Arts and Culture Citywide Impact 2019

Mapping the Reach of City of San Diego-funded Arts and Culture Organizations

City of San Diego

Welcome

In San Diego, we believe arts, culture and creativity are vital to quality of life for all residents, economic vitality for our city, and central to the visitor experience of our region. To that end, the City of San Diego takes great pride in our role in sustaining and enhancing a dynamic arts and culture ecosystem that extends throughout the city, delivering meaningful opportunities for cultural participation and expression.

One of the primary ways we do this is through funding to local nonprofit organizations to support arts and culture experiences like performances, exhibits, parades, festivals and arts education through our two anchor funding categories. The Organizational Support Program (OSP) provides general operating support to nonprofits whose mission is primarily arts and culture related, while Creative Communities San Diego (CCSD) provides funding for specific projects such as festivals and parades. For fiscal year 2019, the City directed $11.4 million to 147 nonprofit organizations .

While it is easy to “map” the City’s investment by identifying the primary hub or project venue for funding recipients, that is only a fraction of the story. The citywide impact of these organizations is felt through outreach programs for children, seniors, people with special needs, culturally specific communities, people with limited means and the general public. Much of the programming is free or significantly reduced in cost, and is provided in parks, libraries, senior centers, schools, social service agencies, and large public gathering spaces.

This map illustrates how City-funded organizations are making meaningful impacts in communities across all nine council districts. It is important to note that this map only reflects citywide impact. It does not reflect the additional impact of San Diego’s cultural organizations throughout San Diego County, adjacent counties and the municipalities in Baja California, Mexico. It also does not reflect inreach – the tremendous effort our city’s arts and culture organizations invest in providing special access for specific audiences like children and seniors at organizations’ hubs.

We are proud of the tremendous impact of these organizations, and pleased to share the first iteration of this map. Each year we will update the findings, tracking the impact and telling the stories. Ultimately, we hope this map will aid in advancing inclusive economic growth through arts and culture, neighborhood sustainability, public engagement and cultural understanding throughout San Diego’s neighborhoods.

Photo courtesy of The San Diego Opera

Mapping Impact

The map is a data tool that identifies the unique characteristics, venues, and reach of City-funded arts and culture organizations and projects serving neighborhoods of San Diego. This pursuit of organizational insights will showcase the meaningful work of the subsector of the arts and culture ecosystem. It will also help inform our strategy toward strengthening the creative life of all neighborhoods in San Diego.

The map visualizes and aggregates City-funded arts and culture organization data in San Diego neighborhoods. Current mapped data illustrates arts and culture services that occurred in fiscal year 2019. Highlights included outreach to 292 schools, 32 libraries, 25 parks, 8 recreation centers, and 328 “other” venues totaling 685 unique sites. In addition to outreach, CCSD organizations carried out projects at 176 venues throughout the city to activate council districts with events like festivals, book readings and concerts. On top of that, there were 98 OSP organizations providing programs and activities at their hubs. Collectively, there were 959 locations of activity leading to 1611 points of connection citywide!

Through mapping, it was discovered that a city-center theater organization reached 25 sites, 18 of which were outside the theater’s council district. A dance company from council district 4 reached almost every council district and hit a total of 20 sites. A centrally located arts education organization provided services citywide and placed emphasis on under-resourced communities. These examples demonstrate the impact of arts and culture and how organizations sustain and support growth citywide.

Explore the map below to discover the reach of City-funded arts and culture nonprofits and find connections between organizations and venues.

Photo courtesy of The La Jolla Playhouse

Explore the Map

The data layers show the locations of organizations by City funding category as well as the reach of these organizations across the city.

Sites range from schools to city facilities to other venues such as senior centers, bars, restaurants, cultural spaces, and local businesses.

Council District Snapshot

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Council District 1

In FY19, Council District 1 was home to 10 OSP hubs and hosted 21 CCSD projects venues encompassing 31 locations of activity. This direct investment within the district, totaled $1,422,709.

When mapping outreach, 60 City-funded organizations, based both in Council District 1 and elsewhere in San Diego provided outreach activities and programs throughout the district. Outreach sites included 4 libraries, 1 recreation center, 1 park, 39 schools and 35 other venues, including senior centers, universities and other public spaces, for a total of 80 sites.

While the highest concentration of OSP hubs and CCSD project venues are in the district’s south, when mapping outreach, cultural vitality and arts engagement increases dramatically throughout the district.

Council District 2

In FY19, Council District 2 was home to 13 OSP hubs and hosted 31 CCSD project venues encompassing 44 locations of activity. This direct investment within the district, totaled $1,048,809.

