>> good morning everyone. we are excited to have it gathering today. i'm with self-help for the elderly. thank you mayor for coming and making a very very important announcement for all of us today. [speaking chinese] [applause] let's welcome our supervisors, supervisor melgar, district 7 supervisor. [speaking chinese] thank you for all your support supervisor melgar. and supervisor hillary ronan.

[applause] also, supervisor catherine stefani. [applause] catherine and also supervisor matt dorsey. [applause] [speaking chinese] [applause] i think plan this a few days ago. we would like the seniors to be part of this really joyous occasion, so a lot of the seniors who want to come in and then we welcome all the guests from the consortium and council. people that worked in this domestic violence child abuse, elder abuse area a long long time, so we welcome all our friends from the community to come to share in joy today.

so, now with no further delay, i am sorry for all the guests that have to stand behind the room today. we are very crowded and of course, our seniors also will have the lunch program at 12 o'clock. i like to now welcome mayor breed to come up to the podium to make remarks. [speaking chinese] [applause] >> good morning everyone and thank you so much annie for all the extraordinary work that you do to support up lift and protect seniors all over san francisco. in fact, i think i said that i think there are five of you, because i can go to all most every neighborhood and you are well represented in terms of the incredible work you do to support one of our most vulnerable communities. it is so great to be here with our supervisors, because this is a long time coming. i do want to take back, because a lot

of reason why i got involved politically had everything to do sadly with the gun violence happening in my community. it forced us to create new tools that never existed in san francisco. there was of course victim services in the district attorney's office, but there wasn't really the kind of support that people needed to be uplifted and are be helped through the crisis. it was more about prosecution, holding people ap countable. but what happens to the wrap around support necessary to help victims that have experienced such tragedies? an organization called the community response network was created, and from the community response network, street violence intervention program, we have a number people joining us here today as well as [applause] the extraordinary work of lynne restry of being in the homes of the

mothers and families who experience extreme tragedies in our city. we continue to see changes in how the challenges persisted around violence in our community. not just with domestic violence, which we know there was a consortium of women and people in general who fought for additional resources and advocacy, and who has been able to generate efficient, not efficient, but generate resources to provide housing, wrap around and supportive services. after endureing the pandemic we experienced a height in antiasian hate and it was clear our seniors needed culturally competent services and people they could trust to communicate with and work with comes in sarah wan and cyc working together with street violence intervention program and we have so many of these different programs. we have so many-some in the

women department of commission on status of women and some in the department of public health and just a little disorganized. in comes catherine stefani to take to the ballot so the programs are assessed and organized and structured in a way that inshrines what we dain the city and how to make accountability andcordsinator to provide the services necessary no matter who the supervisor is or mayor is these services live on to protect victims and witnesses with challenges in san francisco. we are excited to be here because the other thing is, we are all working together. supervisor hillary ronan who created a organization through the human

resources department that assist women who are abused and that is another program that we are folding under to this umbrella. we are working with supervisor ronan, melgar, catherine stefani and the guys want a piece of the action, so supervisor matt dorsey jumped in and i want a piece of this too, because i believe in this work and this is what happens when we work together. we make extraordinary things happen for this city. wept to get to a point where these services are no longer needed, but the fact is, san francisco is a major city with significant challenges and when people are at their worst, we need to make sure that we are coordinated in our response. we are working with advocacy organizations including asians are strong and other groups to help protect and uplift all citizens of san

francisco. now here we are. after the assessment of these services, after a clear understanding of the dollars spent, the accountability tools and how we can make them more coordinated and more strong, we now have a leader who is prepared to take on the helm and can do this work. i am so excited to honored ivy lee accepted the position. [applause] ivy lee is a true public servant through and through. whenever given the opportunity she answers the call. first, working as a legislative aid from the time i met her. she has done other things because she is a attorney, but worked as legislative aid for jane kim when i first met her and appointed her to the city college board where she continued to work and provide opportunities and

support community. she worked for other supervisors, including supervisor norman yee and then came to my office about four years ago to work on her true passion, victim services and provide the policy direction my office needs and the support to organize these services and to insure that we are making the right investment, we are holding organizations accountable and working together to create a more structured system. the system that i'm talking about now has everything to do with the leadership of ivy lee, so i'm grateful and excited she has accepted this responsibility to lead this organization and to insure that all victims, people struggling during their most vulnerable times are supported and to the service providers here, prp, united playas, sbip, cyc. the domestic violence consortium. we have so many organizations and

people who do this work every single day, and now you have a city department that is leading the effort and will make sure that we do the analysis necessary to provide you with the support and resources you need. [applause] this is extraordinary. and this is how government should work. so, with that, i want to again take this opportunity to thank you all so much for being here. i know there is a lot of technicalities but this means more support for those who are victims of any sort of crime in our city so that you are at the forefront of these services. with that, i want to take this opportunity to introduce the author of proposition d to help make sure no one can mess with this office and excited what that means long-term and advocate against gun violence and fought for

victims the entire time on the board of supervisors, but also as a former assistant district attorney, no other then supervisor catherine stefani. [applause] [speaking chinese]

