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The Community Arts Stabilization Trust, An Inventive Model to Secure Affordable Homes for Arts Organizations

Tuesday, October 14, 11:10am – 12:40pm

Déjà vu

Organized by Shelley Trott, Director of Arts Strategy and Ventures, Kenneth Rainin Foundation.

Moderated by Moy Eng, Executive Director, Community Arts Stabilization Trust. Presented by Tom DeCaigny, Director of Cultural Affairs, San Francisco Arts Commission; Steven H. Oliver, President, Oliver & Company; and Joshua Simon, Executive Director, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation.

San Francisco is undergoing a technology industry and attendant real estate boom, which has precipitated a space crisis for arts organizations. The Kenneth Rainin Foundation has catalyzed an unprecedented partnership between the Northern California Community Loan Fund and a variety of City of San Francisco partners to launch a new model for a nonprofit real estate holding company for arts and cultural organizations: the Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST). Its mission is to create stable physical spaces for arts and cultural organizations to facilitate equitable urban transformation. We will provide information on: 1) a new philanthropic model adaptable for locales or communities beyond San Francisco; 2) the New Market Tax Credits program and how it can benefit cultural organizations in real estate purchases; 3) a model for a public-private sector partnership between city agencies and a private foundation focused on community development and creative placemaking through an innovative financial strategy.