Date of Graduation
Winter 12-16-2016
Document Access
Project/Capstone - Global access
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Museum Studies
College/School
College of Arts and Sciences
Department/Program
Museum Studies
First Advisor
Stephanie Brown
Second Advisor
Marjorie Schwarzer
Third Advisor
Paula Birnbaum
Abstract
Historically, there has been a critical imbalance in the way history and preservation organizations are civically supported in comparison with the amount of funding that is available to arts organizations in the United States. To correct this imbalance in San Francisco, I propose the creation of a San Francisco Department of Culture that would place the San Francisco Arts Commission equally alongside a San Francisco History Commission within a department that absorbs responsibilities currently managed by other divisions with in city government, such as the Planning Department and the Office and Economic and Workforce Development. City government necessarily takes time to reorganize, so the first step will be to advocate for and demonstrate the need for a Department of Culture; this can be achieved by continuing to strengthen and expand San Francisco History Days, and by grooming key members of the event’s organizing committee to become stakeholders in a nascent San Francisco History Commission. This, however, will only address part of the problem; we must also address the problematic federal and perceptual division of the Arts from the Humanities, and the inaccurate perception that History is boring and irrelevant to contemporary life. To do this, we must present History didactically—in conversation with its surroundings, through collaboration with other types of cultural organizations.
Recommended Citation
Meldahl, Nicole C., "History in Collaboration: Equalizing the Arts and the Humanities in San Francisco" (2016). Master's Projects and Capstones. 470.
https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/470
Included in
American Art and Architecture Commons, Arts Management Commons, Comparative Philosophy Commons, Cultural History Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Policy History, Theory, and Methods Commons, Political History Commons, Public Affairs Commons, Public History Commons, Real Estate Commons, Strategic Management Policy Commons, United States History Commons, Urban Studies Commons
