Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
65
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: 1986
Mission: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presents contemporary art from the Bay Area and around the world that reflects the profound issues and ideas of our time, expands the boundaries of artistic practice, and celebrates the diversity of human experience and expression.
Tags:
bay area, arts & culture, art space, exhibitions, performances, socially-relevant projects, film, public programs, arts education
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Kenneth Foster.
Kenneth J. Foster, Executive Director, joined YBCA in 2003. The organization has thrived under Foster's leadership, benefitting from his dedication to nurturing long-term relationships with artists and growing YBCA's audience base as a result of his commitment to making contemporary art accessible to all. Foster has more than 20 years of experience as an arts administrator, curator, educator, and performing…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
19.63%
Total Revenue:
$11,328,683
From the Nonprofit
|
Kathy Budas
Senior Director of Marketing & Communications Oct 06, 2010 |
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), located in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena cultural district, is one of the nation’s leading multidisciplinary contemporary arts centers. With a belief that contemporary art is at the heart of community life, YBCA brings…
Read More.
|
Contact Info
Address:
701 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103, USA
Twitter:
Story:
This is a review from one enthusiastic supporter and art-viewer:
I am a frequent and loyal audience member for YBCA's performing arts and film and video programming. There is nowhere else in the Bay Area where I can experience such adventuresome and accomplished work from around the world.
Each year I see daring experimental theater and contemporary dance nearly to my heart and mind's content. Recent offerings from Japan, Uzbekistan, Mexico and London, as well as all the heavy hitters from around the US, enrich me enormously and make me glad and hopeful about art's capacity for intellectual and socio-aesthetic inspiration. The performing arts series, as does the film and video, presents a terrific balance of local as well as national and international work. Both programs, along with the visual arts program's Bay Area Now exhibitions, actively support the best of Bay Area art-making with the performing arts series commissioning new local dance theater works.
The film series also deserves special commendation for a bold curatorial vision, unearthing rarely seen treasures and some of the best independent international filmmakers that also inspire. Recent screening of television films by Michael Haneke, a retrospective by Argentina's Lucrecia Martel, and Bay Area premieres of works by Mexico's Carlos Reygadas and Thailand's Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and the beautiful and only film by Jean Genet are just some of the highlights of the film programming. In other words, YBCA is one of the things most central to my life in San Francisco and is one of the main reasons I make the sacrifices I do to live here. YBCA definitely makes it worth it. (Source: http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/org-reviews/yerba-buena-center-for-the-arts/P0/)
Expert Reviews of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Evidence of Impact Summary:
YCBA supports performing artists through residencies and presentation. They have new ways of thinking about engagement with the public (attract members of all age groups, new audiences, etc.), and they have had an impact at the local and national level. YBCA is able to put cutting-edge thought into practice very effectively. They bring international, contemporary, risky art from around the world to the Bay Area.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
Experts praise the Center for the Arts at Yerba Buena Gardens for their high-profile, well respected leader who is very involved in the community. YCBA is also innovative in their multi-disciplinary approach to programming, integrating art, film, music, and dance across different themes. Their marketing and brand identity is very strong. This is a well-managed organization with smart staff and good operations.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Many experts feel that YBCA could do more to engage local artists, help in the creation of new work, and work with organizations in the community more. They might also try to lower their ticket prices to be accessible to a wider audience. Finally, they should be careful not to compromise the quality of their work in an effort to promote a political or social message.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.
