The San Francisco Arts Commission seeks artists, arts organizations, and nonprofit social service agencies with existing arts programs in the Bayview Hunters Point community. Grants may be requested for up to $10,000 to grow an existing arts program, help build the organization’s capacity with skill-building workshops throughout the year, and create a network of peers amongst the awardees.

APPLICATION DEADLINE
Monday, June 17, 2013 at 5 p.m. (Applications must be in the Arts Commission office by this time. This is not a postmark deadline.)

APPLICATION WORKSHOPS:
Wednesday, June 5 at 5:30 p.m.
25 Van Ness  Ave., Suite 70

Thursday, June 6 at 6 p.m.
Bayview Library
5075 Third Street at Revere Ave.

Teaching artist Senay Dennis at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School. Photo by Glenn Halog

GRANT AWARD
Grant requests may be up to $10,000

CONSIDERATIONS

• Applicants must clearly demonstrate that they have a strong connection and history of service to the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood and its residents.
• This grant will fund the expansion of existing programs or productions in the neighborhood. Examples of how funds may be used include extending the hours of an art instructor, increasing the number of performances for a production, adding language access to a performance, or paying for a guest artist to enhance a program.
• SFAC will offer capacity-building workshops throughout the year to the selected cohort of grantees to increase the skills of staff members within the organizations that serve the neighborhood.
• The funding must result in a public performance or event.

ELIGIBILITY

• Applicants must be an individual artist, an arts organization, or a nonprofit social service agency with an arts program based in San Francisco (with a physical San Francisco mailing address; P.O. Boxes do not qualify as an SF address).
• The program must already have been in existence for six months at the time of application.
• The proposed program must take place between September 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.
• The project must result in a public exhibition, performance, or event that takes place before June 30, 2014.
• Applicant must be in good standing on any other SFAC grants or commissions.
• To be paid, applicant must become a vendor with the City and County of San Francisco (CCSF). Employees of CCSF are eligible to apply, but will need to identify a fiscal sponsor to receive payment.

QUESTIONS?
Contact Program Manager Robynn Takayama at robynn.takayama@sfgov.org or 415-252-2598.

Click here for the complete grant application and guidelines.

This program is supported by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Under the City’s Art Enrichment Ordinance, the SFPUC works in partnership with the SFAC to support arts-based activation and recognizes the arts as a vital part of its commitment to healthy living, neighborhood stewardship, workforce and economic development via collaborative partnerships with local companies and residents, and relationship building in the community.

Photo by Glenn Halog

The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) announce a partnership to bring a robust suite of art enrichment activities to the Bayview.  With a two-year funding commitment from the SFPUC, the SFAC will provide expanded access for Bayview residents to create and participate in vibrant cultural activities throughout the community.

These programs include:

• StreetSmARTS murals in Bayview, with a concentration along the Third Street Corridor
• 3rd on Third arts celebration featuring pop-up galleries and performances in participating restaurants and retail spaces
• Sights and Sounds of Bayview, a series of creative audio portraits of people in Bayview, created in partnership with KALW 91.7 FM.

We are seeking artists who have a strong connection to the Bayview/Hunters Point community to participate in these programs.

Mural artists (spray and brush) who are interested in participating in StreetSmARTS, as well as visual and performing artists who would like to participate in 3rd on Third, the culminating community-wide celebration of the murals on June 20, 2013, should click here for the RFP. For questions, contact Tyra Fennell, tyra.fennell@sfgov.org. The deadline is April 26, 2013. 

Musicians who would like to submit their music for The Sights and Sounds of Bayview radio series should click here for the RFP. For questions, contact Robynn Takayama, robynn.takayama@sfgov.org. The deadline is May 3, 2013.

Photographers who would like to work with the radio producers to visually document the featured person can follow this link for the RFP. For questions, contact robynn.takayama@sfgov.org. The deadline is April 12, 2013.

Photo courtesy of KALW

Sights and Sounds of Bayview
A Partnership between the San Francisco Arts Commission and KALW

Background:

In 2009, the San Francisco Arts Commission launched the Deep Roots podcast, which promotes art in communities where people live and work. Segments have included the creation of the bust of Harvey Milk in City Hall, Mission-based Poet Laureate Alejandro Murguia, and the 2013 Mayor’s Art Awardee Rhodessa Jones who is known for her work with incarcerated women. With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to focus on Central Market, SFAC developed Sights and Sounds of Central Market, a series of commissioned audio portraits highlighting positive activity in the neighborhood.

