art when it is not there and we are grateful to everyone who has come back to the arts since the pandemic. But that is the big economic down turn...attendance, not the money the arts spend to create jobs. And attendance, hopefully is now on the rise.

Randy Cohen

The very well-respected Kelly Purvis, the very first contract Arts Administer for the city of Coranado, produced a video (coming soon) promoting many of the statistic and the entire county’s arts and culture programs.

Jonathon Glus, ED of the City of SD Commission for Arts and Culture and Maria Mingalone, director of the Oceanside Museum of Art reminded us all of the huge effort to collect all the data and how that was spread between 7 cities and 2 cultural districts. Suggestions were made to do this more than once every 5 years in a very simplified way and a plea for the entire county to be involved 5 years from now.

Jonathon Glus, Maria Mingalone

The panel was ably moderated by one of the City of SD Arts Commissioner Abe Hughes who is also on the steering committee for SD/TJ World Design Capitol (launching next week). Leslee Gaul, CEO and President of Visit Oceanside gave thanks to the huge enthusiastic contingent from Oceanside who attended which included the star, Oceanside art commissioner Brigid Parsons. Ms. Gaul stated that she now has more proof that tourist come to Oceanside for the Arts. She intends to use the stories about the large military and Latinx communities to help create authentic experiences. She pointed out that education about different cultures breaks down prejudices and bring communities together.  

Steve Lockett, Deputy Director, Economic Development & Prosperity for County of San Diego has only been here for 18 months, but he had a refreshing take on the uniqueness of San Diego. He finds us friendly and vibrant. But he revealed that businesses don’t know yet how important the arts are. His department will be focusing on community and by community he means engagement. His great advice was that arts advocate need to join the non-art government commissions (like public safety and city planning).

The third member of the panel was Randy Cohen and when asked what sets San Diego apart from other arts destination, he said it was diversity, authenticity and enthusiasm.  

Randy Cohen, Steve Lockett, Leslee Gaul,  Abe Hughes 

There were some questions from the audience but on similar subjects: How do we get involved and where will the money for artists come from? I decided to write a whole separate article on this subject called Why weren’t we asked?  The approx. 19.5K volunteers generated about $22.1million in in-kind services.

Marti Kranzberg asking her question.

Felicia Shaw, ED of San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition --- yes, they are changing their name soon!....announced an Emerging Leaders Advocacy training program, events held by SDRACC for April Arts and Culture Month, and in her role as County Arts Commissioner, the presentation of the new strategic plan for the County Arts and Culture Commission. By the way, Jim Gilliam is the first official chairman of that commission. Congratulation to Jim who along with Naomi Nussbaum were so important in bringing back the county arts commission.

Felicia Shaw

Jonathan Glus did the thank yous and since I was on the confab that organized this day, I got a shout out which was very sweet. He arranged for the gracious venue at the Museum of Photographic Arts, part of the San Diego Museum of Art.

Lots of photo ops and more networking and we started January on a really positive note. Get involved and float your own boat on the rising tide. 

Power ladies in attendance, Karen Gilbert (Chair Institute of Contemporary Arts),
Naomi Nussbaum (Chair Synergy Arts Foundation), Cheryl Nickel (Space4Art),
Alessandra Moctezuma (Director, Mesa College Gallery and SD City Commission for Arts), Jennifer de Poyen (Space4Art)

Read the full press release. 

David Zapf Collection at Phes Gallery from Jan 21 – Feb 17.

by Patricia Frischer

Philipp Scholz Rittermann

David Zapf Collection at Phes Gallery

When I arrived in San Diego almost 25 years ago, the David Zapf Gallery was one of only a handful of galleries which seemed to be professional and extremely supportive of local artist. We have a multitude of amazing artist in the San Diego region, and they deserve to be seen. David Zapf made that happen for so many. During his life he also acquired work by other others of excellence. This show at Phes Gallery of art from his estate, is offering works of a very high caliber.

Below is just a very small selection of the art available by silent auction by visiting this space in Carlsbad on State Street. Register for a number and sign up between now and Feb 17 to make a bid. You are invited to join a walk through and learn more about these artists on Sunday Jan 4 at 5 pm. Paul Henry who along with Ellen Speert own this space, have research the artist using Zapf’s gallery records made available by the Zapf family who will benefit from the sale. 

Other artists included David Baze,  Margaret Garcia,  Nancy Kittredge, DeLoss McGraw, David Reuter, Liza Jane von Rosenstiel, Victor Salvatierra, Raphael Soto, Dan Sweetma, Li Tie, David Wing. There are also a selection of very attractive antique movie posters. There are wonderful works to add to your collection or maybe to be the starting purchase for a lifetime of collecting...just like David Zapf.

David Zapf Collection at Phes Gallery from Jan 21 – Feb 17.
Walk through Sat. Jan 27 at 5 pm
Closing Reception and announcement of silent auction results on Sat. Feb 17th

Raul Guerrero

Oscar Ortega

Eric Blau

Poupée Boccaccio

Poupée Boccaccio

Irv Baran

Miguel Cano

Johnny Coleman

Chris Lee

Artemio Rodriguez

Very large Soviet Poster, shown here in sections.

Archived records

David Zapf Collection at Phes Gallery from Jan 21 – Feb 17.
Walk through Sat Jan 27th at 5 pm
Closing Reception and announcement of silent auction results on Sat. Feb 17th

The Literati Influence on Contemporary Chinese Art

by Patricia Frischer

The fore ground and middle ground are very small in comparison to the large and imposing mountain the back ground. This mountain is symbolic of the strength of his current Song Dynasty

Elaine Pierce lectured on  contemporary Chinese artists, tracing their development to literati roots.  She focused, in particular, on works from the Northern Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. This ancient painting principles come from the 5th/6th century Xie He, a figure painter and critic. 

