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>> good morning everyone. welcome to chinatown! [applause] we are so thrilled to well when you today to announce somewhere celebrate the chinatown art registry request for qualification. this is such a significant moment for the community and city. my name is jenny, executive director of the chitural center a long standing arts center and long history uplifting artists over 60 years. we have been amplifying underserved voices and providing a platform for stories untold. i'm here to set context before i invite our mayor of san francisco to kick things off. chinatown is such an important naerbd neighborhood for san francisco and the county and yet our community has been deeply under represented in public spaces and public art and we are just so excited this is the first time we are seeing deep and meaningful

collaboration with the city, public arts and the community. it is such a groundbreaking process to have the community involved at the very beginning. the chinatown artists registry is a significant moment for towards cultural equity and inclusion. providing a platform for diverse under represented artists to contribute to san francisco public art theme. did you know no asian american artists or histories in portsmouth square. this is such a wake up call for our community that started over a decade ago with building the central subway. and the need for community and engagement and inclusion in our landmark spaces, so i have to thank mayor london breed, president of the board of supervisors, aaron peskin, and our district supervisor, and the san francisco arts commission for answering that call for providing the

leadership, their support and for collaborating with the community in this way. san francisco has been chinatown has been rebounding from the pandemic and but we are going to be rebounding in a way that is dynamic, that preserves but also is forward looking with initiative said like this one. and it will maintain our beautiful community distinctive character and builds a innovative future. now, i get the honor to introduce and welcome our san francisco mayor london breed. i have to thank mayor breed for her leadership stewarding a vibrant cultural landscape. for her deep love and sport for the arts and for chinatown and her commitment to equity. today is announcement could not have happened without mayor breed's leadership, who has done so much to insure the community is

supported in so many different levelsism the this includes a arts hub in chinatown on grant avenue we are in front of today. and now we have a public art registry that will provide deep and meaningful connections to chinatown and to the uniqueness what makes san francisco great. mayor breed, your visionary leadership has enriched our community and provides a blue print for how we can be innovative and also preserve our culture. please welcome our asan francisco mayor, london breed. [applause] >> thank you so much jenny. it is so great to be here and to have another reason to celebrate the arts and culture in chinatown. just a few month s ago, we were standing here along with president of the board of supervisors, aaron

peskin to announce the purchase of this building, which will be the home of the chinese cultural center lead here by jenny and it will be a beacon of hope and excitement for the community. and i took it as a sign, before i went to china that the pandas that are located right here at the top of the awning, it would mean potentially the possibility of us getting pandas and as many of you know, we will be getting pandas and they will be coming to san francisco next year. [applause] i really want to thank lion dance, because not only do they show up for all these activations and fesivities, they get people excited about being in this community to experience art and talk about art and culture is one thing, but to experience it and see it in rare form, the dancing of

the lions,b it is so exciting and truly a remarkable thing to enjoy here in chinatown, so thank you again for showing up for us time and time again. you know, we have a lot of commitment to arts and culture, and we make investments of millions of dollars in public art displays especially when we remodel buildings or reconstruct building or build buildings, and often times when we put out a request for proposals, we tend to get artists that are not necessarily connected to the community and maybe are not necessarily from san francisco. and part of what we have done here is a very unique opportunity. a partnership with the san francisco arts commission and the chinese cultural center to identify for some of our most significant capital projects, artists who have a real

connection to chinatown. these are some of the most precious assets in the community, including portsmouth square. it is right down the street. it is a rec and park property, but it is considered the living room of chinatown where so many people who live here, experience the community through portsmouth square. it is also the chinese clinic, the community clinic in china town that provides service for thousands of resident who can't necessarily afford healthcare and this is where they go to get medical support. and, the library located here in chinatown. these are projects because of the voters and the commitment to the community, working with the board of supervisors, we have made commitments to prioritize these facilities for rehabilitation so they are here for decades to come and as we provide these public art displays, we want to