[applause] >> thank you mayor breed for that introduction. i am just beyond overwhelmed to be here today and just so proud of these incredible women i call my friends and colleagues that we are doing this together and all the community providers, it thrill and so grateful to be with you as we launch the office of victim and witness rights and celebrate ivy lee's appointment as the inaugural director. [applause] i put this measure on the ballot in june of 2022 because we knew not all victims of crime were being served by the city, and we knew they absolutely needed a place to go. from those suffering from hate crimes, domestic violence, vandalism, we were not doing enough and delivering

the services in a way streamlined or made sense to anyone who needed help. for too long crime victims were not being heard in san francisco. we knew all most 20thousand times per quarter a person in san francisco reported being a victim of crime, including domestic violence, assault, property crime and more. we also knew only about 3,000 of those incidents resulted in a arrest and charges filed in less then a thousand of the incidents. until now, about 90 percent of those people our neighbors colleague es and friends and constituents couldn't get the help they needed from the city or not easily and that meant no critical services were there to help people rebuild their lives. it meant no restitution. worst still, victims who qualified for services found layers of processes the mayor was saying, red tape and

bureaucracy that made their experiences more difficult. also, our services for victims were spread across many different agencies as the mayor said, making it very difficult for people to navigate and i knew somehow we need to streamline those services to make it easier for victims of crime. it is why i put the san francisco victim right initiative, proposition d on the ballot and why the voters overwhelmingly passed it. a key component the office of victim and witness right is wrun stop resource for anyone. anyone who experiences a crime in san francisco regardless whether they feel safe going to law enforcement and a good thing about this office, it is outside law enforcement, so those that are uncomfortable with law enforcement will have a safe place to go. whether their case result in charges or whether anyone is convicted they get help at this office. the office will connect san franciscans with the services that

survivors cited most critd e crital. housing, legal help, mental helths support. i knew it was good policy and personal for me. for many years my mother suffered through an abusive relaceship. 41 years she was in a marriage where i saw a-you can rebuild a new life. she is 76 and single so there is a way out. [applause] but i saw the toll that relationship exacted on my mother and those around her, including her 4 children and i committed myself being a champion for all who experience that trauma. when i introduced prop d, calls

to the domestic violence up 45 percent and restraining order clinic up by 166 percent and turn away rate for victims seeking shelter for domestic violence was 79 percent. i knew we needed 250 do more. the other core responsibility of the office is manage a pilot program to provide victims of domestic violence with full scope legal counsel. we work to reduce crime of all kinds, we must remove obstacles to survivors getting help they need. make it easier for san franciscans to trust that the government will actually work for them and that is exactly what the office of victim and witness rights will do. ivy lee is the perfect woman for the job. [applause] i am so fortunate to have known ivy a long time. we met as legislative aids together and

became my friend and someone i confided in and believed in and her decades of experience as civil rights attorney and policy leader and victim rights will serve the office well. her background makes me confident she will lead the office with compassion, integrity and resolve necessary to deliver results and break down barriers for survivors. ivy, thank you so much. i cannot thank you enough for stepping up and agreeing to take on this responsibility. mayor breed, i can't thank you enough. i remember sitting in your office when i brought the idea to you. you looked at me like you do sometimes and you said, that sounds like a good idea and we talked about it. we talked about services in different departments and you told me some i didn't know about and said, yeah i'll get behind it and immediately endorsed prop d and saw as something good to do and can't thank you enough and in your appointing ivy lee and recommending

here, i can't thank you enough. i also like to thank supervisors hillary ronan and myrna melgar for unwavering support of this office and to hillary, we have been friends a long time. legislative aids together and worked together and been working on womens and victim issues, immigrant issues so long and see you here knowing you fold in the issues you care about and all care about i cant tell how much it means to me. to myrna melgar, a signatory on the initiative breveing it from the start. i can't thank you enough again for your friendship and all the things we care about and work on together. you are just two women in my life, my colleagues and friends that i look up to and i am so happy to have you here today. also i want to thank my staffers demin cudonovan and andy mullen for hard work on the measure. we put a lot of time and effort into it.

