Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Supervisor Carole Groom, District 2
Subject: Designation of the San Mateo County Office of Arts and Culture as the Local Arts Partner to the California Arts Council
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution:
A) Designating the San Mateo County Office of Arts and Culture as the County’s Local Arts Partner to the California Arts Council, until such designation is rescinded by the Board of Supervisors; and
B) Authorizing the Office of Arts and Culture, as the County’s Local Arts Partner to the California Arts Council, to apply for available funding and resources from the California Arts Council in support of the County’s efforts on behalf of the cultural life of San Mateo County residents.
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BACKGROUND:
The State’s arts and culture agency, the California Arts Council, is federally mandated to formally appoint one “local partner” in each of its counties (Local Partner). Local Partners, which can either be a nonprofit or local government agency, are eligible for grant funding and support from the State. Since 2006, our County has appointed as its Local Partner the San Mateo County Arts Commission.
The Arts Commission presented to the Board of Supervisors a five-year strategic arts and culture plan, which was approved on February 26, 2020. While some work outlined in the strategic plan began during the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the goals and initiatives were delayed.
In June 2021, the County Manager’s Office established the Office of Arts and Culture (OAC) as the base of operations to implement and oversee the substantive work of the plan, and to work with the Arts Commission in promoting and supporting arts and culture in our County.
DISCUSSION:
California Arts Council staff liaison to the Local Partners has advised the OAC’s Executive Director that, with the establishment of the OAC to oversee the work of strategic plan and the Arts Commission now housed in the OAC, the OAC should be designated as our County’s Local Partner.
The designation of the Office of Arts and Culture as the Local Partner with the State-Local Partnership Program allows for submissions of applications for state funding and access to other state resources that contributes to the OAC’s goal of supporting and building the arts and culture county-wide. The designation will remain in effect until rescinded by the Board of Supervisors.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact to the County in designating the OAC as the Local Arts Partner.