{"id":36594,"date":"2024-10-01T13:36:23","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T20:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=36594"},"modified":"2024-10-01T13:36:23","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T20:36:23","slug":"sf-startup-museum-a-case-study-in-arts-relationship-with-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/10\/01\/sf-startup-museum-a-case-study-in-arts-relationship-with-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"SF \u2018startup\u2019 museum a case study in art&#8217;s relationship with tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Max%20Blue\">By Max Blue | Special to The Examiner |<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sep 27, 2024\u00a0Updated\u00a0Sep 27, 2024  (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/e\/cc\/ecc4592c-7d0f-11ef-b173-e327d7d8954f\/66f7176463de2.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"The Cube\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>The Cube, located at 345 Montgomery St., will house the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco in its subterranean levels beginning in October.The Cube\/Courtesy of Vornado Realty Trust<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>During Dreamforce, trying to see art in downtown San Francisco was almost impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It felt like downtown, which has been&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/why-downtown-san-francisco-faces-deeply-uncertain-future\/collection_3f4b9fee-b72b-11ee-a3cc-87adaabd857f.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">beleaguered of late<\/a>, was the epicenter of a bustling city which, while offering a change of pace, disrupted my schedule. Why, I wondered, don\u2019t people flock downtown for art the way they do for tech conferences?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As long as I\u2019ve worked in the arts in San Francisco, I\u2019ve heard gripes about how the tech sector has negatively impacted the scene. Dealers can\u2019t get techies to buy art. Museums can\u2019t get them to visit. Artists are priced out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can the industry that has been blamed for much of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/culture\/visual-arts\/how-san-francisco-art-scene-is-defined-by-its-contradictions\/article_6642af16-2e86-11ef-831f-8ba41658f456.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">art scene\u2019s dispersal from The City<\/a>&nbsp;be expected to help salvage it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A prime case study for this relationship is the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.icasf.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco<\/a>, which has minted itself as The City\u2019s \u201cstartup\u201d museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ICA opened in 2022 at 901 Minnesota St., where the Minnesota Street Project Foundation \u2014 the philanthropic project of former Silicon Valley venture capitalist Andy Rappaport and his wife, Deborah \u2014&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/09\/08\/arts\/design\/institute-of-contemporary-art-san-francisco.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">underwrote construction work and a 15-year lease<\/a>. The initial venture was also backed by a suite of tech funders, including Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger and Slack co-founder Cal Henderson, who have since departed from the museum\u2019s board of directors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ICA\u2019s board remains populated by individuals from the tech sector and is presently chaired by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.culturedmag.com\/article\/2018\/06\/29\/ethan-beard-and-wayee-chu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ethan Beard<\/a>, former director of business development at Google and Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But even with angel investors the ICA, which offers free admission, has had to find ways to cut operating costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ICA recently announced that it will vacate the Dogpatch in October, moving downtown to The Cube at 345 Montgomery St., where it will occupy the subterranean levels of the building in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vno.com\/office\/property\/345-montgomery-street\/3314228\/landing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rent-free agreement with Vornado Realty Trust<\/a>. The move that will double the museum\u2019s exhibition space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The otherwise almost all-glass building is part of a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/948497\/ica-san-francisco-moving-into-former-bank-building-for-free\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complex co-owned by the Trump Organization<\/a>&nbsp;and on a lender watchlist, which might explain Vornado\u2019s desire to diversify their tenancy portfolio and increase property value to attract other tenants downtown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur relationship is with Vornado,\u201d Beard said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had no dealings with the Trump Organization and the Trump Organization will have no influence on what we do at the ICA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ali Gass, founding director of the ICA, wrote in her announcement of the deal that the museum has \u201cembraced \u2018startup mode\u2019 \u2014 flexibility, creativity, and resilience \u2014 as we seek solutions to the very real financial challenges many nonprofits are enduring at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the interest of remaining light on its feet, the museum has no permanent collection, instead exhibiting specially commissioned curatorial projects, and, evidently, no permanent home. The agreement with Vornado is good for another two years, at which point, Beard said, the ICA will reassess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">EX \/\/ TOP STORIES<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/education\/childrens-council-of-sf-names-barbara-carlson-new-ceo\/article_c8c70412-801a-11ef-a568-97e443cbe738.html#tncms-source=top-stories-article\">Children\u2019s Council appoints ex-SF official as CEO<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Barbara Coccodrilli Carlson has worked on pivotal child-care initiatives in The City\u2019s public and private sectors since 1996<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/the-city\/castro-shopping-center-could-permanently-house-lgbtq-museum\/article_b8417310-7c5b-11ef-b2ae-af0fbfd57974.html#tncms-source=top-stories-article\">The City\u2019s long-running LGBTQ history museum could get first permanent home<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Board of Supervisors will vote on agreement to purchase full-time site for GLBT Historical Society Museum and Archive<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/culture\/food-and-wine\/causwells-open-lilah-cocktail-bar-nearby-on-chestnut-street\/article_722617d6-7d1f-11ef-8a84-8f132857c818.html#tncms-source=top-stories-article\">SF