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Building on the suggestion that artists/arts organizations be more business-like, there are several things that perhaps we can take from the business world.
The other night I was thinking about trade associations. Restaurants have one, the film industry has one, lots of businesses form these, and maybe that's what we need in the City of Oakland, someone to represent the interests of arts organizations. Maybe we already have one. I don't know.
Besides money, here are some issues my "constituency" has with the City of Oakland.
Alcohol sales: there should be an easy way to get permission to do this for events that doesn't involve tons of bureaucracy and tons of money.
Public events: there are a lot of non-traditional arts venues in Oakland, some of which are live-work spaces, some of which are outdoors ... how can we continue to support these without the venues having to fork out enormous sums of money to satisfy various codes and permit requirements? Can we have some sort of low cost event insurance a presenter can obtain through the City?
The ridiculous cabaret license: could we finally establish some alternate means of being a legal public performance venue without having to have a cabaret license or theater permit?
Building code made EZ: this would be a major service to arts organizations and it would be a purely informational resource. Basically it could even be an online guide with FAQs for different types of arts spaces: theaters, galleries, educational facilities, live music venues. How high/low can you install track lights? What's the deal with the exit requirements? What materials can you use where? Weight requirements for stages, stairs, platforms? What are the requirements and best ways to make your space ADA compliant? Sound-proofing tips and techniques.
Miscellaneous resources that don't necessarily have to be done under the auspices of the city: guide to donated/discounted goods and services (e.g. who to hit up for donations of wine, theatrical supplies), connecting presenters with venues, etc.
The other night I was thinking about trade associations. Restaurants have one, the film industry has one, lots of businesses form these, and maybe that's what we need in the City of Oakland, someone to represent the interests of arts organizations. Maybe we already have one. I don't know.
Besides money, here are some issues my "constituency" has with the City of Oakland.
Alcohol sales: there should be an easy way to get permission to do this for events that doesn't involve tons of bureaucracy and tons of money.
Public events: there are a lot of non-traditional arts venues in Oakland, some of which are live-work spaces, some of which are outdoors ... how can we continue to support these without the venues having to fork out enormous sums of money to satisfy various codes and permit requirements? Can we have some sort of low cost event insurance a presenter can obtain through the City?
The ridiculous cabaret license: could we finally establish some alternate means of being a legal public performance venue without having to have a cabaret license or theater permit?
Building code made EZ: this would be a major service to arts organizations and it would be a purely informational resource. Basically it could even be an online guide with FAQs for different types of arts spaces: theaters, galleries, educational facilities, live music venues. How high/low can you install track lights? What's the deal with the exit requirements? What materials can you use where? Weight requirements for stages, stairs, platforms? What are the requirements and best ways to make your space ADA compliant? Sound-proofing tips and techniques.
Miscellaneous resources that don't necessarily have to be done under the auspices of the city: guide to donated/discounted goods and services (e.g. who to hit up for donations of wine, theatrical supplies), connecting presenters with venues, etc.
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Re: The Art Business
Thu, February 17, 2005 - 6:42 PMI met last week with the Oakland Metro Chamber of Commerce and they planted an idea seed in my mind. Associations can join as a member and all their members are instantly members of the Chamber. This means that instead of each individual paying the approximately $350 (nonprofit fee?) to the Oakland Chamber, the umbrella assocation pays. If there were 35 arts organizations and artists alligned like this and each paid $10 we could cover the memberhip fee.
Why be a member? Arts needs to be at the table with business. I worked for 5 years at the Business Arts Council an in-house affiliate of the SF Chamber of Commerce and it was fantastic. -
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Re: The Art Business
Fri, February 18, 2005 - 10:20 AMHow did the Business Arts Council interface with arts activites? I love the idea of a trade Union for artists. Returning to the guild system truly has its advanatges.
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Re: The Art Business
Fri, February 25, 2005 - 7:59 PMSarah and Amy,
The idea of your combined comments- a trade union, and the blanket association membership - seems worthy of serious investigation and consideration, and something that the Spokes's philiosophy of facilitating alliances would point to directly.
The Spokes initiative could, and SHOULD gather the community together and sign us up as a full-fledged Chamber member. Being at the table as equal partners IS vital to being included in the dialogue, plus on a very mundane level, it is also useful to having access to Chamber benefits as well (Is there medical insurance at reasonable cost, for example?).