and all those who helped get prop d over the finish line and especially the service providers. the work you do and looking at you lynne and sarah and bev and so many people in this room, hudson and mark and everything you bring to the table, janice, i saw you earlier. junted playas s. when we were doing this and talking about the services we really wanted to bring together, i consulted with many and i'll name them because they deserve it. open door legal, [indiscernible] justice diversity center san francisco bar association, jewish family, cooperative restraining order, rsh api legal outreach, the brady campaign [indiscernible] the american indian cultural dist rblth. ricate. [indiscernible] national coalition to right for civil council. [indiscernible] self-help for the elderly and so many more.

without your work and your tireless advocacy and your dedication to serving victims and survivors, none of this would have been possible. today marks significant milestone in our collective efforts to support and protect victims, witnesses and survivors of crime in san francisco and i am so grateful that we will have the key resource as we continue that fight and again, congratulations to ivy leon her appointment. thank you. [applause] [speaking chinese]

[applause] >> thank you so much supervisor catherine stefani for summarizing it and also for working with my office as well as your colleagues on helping to consolidate these services as well as with these various non profit organizations. supervisor ronan created an office to help victims of sexual harassment and assault. an office that has worked to not only implement policies and investment, but more importantly, to insure that those victims specifically were supported and

uplifted, similar to so many of the other programs that we talked about earlier here today. she and supervisor catherine stefani are working together to insure those offices are consolidated , we are working together to have a holistic approach to address the needs and desires of victims. i cannot thank supervisor hillary ronan enough for her work and her advocacy. this makes sense and this is how it should be done. it is not only going to save us a lot of money, it will make the services better for the people we are trying to serve, so please welcome, supervisor hillary ronan. [applause] >> thank you so much mayor breed, supervisor stefani, director lee. yeah! i will be really short. i created sharp about, gosh, 5,

6 years ago after holding a hearing, where about 7 women who had been victims of rape and who had a horrible time going through our legal system trying to get justice against their accusers. i decided we needed a department that looked inward into the city and figured how to make our police department, district attorney department, health department more friendly towards survivors of these horrible horrible crimes. sharp has been in the human rights commission all this time and done extraordinary work but didn't give the policy changes we were looking

for. it looked outward and amazing work outside the city, but we wanted to look inward because we want to improve. during the budget process when i was budget chair a few years ago--that was last year, sorry, i wasn't budget chair anymore. it was under supervisor chan. i don't know if it was supervisor stefani, but someone had a brilliant idea putting sharp under the new office of victim and witness services and said that is what we needed to do. and when mayor lee told us she was leaning towards appointing ivy lee as the director of this office, i said, this is going to thrive like never before, because i know ivy well and i know that it takes someone extremely special that people have a lot of faith in and a lot of respect for

internally and understand how the city functions. to look at other departments inside the city, and criticize them frankly, right? that is not a easy job to do. setting up sharp was never easy. ivy is that person. she has the diplomacy, the credibility, she has the relationships that she is able to give constructive criticism in a way that our departments will take it and that's why i know sharp is going to succeed like it never has before. i know that's the reason why women and men and non binary people who are victims of horrible crimes are going to feel much more comfortable coming forward and seeking help, and i know that it will make our city better mayor breed and it is because we are all working together. i just want to end by thanking supervisor stefani so much for creating this office, for having the vision and

for welcoming sharp into the fold, because i know this collaboration or this combination is going to create magic, so thank you so much everyone. [applause] [speaking chinese]

[applause] >> alright. ladies and gentlemen, as mentioned we are in westportal and supervisor myrna melgar's district and supervisor melgar is a bridge-builder, she worked together with colleagues to insure the success of this program and we wanted to invite you supervisor melgar up to say a few words, please. [applause] >> thank you so much mayor and welcome to west portal to district 7. ivy, i have known for a long long time, and i cannot say enough about how much i respect you. your brains your brilliance, but your heart. a unique combination of things the community needs to make sure we are safe and we are whole.