make sure they are a a real representation of the community. that's why this partnership unique. that's why this partnership is important and that's why i'm really excited to be here today to celebrate this partnership. because it means we are finally being very intentional about our investments and about our work and how it impacts community, but more importantly, how it is by and for the community. that is a critical part of this project and that is why we are happy to be here to announce that we are going to be putting out a request for interest and proposals from artists all around the country. people who not only live here in san francisco, but have a real connection to chinatown and san francisco and we are looking forward to what we see, what we witness and working with the community, chinese cultural center as well as caly wong from api council, edge on the square, another

important cultural institution along grant avenue in chinatown. bringing the arts, culture, activation and all that makes chinatown special is exactly why we are here today to announce this extraordinary program, so thank you all for your work and let's get it done! [applause] >> now i like to welcome and introduce the president on the board of supervisors, our chinatown district supervisor aaron peskin a fierce champion for the community and supported the outreach process from the very beginning, please welcome aaron peskin. [applause] >> thank you jenny and thank you not only to the chinatown community, but the aapi community throughout the city and county of san francisco. all of these advancements only

happen because people fight for them and your elected leaders follow those people and that is precisely what happened in this particular case as we move forward with the chinatown artist registry. if you recall, we had a central subway just up the street and initially there would not have been the kind of art that we see in there today were not for insistence of the arts community and that is why that is there today. and while we put forward a bond to the people of san francisco to refurbish park facilities, the living room of chinatown, portsmouth square the mayor referred to, the largest single park renovation project in the history of san francisco. the history of exclusion is

reflected in that park with so many pieces of art that were not going to be refurbished or replaced by that bond and it was insistence of the community that lead to this artist registry. the same is true for the gracious goodness of the aapi community in passing measures to redo our libraries and the chinatown libery on the eve of redoing. we have one more of those to do this november on the ballot. we all have to vote for the public health and recovery bond in order to redo the chinatown health center that will benefit from the chinatown artist registry. the history of exclusion of institutional bias is in so many of our different parts of our life, of our city life, of our government. and it is very very important to see the page turning, to see that our arts commission is embracing a new way that

is going to actually stop that history of exclusion and that is reflected through the chinatown artist registry, but let me sound a note of caution, as these institutions are moving into the 21st t century and becoming more inclusive, there are those who would get rid of the san francisco arts commission so i say come november reject ballot measure that eliminate the san francisco arts commission, the library commission, that is going to oversee the renewal of the chinatown branch library, so let us remember we have to vote for the bonds, so we have a new chinatown health center and against the measure that would eliminate the arts commission, the library commission and the public health commission that this community has benefited so much from. with that, it is my honor and

pleasure to introduce mary chui director of arts and collection from san francisco arts commission. [applause] >> thank you so much supervisor peskin. my name is mary chui, the civic art collection and public art program director with the san francisco arts commission. i'm so excited to be here today with mayor breed, supervisor peskin and ccc to launch the chinatown artist registry request for qualification. this registry will create a pool of artists with a meaningful connection to chinatown who will be eligible for commissions of numerous art works for the 3 significant renovation projects in chinatown, portsmith square, public health center and branch library. the artwork includes site specific integrated wall work and sculpture and purchase of 2 dimensional art with recollect. the art will beautify the

critical community spaces that celebrate the people, history and values of san francisco chinatown community. funds are through art enrichment ordinance which mandate 2 percent of eligible gross construction cost of publicly fundsed capital improvement projelths allocated for public art. this was supplemented by fund from the california state assembly member phil ting office, supervisor peskin office, the office of city administrator and the recreation and parks department. the result is over $2 million in funding for public art. this affirms our city commitment to the importance of art in our civic spaces and in particular, public art in chinatown. the funding from supervisor peskin's office will allow the arts commission to work closely with the chinese cultural center in outreach and technical assistance to mono lingual

artists and artist who have not previously applied to projethsaid. the support from community partners is critical to insure a more inclusive and equitable selection process. as mentioned before the arts commission partnership with ccc dates back to 15 years ago. one of the successful outcomes of the partnership are the two large scale metal artwork at rose pak chinatown station based on cut out by artist--pleased to see here today. [applause] first permanent public art project. we are really looking forward to continuing our ongoing partnership with ccc to bring new vibrant artwork to chinatown. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you mayor breed, president peskin and mary.