Beyond these benies, 'acting like a business', and being in the midst of the business arena, does membership offer us any real clout in ways that would be valuable to have, especially now as city leadership is in the process of change and budget cuts loom?
It's very useful to coalesce around something of value to us all for a coupla reasons. It would open opportunities to partner with businesses in the future who will now know us & value our work. Being present at the table will call us into mind with possible ways to partner for mutual benefit.
Plus, choosing to move through these steps, would be very good for the Oakland arts community as a whole. It would mean we would have to organize ourselves into a union of some kind- by that I mean a LOOSE confederate of arts organizations, not something time-consuming nor formal.
I began talking to Brad Erickson and Dale Albright of TBA about their beginnings as a portal and a focal-point to theatre activity, and both are very eager to continue the conversation.
Would this not reinforce the message the Spokes initiative promotes- doing it together to sustain ourselves and grow?
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Re: The Art Business
Fri, February 18, 2005 - 8:01 AMHi Sarah;
That's precisely what CPOCV is working on - I think Jen at Mama Buzz/Kitchen Sink has spoken with your partner about us. We're currently putting together a guidebook to make the whole process more user-friendly, working with the City zoning & building departments to find places where the code can be amended/updated, and working with the City on a program where venues that are beginning the process can continue to have events while they're dealing with their building. It will also include the building code section you refer to, which Adam Hatch is working on. Come to one of our meetings! Suki knows about us.
As far as getting the city to do away with the need for alcoholic beverage licenses - good luck. It's a process that involves the city, state & county and it seems unlikely that they're going to relax those regulations..........as far as insurance goes, it's about 1,600 per year- and then all of your events are covered. I don't know who your landlords are, but most landlords require their tenants to carry a general liability policy, in which case, you just need to make sure it includes/covers your events.
The resource guide re: presenters/artists/donations, etc. is an idea that's been kicked around Oakland for at least a decade. Spokes has been talking about it for awhile. The basic holdup: everyone has great ideas, nobody has enough time. If it's a project you're willing to work on, I'll help. There's probably even funding out there for the compilation of such a resource. -
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Re: A is for Assembly
Fri, February 18, 2005 - 10:55 AMConsidering I have no clue what CPOCV stands for, 21 Grand is totally in the dark about this, but it sounds like a great endeavor.
Suki alluded to some Mama Buzz related group in private conversation but was a bit vague about its activities.
We're basically in the position where we have to deal with these things now, with the move and all.
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Re: The Art Business
Fri, February 18, 2005 - 11:03 AMI'd be happy to participate in this. Earlier this week I spent two hours at the Building department learning about Group A occupancies, fire exits, and not to call a stage a stage. -
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Re: The Art Business
Sat, February 19, 2005 - 8:02 AM........and it's very frustrating. We put in many hours at 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza before the Metro had all of it's permits, licenses, etc.
CPOCV is Coalition to Preserve Oakland Cultural Venues, and was created to respond to events in fall 03, such as The Oakland Box's demise, Liminal troubles, LoBot, and 21 Grand's displacement. I was told speicifally by someone at Mama Buzz that you guys had been invited to all of the meetings - I guess my DIY instincts are proven right, once again. The people/venues involved are a mix of underground and aboveground spaces, who are working directly with building, zoning, and people in the mayor's office to streamline the process, get rid of outdated codes, and create a way for people who have made the decision to be aboveground to not get penalized for it.
Our plan is to publish in June/July, which is obviously not soon enough to be of huge assistance to you guys, but I would be happy to talk to you any time about what we went through and what we'd do differently if we had to start from scratch tomorrow. There are also people in various departments that are willing to take the time to expedite your project (or at least help figure out what the delays are and how to get things moving again).
I know with your move and permitting process you probably don't have a great deal of time, but if you want to get together for a beer or tea or something any time soon, I'd be happy to do that.
And, yes, the fewer things in your space that are considered permanent, built-ins, the better. Our risers and staging are all built to be flexible and easy to move around, which makes us not have to sprinkler them, etc. I don't know if you guys have to get a Major Conditional Use Permit or not, but it can take awhile to get onto the calendar.
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