SFAC is partnering KALW, one of San Francisco’s prized public radio stations – specifically its community storytelling project, HEAR HERE – because of its efforts to reach underserved listeners, bring new voices to the air, create a new dimension for the radio medium, and bring communities together through live events.

The funding for this project is from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). Under the City’s Art Enrichment Ordinance, the SFPUC works in partnership with the SFAC to support arts-based activation in District 10 and recognizes the arts as a vital part of its commitment to: healthy living; neighborhood stewardship, design, implementation, and evaluation; workforce and economic development resulting from collaborative partnership with local companies and residents; and developing community bonds.

CALL FOR PITCHES:

We are seeking proposals for creative audio portraits of people from Bayview. These could be about individuals that speak to the rich history of African Americans in the neighborhood, the changing demographics (the area is now 33 percent African American, 33 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 25 percent Latino, or a celebration of positive activity in the community.

We will commission six portraits; half of them should address environmental justice, healthy living, water flow, or energy conservation. How do you do that? Maybe you find a leader from Literacy for Environmental Justice, or a shop owner addressing food access and security by stocking fruits and vegetables at the local bodega, or an artist making work with found materials.

These stories should be evergreen and will be broadcast on KALW 91.7 FM, distributed through SFAC’s Deep Roots podcast, and played at a live event.

A photographer will be assigned to your story so that we can turn the segments into multimedia pieces. Audrey Dilling, Hear Here lead producer, will edit the segments, with oversight from Martina Castro, Crosscurrents’ managing editor. Stephanie Foo, producer for NPR’s Snap Judgment, will design the sound of the project.

Deliverables:

Segments may be 4-7 minutes long. Raw audio files and final engineering scripts should be delivered to the sound designer.

The producer should be available to share the story at a celebratory live event, which features a multimedia presentation of the segments, accompanied by a band or DJ, and spotlighting the people featured in the sound portraits on August 15, 2013 (tentative) at the Bayview Opera House.

Compensation:
The producer will receive $500/segment and an additional $100 for participating in the listening party.

How to apply:

Please submit a pitch that includes the following:

• What is the story and why is it relevant
• Why is this important to Bayview; why is it important citywide
• Who will you interview
• What sounds will be incorporated

The deadline for pitch submissions is April 5, 2013. Please email them to audreydilling@gmail.com.

Have you ever thought about a career in the arts? Or maybe you’re just looking for a fun way to earn some money over the summer while doing something that matters. Through these internships at Out of Site, you’ll develop real art skills, learn how you can use the arts to have a positive impact in the community, gain job experience and walk away with some cash in your pocket.

This summer Out of Site is offering internships in: Photography, Music & Percussion, Silkscreening, and Website Design/Digital Media.

Click here for application information and apply by Friday, April 20, 2012 at 5 p.m.

sfac-home

Photo by Lydia Gonzales

Would you like to help create a new space just for teens in San Francisco and gain paid, professional experience while doing it? Are you interested in writing, technology, or digital arts? Do you have opinions you wish other people (even adults) would listen to? Do you like to create things and share them with others?

If you answered yes to one or more of the questions above, read more about a great opportunity to share your opinions and creativity to help the library create a new digital media center where teens can discover, interact with and create new technology!

The San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) has been given a grant to plan a new Teen Media Center space at the Main Library. They are seeking motivated and enthusiastic high school students for a paid opportunity to serve on the Teen Media Center Design Advisory Board.

Applications are due by April 23rd. For more information, visit the Teen Site of SFPL.

By Kenji Liu

Kenji Liu, artist and program director of Geneva Car Barn and Power House, was inspired by this question during the start of the Occupy movement when Frank H. Ogawa Plaza was unofficially renamed Oscar Grant Plaza by the Occupy Oakland protestors. In response, he created two posters to show solidarity for the memory of both Frank H. Ogawa and Oscar Grant, explaining:

This is not just about inclusion, but about having a complex analysis from which to act together. As Audre Lorde has written, "difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark." We can recognize the different ways capitalism has attacked each of our communities. We can bring this imagination to our aspirations for our places, our movements and our society.

