Southern Exposure
40
5
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: San Francisco, CA
Founded: 1974
Mission: Opportunities for creative expression are integral to a healthy society. Southern Exposure's unique programs nurture a broad range of innovative, risk-taking contemporary art in an accessible environment. As an artist-run organization, Southern Exposure reaches out to diverse audiences, and serves as a forum and resource center providing extraordinary support to the Bay Area's arts and educational communities.
Tags:
bay area, arts & culture, arts programming, resource services, arts education, exhibitions, performances, artist support
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Courtney Fink.
Courtney Fink, Executive Director of Southern Exposure (SoEx) since 2003, has 15 years of experience developing the capacity of visual artists and the systems that support them. Ms. Fink is responsible for guiding SoEx’s vision and the organization’s commitment to support artists and youth in a dynamic environment, in which they are encouraged to develop and present new work and…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
n/a
Total Revenue:
$666,539
From the Nonprofit
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Contact Info
Address:
3030 20TH Street
San Francisco, CA 94110, USA
Twitter:
Story:
What are some of Southern Exposure's programs?
Located in San Francisco’s Mission District, Southern Exposure is a 34 year old, non-profit, artist-run organization dedicated to presenting diverse, innovative, contemporary art, arts education, and related programs and events in an accessible environment.
Southern Exposure reaches out to diverse audiences and serves as a forum and resource center to provide extraordinary support to the Bay Area's arts and educational communities. Activities range from exhibitions of local, regional, and international visual artists’ work, education programs, and lectures, panel discussions, and performances. Southern Exposure is dedicated to giving artists—whether they are exhibiting, curating, teaching, or learning—an opportunity to realize ideas for projects that may not otherwise find support.
(Read more about Southern Exposure and its programs at: http://soex.org/about.html)
Expert Reviews of Southern Exposure
Evidence of Impact Summary:
Southern Exposure is the leading alternative art space in the Bay Area with a big following of supporters. They work with a large number of visual artists (many local) who create work in a variety of mediums. In addition to the exhibitions program, they also run an artist-in-education program that places artists in non-profits to provide arts education, usually to at-risk teens.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
Experts praise Southern Exposure for their under recognized Executive Director who, along with her staff, managed to consistently produce high-quality work during a major capital improvement program. Their staff is well-informed and connected to the community they serve. They are effective fundraisers and produce beautiful marketing materials.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Some experts feel that Southern Exposure could improve by diversifying the work they present, making an effort to reach a broader audience of people, and clarify their printed materials. In addition, they should either hire more staff or compensate their staff fairly to avoid staff burnout.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Impact |
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Southern Exposure gallery has become a mainstay visual arts organization in the community, with a vibrant series of exhibitions and a youth education program in the Mission District. It has earned a great deal of respect for how it works with local artists, and artistic credibility for the strength of its curating. | ||
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When it comes to cutting edge visual arts in San Francisco, Southern Exposure has been remarkably consistent. In recent years, this has come despite a desultory period in several temporary spaces while their new facility was constructed. The were effective as a gypsy group, working well on the run. The new space should allow them to greatly expand their impact. The Active Exposure program is remarkable in effectively supporting multi-disciplinary projects incorporating the visual arts. | ||
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Southern Exposure does an excellent job of promoting the work of emerging artists in San Francisco. They also do an equally excellent job of providing innovative art education in the larger youth community. | ||
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They have developed a consistent and high quality venue for presenting new work by local artists with intelligence and passionate advocacy for ideas in the urban setting. Their program "Mission Voices" provides innovative, intensive art engagement and instruction for teens in their neighborhood. | ||
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The create experimental artwork presented in a high quality setting. | ||
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Recently, I experienced the impact that their "Alternative Exposure" program had on a young artists center in Berkeley. For an alternative Gallery supporting the other burgeoning space in the Bay Area and with it creating a more attractive community for creators, it is exceptional. | ||
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Southern Exposure continues to have the best exhibitions, events, and programming featuring engaged (usually local) artists working in a broad range of media, styles, and subject matter. For many artists, Southern Exposure is usually the place where they have one of their first "big" exhibitions or projects. Because they work with so many artist annually, they have a big following. In addition to the exhibitions program, they also run an artist-in-education program that places artists in non-profits to provide arts education, usually to at-risk teens. | ||
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They have had direct community impact through continuous programming that works with youth. They have innovative ideas for supporting the artist community: they created a granting program to fund art run spaces that are not non-profits and artist projects. | ||
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Southern Exposure in many ways is the leading alternative art space in the Bay Area. Their shows often include many artists, their education program hires many artists, they have opportunities for curators and writers and their new space and the programming that goes with it is so well executed and presented. You can measure their success by the huge following they've amassed and the number of artists clamoring to work with them. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Still Effective Through Capital Improvement Projects |
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Executive Director, Courtney Fink, is a tireless worker who managed a long transition from their old gallery in Project Artaud to a new, beautifully renovated space which they just opened. | ||
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Their staff and board leadership are quite strong. Courtney Fink is one of the under-recognized arts administrators in the Bay Area. Their fundraising campaign for the new building is testament to the well coordinated efforts of the board and staff. | ||
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Courtney Fink is a very effective Executive Director, capable of maintaining quality and effectiveness of programming while also completing major capital projects. | ||
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They have strong staff and board leadership that has built a true community of stakeholders around a range of programming. They managed to evolve and pull off an astonishingly provocative and high-quality series of programs for several years while searching for a new home -- an unprecedented feat for a visual arts organization in my experience. | ||
Great Leader and Staff |
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They have hard-working and community-minded staff. | ||
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It is not always an easy task to manage a ± 35 year old organization. Their Executive Director ± 7 years has been very successful in developing new ideas and new projects that has a very direct impact on the community. | ||
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Southern Exposure's staff is dedicated, forward thinking, and very informed on national and local trends in art. The exhibitions are programmed primarily by a curatorial committee comprised of artists, each of whom bring a unique perspective and are able to tap into the artistic communities of which they are a part. | ||
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They have great leadership, staff, an active board of directors, an active curatorial board, great marketing, and strong fundraising skills. | ||
Beautiful Marketing Materials |
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Southern Exposure also works with a stellar group of very talented graphic designers who often create incredible materials for the brochures, exhibitions, and fundraisers. It is a joy to receive their printed materials. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Clarify Printed Materials |
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They could improve the clarity of their marketing materials for a broader audience (they're sometimes hard to read and understand). They could host more shows featuring a range of local artists. | ||
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Their printed collateral and visual materials are not easy to read and do not have the impact of the actual programs. If they improved this, it might help them achieve a higher profile among a broader sector of arts-interested patrons. | ||
Create More Diverse Programming |
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Southern Exposure will have a learning curve as they grow into their new space. I imagine they will develop even more ambitious programming. | ||
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They could present more diverse programming in their gallery and find a more diverse income stream. | ||
Broaden Outreach |
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They should broaden their outreach beyond well-established target areas. | ||
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They should become more accessible to the general public (non-arts educated audiences). | ||
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I think that Southern exposure could expand their reach if their would allow more collaborative projects with other arts fields and more exhibitions. | ||
Staff Burnout |
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They do a lot with a very small staff. If funding could grow, it would be a benefit to them to have more staff to avoid staff burn out. | ||
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The level of commitment expected of the staff is absolutely unmanageable. That staff works far more than 40 hours a week and is rarely compensated for that overtime. There is little to no support to receive any professional development outside of what happens within the organization. Of course, there will always be people willing to live and work in this way, but that does not make it appropriate. | ||
Leadership
Courtney Fink
Executive Director
Executive Director
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
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