Art of deception: SF Arts Commission director used cultural grant to fund Hawaii vacation

A FORMER DIRECTOR of the San Francisco Arts Commission has been fined $20,000 after she admitted diverting grant money to finance a personal vacation in Hawaii.

The grant had been intended for a local Native and Indigenous artist, and was awarded to fund a short documentary exploring pre-colonial connections across the Pacific. Instead, the money was used by former arts director Barbara Mumby-Huerta to pay travel expenses to Hawaii for herself, her daughter and a friend, a trip in which no work was ever produced.