i am so grateful mayor that you had the forsight and brilliance to put this woman in charge of something that my colleagues have been working on for so long. we have been talking for a couple years now about sexual assault in schools. it is something i have been very active in after i was approached by a bunch of kids from loelhigh school experienced increase in harassment and assault and things kids now just missed during developmental stage when they were on zoom. had to learn to do consent. resolve conflict in a way that would keep them safe. so, it makes sense that victim services incompass all the things we know people need in our community. our elders need. our kids need. women need. people who are experiencing

violence, experiencing crime, they are experiencing trauma and we need somebody who understands the law, who understands the system, but also is deeply rooted in the values of community,b and that is you ivy. i'm so just thrilled and beyond excited that you are stepping in just at the right moment to bring all these different efforts that mayor breed has been working on, my colleague catherine stefani, hillary ronan and matt dorsey, everybody has been working on different pieces of it and bringing it all together with this deeply rooted community heart is what i know you are going to do. thank you so much for stepping up. i am so glad everybody is here to support ivy to support the mayor, support this effort of my colleagues and i think that we are going to do great things in the city because of you. thank you so much.

[applause] [speaking chinese] [applause] >> finally, it is so interesting, i'm really glad supervisor melgar mentioned that ivy lee has the heart to do this work, because we can talk about all of her accolades, all the work she has done. she is extremely accomplished, clearly, and in every job she has chosen

to do throughout her career, it has had everything to do with having the heart to want to help people. i think that say s a lot about her character and why everyone here agrees she is the perfect person to take on this responsibility. because at the end of the day, she will always look out for the people who need the kind of support and services that so many of the people here, the service providers providing to the public. there are little things that matter. showing up to the hospital, being there, being in the living room of a victim and not like taking their tragedy and using it in a irresponsible way, because it is their tragedy and their challenge and their issue. she will understand that, and she will understand how we work together to insure that this city is being held accountable to make those investments and to be there and i see it is so great to be in this room, because i see so many people that represent

the world of non profit and city workers who have been in this fight for victims in various capacities for decades. we appreciate the work that you all continue to do and now under this office, under the leadership of ivy lee, we are taking this work to the next level. ladies and gentlemen, presenting the new director of the office of victim and witness protection, ivy lee! [applause] >> i want to thank you mayor for trusting me with this

responsibility and supervisors, i really want to thank you for putting your faith in me that i can do justice and do right by this office. i wanted to welcome my good friend, michael wong. he's going to be helping me today to make sure what i say could be properly communicated, but he is one of the many people in this office that do the hard work every single day. so, it is really humbling to be here, because i feel like i am here with the real people that deserve acknowledgment and support. mayor, one of the first things i want to say, they need the city support. there are federal cuts to victims of crime, dollars that is happening this year. it happens every year.

on a state level, there are resources cut from this community of providers of service providers and advocates every year. they are the first on the chopping block and they are the ones that are first at the table, first in the room, first on the phone standing shoulder to shoulder with people that are going through some of the worst experiences of their lives. so, they absorb all that pain and then they stand up and turn it into really a way to help people start to stand up and heal. so, we need the city every single department of this city to stand up and put their money and make their words into action. they need to support the people in this room and beyond doing the work. [applause] [speaking chinese]

[applause] >> this job, doing this job actually feels very full circle, and that is because this work is why i wanted to become a lawyer in the first place. a lot of the clients that i've severed in the past have actually been coming to me over the past couple weeks . it is because of them that-- [applause] like you supervisor, i think their courage, their resilience, the families of the survivors, they are the ones

that i think compel us to do this work and to do it better. so, i don't want to keep the seniors from their meal, but i want to say thank you for coming and i want to thank you for all of you for doing the work that you do. it is a honor for me to support you, because that is what this office should do. this office will have one purpose, which is try to make government work better for survivors and the people who serve them. [applause] [speaking chinese]

[applause] >> last but not least, again, i want to thank michael because i went off-script. i sent him remarks in advance to hopefully make it easier for him to interpret for me and i didn't

speak to it. >> it doesn't matter. [laughter] [applause] i spent 4 hours translating it. just kidding. >> thank you. annie, thank you for letting us take up space so much. appreciate you and all the work that you do and that you've done. you are a role model and inspiration to me so thank you. [speaking chinese] [applause] >> and very last but definitely not least, i want to thank my husband who is here. one of the only judges in san francisco superior court who every day talks about marcy's law and rights of victims, as he is doing his job

as court. i want to thank my son for being here, who is hiding in the back. [laughter] [applause] >> [speaking chinese] [applause] >> my grand mother raised me like your grand mother raised you, mayor, and one she always told me was, dont take more then you give, always give back more. so, i hope that that's what i am able to do in partnership with all

of you. thank you. [applause] [speaking chinese] [applause] >> thank you again ivy for that heart-warming comments and again when it comes from the heart, it just makes all the difference. to so many of the service providers here today, when you take on the responsibility of the people you serve, sometimes it can be taxing on your mental health, and it is so important and i'm looking at lynne, because lynne when there is gun violence, she is in those living rooms and at san francisco general and so many folks here today, it is always important that in the work that you do that you take a moment to take care of yourself too.