cocktail bar scratches restaurateurs\u2019 &#8216;itch to spread out a little bit&#8217;<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Lilah, the sister restaurant to Causwells, is the third establishment to open on a one-block stretch of Chestnut Street in the last five months<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMaybe in 2024 what San Francisco really needs is an ICA that\u2019s in a downtown that\u2019s been struggling,\u201d Beard said. \u201cIn two years, we\u2019ll ask, \u2018What does San Francisco need now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wonder if this kind of dislocation and decentralization is really the best way to approach art, especially when artists themselves have faced a very stark reality of dislocation as a result of the booming tech industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ICA was only one such venture for the Rappaports, who founded Minnesota Street Project, an art-oriented real-estate investment providing below-market rate rent to art galleries in Dogpatch, in 2016, as an \u201cemergency intervention,\u201d Andy Rappaport said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is true that in San Francisco a lot of the challenges that the arts community faces are a result of the economic effects of the tech business,\u201d Rappaport said. \u201cMSP emanated from the clear realization that it was getting simply too expensive for the arts community to remain in San Francisco. We wanted to try to stem the exodus and provide some hope. And in some sense, it\u2019s my penance for having a successful career in tech.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/technology\/san-francisco-startups-see-mixed-q2-venture-funding-results\/article_39d76448-3f17-11ef-a7d3-eb1e0a7ea297.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Technology and venture capital dominate The City\u2019s economy<\/a>, whereas the Bay Area Economic Institute pegged the art industry sustaining about 37,000 full-time jobs, sponsored by a mix of private and city funding. Some of the latter comes from tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think the storyline that tech people don\u2019t support the arts comes from the New York art community, and I think it\u2019s completely off and always has been,\u201d said Todd Hosfelt, director of his eponymous gallery in Dogpatch. \u201cI\u2019ve had lots of clients who work directly in tech and I have even more clients who have made money because of technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the public side, several local museums benefit directly from tech money. According to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, approximately 24% of the museum\u2019s current trustees come from the tech\/venture capital sector. Around 50% are either from the tech sector or have a partner in tech. Similarly, the Asian Art Museum stated that about 16% of its board is in tech, and that that number goes up to about 20% when including major donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco \u2014 de Young and legion of Honor \u2014 chose to not share similar information, but recently received a $1 million donation from Zendesk co-founder Mikkel Svane for the purchase of work by contemporary Bay Area artists to add to their permanent collection. The new acquisitions are currently on display in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/culture\/museums-and-galleries\/about-place-de-young-exhibit-spotlights-bay-area-artists\/article_f9319090-6404-11ef-98a5-5fd50954edba.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">three-part exhibition at the de Young<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout San Francisco\u2019s history,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/silicon-valley-robotics\/a-century-of-art-and-technology-in-the-bay-area-5d28baf6ecbe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">artists have activated technology in innovative ways<\/a>, from Eadweard Muybridge\u2019s invention of the moving image to artists like&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.moma.org\/artists\/39696\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lynn Hershman Leeson<\/a>, who explored early forms of technological innovation. More recently, artists like Jim Campbell, whose&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/salesforcetower.com\/artwork\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">background in engineering translated directly into an art career<\/a>, have helped to define The City\u2019s landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bay Area is also home to institutional forums for the intersection of art and tech, such as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lasertalks.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Leonardo<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/grayareafestival.io\/?&amp;utm_source=ad_gg_baw_bay_gaf2024-a1-exact-20240903&amp;utm_source=gg&amp;utm_medium=ad&amp;utm_campaign=baw&amp;utm_content=bay_gaf2024-a1-exact-20240903&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwooq3BhB3EiwAYqYoEmyjXCW7RAmfuhu6QFaWwCV_GhG6O2tji1t_kt0r65BgmpEXNRBLRxoCG-UQAvD_BwE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gray Area Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHistorically, technological art didn\u2019t have a place in the gallery or the museum,\u201d said Clark Buckner, director of Telematic Media Arts, a South of Market gallery displaying art that intersects technology. \u201cThat sort of tension was important. Those art forms have triumphed on the one hand and that technology is so ubiquitous now that that tension has dissipated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While both art and tech are defined by a spirit of innovation \u201cthere\u2019s a chance that engineers think they\u2019re the true anti-artists,\u201d Buckner said. \u201cBut that attitude of disruption goes back to the question of San Francisco as being liberal. There\u2019s a version of liberalism \u2014 in the tech economy in particular \u2014 that\u2019s really libertarian. And artists who value job security and health care and social services would be the antagonists to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Max Blue is an art critic whose \u201cState of the Arts\u201d column appears monthly in The Examiner.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During Dreamforce, trying to see art in downtown San Francisco was almost impossible. It felt like downtown, which has been&nbsp;beleaguered of late, was the epicenter of a bustling city which, while offering a change of pace, disrupted my schedule. Why, I wondered, don\u2019t people flock downtown for art the way&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/10\/01\/sf-startup-museum-a-case-study-in-arts-relationship-with-tech\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36594"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36594"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36598,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36594\/revisions\/36598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}