In 2018, art teacher Keith Opstad was mayorally appointed to be on the City of San Diego Arts and Culture Commission. Today, he is the vice chair of the commission, working alongside 14 other commissioners to advise the mayor and city council on how to spend the roughly $15 million that San Diego allocates for art sponsorship.
“When people come here and spend their money, we advise [the mayor and city council] on how to spend a portion of that,” Opstad said. “[We sponsor] everything from Comic-Con to the Big Bay Boom to Pride. Those are a couple of the big ones, and then there are also some small piano players and things like that.”
Currently, he is overseeing a project in Black Mountain that aims to create a sculpture of the topography around Fire Station 48, including Black Mountain itself. It is meant to reflect not only Black Mountain’s character, but also honor the firefighters.
“[The artist] had an open house, and he’s going to provide feedback with a design,” he said. “We give more feedback, make sure that there’s lighting, and that if there’s any greenery or organic material or water, it’s sustainable. Then, they pitch the final design, and then they actually fabricate it. The next time we’ll see him is during the grand opening.”
To determine funding for projects such as that, Opstad attends two major meetings per month with the council members and his fellow commissioners.
“[The meeting] goes fast,” Opstad said. “I really enjoy all the commissioners. One is a professor at USD, one is a professional tattoo artist, one is a former producer in Hollywood. There’s a really wide variety of backgrounds, and everyone has really interesting positions.”
Opstad said that he enjoys supporting art across the city, such as the sculpture in Black Mountain; a terracotta installment in Pacific Highlands Ranch Library spelling out words in English, Spanish, and Kumeyaay; and a tribute in Cañon Park to the Portuguese tuna fishing that had taken place there.
“It’s really, really fun when I get to interact with the artists and see what their vision is for adding public art,” Opstad said. “The cool thing about public art is that it’s designed for everyone, and art is in the eye of the beholder. Some people will like some things and others will not, but to add more public art, more things that engage viewers in the city of San Diego, get them off phones and get them to look at artwork or murals or sculptures has been rewarding.”
Furthermore, Opstad said that he aims to support local artists.
“I really enjoy working with our local artists,” he said. “San Diego is a very expensive place to live, and so when we can support our artists to live in San Diego, create artwork that stays in San Diego, that is really rewarding to me. During COVID, we were trying to get money [into] working artists’ hands, so we’ve done a good job of reducing barriers so that new and upcoming artists would have access to the pool of money. We added about 100 pieces to the civic art collection. Those get rotated throughout the city of San Diego; oftentimes, they are in libraries, different public spaces, or down at City Hall.”
Additionally, Opstad said that he has been able to explore and help in areas that he wasn’t as familiar with.
“San Diego is divided into nine different districts, and oftentimes, we are our own little bubble in Rancho Peñasquitos,” he said. “For me to be able to go down to Barrio Logan, Chicano Park, San Isidro, and make an impact there is a cool experience.”
Aside from working right now, Opstad said that the city has plans for how they will continue to support the arts in the future as well.
“I’m really proud that for the first time ever, we rolled out a city cultural plan,” he said. “It’s a document that focuses our efforts and growth. It serves as a roadmap for the next 10 years, making sure that we have equity and balance in funding and that there is transparency. You would know why you got [funding], you would know why you didn’t get it. It also brings in more of our creatives to add to the entire creative economy of San Diego.”
Now, in his fourth and final term of being on the commission, he said that he has been able to reach his goals.
“I’ve learned so much about the city of San Diego,” Opstad said. “My goal in joining the commission was to be the biggest advocate for arts and arts education beyond Westview, beyond Poway Unified, and throughout all of San Diego. We do some great work, and it has been a really rewarding experience.”
