Sight and Sound 12.2

CINDY CHAVEZ

A County Supervisor’s Role in Expanding Art for All

Written by Gillian Claus | Photography by Daniel Garcia

Facebook: cindychavezinsanjose | Instagram: supervisorcindychavez | twitter: supcindychavez

You can’t have a really whole community if you don’t create opportunities to experience the arts.

Does catching sight of a mural or painted utility box improve your morning commute? Maybe after work you had the chance to unwind with some music in your neighborhood park or catch a musical downtown. How would the quality of your life change without those experiences?

Cindy Chavez, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and representative of District 2, has been thinking about the ever-increasing gap in income and access to the arts. She has been exploring ways to broaden these profound experiences so that the entire community will get the benefit of the arts more often. Representing the lowest-income district, Chavez is focused on ensuring more inclusivity and more opportunity for all county residents.

“We could have all the great content that we want, but if the community that I can see out my window doesn’t know what the Mexican Heritage Plaza offers or has never been to Flint Center, then really what we are doing is we are helping only part of the community to have expression of their full humanity,” says Chavez.

Most people consider county services to be a safety net for people in crisis, typically encountered during times of difficulty—like illness and trauma. But Chavez wants to create an inspiring, nurturing environment in unlikely places like the rehabilitation unit, county hospital, and burn center. She argues that encountering paintings, sculpture, or even performance art in such settings could have a transformative effect.

Her previous experience as a city councilperson familiar with the City of San Jose’s broad set of arts policies convinced Chavez that the county really could step up to meet the needs of the community. She knew that identifying those needs meant seeking dialogue with all the stakeholders. The results surprised her. What she heard was that some nonprofit groups creating content felt that they were underserved in both time and resources. Young people at the Hub, Santa Clara County’s drop-in center for foster youth, told her that they were interested in graphic design but had no access to art supplies or other creative tools they needed to succeed. Over the last five years, one principal noticed that far fewer children know how to play instruments by the time they get to high school.

“So that made me again take a big step back and say, ‘What aren’t we doing here that we could be doing?’ ” says Chavez. She wanted to know how to better align the county’s investment responsibilities. Her exploration of how exactly county government could use the arts to solve these issues brought her to the desk of Connie Martinez, CEO of SVCreates, where she discovered their shared mission to increase access to arts and creativity.

Formerly called the Arts Council, SVCreates has been funded by the county for almost forty years. The nonprofit was initially designated as the county partner for spending Transient Occupancy Tax funds (TOT)—money raised by hotels and RV parks. The TOT funds have recently expanded to include Airbnb rentals, which has increased the total to over $600,000 per annum.

With more tax money available, Deputy County Executive Sylvia Gallegos wanted to ensure a focus on Title 1 schools and the arts. Because of the decades of experience that SVCreates has in regional granting to the local arts ecosystem, Chavez spent some time understanding their resources and developed an excellent relationship with Martinez. Working together, $100,000 of new access grants can be administered—targeted to help relatively small but stable emerging groups.

I think it is possible to take care of the neediest people in our community and expand access to the arts.

In order to facilitate data collection, Chavez has set a three-year contract cycle for SVCreates to improve performance measures. This dedicated time means they can more realistically assess school programming over a longer period.

Schools aren’t the only institutions that the county is responsible for maintaining. County buildings have a lot of traffic, so Chavez also feels invested in what kind of art comes in and out of those spaces. She has been working on a policy which expands the 1 percent set aside from new buildings to include large renovation projects and curation spaces. Working alongside the City of San Jose on public building curation policy, she hopes to formally acknowledge public art as a core component of how we express ourselves in our built environment. The resulting artwork will provide another opportunity for people to easily experience the arts.

Chavez is also focused on recognizing the influence of women. She was inspired by strong leaders like arts advocate Harriet Traurig, who helped her understand that the arts, as a strong expression of humanity, are a core part of what cities are. “As I think about this big thing for the county, lots of women are inspiring me,” says Chavez. That inspiration has resulted in $5 million designated for monuments that express the artistic leadership role of women in the community. With the help of a consultant, $500,000 will go to each district to match with cities or nonprofits or even for-profits. One monument that really encapsulates women’s contribution to the region will receive $2.5 million.

Furthering the business connection, Chavez hopes that the county can learn a great deal about building business relationships from the arts community. Inspired by the meaningful partnerships local groups have struck with hotels, her team is

searching for the next great idea. She hopes to find another combination that will bring in additional resources and generate a tax that will benefit every individual. Ongoing discussions with SVCreates staff are helping Chavez to determine if and when they should put something on the ballot. “We went from not having an arts policy when I got here to a pretty impressive list of what we are already doing in two years—lightning speed in our world,” says Chavez. But she is not finished yet.

“The fact of the matter is that you can’t have a really whole community if you don’t create opportunities to experience the arts, and we are trying to make sure that low-income families have as much access as everybody else,” says Chavez. Public money has already funded 16 local artists to create murals representing each city for the 75th anniversary of the Santa Clara County Fair as well as portable exhibition walls for the San Jose Art Party, stored at the fairgrounds. The first Latinx film series in the Bay Area, a partnership with MACLA, and an original opera for the Latino community have also been funded.

All these projects are inspirational, but Chavez wants more continuity and fewer one-off investments. A solid arts policy would inform people on how to approach the county, and that is really what she wants to frame out. By making investments in a county arts agenda of $350–$500,000 per year, Chavez is convinced that change can happen. “The reason I want to drive this agenda is that I think it is possible to take care of the neediest people in our community and expand access to the arts. I don’t only think it is possible, I think it is necessary.”