When mapping outreach, 62 City-funded organizations, based both in Council District 2 and elsewhere in San Diego provided outreach activities and programs throughout the district. Outreach sites included 4 libraries, 2 recreation centers, 2 parks, 32 schools and 59 other venues, including cafes, universities and other public spaces, for a total of 99 sites.

Council District 3

In FY19, Council District 3 was home to 52 OSP hubs and hosted 86 CCSD project venues encompassing 138 locations of activity. This direct investment within the district, totaled $7,956,590.

When mapping outreach, 84 City-funded organizations, based both in Council District 3 and elsewhere in San Diego provided outreach activities and programs throughout the district. Outreach sites included 3 libraries, 2 recreation centers, 7 parks, 33 schools and 119 other venues, including the public right-of-way, theaters and other public spaces, for a total of 164 sites.

While the highest concentration of OSP hubs and CCSD project venues are in the district’s westside, when mapping outreach, cultural vitality and arts engagement increases dramatically throughout the district.

Council District 4

In FY19, Council District 4 was home to 2 OSP hubs and hosted 3 CCSD project venues encompassing 5 locations of activity. This direct investment within the district, totaled $145,027.

When mapping outreach, 51 City-funded organizations, based both in Council District 4 and elsewhere in San Diego provided outreach activities and programs throughout the district. Outreach sites included 4 libraries, 1 recreation center, 4 parks, 31 schools and 11 other venues, including senior centers, performance venues and other public spaces, for a total of 51 sites.

Council District 5

In FY19, Council District 5 was home to 2 OSP hubs and hosted 2 CCSD project venues encompassing 4 locations of activity. This direct investment within the district, totaled $70,991.

When mapping outreach, 33 City-funded organizations, based both in Council District 5 and elsewhere in San Diego provided outreach activities and programs throughout the district. Outreach sites included 4 libraries, 1 recreation center, 2 parks, 24 schools and 9 other venues, including wineries, universities and other public spaces, for a total of 40 sites.

The highest concentration of OSP hubs and CCSD project venues are spread evenly throughout the district. When mapping outreach, cultural vitality and arts engagement increases dramatically throughout the district.

Council District 6

In FY19, Council District 6 was home to 5 OSP hubs. This direct investment within the district, totaled $270,136.

When mapping outreach, 42 City-funded organizations, based both in Council District 6 and elsewhere in San Diego provided outreach activities and programs throughout the district. Outreach sites included 3 libraries, 2 parks, 28 schools and 19 other venues, including military bases, a tech hub and other public spaces, for a total of 52 sites.

While the highest concentration of OSP hubs are in the district’s south, when mapping outreach, cultural vitality and arts engagement increases dramatically throughout the district.

Council District 7

In FY19, Council District 7 was home to 3 OSP hubs and hosted 3 CCSD project venues encompassing 6 locations of activity. This direct investment within the district, totaled $93,900.

When mapping outreach, 50 City-funded organizations, based both in Council District 7 and elsewhere in San Diego provided outreach activities and programs throughout the district. Outreach sites included 4 libraries, 43 schools and 24 other venues, including a youth center, retirement home facilties and other public spaces, for a total of 71 sites.

Council District 8

In FY19, Council District 8 hosted 19 CCSD project venues. This direct investment within the district, totaled $25,181.

When mapping outreach, 46 City-funded organizations, based both in Council District 8 and elsewhere in San Diego provided outreach activities and programs throughout the district. Outreach sites included 3 libraries, 1 park, 32 schools and 20 other venues, including galleries, local businesses and other public spaces, for a total of 56 sites.

While the highest concentration of CCSD project venues are in the district‘s north, when mapping outreach, cultural vitality and arts engagement increases dramatically throughout the district.

Council District 9

In FY19, Council District 9 was home to 9 OSP hubs and hosted 6 CCSD project venues encompassing 15 locations of activity. This direct investment within the district, totaled $321,775.

When mapping outreach, 57 City-funded organizations, based both in Council District 9 and elsewhere in San Diego provided outreach activities and programs throughout the district. Outreach sites included 3 libraries, 1 recreation center, 6 parks, 30 schools and 29 other venues, including the public right-of-way, restaurants and other public spaces, for a total of 69 sites.

While the highest concentration of CCSD project venues are in the district’s north, when mapping outreach, cultural vitality and arts engagement increases dramatically throughout the district.

Visualization of Reach per Council District

The City advances the economy and creative ecosystem by investing in new artistic media and cultural production, cultivating local participation and engagement, and advancing San Diego as a global city. Committed to equitable economic development and cultivation of a dynamic arts ecosystem, C staff facilitates the City’s investments in the arts, artists, arts and culture organizations, and community-based cultural programs.