Luis R. Cancel Email & Phone Number

I helped the Venezuelan American Endowment for the Arts win an RFP to build the first cultural facility in the City of New Rochelle. The 12,000 sq. ft. arts center will house a state-of-the-arts Black Box theater; exhibition galleries, arts education classrooms and will be fully ADA compliant. Working closely with RXR Realty, VAEA New Rochelle Arts Center is key part of the City's Downtown Arts District. A $10 million capital campaign is currently underway. www.vaearts.org

I am very excited to share with all of my Facebook friends and family that today I have been appointed the CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame. This is a national organization that will celebrate its 20th Anniversary in 2018 and is poised to dramatically expand its exhibitions and programs.

Entrepreneurial Cultural Consulting (ECC) was originally founded in 1995 as Esperanto Internet Services (EIS) to facilitate network communication between individuals of diverse nations and cultures. EIS positioned itself to benefit from the growing need to translate information over the Internet. EIS assisted clients with the design and development of those multi-lingual Web sites and EIS sold its domain name www.esperanto.com to the International Esperanto Society in 2007.Since then, I have used ECC to undertake selective cultural consulting projects involving strategic planning, fund raising and institutional development for numerous clients including The Rockefeller Foundation, The US-Mexico Fund for Culture and the Inter-American Development Bank. Other consulting clients include: Thor Equities (NYC); Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro; Instituto Tomie Ohtake (São Paulo); the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Fundación Eugenio Mendoza (Caracas), The Quipus Cultural Foundation (La Paz), Lord Cultural Resources (Toronto), Brian Wishneff & Associates, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Mr. Cancel to the National Museum of the American Latino Commission established by Congress and the President to study the potential creation of such a museum as part of the Smithsonian Institution. Mr. Cancel co-Chaired the Site Selection Committee and helped to develop the financial plan for the museum. The final Report can be downloaded from this link: https://americanlatinomuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/To-Illuminate-the-American-Story-for-us-All.pdf

Appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom to manage the oldest local arts agency in the United States, the San Francisco Arts Commission, established in 1932.The Arts Commission has a staff of 38 full-time positions and an operating and grants budget of over $12 million. The Commission’s mandate includes Civic Design Review, that must approve all public buildings; the Public Art program (2% of municipal construction is set aside to commission or purchase art); the Civic Art Collection (with over 3,500 art objects); the Cultural Equity Grants program is a pioneering effort to advance funding parity for minority arts organizations and promotes the City’s diversity; the SFAC oversees and supports seven Cultural Centers in City-owned facilities; the Commission also operates programs and events that promote arts education and the visual arts; finally, we also license over 400 artisans and crafts persons through the Street Artists program.As a member of the Mayor’s senior cabinet, I advise him and other Department Heads on the shaping of public policy that impacts the cultural sector and the citizens of San Francisco. I have worked closely with the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors to maintain strong support for the arts during the current economic recession and there were no cuts to the Arts Commission in the current adopted budget (FY2011).I established and host a monthly television program, “CultureWire”, which documents the lively art scene of San Francisco. Online episodes can be viewed at the Commission’s web site. Additionally, under my leadership, the SFAC has dramatically grown its use of social media and online communications, expanding its permission-based e-mail list to 2% of the citizens of San Francisco.Mayor Newsom was recently elected Lieutenant Governor for the State of California.

As President of the Board and Executive Director of the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center (CSV), a not-for-profit founded in 1993, I have been responsible for strategic planning, institutional development and facility renovation. The CSV Cultural Center is a Puerto Rican/Latino cultural institution that houses 53 visual artists in working studios and 13 performing arts groups in an 81,000 sq ft facility. CSV Cultural Center’s continuing role as the largest incubator of the visual arts and one of the largest in the performing arts has meant that the public impact of the Center has reached a new high. In 2005, CSV’s four theaters and exhibition space helped an additional 49 non-profit arts groups to mount their performances and serve the public.Since September of 2006, I have raised $14.04 million in Capital grants to begin the renovation of the 110-year old CSV Cultural Center building.

Oversaw the nation's third largest government agency providing support to the arts and sciences. In fiscal year 1993, the agency disbursed $80.2 million in operating support to 455 organizations and $87 million in capital support to 31 major cultural institutions. This was a 12.8% increase in operating support over fiscal year 1992, reversing three years of budget cuts. For fiscal year 1994, despite across the board budget reductions to most city agencies, I was able to increase the agency's operating support to $89.3 million.I worked closely with Mayor Dinkins and members of his administration to shape public policy towards the cultural community. This included reviewing legislation, inter-agency regulations, and revising DCA guidelines and procedures to address the needs of constituents.I was the administration's principal spokesman on the arts and spoke frequently with the press, civic organizations and elected officials at all levels of government. DCA had a staff of 53 full-time and 6 part-time employees.With the change in Mayoral administration due to the elections, I stepped down as Commissioner in early 1994.

Responsible for the overall administration of the museum, which included fundraising, exhibition and program planning, personnel and financial management. Member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. Worked closely with various committees of the Board of Trustees in order to achieve the museum's goals. Fund raised and managed a $6.5 million capital campaign and renovation project that was completed in 1988. Obtained and matched Challenge Grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities ($125,000) and the Kresge Foundation ($50,000).Supervised the creation of a master plan for a second physical plant expansion of $22 million. Secured municipal capital support of $18.75 million. Successfully managed the growth of the museum from an initial operating budget of $125K to $1.7 million (in 1991) with no operating deficits. Curated several major exhibitions for the Bronx Museum.

Mpa, Public Administration

Ma, Arts Administration

Bfa, Painting & Printmaking