Design elements for a new city park named after a leatherwoman are now out for review, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department announced. The city's arts commission is conducting the review process, an online announcement stated.
The planned greenspace, to be located at 11th and Natoma streets, will be named Rachele Sullivan Park, as approved by the recreation and park commission this summer. It is believed to be the first public park in the U.S. named after a leather leader. A cis straight ally and native San Franciscan who was a traditional Filipino healer, Sullivan died in 2022 at the age of 54. She was a leader in the city's leather community and served on the board of Folsom Street, which produces the annual leather and kink street fair that will take place Sunday, September 29. The planned park is located just outside the footprint of the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District.
The announcement stated that the arts commission will choose a proposal for a pattern of artist-designed, laser-cut, powder-coated fence panels for the perimeter park fence along 11th Street between Minna and Natoma Streets in San Francisco. Construction of the new park is expected to begin in mid-2025, with it opening to the public in 2027.
The three finalists were chosen through a request for qualifications, or RFQ, process, and now one of those artists will be chosen to push their design forward, the announcement stated. The artists/artist teams are: Juan Manuel Carmona, a queer man who has painted murals of his friend, drag artist Juanita MORE!, among other projects; Ricardo Estella and Ethel Revita of Creativity Explored; and Jenifer Wofford.
Of the proposals, Carmona's design includes references to the LGBTQ community. A mockup of his fence depicts a leatherpup and members of the drag nun philanthropic group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
Interested people can review the finalists and provide public comment by clicking here. Public comment closes Monday, September 30.
Former Openhouse ED lands new gig
Reaching Out MBA, an organization that works to connect LGBTQ master's of business administration students, graduates, and companies, has announced it has hired Karyn "Ryn" Skultety, Ph.D., a bisexual married mom, as its new executive director. Skultety previously led Openhouse, the San Francisco nonprofit that provides programming for LGBTQ elders and helps oversee affordable apartments that are welcoming to queer seniors. She left that job in May 2021 after more than four years at the agency.
The Bay Area Reporter featured Reaching Out MBA in a recent business column, prior to it announcing the leadership change. Skultety will succeed Aidan Currie, a gay man who has served as Reaching Out MBA's executive director since 2018 and who will continue to lead the organization's upcoming conferences, set for this weekend in Los Angeles.
A news release stated that prior to leading Openhouse, Skultety spent close to a decade in leadership roles at the Institute on Aging, located in San Francisco. The release added that Skultety's experience in scaling and growth "will be invaluable in steering Reaching Out MBA's ongoing growth and strategic expansion of support for post-MBA and other LGBTQ+ business professionals."
Reaching Out MBA's fellowship program has provided over $20 million in MBA student scholarships since its inception in 2018, as well as doubled the organization's staff and capacity, the release noted. As the B.A.R.'s Business Briefing column reported, this weekend the organization is launching a new confab for LGBTQ business professionals who are mid-career in conjunction with its annual gathering for MBA students.
For more information on Reaching Out MBA, go to reachingoutmba.org.
Late SF mayor Moscone to be honored
Former San Francisco mayor George Moscone, who was assassinated in City Hall along with gay supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978, will be honored by Italian organizations next week.
The commemorations, taking place Friday, October 4, are being organized by the San Francisco Little Italy Honor Walk in collaboration by the consulate general of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco, an announcement stated.
The first will be a plaque unveiling of Moscone at 600 Union Street at 11 a.m. Mayor London Breed will dedicate the plaque.
That will be followed by a program at 6 p.m., "The Legacy of George Moscone," by Lincoln Mitchell and James Molinari at INNOVIT, 710 Sansome Street.
For more information, click here.
J Church Muni line safety projects move forward
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency staff are simultaneously moving forward with plans to install a new four-way stop on Church Street in Noe Valley and, in response, relocate two stops for the J-Church Muni line. In doing so, they are bucking calls from neighborhood residents to install the stop signs but postpone tinkering with the light rail stops.
The transit agency's citizen oversight board is expected to take up the matter next month. Its next meeting will be held October 1, and if not voted on that Tuesday, the proposal could be voted on at its October 15 meeting.
Transit agency staff want to upgrade the current two-way stop at the Church and 28th streets intersection to an all-way stop as a traffic calming measure. As doing so will impact the travel times for J-Church trains along Church Street, the staff want to move two of the line's existing stops.
The subway stop for passengers at Clipper Street would move to 26th Street, and the 27th Street subway stop would relocate to 28th Street. The SFMTA Streets Division held an engineering hearing September 6 to gather public feedback on the plans.
The creation of the four-way stop at Church and 28th streets received near unanimous support. Many speakers said they live nearby it and have seen vehicles speeding through the intersection, presenting a dangerous situation for pedestrians who cross there to access nearby businesses, a dance school, and a church.
Relocating the two Muni subway stops, however, elicited mixed reactions. The SFMTA said it had received written support for doing so, while those who called into the hearing all spoke in opposition. Due to the contrarian responses to the plan, the Upper Noe Neighbors association had asked that the two proposals be severed.
It has long advocated for the four-way stop and wants to see it be approved and installed as soon as possible. It is less certain about the subway stop relocations and has pressed SFMTA staff to postpone bringing it up for a vote in order to spend more time conferring with the neighborhood and gathering additional feedback.
Yet the SFMTA announced September 17 that it would move both proposals forward at the same time.
"The proposal was approved at public hearing and now will move forward to the SFMTA Board for their consideration for final approval this fall," according to an emailed update from the agency.
To learn more about the project and sign up for emailed updates on future hearings, visit its website.
Matthew S. Bajko contributed reporting.
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