San Francisco is home to ten cultural districts, two of which are in District 9: the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District and the American Indian Cultural District. These city-designated areas are vital to Latino and Indigenous life, preserving heritage, fostering creativity, and resisting gentrification. As these challenges grow, residents want to know: how will the next D9 supervisor support these essential community hubs?
The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA), a longstanding anchor in the Latino Cultural District, is one such institution facing an uncertain future. Established in 1977 to represent and celebrate Latino arts, the MCCLA occupies a city-owned building at 2868 Mission St., paying San Francisco just $1 a year in rent. However, a massive $24 million renovation is set to displace the organization, forcing it to find a temporary home while the city implements seismic upgrades and ADA compliance work.
At a community meeting in April, MCCLA Executive Director Martina Ayala expressed deep concern over the financial burden the relocation will place on the center. “Having to add rent to our budget now is going to force us to cut classes, lay off teachers, and cut many programs,” she said.
With rents in the Mission District ranging from $15,000 to $25,000 a month for much smaller spaces, Ayala fears the center’s relocation fund of $490,000 will be insufficient to cover costs over the next two years. She estimated that the center’s annual budget would need to nearly double, from $1.7 million to $3 million, to manage the move and maintain operations.
Ayala hopes that District 9 candidates recognize the value of the arts and the role MCCLA plays in the Mission. She refers to the MCCLA as the “hospital for the soul” — a place where Latinx communities can connect with their culture, strengthening the heart of the cultural district.
Rodrigo Duran, director of Carnaval, emphasized that cultural districts help preserve the history of marginalized communities and serve as bulwarks against displacement. “We have our new Carnaval space on 19th and Bryant, and the area has changed drastically — it’s highly gentrified,” Duran said. “I’m forever thankful that there’s a Latino Cultural District because 24th Street is a stronghold, and the surrounding streets feel like a Latino presence.”
Ayala echoed the need for stronger financial backing to ensure that cultural districts can continue to thrive. “The arts and culture need to be supported so they can thrive, not just survive,” Ayala said. “It’s important to make capital investments and large investments in the arts, ensuring artists in our community have the tools and income they need to thrive. We’re not just the entertainment — we’re what feeds the soul. Let’s take care of it, let’s nurture it.”
As cultural institutions like MCCLA face increasing uncertainty, District 9 residents are looking to their future leaders for answers. Here’s what the D9 candidates had to say on strengthening these cultural hubs (lightly edited for clarity):
JULIAN BERMUDEZ
The way that I would strengthen District 9’s cultural districts is by bringing more visibility to these organizations. I’ve been to a lot of the organizations in Portola, Bernal Heights, and even the Mission District. One big issue is trying to get the word out about their events. I have met so many local content creators who are willing to work, and I feel that we need to start connecting people, networking, and having the ability to get the word out. People want to go places, people want to meet people, people want to do events. I always get told, “Hey, there’s nothing happening here,” and I’m like, yeah, there is. You just can’t find it. It’s hard to find if you’re not on Instagram or Facebook. If you’re not on those platforms, you’re not going to know. Everybody kind of ignores the things on the corner. But if we can find a way to help these organizations connect with the people they’re looking for, we can have a more vibrant community.
H BROWN
Give them money. So, real good. Where to strengthen anybody? Give them a million lottery tickets for a buck apiece, and they’re for trash pick-up. Once a year on the stairs of City Hall, you have a drawing and you make a millionaire, and then you have 100 second-place winners of $10,000 apiece. My general way of approaching this is because I’m a juvenile justice person. I say trash and crime, trash and crime. You’ve got to empower the districts. The way to empower any group is with money.
TREVOR CHANDLER
The biggest way we can strengthen D9’s cultural districts is by making sure it’s small-business friendly. Right now, if you’re a vendor who wants to come off the street and open up your own mom-and-pop shop, it will take almost a year of permitting for that to happen. If we’re going to make our cultural centers vibrant, we need to make sure that folks feel welcome and that they don’t have to keep an empty storefront for a year in order to open their business. If we have folks that have the funding and permits ready, they shouldn’t have to wait a year to open. I want to make sure our merchants, our small businesses, can be huge contributors to our cultural districts because that’s how they’ll stay vibrant and keep attracting people from around the world.
JACKIE FIELDER
There is an effort underway right now by people aligned with billionaire and real estate interests, groups like Grow SF, to undermine cultural districts, including the Latino Cultural District. In this budget year, it was really sad to see the cultural districts’ funding on the chopping block. As Latinos, we are 15% of the city, and we need to have commensurate support for our cultural districts. I would love to work on expanding our cultural district, and I will fight in the coming budget seasons to ensure that our cultural districts have adequate support and can expand, while also fighting the gentrifying forces that want to destroy our cultural legacies.
JAIME GUTIEREZ
I would strengthen D9’s cultural districts by presenting them in a positive light through events like Carnaval and art exhibitions. Street vending that crosses cultures, art from different cultures, would be valuable in all neighborhoods because we are not just the Mission. Bernal Heights is very cross-cultural, Portola definitely is, and Saint Mary’s Park is as well. These areas have their own unique mix that’s very interesting, with a wonderful cast of characters. So, bringing out the character in the culture is what I’m interested in.
ROBERTO HERNANDEZ
First of all, the cultural districts are underfunded, and it doesn’t do any good to have these designations without adequate support. By the way, I was one of the co-founders of the Latino Cultural District and supported the establishment of the American Indian Cultural Center. From my experience, and I can draw on years of it, not only are they not adequately funded, but there is no long-term vision or plan that helps each one of these cultural districts develop into what the initial vision was for them in D9.
STEPHEN TORRES
This is extremely important to me, having served in the cultural district program and worked closely with D9’s two cultural districts. I think there are a variety of options, but they really have to start with community self-determination—leadership and membership within those cultural districts, including advisory boards and executive directors. I have some ideas. I think there are various legislative tools that can help strengthen them. Financial support is a huge part of it, and that’s something I am very familiar with. The city also needs to listen to the policy recommendations that come from these cultural districts. That’s how you strengthen them.
MICHAEL PETRALIS
Declined interview.
Video for this story was edited and produced by Mariana Duran, Pablo Unzueta, Cami Dominguez and Erika Carlos.