Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

Mario Garcia Durham
Executive Director
Mario is the founder and Executive Director of Yerba Buena Arts and Events (YBA&E). Mario has extensive experience in performing arts programming and management having served at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as Assistant Artistic Director, under Ms. Baraka Sele, from 1992 to 1996, Performing Arts Manager from 1996 to 1997, and Performing Arts Curator, under John Killacky, from 1997 to 2000. As curator, he selected and managed the Duke and Wattis Artist Residency Endowment Program. Mario has curated and produced many types of events ranging from community festivals, outdoor concerts, and visual art presentations, to poetry, music and dance series, events for children and political rallies.

During his tenure at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Mario created the Yerba Buena Gardens Summer Season, an outdoor festival which includes over 80 free presentations per year. Through his development of this nationally recognized public park arts program, the City of San Francisco requested that Mario should lead Yerba Buena Arts & Events as the Yerba Buena district continues its growth and evolution as one of the nation's thriving art centers.

Brian Fraser
Program Coordinator
Brian joined YBA&E in August 2000 after a two year tenure at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. At the Arts Center, Brian house managed events and assisted Mario and the rest of the Performing Arts Department in the administrative offices.

Brian received a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from the University of North Carolina in 1995. He moved to Atlanta after graduation and worked primarily with Special Audiences, Inc., an organization that aspires to make the arts accessible to persons with disabilities.

Brian's interest in the Performing Arts stems from his experience as a musician. Brian plays a variety of instruments and has released three CD's of his music.

Steve Cho
Production Coordinator
Steve Cho also arrived at YBA&E by way of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. He was a Center employee from October 1994 until July 2000. Steve graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1994 and subsequently started house managing performing arts events and commercial functions in the indoor and outdoor venues of the Center. Steve became a regular House Manager for the Summer Stages presentations in the Gardens. After the creation of the Summer Stages programs, Steve assisted Mario with events including Tuesdays Poetry Series, Thursdays Concert Series, large scale cultural festivals, and special events such as Opera in the Gardens, Shakespeare adaptations, and the Gardens Gallery Walk. In May of 1998, Steve became a shared employee of KTB & YBCA. For more than two years, Steve coordinated the YBCA Volunteer Program and continued managing the Summer Stages on KTB's behalf.

In September of 2000, Steve took an opportunity to travel throughout the country and act as the Touring Company Manager for the Ralph Lemon Dance Company of New York. During the tour, Steve coordinated the daily activities and travel logistics of the dance troupe and crew. Steve also served as a translator for two of the performers from China. After the tour ended in November of 2000, Steve resumed a shared employee's role serving as a Production Coordinator for YBA&E and as a Project Coordinator for KTB.

THIS IS AN ARCHIVE FROM 2002. VIEW THE CURRENT SITE HERE