>> always what i love to do. agenda item 9, adjournment. [gavel] [meeting adjourned]

>> [drums] [applause] >> 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] >> i personally love the mega jobs. i think they're a lot of fun. i like being part of a build that is bigger than myself and outlast me and make a mark on a landscape or industry. ♪♪♪

we do a lot of the big sexy jobs, the stacked towers, transit center, a lot of the note worthy projects. i'm second generation construction. my dad was in it and for me it just felt right. i was about 16 when i first started drafting home plans for people and working my way through college. in college i became a project engineer on the job, replacing others who were there previously and took over for them. the transit center project is about a million square feet. the entire floor is for commuter buses to come in and drop off, there will be five and a half acre city park accessible to

everyone. it has an amputheater and water marsh that will filter it through to use it for landscaping. bay area council is big here in the area, and they have a gender equity group. i love going to the workshops. it's where i met jessica. >> we hit it off, we were both in the same field and the only two women in the same. >> through that friendship did we discover that our projects are interrelated. >> the projects provide the power from san jose to san francisco and end in the trans bay terminal where amanda was in charge of construction. >> without her project basically i have a fancy bus stop. she has headed up the women's

network and i do, too. we have exchanged a lot of ideas on how to get groups to work together. it's been a good partnership for us. >> women can play leadership role in this field. >> i tell him that the schedule is behind, his work is crappy. he starts dropping f-bombs and i say if you're going to talk to me like that, the meeting is over. so these are the challenges that we face over and over again. the reality, okay, but it is getting better i think. >> it has been great to bond with other women in the field. we lack diversity and so we have to support each other and change the culture a bit so more women see it as a great field that they can succeed in.

>> what drew me in, i could use more of my mind than my body to get the work done. >> it's important for women to network with each other, especially in construction. the percentage of women and men in construction is so different. it's hard to feel a part of something and you feel alone. >> it's fun to play a leadership role in an important project, this is important for the transportation of the entire peninsula. >> to have that person -- of women coming into construction, returning to construction from family leave and creating the network of women that can rely on each other. >> women are the main source of income in your household. show of hands. >> people are very charmed with the idea of the reverse role, that there's a dad at home instead of a mom. you won't have gender equity in

the office until it's at home. >> whatever you do, be the best you can be. don't say i can't do it, you can excel and do whatever you want. just put your mind into it. >> i am iris long. we are a family business that started in san francisco chinatown by my parents who started the business in the mid 1980s. today we follow the same footsteps of my parents. we source the teas by the harvest season and style of crafting and the specific variety. we specialize in premium tea.

today i still visit many of the farms we work with multigenerational farms that produce premium teas with its own natural flavors. it is very much like grapes for wine. what we do is more specialized, but it is more natural. growing up in san francisco i used to come and help my parents after school whether in middle school or high school and throughout college. i went to san francisco state university. i did stay home and i helped my parents work throughout the summers to learn what it is that makes our community so special. after graduating i worked for an investment bank in hong kong for a few years before returning when my dad said he was retiring.

he passed away a few years ago. after taking over the business we made this a little more accessible for visitors as well as residents of san francisco to visit. many of our teas were traditionally labeled only in chinese for the older generation. today of our tea drinkkers are quite young. it is easy to look on the website to view all of our products and fun to come in and look at the different varieties. they are able to explore what we source, premium teas from the providence and the delicious flavors. san francisco is a beautiful city to me as well as many of the residents and businesses here in chinatown. it is great for tourists to

visit apsee how our community thrived through the years. this retail location is open daily. we have minimal hours because of our small team during covid. we do welcome visitors to come in and browse through our products. also, visit us online. we have minimal hours. it is nice to set up viewings of these products here. >> come shop dine and play. taraval street is open for business. >> this is joey smith at barber lounge. one of the coowners at 19th and taraval and sunset. this establishment came about when me

and my brother andy, coowner barber decided to it was time to take a step up in the barber industry. our business is community that shows their true artistic side of the barber indust rae. we are involved in taraval bingo so please stop by, get a haircut and when you do you get the barber sticker made for us. i say in three words, we are community, artsests and here to help. visit at barber louvl, 901 taraval and find on-[indiscernible] >> a new community game supporting small businesses, anyone can participate, it is easy, collect stickers on a gameboard and enter raffle event for a chance to win awesome prizes. for more,