THE JOB
AMBASSADOR OF ART
Photo
A visit with dana Springs , ERC ’ 95 , the bridge between art and government .
Photo : John Durant ‘ 77
BY ALEX MORALES
SAn DiEgO ’ S CiViC CEnTER PlAzA is hardly the place you would expect to find anything having to do with arts and culture . Its exterior is standard governmental gray concrete , and after a trip up its shabby elevators and down the long , drab hallways , I ’ m met by a waiting room straight out of Twin Peaks — empty chairs , dim lamps , and a single beige telephone sitting on a small table . A card instructs me to dial the receptionist , who appears momentarily and guides me along to the office of Dana Springs .
Springs ’ office , however , is where the world of government ends and the world of art begins . She stands in stark contrast to the building she occupies , wearing a bright , colorfully printed dress and greeting me with a warm welcome and a beaming smile . Her office is like a minimuseum , with eclectic artwork covering the walls and whimsical trinkets on her desk . She ’ s outspoken and poised , with a
larger-than-life personality and a passion to be art ’ s greatest advocate in San Diego .
Being the translator between creativity and bureaucracy isn ’ t an easy job , but Springs , the executive director for San Diego ’ s Commission for Arts and Culture , says it ’ s her favorite kind of problem solving . Every day she ’ s tasked with understanding , communicating and resolving issues related to arts and culture — from determining the art that will be placed in public spaces , to managing all the art owned by the city , which includes both loaning and borrowing paintings .
WiTH A DEgREE FROm uC SAn DiEgO in visual arts and a minor in dance , Springs seems naturally suited to her career , though the path she took to get there was not so obvious . After counter sales at Nordstrom following graduation and a brief stint as an advertising agency receptionist , Springs was swiftly promoted to be the agency ’ s account manager , acting as the contact point between the client and the creative department . “ That ’ s when I started this relationship of being a kind of translator between creativity and business ,” she says .
Although Springs was in that role for just a year , it was formative to her career path . She recalls one day overhearing the following said to a client : “ If you don ’ t let us provide solutions to your problem , then you ’ re wasting your money ; you don ’ t need us .” It ’ s a concept she draws on to this day , as the liaison between artists and government officials . With so many naturally conflicting interests , Springs must be straightforward in how she communicates to each party , so that those in government can understand the art they ’ re putting a stake in , while the artists can understand their work ’ s place in the community .
This philosophy stayed latent in the years after the agency , as Springs explored
52 TRITON | FALL 2015