Future of the San Diego Foundation’s Arts Funding Questioned

There’s a shortage of arts-and-culture funding in San Diego. That’s why there’s been shock and concern in the arts community after the recent announcement that Felicia Shaw, longtime director of arts and the creative economy at The San Diego Foundation, had left her position. The foundation is the biggest and most influential grant-making community foundation in the area, and critics say that Shaw’s departure signals the organization’s waning support for the arts.

However, “the arts absolutely still have a place here,” assures Kathlyn Mead, who took over as the foundation’s new president and CEO about five months ago.

Mead says that the loss of Shaw is a result of restructuring that involved eliminating 13 positions while creating 15 new ones. She says the move was part of organizing the foundation’s work under an initiative called WELL (Work Enjoy Learn Live), which puts funding opportunities into a rubric that allows potential donors to easily understand the various categories to which they can contribute. Arts and culture, for example, falls under “Enjoy,” alongside recreation and physical activity.