Show:
Show:
X
Foundation Professionals (F)
X
Researchers and Faculty (R)
X
Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
X
Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Impact |
|||
|
F
|
YBCA has focused on support of contemporary artists since its inception. YBCA has forward thinking ideas about how to engage audiences at multiple levels. Its impact on support of performing artists through residencies and presentation, as well as its new ways of thinking about engagement with the public, have and will be impactful for not only the local community but for the national arts community, as well. | ||
|
F
|
YBCA is able to put cutting-edge thought into practice very effectively. It is a strong arts center that serves as a thought leader with interwoven themes combining their leadership in visual arts, performing arts, and film curation. It is the rare arts organization that serves youth, young adults, and older adults equally well. | ||
|
F
|
It is high quality programming with a distinct point of view. They have the ability to bring in large and new audiences, and they have excellent outreach for their community programs. | ||
|
F
|
YCBA presents exciting, risky, no-one-else-is-going-to-show-this-work exhibitions and programming. They have a demonstrated ability to attract young people to a formerly musty/rigid/establishment arts center. They have an executive director who radically challenges orthodox notions of how to run a multi-million arts organization and who embraces risk. | ||
|
R
|
YCBA has representation from international artists, innovates across the arts of music, visual art, film, theatre, and dance, and targets a community and access focus while simultaneously keeping high standards of artistic innovation. | ||
|
R
|
Their impact can be seen through their ability to attract a broad audience for performing arts. | ||
|
N
|
YBCA provides stimulating, thematic, and relevant visual and performing arts experiences to the San Francisco Bay Area community. | ||
|
N
|
The international work they bring in is of great importance to our community. It fuels the artists who live here. | ||
|
N
|
YBCA has a focus on new artists, large scale works, and reflect a great culture of risk-taking in a highly-visible arena. Their cross-disciplinary work is well-supported by the staff and organization. | ||
|
N
|
They contextualize the work of worthwhile local artists within a broader international scope. The Bay Area Now exhibitions are crucial in this regard. | ||
|
N
|
YBCA demonstrates visionary and risk-taking organizational leadership and a commitment to re-imagining the notion of community engagement in a larger budget institution. | ||
|
N
|
I have felt the impact of this organization in all circles that I travel. They have a nose for the leading edge in forms. They have a remarkably magnetic venue in the center of the city-- a sort of Lincoln Center without the elitist edge. They also have a strong leader in Ken Foster, who takes bold stands and inserts himself productively in the national dialogue. The organization is in some ways more impactful on this level than it even seems to be in the region-- at least in my conversations with theater and visual artists of the area. It's another space that feels very open and diverse-- a stroll through their galleries or their grounds or their program reveals the vitality and diversity of the region. | ||
|
N
|
YBCA is the responsible for bringing the world of contemporary art (and especially performance) to San Francisco. The Bay Area can be artistically isolated (and isolating), and YBCA consistently brings in high-profile dance companies from across the world, sometimes taking risks on lesser-known artists. The commitment in recent years to presenting contemporary artists from Africa has been particularly powerful and impactful. | ||
|
N
|
They have dynamic and diverse programming, a cutting edge understanding of trends in the field, and innovative approaches to involving audiences. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.
Show:
Show:
X
Foundation Professionals (F)
X
Researchers and Faculty (R)
X
Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
X
Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Centralized Meeting Space |
|||
|
F
|
They have a centralized meeting place for all the arts in the Bay Area and play a big part in organizing the arts community. | ||
|
F
|
Yerba Buena provides an excellent meeting place for all the arts. | ||
Well Known and Respected Leader |
|||
|
F
|
The organization has very strong administrative and artistic leadership. I am most familiar with Ken Foster (ED) and Angela Mattox (performing arts curator) -- they are leaders in their field and highly respected. Angela serves on the selection panel for the National Dance Project at the New England Foundation for the Arts. This organization has a built-in culture of striving for change and improvement. It is addressing many of the issues that the performing arts field is grappling with such as engaging audiences in new ways and reaching the public through technology. | ||
|
F
|
Their leadership vision and staff is strong. | ||
|
N
|
Artistic Director Ken Foster is a leader in the presenting field. He often speaks at conferences and convening and offers a fresh perspective on programming and management of arts organizations. His programming choices take into consideration the current cultural, societal, political, and anthropological climate of the world we live in. | ||
|
N
|
Their community engagement program is ambitious and inventive, drawing young people in an era of aging audiences. The large staff is incredibly enthusiastic and energetic, and the leadership is visible in the community at large. The organization seems to really work to be a convening place. | ||
Strong Staff and Operations |
|||
|
F
|
The organization has strong staff and board leadership. In terms of operations, it is efficiently run. | ||
|
R
|
The staff division of labor responds to and supports the core priorities, both in their expertise and in cross-training and collaboration amongst the staff. | ||
|
N
|
Their programming, leadership, and finances are all strengths. | ||
Multi-Disciplinary Programming |
|||
|
F
|
They have creative/risk taking leadership, a tremendous physical base with theater, film, exhibition, dance space in downtown San Francisco, and multidisciplinary programming. | ||
|
N
|
Ken Foster, the ED is one of a kind -- candid, super-smart, and has superb taste. l like the thoughtful 'big ideas' focus of the multi-disciplinary programming: an art exhibit, film, music, and dance integrated across themes. | ||
|
N
|
The variety of their programming is now easier to comprehend through their "Big Ideas" rubric. Their film/video programs are consistently excellent. | ||
Great Marketing |
|||
|
R
|
Their marketing is quite effective. | ||
|
N
|
They are in a highly visible position, and have superior assets available to them in terms of space and infrastructure. | ||
|
N
|
They have great marketing. Ken Foster and Angela Mattox are integrated into the community. They have high visibility in the community and present great photos, which speak volumes rather than text. | ||
|
N
|
They have a very strong brand identity and seem very well managed as far as I can tell. | ||
Innovative |
|||
|
N
|
YBCA is forging new models for fundraising, marketing, and involving audiences. | ||
|
N
|
They have high profile leadership matched by a strong staff known in every department for innovation. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.