because, as much as i know you want to go 24/7 and be there for the people we need to be there for, we need to make sure you are strong, but on your oxygen mask before assisting others. we have to do that, because we need you all for the long-term. this is a long-term challenge that we are up for, and we are up for it because all of you have the heart for this work. it is so great to be here. this office, supervisor stefani is finally headed in the direction you envisionism the work and collaborative spirit of what we here to do is there, and the leadership of heart and integrity at the helm. i know this signals a new day for victim services and right in city county of san francisco and grateful for the work we have done and will continue to do to support,

uplift and be a blessing to the people who deserve the support that this office will deliver under your extraordinary leadership ivy lee. thank you. [applause] [speaking chinese] [laughter] [applause]

>> the vibrant south of market neighborhood in san francisco is deep lee rooted filipino if fluences to shape the cultural identity. soma pilipinas known for [indiscernible] night life and art scenes is home to growing filipino community that thrived for generations. >> soma pilipinas is a community, the village that has been over a hundred years in the making. this is home to many generations of filipino from the turn of the century, to the present. continues to be a gateway community for a lot of filipinos just arriving from the philippines. >> one of sth most prominent scines is filipino owned businesses become staples in the neighborhood. restaurants like manila bowl and jp restaurant offer

[indiscernible] >> we call it [indiscernible] this is my passion. everybody's who came right now. we feel good right here. community is like a family. >> the eatery serve mouth watering dishes and provide a sense of home to the filipino community, preserving traditions passed down generation. >> a filipino restaurant utilizing california ingredients we honor traditional family recipe [indiscernible] we shop in the market 2 to 3 times a week. we make the filipino cuisine proud in san francisco. >> along with the culinary deliteds, soma philippine ow is home to san francisco top mix

aulgists. filipino artistry is a facet of soma pilipinas rich tapestry. the filipino cultural heritage district transformed public spaces into canvases that depict the stories and experiences of filipino americans. >> parlt part of the work we do is support filipino artists to work with community to really create and develop community based art. this is murals and designs that really reflect the rich history, the culture and the struggles and triumps of the filipino community. >> the presence of the filipino cultural center which offer workshops, language classes and community resources is a testament to the community efforts to preserve and promote the heritage. >> features the [indiscernible]

philippines which is a indigenous community weaving textiles and tapestry for hundreds of years so proud to feech were modern ones and very antique ones and showcase fashion from the community and we are inviting everybody to come experience that with us. >> the center not only caters to the filipino community, but welcome all who wish to learn about and embrace this culture. >> we want to develop a cultural district where you have the young generation learn their history, language and culture and where you have also the seniors be part of the cultural and share their stories and their traditions, and continue to grow young in the neighborhood. >> the intersection of technology and culture in this part of san francisco provides a unique back drop for a thriving community embracing the past while looking to the future. the filipino influence ingrained in soma serves as remindser of the power of

cultural diversity and importance of celebrating in our ever changing world. >> when i look at an old neon sign that's working or not working, i feel the family business that was in there. >> since 2009, citywide, sf shines, has supported businesses and sites like the ones that receive new neon signs. >> you know, sf shines is doing an amazing job to bring back

the lighting and the neon glow of san francisco. >> sf shines is such an amazing program, and i can't think of another program in another city that gives matching gunned funds to store owners, mom and pop owners, and if they've got a neon sign, they've really got a great way to advertise their business. >> this is a continuation of the sf shines program. >> focusing other neon signs is relatively new to us. of the seven neon signs, we've invested about $145,000. >> a good quality sign costs more, but it lasts infinitily longer. as opposed to lasting five years, a good neon sign will last 15 to 20 years. >> in san francisco, the

majority of neon signs are for mom-and-pop businesses. in order to be able to restore these signs, i think it gives back to your community. >> part of the project has to do with prioritizing certain signs in the neighborhood based on their aesthetics, based on their current signs, and base on the history. in the time that we've been here, we've seen a number of signs restored just on eddy street. >> there are a number of signs in the tenden many more that are waiting or wanting to be restored. i have worked with randall and al, and we've mapped out every single one of them and rated them as to how much work they would need to get restored. that information is passed onto sf shines, and they are going to rank it. so if they have x budget for a year, they can say all right,