Shortly after, this discussion on naming inspired Kenji to create a powerful meme where he renamed BART stops after local activists and revolutionary heroes. He asked his friends and colleagues to chime in via Facebook: "I'm starting to decolonize the BART system. Take a closer look. Suggestions welcome." The map, Decolonized Area Rapid Transit (DART), started a thoughtful conversation about what stops should be named and who should be represented.

The first draft of the map included comments like:

ha ha this is awesome. gender balance and queer it up a bit, tho!

Doo'koo'o'sliid (San Francisco Peaks) Navajo Sacred Mountain to the West

harvey milk in frisco?

The second draft, posted later that day, had comments such as:

I love this project! I think the Oakland Airport should be under Angela Davis' name since she lives here. Yuri Kuchiyama is a must; she lives in Oakland too!

I'd hate to bump Malcolm X, but got any Filipino heroes for Daly City? Maybe he could have Balboa Park (though my choice would be Diego Rivera for his mural at City College). Technically, the Korematsu nursery was southeast of Fruitvale (though their flowers probably travelled by streetcar through Oakland en route to the SF ferry).

Is Colma missing? Because Im assuming Daly City is Philip Vera Cruz, which I think Union City should be as Union City was once farmland and gladiola fields.

By Kenji Liu

Taking all these comments into consideration, Kenji revised that the DART map to feature San Francisco luminaries like Harvey Milk, Harry Bridges (labor leader), Al Robles (poet and former staff of SFAC Community Arts & Education [formerly known as Neighborhood Arts Program]), Dolores Huerta, Ishmael Reed (featured in SFAC Gallery’s latest catalogue), poet Cherríe Moraga, and poet June Jordan.

The crowd sourced DART map spread quickly and Kenji started a campaign via IndieGoGo to raise funds for distribution of silk-screened t-shirts with the map. The DART map was so popular that Kenji raised over 200 percent of his fundraising goal within seven hours.

SFAC is proud to be connected to this project as the distribution site for donors to the campaign. Stay tuned to find out how you can make a direct purchase of this t-shirt.

Job Description:

• The Fine Art Workshop Instructor is responsible for designing a weekly fine art workshop consistent with the agency’s mission, philosophical principles, and ethical standards.
• The curriculum should be structured and evolving, based on basic fine art concepts (i.e. still-life drawing, composition, color mixing, painting, art history, art appreciation).
• This position provides support and instruction to program participants; designs workshop curriculum appropriate to group dynamics, interests and abilities; assists staff in helping participants explore and realize upcoming exhibition themes by using historical and contemporary references; and staffing weekly off-site exhibition venues during non-workshop hours.
• The Fine Art Workshop Instructor must be available to work some additional hours for special events.

To download the full job announcement, click here.

Art Program at UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay

UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay is committed to integrating art into the fabric of the new facilities. The principles reflect the intent that the art will exemplify UCSF’s worldwide preeminence in advancing health and enhance the healing environment, thereby integrating itself with the larger mission of: “caring, healing, teaching, discovering”. The art will enhance the patient, staff and faculty experience; will be of the highest quality; interdisciplinary and experimental; and will connect people to each other and their environment. The Art Committee has agreed that this art program will be innovative, will become a destination, a tribute to the legacy of UCSF, and a promise to the future.

This temporary art project for the construction site perimeter will be the first project in this ambitious art program and will reflect the goals described above as well as engaging the surrounding community. The fence will be in use for approximately 3 years and the selected projects may be rotated or may remain for the duration of the construction process with the possibility of becoming a permanent art project within the hospitals.

To apply or find out more about this amazing opportunity visit www.gregoirebaer.com.

Estimated Timeline

• Deadline for submission: February 11, 2011
• Selection of Finalists: By February 18, 2011
• Site visits: February 22 - 28, 2011
• Proposals Due: March 25, 2011
• Projects begin: May/June, 2011

Just past the white tents of the Civic Center Gift Market, the Arts Market’s open-air marketplace for local arts attracted a wide array of visitors exploring the culture of downtown San Francisco. Small publishing and news groups handed out free press and independent newspapers, while ceramic and visual artists displayed their vibrant hand-crafted pieces. Passersby admired the artists’ creations and had the opportunity to purchase everything from t-shirts to jewelry to small wood-block paintings.