Show:
Show:
X
Foundation Professionals (F)
X
Researchers and Faculty (R)
X
Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
X
Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Need More Staff |
|||
|
F
|
The operation is perhaps too lean. Like many organizations, a number of recession provoked staffing cuts have left it needing increased human resources to further realize it's forward-thinking vision. | ||
Lower Ticket Prices |
|||
|
F
|
If they lowered their ticket prices they would likely fill the houses. | ||
|
F
|
They could find a way to lower the costs for smaller budget organizations seeking to use their facilities; they could present more local artists; and they could go even farther in making the austere physical environment more welcoming and more informal for audiences/visitors. | ||
|
R
|
They should seek input from potential audiences. They should supply information on their selection process. And, they should offer deals to associations and schools for ticket packages. | ||
Help Produce Emerging Work |
|||
|
R
|
This organization is better at presenting existing work rather than producing emerging work; partnerships that allow them to develop a profile in support of the making of art would make even more of a contribution to the city. | ||
Collaborate with Others and Support Local Artists |
|||
|
N
|
I wish this organization would play a larger role in serving the community of local organizations as a whole through meaningful partnerships with smaller groups. | ||
|
N
|
They should have more communication with other organizations and also support local artists more. | ||
|
N
|
YBCA could continue to improve in its commitment to supporting local artists despite the challenges of managing a larger, union house. | ||
|
N
|
I'm guessing that, with the limited discussion of the venue I hear amongst theater artists of the region, that they could benefit from finding more ways to integrate themselves into the community. But that's a guess. The only complaints I hear from the region's artists and managers is that the facility is inordinately expensive to work in. | ||
Other |
|||
|
N
|
They need to improve the quality and impact of their visual arts exhibitions. | ||
|
N
|
It is not always clear which programs are originated by YBCA and which they are merely presenting. Their calendars and other print materials can be confusing. | ||
Push a Message/Agenda too Much |
|||
|
N
|
Sometimes I find that the social/political message of the work that's presented takes priority over the quality of the work. | ||
|
N
|
Sometimes their community engagement seems divorced from the artistic programming -- as if it's operating with its own agenda. YBCA continues to struggle with how it can (and whether it should) support local artists. Many local artists feel under-valued, under supported, and this can cause friction. | ||
Leadership
Kenneth Foster
Executive Director
Executive Director
From the Nonprofit
|
Kathy Budas
Senior Director of Marketing & Communications Oct 06, 2010 |
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), located in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena cultural district, is one of the nation’s leading multidisciplinary contemporary arts centers. With a belief that contemporary art is at the heart of community life, YBCA brings audiences and artists of all backgrounds together to express and experience creativity. The organization is known for nurturing emerging artists at the forefront of their fields and presenting works that blend art forms and explore the events and ideas of our time. As part of its commitment to the San Francisco Bay Area, YBCA supports the local arts community and reflects the region’s diversity of people and thought through its arts and public programming.
Each year, YBCA selects four Big Ideas around which to organize its wide-ranging programs. This year’s Big Ideas include: ENCOUNTER: Engaging the social context, SOAR: The search for meaning, REFLECT: Considering the personal and DARE: Innovations in art, action, audience. These ideas, which encompass art from all disciplines, are designed to focus an investigation of contemporary art and its relationship to the larger world. Using the Big Ideas as the portals, YBCA has established a framework of thought that invites exploration and risk-taking, quiet reflection and active engagement. Performing arts, visual arts and film/video programs are curated thematically around the Big Ideas which illustrate the connections and associations between the works. Public programs and Big Idea Nights, YBCA’s popular free open house series, are dedicated to establishing a deeper understanding and appreciation of contemporary art. YBCA presents programming year-round in the Forum, Screening Room, Galleries and Novellus Theater. |