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The city still has $743,000 that it intends to use for arts and cultural education and programming in the Mission District, after the abrupt temporary closure of the Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Arts (MCCLA) in January, said Denise Pate, the director of community investment at the Arts Commission, at a meeting in front of Mission residents on Tuesday evening.
The city will begin accepting applications from organizations seeking to use that funding later this year, Pate added.
The nearly fifty year-old center is one of several city-funded community arts organizations that have struggled to stay afloat in recent years. After it closed its doors, the center partnered with a fiscal sponsor: The San Francisco Study Center, Inc., the same sponsor used by Calle 24, the nonprofit that oversees the Calle 24 cultural district. In April, the city approved $122,500 in remaining grants for the storage of MCCLA’s archive.
At the time of its closure, MCCLA was preparing to move out later this year — the city-owned building it rented at 2868 Mission Street needs seismic retrofitting. The center has narrowed its search to three properties but selecting one will depend on their ability to securing the city funding, said Rob Sanchez, one of the center’s board members.
Pate said that the San Francisco Study Center will able to apply on behalf of the Mission Cultural Center for the funds and that all applications will need to demonstrate a clear plan to sustain their programs in an ongoing way.
“Your success is our success,” said Pate. “We are partners and the cultural center docket is very important to the preservation and life of the community.”
826 Valencia is hosting a series of workshops for high school students looking for help drafting and revising their personal statements for college applications. The workshops will be held on Fridays in October and November from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 826 Valencia St., near 19th Street, starting with October 16th. Those interested in the workshops can register here.
Those interested in supporting 826 Valencia while drinking unlimited beer and wine can buy tickets here for their Writers Block Party on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. at Southern Pacific Brewing at 620 Treat Ave.
A historical tour on Sunday Oct. 18 with local historian Elizabeth Creely will look at the ghost of a lagoon that once sat near 17th and Shotwell streets — as well as the mills and tannieries that contributed to its demise.
The tour is free, and organized by the StorefrontLab. Attendees will meet at 106a Treat Ave., near 16th Street at 11 a.m. Reservations can be made here.
Fresh Produce #1, a grocery store at 2631 23rd St., at Potrero Avenue, reopened last month after a few months of closure due to renovations.
The store, which takes Women, Infant and Children (WIC) and EBT payments, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