The goal of the SF Arts Market is to try and revitalize the arts community and cultural economy around San Francisco’s Civic Center. The market takes place every Thursday from noon to 6 p.m. until the end of October.

Partners on the SF Arts Market include the San Francisco Arts Commission, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and Blick Art Materials.

I remember following my father down 24th Street in the Mission District as a kid, and stalling as I admired the vibrant colors of the painted walls that surrounded me. Almost 20 years later, I finally took the opportunity to learn more about the 80 plus murals that enrich this multicultural, urban neighborhood by taking one of Precita Eyes Muralist’s Mission Trail Mural Walks with Tour Coordinator Patricia Rose.

Precita Eyes Mural Arts and Visitor Center is a community-based arts organization in San Francisco, which has aimed to beautify and educate through mural painting since 1977. They strive to make art “accessible, both physically and conceptually,” to the members of the surrounding neighborhood and visitors. They focus on muralism that promotes community-service messages and eliminates graffiti. In addition to creating numerous public masterpieces, Precita Eyes leads several mural tours each weekend, which recount the history of the murals and San Francisco artists.

I chose a warm Sunday and rode down to the mural center at 24th and Harrison. I brought my father with me in hopes of recapturing some of my favorite childhood memories with him. My curious boyfriend came along as well. We entered and sat with twelve other interested individuals as Patricia Rose, a knowledgeable art historian and mural artist, explained the unique evolution of San Francisco’s rich mural culture through a slideshow. From there we embarked on a four square-block walking tour and discovered the diverse array of themes, colors and materials, which entice art lovers and passersby alike.

"500 Years of Resistance"© 1993 Isaias Mata

The murals ranged from professionally designed epics, like Isaias Mata’s “500 Years of Resistance” at 24th and Alabama, to community collaborations, like the illustrated narrative which covers the walls of the Mission Girl’s community center. The largest concentration can be found within privately owned Balmy Alley. Murals reside not only on walls, but also on six utility boxes around the neighborhood, on multiple garages, and on a dragon-shaped mosaic sculpture in the 24th Street/York Mini Park.

24th Street Corridor Utility Box Mural Project © 2006 Precita Eyes Muralists Association

The Precita Eyes tour elicited a sense of nostalgic awe within my father and me and gave us many new reasons to respect the neighborhood art that we used to cherish together. Whether you are a San Francisco native or a visitor to this culturally rich city, you are sure to enjoy an afternoon with Patricia Rose. A fantastic activity to do with a group or alone, tours leave from the Mural Center at 24th and Harrison every Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

"Indigenous Eyes: War or Peace" © 1990 Susan Cervantes

Former SFAC staff consulting at our previous Face Time workshop

The San Francisco Arts Commission is happy to participate in the 11th Annual Expo for Independent Artists organized by Independent Arts and Media. On Saturday, September 25, SFAC staff will be available to meet one-on-one with individuals to talk about a range of opportunities like our StreetSmARTS mural art program, Art in Storefronts, and gallery and public art opportunities.

Face Time at the Expo for Independent Artists
Saturday, September 25
Cell Space, 2050 Bryant Street (at 19th Street)
Panel: 1-2 p.m. Overview of SFAC programs
Face Time: 2-4 p.m. One-on-one meetings
Visual Artists Group Workshop: 4:30-5:00 Due to the overwhelming requests to meet with SFAC Gallery Manager Aimee Le Duc, she and Justin Hoover will be available for a half-hour group session following Face Time.

Want feedback on your portfolio? Interested in painting a mural in your community? Heard about our Art in Storefronts program and want to know how you can participate? In this service to the cultural community, SFAC staff will meet one-on-one for 15 minutes to talk about any thing you like.

To register for a Face Time slot, email Robynn at robynn.takayama@sfgov.org. Indicate who you would like to meet with and what you'd like to discuss. Half the slots are available for advanced registration. The other half will be scheduled on a first-come-first-serve basis at the Expo.