we're going to pick these five, and they're putting together clusters, so they build on top of what's already there. >> a cluster of neon signs is sort of, i guess, like a cluster of grapes. when you see them on a corner or on a block, it lights up the neighborhood and creates an ambient glow. if you havy got two of three of them, you've created an atmosphere that's almost like a movie set. >> some of the hotel, we've already invested in to get those neon signs for people to enjoy at night include the elk hotel, jefferson hotel, the verona, not to mention some we've done in chinatown, as well as the city's portal neighborhood. >> we got the fund to restore it. it took five months, and the biggest challenge was it was completely infested with

pigeons. once we got it clean, it came out beautiful. >> neon signs are often equated with film noir, and the noir genre as seen through the hollywood lens basically depicted despair and concentration. >> you would go downtown and see the most recent humphrey bogart film filled with neon in the background. and you'd see that on market street, and as market street got seedier and seedier and fewer people continued to go down, that was what happened to all the neon strips of light. >> the film nori might start with the light filled with neon

signs, and end with a scene with a single neon sign blinking and missing a few letters. >> one of my favorite scenes, orson welles is chasing rita hayworth with neon signs in the background. >> i think what the office of economic and workforce development is very excited with is that we'll be able to see more neon signs in a concentrated way lit up at night for visitors and most especially residents. the first coin laundry, the elm hotel, the western hotel are ones that we want to focus on in the year ahead. >> neon signs are so iconic to

certain neighborhoods like the hara, like the nightcap. we want to save as many historic and legacy neon signs in san francisco, and so do they. we bring the expertise, and they bring the means to actually get the job done. >> people in tenderloin get really excited as they see the signs relit. as you're driving through the tenderloin or the city, it pretty much tells you something exciting is happening here. >> knee an was created to make the night more friendly and advertise businesses. it's a great way of supporting and helping local businesses. >> there's so many ways to improve public safety. the standard way is having more eyes on the street, but there's other culturally significant ways to do that, and one those ways is lighting up the streets. but what better way and special way to do that is by having old, historic neon signs

lighting up our streets at night and casting away our shadows. >> when i see things coming back to life, it's like remembering how things were. it's remembering the hotel or the market that went to work seven days a week to raise their money or to provide a service, and it just -- it just -- it just

>> our market street program started in 1992. the goal was to bring arts to an audience who may not be normally be exposed to contemporary art. for 2023, we chose comics as the median to highlight san francisco. it could be fix al, science fiction. history. >> i'm fan, i'm illustrator and writer, i grew up all over the bay area. and is post history no history no south. i've been drawing since i was probably four or five. it's just a cool memory, i just remember painting my apron in kindergarten and i would

suddenly start painting myself. it was cartoon, it got me excited. in my home life, it was not consistent but what was on tv is always consistent. there is always xy z- channel, cartoon, i would wait for the cartoons to freeze and chase really fast. i remember getting into anemai as a kid, as a young person because it was one of the avenues of asian-american expression that i can relate to. my project is i'm highlighting 6 trailblazers who's family was tied to san francisco. they all have different forms of art expression. but i noticed through the research that there is a common that connects them all, which is this desire to live life authentically, organickly, speak of the love that they

believe in. i made it art students and learning about art history and the place in art with the context of learning about their predecessors. >> sinsawa is synonymous of san francisco. there is a school named after her. >> wasn't she also in stamp? her art was in 2020. >> do you think she would become a artist? >> hmm, i think she was like 100s of other in the city that love the art. when there is no audience or income, why do we still make art? >> well because we seek to know ourselves and one has to believe like alela, we make art for a lifetime not just a career. i think for some, artist like breathing, it's how we know we're alive. >> it's so incredible to do

this project and do the experience that connects generation, the full experience of being artist. >> comics have a rich history in san francisco even from early 20th century. we also wanted to open up public art opportunities for artist that don't normally apply to public art. >> i hope it stays with them and lingers and they chew on it and think about it. and it may not make a big impact but it's something that opens up the door or starts the conversation or the beginning of something. i would like for it to be a start, whether it's a start of research or start of pondering, yeah, what does it mean to be an artist? and how do i decolonize my mind?

>> welcome to the arts commission meeting i'm calling the meeting to order by the call of the roll. >> president. >> present >> vice president is ab dent. mitchell beltran is absent.

is