i want to also just give a shout out to mary for her leadership. she has been there from the beginning as a program manager for the public art for central subway with the city and community collaboration and through the process discovered [indiscernible] now the director of parks arts and collection at the art commission so thank you mary for listening to the community and leading the way enabling the community input in the process. before i wrap up and close out this press event, i do want to acknowledge supervisor rafael mandelman from district. 3. thank you for joining us for a champion of the arts. lydia so. i like to invite you all to come up for a group photo. commissioner lydia so. it takes avilleurg with city agencies and community partners. we couldn't have done this without all

of you. the leaders and community partners who have spearheaded this approach. abbie chen, [indiscernible] not here today but is cathy lam here? chinatown community development center. edge on the square, the chinatown arts and culture commission. api council, caly wong, sara wan. center for asian american mead eye. media. please come on up. i just have to also give a shout out to all of our ethnic press. david wong here today. world journal, ktsf, sky link, instrumental making sure the outreach during the first process was a success and we hope to do it again and thank all our media partners. please also welcome up our ccc

board members. arts will be our community future and our anchor and it starts with the community first. really proud to kick this off and thank you just so much. [applause]

>> everything is done in-house. i think it is done. i have always been passionate about gelato. every single slaver has its own recipe. we have our own -- we move on from there. so you have every time a unique experience because that slaver is the flavored we want to make. union street is unique because of the neighbors and the location itself. the people that live around here i love to see when the street is full of people. it is a little bit of italy that is happening around you can walk

around and enjoy shopping with gelato in your hand. this is the move we are happy to provide to the people. i always love union street because it's not like another commercial street where you have big chains. here you have the neighbors. there is a lot of stories and the neighborhoods are essential. people have -- they enjoy having their daily or weekly gelato. i love this street itself. >> we created a move of an area where we will be visiting. we want to make sure that the area has the gelato that you like. what we give back as a shop owner is creating an ambient lifestyle. if you do it in your area and if you like it, then you can do it

on the streets you like.

[music] >> san francisco is known as yerba buena, good herb after a mint that used to grow here. at this time there were 3 settlements one was mission delores. one the presidio and one was yerba buena which was urban center. there were 800 people in 1848 it was small. a lot of historic buildings were here including pony express headquarters. wells fargo. hudson bay trading company and famous early settlers one of whom william leaderdorph who lived blocks from here a

successful business person. african-american decent and the first million airin california. >> wilwoman was the founders of san francisco. here during the gold rush came in the early 1840s. he spent time stake himself as a merchant seaman and a business person. his father and brother in new orleans. we know him for san francisco's history. establishing himself here arnold 18 twoochl he did one of many things the first to do in yerba buena. was not california yet and was not fully san francisco yet. >> because he was an american citizen but spoke spanish he was able to during the time when america was taking over california from mexico, there was annexations that happened and conflict emerging and war,

of course. he was part of the peek deliberations and am bas doorship to create the state of california a vice council to mexico. mexico granted him citizenship. he loaned the government of san francisco money. to funds some of the war efforts to establish the city itself and the state, of course. he established the first hotel here the person people turned to often to receive dignitaries or hold large gatherings established the first public school here and helped start the public school system. he piloted the first steam ship on the bay. a big event for san francisco and depict instead state seal the ship was the sitk a. there is a small 4 block long

length of street, owned much of that runs essentially where the transamerica building is to it ends at california. i walk today before am a cute side street. at this point t is the center what was all his property. he was the person entrusted to be the city's first treasurer. that is i big deal of itself to have that legacy part of an african-american the city's first banker. he was not only a forefather of the establishment of san francisco and california as a state but a leader in industry. he had a direct hahn in so many things that we look at in san francisco. part of our dna. you know you don't hear his anymore in the context of those. representation matters. you need to uplift this so people know him but people like him like me. like you.

like anyone who looks like him to be, i can do this, too. to have the city's first banker and a street in the middle of financial district. that alone is powerful. [music]