Staff Biographies:
Tyra Fennell is the arts education manager at the San Francisco Arts Commission which oversees the Arts Providers Alliance, StreetSmARTS program, and arts education policy. Prior to joining SFAC, Tyra served as the director of programs for the Humanities Council in Washington D.C. where she managed all programs including partnerships with public schools, school administrators, and community-based organizations.

Aimee Le Duc has an MA in Visual Criticism and an MFA degree in Creative Writing from CCA. Before accepting the SFAC gallery manager position, Aimee was associate director of Southern Exposure. Her critical writing appears in publications including Sculpture, Contemporary Arts Quarterly, the Journal for Aesthetics and Protest, Artweek, ArtPractical.com and Camerawork: A Journal of Photographic Arts.

Justin Hoover, is an artist and a curator who works as the gallery director and curator for SOMArts Cultural Center. SOMArts artist opportunities include the Commons Curatorial Residency Program, the Ramp Gallery, and the Mobile Arts Platform, as well as project-based fiscal sponsorship and below-market space and technical support for performances, exhibitions, street fairs and festivals.

Hailing from Montréal, Canada, Geneviève Massé has worked as an intern with the San Francisco Arts Commission's Public Art Program and Civic Art Collection for the past 16 months. Since joining the team, she has acquired comprehensive knowledge of the public art program's process. She holds a BA in Industrial Design and a Masters in Event Design.

Robynn Takayama is a community artist whose work has been presented through video, web, and gallery installation in Los Angeles, Chicago, and across the Bay Area. She has contributed to national and local public radio programs and the Peabody-awarded documentary, Crossing East. In addition to promoting SFAC through social media, Robynn manages the popular Art in Storefronts program.

Zoe Taleporos is an independent curator and part of the collective that runs the art space Queens Nails Projects. As program associate for SFAC’s Public Art Program, she is involved in commissioning a wide range of artworks for public spaces. Previously, she worked as the gallery manager for New Langton Arts and received her MA in Curatorial Practice from CCA.

1. Several of our programs have new websites. The Community Arts and Education site has  regular posts on cultural center, arts education, and other community art news. The SFAC Gallery site has been updated.
2. SFAC is producing online media with a CAE podcast called Deep Roots and SFAC's video series called Culture Wire.
3. Sign up for the e-list for SFAC programs, including SFAC's monthly email, CAE's monthly email, and WritersCorps' Poem-a-Month.
4. Become our fan on Facebook. We post about every other day and allow for posts from our fans as well. Several SFAC programs have their own Facebook page, which you can find by looking at SFAC's "Favorite Pages."
5. Follow us on Twitter. Yes, we tweet here about every other day, as well. If you tweet, you can note us with @sfac.
6. Become our friend on Youtube, subscribe to us, and if you have a Youtube channel, let me know so that I can subscribe to you.
7. Become a contact of SFAC at Flickr. Look at our different collections of photos organized by program.

Photo by flickr user Fred Cavazza, creative commons license

El Tecolote

Here is a sampling from the article, which you can read in full here:

"Copyright protects the way you express ideas, not the ideas themselves. If you came up with the idea of a love story where everyone dies in the end, you couldn’t keep other writers from writing about the same idea. But copyright would protect you from other writers copying the words you used."

Photo by flickr user Uncommon Depth, creative commons license

Obama's Agenda for the Arts and Humanities: Stimulating the Cultural Economy

• Matthew Tiews, Associate Director, Stanford Humanities Center
• Ralph Lewin, Executive Director, California Council for the Humanities
• Josie Talamantez, Director of Grants, California Arts Council
• Kary Schulman, Director, Grant for the Arts,
• Representative of the National Endowment for the Arts, TBA

Location: SF Club Office, 595 Market Street, 2nd Floor
Date: Monday, August 3
Time: 5:30 p.m. reception  6 p.m. program

Cost: Free for members, $15 non-members
https://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/open.asp?show=1277

Photo by flickr user Barack Obama, creative commons license

David Perry

On a warm, summer day, David Perry shared his knowledge of public relations and marketing to a room full of cultural center directors.

Here is the Powerpoint presentation (5.3MB) David made to us and is generously letting us share it with you all.