Locking in government support for the arts
In the 2010s, Mayor Ed Lee turned Market Street into a tech corridor with tax incentives that lured in large corporations. But after pandemic office closures rendered downtown nearly a ghost town, Lee’s successor, London Breed, positioned arts and music as key to San Francisco’s economic recovery. Throughout 2024, she created several Entertainment Zones to promote block parties that drove customers to bars and restaurants, and spent $2.5 million on free concerts. Lurie, who celebrated his inauguration with a free block party starring SF EDM star Zhu, seems to want to build upon that policy.
“I think the Entertainment Zones, the Free First Thursdays, Outside Lands, Music Week — I mean, there’s no reason why we can’t continue these. They’re working, and I’m going to lean into them,” he told KQED as his staff hustled him out of the Swedish American Hall to his next engagement.
But what will happen to city support of the arts once the free shows have drawn sufficient foot traffic, and therefore business interest, downtown? As multi-hyphenate musician and educator La Doña pointed out in her panel, San Francisco doesn’t have a great track record of standing by its artists and working class. (“There’s a lot of people that are successful in San Francisco, but it’s not usually the people who were born and raised here,” she said.)
Goldenvoice talent buyer Danny Bell, musician La Doña and Rickshaw Stop talent buyer Dan Strachota (left to right) speak at the San Francisco Music Week Industry Summit on Feb. 28, 2025. (Fotos by Alejandro (@fotosbyalejandro))
“City Hall really needs to protect the arts community, enable the arts community, before everything is occupied by AI companies, which we know is coming,” said Noise Pop’s Jordan Kurland.
He and several San Francisco arts leaders, including EMPIRE’s Ghazi, advise Lurie on cultural matters. In a backstage interview, Kurland pointed to several successful initiatives in other cities, including Seattle’s Office of Film and Music, which has promoted creative use of office space and career development for artists.
“Soon, office spaces will be rented again,” Kurland said. “Right now, there’s an opportunity to carve out — whether it’s to turn some of these office spaces into creative spaces, whether it’s offering some lower-than-market rate housing for artists, now’s the time.”
In his 15-minute talk at the Industry Summit, Lurie offered a list of possible solutions, including workforce housing for artists, more low-income and affordable housing, less red tape for small businesses, better public education and improvements to public transit. How effective his policies on these issues will be, however, remains to be seen.
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