Lurie pledges Mission Cultural Center stays arts space

Mayor Daniel Lurie promised the shuttered Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts will remain a cultural space but provided no concrete details about how the city plans to revive the 50-year-old institution that closed last month after running out of money.

The nonprofit MCCLA at 25th and Mission streets closed indefinitely on Jan. 26 following years of financial troubles. The organization had leased the four-story building from the city for $1 per year while running arts programming with a mix of Arts Commission funding and revenue from classes and events.

“The mayor is committed to the future of the site, and is working in close partnership with community leaders, artists and cultural stakeholders to chart a path forward that safeguard MCCLA’s cultural legacy, art, and archives,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

The commitment follows a Wednesday meeting at City Hall where officials discussed options including having the mayor appoint an interim overseer other than the Arts Commission, according to sources who requested anonymity. No decisions were made at the meeting, which included representatives from Galería De La Raza, the cultural center’s board, District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder’s office and the mayor’s community liaison.

Lurie did not attend the meeting.

Susana Rojas, executive director of Calle 24, said a community meeting will be held at the cultural center Monday at 5:30 p.m. to discuss its future. Press are not invited.

“The cultural center is a community asset, and the community will decide what to do,” Rojas said.

The center’s troubles began in early January when former director Martina Ayala laid off all but two employees and shut down classes. Ayala stepped down Dec. 15, and Derek Jentzsch of Broderick Haight Consulting served as interim director for three weeks before quitting when it became clear he would not be paid.

The center briefly reopened Jan. 21 with classes and art shows, but failed to reopen on Jan. 13 as planned after closing for winter recess on Dec. 13.

In a Jan. 14 email first reported by El Tecolote, board president Bob Sanchez and Jentzsch requested the city advance MCCLA $300,000 in grants to keep the organization afloat. Without the funds, they warned MCCLA would face bankruptcy, merger with other nonprofits, fiscal sponsorship or being “retooled.”

The Arts Commission currently oversees and funds all city cultural centers, but that relationship has deteriorated since the layoffs began in January. The commission’s role in any future iteration of programming at the Mission Street site remains unclear.