1. Qiyn Shendong is the most important and is the breath resonance life-motion. Some call it the :Spirit Harmony" and it includes such things as  vitality, creativity, energy, life force. 
2. Brushwork excellence
3. Accurate Likenesses or Visual Virtuosity.
4. Versatile Colors.
5. Composition
6. Transmission or learning by copying the master.

Ms. Pierce concentrated on those artist dealing with landscapes and she pointed out that the contemporary artists worked often outside of China. We were should examples of the masters.  Many of the contemporaries had experimented with more radical modern art, but were drawn back to the study of the old masters.  However, they always were springing forward to make their own individual styles and marks.

This lecture was so well researched and presented expertly and we encourage you to go to the  San Diego Chinese Historical Museum and watch the entire lecture when it is loaded on to their site.  

 

These zoom lectures have an international audience and are produced by SDSU Chinese Cultural Center and the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum. They present many programs and exhibitions. 

These artists did not paint from life, but studied life and then used their imagination to create ideal scenes. 

 

The variety and quality of the marks is so high and an inspiration for future generations.

Using painting and calligraphy in a dramatic composition. 

The fog is said to be the spirit of the mountain. These work are creating initially by throwing the ink on the paper. Tiny details are then added.

The work is painstakingly created on individual blocks of wood. 

Uses fabric and her body as references in her work. One of the few recognized woman artists from this period. 

A re-interpretation of the scholars stone found in many paintings and usually an unusual rock used for meditation and contemplation.  

A quick reminder that Robert Motherwell and Franz Klines were heavily influenced by Chinese art.

This large works seems to be a quiet contemplation of mountains and mist, but the detail below shows it is actually digitally made up of  city buildings and the oil derricks. 

Artists and Musicians Fill in the [BLANK] at St. Paul’s Cathedral

 By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt. Photos by Maurice Hewitt

PROJECT [BLANK] co-founder Leslie Ann Leytham with baritone Jonathan Nussman beside an altar-like piece by visual artist Cat Gunn honoring Filipino elders and ancestors. The title, written in Tagalog, means: “I pray to the gods I will never forget you.” 

Back in the good old B.C. days--in fact the weekend just before Covid changed our world--we were lucky enough to see a special event at St. James Episcopal Church by the Sea in La Jolla, presented by a group we’d never heard of before: PROJECT [BLANK]. We had been to many concerts in the sanctuary, but this was a whole new experience, as we were guided through the chapel, library and courtyard, greeted by an array of imaginative pieces by sound and video artists, painters, sculptors and musicians.

At that time, PROJECT [BLANK] had some interesting works-in-progress, and I wondered when we’d be able to see them again. Then just a few weeks ago, I heard they were doing a three-evening event at another beautiful church--St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Bankers Hill--featuring artists and performers from both sides of the border. It promised to be “a pilgrimage through sacred spaces, profane realities, and everything in between!”

So at 6 p.m. on a cold Saturday-the-13^th, we were there, at what they called Working Title. The pews in the sanctuary had been removed during the pandemic, replaced by folding chairs that could be appropriately spaced as needed. With only a scattering of chairs in the neo-gothic interior, there was plenty of room to wander around the artful installations.

This time, we had a chance to chat with Leslie Ann Leytham, who co-founded PROJECT [BLANK] with pianist Brendan Nguyen in 2019 “to provide new and exciting creative opportunities for local musicians, artists, and audiences.” They managed to live-stream programs all through the pandemic, but this was their first return to a real live event.

One of the highlights of the evening was hearing Leslie display her gorgeous mezzo-soprano voice onstage, in a contemporary piece by Sofia Gubaidulina inspired by the visions of Hildegarde von Bingen, a 12^th-century German abbess, composer, writer, and visionary.  A second, jazzy part of the piece came from halfway across the sanctuary: a solo on double bass by Matthew Kline.

Another musical highlight: A meditative performance by percussionist Kosuke Matsuda and his electronically amplified water droplets.

Below are some of the artworks and artists we saw on this very special evening. Click here to find out about future events  https://www.projectblanksd.org

And if you wonder, as I did, where the PROJECT [BLANK] name came from, here’s the simple answer from Leslie Ann Leytham: “Each event that we do is a ‘fill in the blank’!” 

This and the following image are from Triskele & The Monster’s Tools, a collaborative video installation by Ash Capachione, Maria Molteni, Laura Campagna, & Vin Caponigro including animation, sound, and hand-painted groundwork. 

Diana Benavidez, who co-curated the Working Title event with Leslie Ann Leytham, posed with her own piece, Even Guadalupe Needs a Break, a hand-sewn, star-studded crepe paper cloak for the Virgin of Guadalupe. She is also a piñata artist, whose giant-size rosary and sneakers were standouts at the Mingei Museum’s piñata exhibition last April. 

Moon Greeting, a unique little piece by composer/vocalist Akari Komura invited viewers to tune into the phases of the moon by making a phone call that promises an answer from a lunar signal.

Claudia Cano with Manto de Boda, a hand-stitched wedding cloak with hand-dyed feathers she made to celebrate her son’s recent marriage. In the center is a peony, the flower her daughter-in-law carried in her bridal bouquet.

One image from Rapture, a colorful 2-channel video by media artist/musician Nick Lesley that referenced stained glass windows with processed footage from a punk show mosh pit. 

Lonnie Burstein Hewitt is an award-winning author/lyricist/playwright who has been writing about arts and lifestyles in San Diego County for over a dozen years. You can reach her at hew2@sbcglobal.net