The fiscal year 2020 Annual Report for the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts has been published. The PDF can be downloaded here: FY2020 SFCA Annual Report.
For optimum desktop viewing, you may prefer the FY2020 SFCA Annual Report side-by-side page layout PDF.
Year in Review
This Annual Report of 2019 – 2020 offers an overview of the past year’s efforts by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) to focus on the implementation of the goals of its 2019-2023 Strategic Plan priorities of Culture, Education, Engagement and the Arts.
Fiscal Year 2020 began with normal expansion of programs, streamlining processes, hiring and training of new staff. Efforts were focused on preparations for the Hawai’i State Art Museum (HiSAM) to be a host site for Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture 2020, developing qualitative measures for the SFCA 2019-2023 Strategic Plan, implementation of the No.1 Capitol District Building Accessibility Improvements (CIP) Project to facilitate public access to the Hawai’i State Art Museum, increased public programs at HiSAM, establishing a new Director of HiSAM and Programs position through the Governor’s FY20 budget proposal at the legislature and issuing a new Comptrollers Memorandum to ensure calculation of 1% revenue from State CIP projects for the purchase of new art.
By March 2020, COVID-19 had arrived in Hawai’i and with it brought a host of impacts and uncertainty. SFCA administrative offices and the Hawai’i State Art Museum were temporarily closed to the public as of March 16, 2020 with operations continuing primarily through telework. Three days later on Thursday March 19, 2020, SFCA staff shifted to 100% teleworking. Our priority was to protect the health and safety of our staff and visitors and support local, national and international efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. As a result of the global pandemic, legislature did not act on any requests and maintained the FY2020 budget for the second year of the biennium. SFCA’s FY2021 budget outcome included a 10% general fund reduction and two vacant positions frozen.
The degree of uncertainty affecting all aspects of life in 2020, also impacts the arts. From the pandemic Stay At Home orders, school closures, economic crisis to civil unrest, all of these events impact how we do our work and plan for the future. While the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts administrative offices were closed to the public, our work to promote, perpetuate and preserve culture and the arts in Hawai‘i continued!
Major shifts of how we work included all “in person” public and school programs of arts and culture engagement transitioned to virtual platforms; Our role as a community resource grew, providing both technical and programmatic support and guidance. Our board and panel meetings are conducted via online interactive technology, providing greater access to the public and neighbor islands.
As Hawai’i faces the economic and social effects of the public health crisis, we recognize the culture and arts field is particularly vulnerable to the economic impact of the emergency. We also know we are one of the most innovative sectors and we will find our way through this time. At the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, we will continue to support the arts infrastructure statewide through grants, projects, initiatives, and services.
The following pages demonstrate how the agency was able to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic because of the stable footing of the Board, staff and agency leadership. The work is getting done through creative thinking of our team, utilizing a variety of resources. The only constant is that society will emerge different and hopefully in positive ways. This report is a brief update on some of the events shaping the future of SFCA. We look forward to expanding and improving the outreach and services of the agency to the community in meaningful ways.
Mahalo,
Lloyd Unebasami, Chairperson
Jonathan Johnson, Executive Director
Get Monthly Updates
More frequent updates about work that the agency is doing can be read in the SFCA’s monthly email newsletter (subscribe below or read online in the newsletter archive).