News from SFAC, October 2009

Celebrate October Arts & Humanities Month with the San Francisco Arts Commission!

In this issue...

Wonderland Launches in the Tenderloin

Art in Storefronts in the Tenderloin & Central Market

SFAC Gallery Stamps Your Passport to Mission District Art: October 23rd & 24th

New Art on Market Street program Catalogue: Available Free!

SFAC Job Openings

Bill Fontana is being awarded the prestigious lifetime achievement award

SFAC Gallery opens Immediate Future: Reception, Friday, October 9th

Blind and visually impared artists showcased in Insights 2009: Opens October 15th

New Works and Upcoming Events: Maya Lin Dedication; Bill Fontana’s Spiraling Echoes extended; WritersCorps at Litquake and TeenQuake

 

 

Beginning Saturday, October 17th, the Tenderloin Will Become a Creative Wonderland
The Tenderloin is about to transform into one of the largest multi-site-specific art installations the City has ever seen. Under the vision of internationally renowned curator, Lance Fung, Wonderland, a fully volunteer, neighborhood-based contemporary art exhibition, will encompass the work of 53 artists from San Francisco and beyond. A symposium with the artists will be held on Sunday, October 18th. From October 17-November 15, this exciting and dynamic series of 16 public art installations will embody collaborations among artists and Tenderloin non-profits, schools, religious organizations, residents, businesses and arts groups. Fung and the artists worked in the Tenderloin community for more than a year, and these relevant issues became the artworks’ central themes: homelessness, human trafficking, immigrant communities, local history, children, and historic architecture. With logistical support from the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and a budget of $8,000, this project came to fruition through the commitment of the Tenderloin community, and specifically the North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit District [NOM/TL CBD]. The Arts Commission’s next episode of CultureWire, airing in early November, will feature Wonderland. For more information, go to: wonderlandshow.org

Art in Storefronts: Art in the Tenderloin and Central Market
Central Market and the Tenderloin come alive when Art in Storefronts launches with a community celebration on October 23rd, 5-7 pm. Thirteen vacant storefronts transformed into art installations will be unveiled along Market between 5th and 8th streets and North of Market along Taylor Street. Art in Storefronts temporarily places original art installations by San Francisco artists in empty street-level windows – the first “unveilings” will be in the Tenderloin and on Market, then subsequently Third Street in Bayview and Lower 24th Street in the Mission. The opening event is organized by the Central Market Community Benefit District and the Tenderloin Economic Development Project and will feature live bands, refreshments and an art walk. Initiated by Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC), in partnership with neighborhood-based economic development organizations and curated by Triple Base Gallery, this program engages San Francisco-based artists in reinvigorating neighborhoods that have been hard-hit by the economic downturn. sfartscommission.org/storefronts

Passport 2009! Mission District Stroll and Kick Off Party
The San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery (SFAC Gallery) inaugurates Passport 2009 on October 23rd & 24th, an event that invites the public to stroll through San Francisco’s Mission District neighborhood to create their own limited edition art book by collecting “passport stamps” made by local artists. Join us for the Kick-Off Party on Friday, October 23, 7-10 pm at the Polish Club, 3040 22nd Street. All proceeds go the SFAC Gallery’s Programming Fund. For more information or to purchase a Passport...

Visit favorite spots in the Mission District or discover new ones while collecting original stamps created by Bay Area artists for Passport 2009. Stop by Passport 2009 home base at Mission Playground to purchase a Passport, pick up a map of locations, learn more about the SFAC Gallery, or relax and enjoy $1 hot dogs in the park with the whole family. Kick-Off party at the Polish Club has a $5 suggested donation at the door; free for Passport holders. The event features live music and DJ.

Participants purchase a Passport booklet, (featuring a cover design created for Passport 2009 by artist Tucker Nichols) and then follow a map to various neighborhood locations where they can collect artist-made stamps. After a day spent discovering some of the brightest spots of this lively neighborhood, each passport holder will have a limited-edition book with original artwork from some of San Francisco’s finest artists, both established and emerging.

Passports are $25. They are available now at locations including the SFAC Gallery, Electric Works Gallery, Silverman Gallery, Rare Device and at the Passport 2009 Kick-Off Party. Passports may also be purchased the day of the event, at Passport 2009 home base, located at the Mission Playground, (enter on Valencia between 19th & 20th). Keep checking back for more information and updates about the event or follow us on Facebook!

The Arts Commission is Pleased to Announce the Publication of a New Catalogue Celebrating the 2008 Art on Market Street Program
Catalogues are available free of charge at the SFAC offices located at 25 Van Ness, Suite 240 and the SFAC Gallery located at 401 Van Ness Avenue.

Since 1992, the Arts Commission has commissioned original artworks on an annual basis by Bay Area artists or artist teams for temporary display as posters in 24 of the triangular advertising kiosks located along Market Street sidewalks between Van Ness and the Embarcadero. The program provides round-the-clock access to contemporary art for thousands of pedestrians who constitute a broad cross-section of residents, tourists, workers, commuters and shoppers, many of whom may not visit traditional art venues. The Art on Market Street: 2008 Program catalogue includes such recent poster series as Owen Smith’s Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco, Jenifer K Wofford’s Flor de Manila y San Francisco and Briana Miller and Thien Pham’s Golden City Comics.

SFAC Positions Available
The Arts Commission’s Arts Education Manager Position has been posted and is accepting applications.
Job Description: Provide ongoing support and resource development for the Arts Education Master Plan; produce and host special events in conjunction with the Visual and Performing Arts office of the San Francisco Unified School District; publish the arts education directory Inside/Out and maintain the Inside/Out website; design and implement professional development workshops and forums to support opportunities for teaching artists and to facilitate good working relationships with classroom and after school programs; design and implement new programs and curriculum with other City agencies; assist in the development and implementation of the Department of Public Works partnership with public schools and private property owners addressing graffiti abatement and work collaboratively with San Francisco Arts Commission programs and departments to support educational, curriculum based and community projects. More information...

The San Francisco Arts Commission and the Department of Public Works are Seeking Artists for an Anti-Graffiti and Education Initiative.
The SFAC and DPW are collaborating on a pilot program as part of a Citywide effort to mitigate graffiti, promote the value of public space and create public art by and for the community. The first phase of the project will send artists into 4th – 6th grade classrooms to educate students about graffiti and public art. SFAC seeks two to three urban/mural artists to participate in “Where Art Lives,” the in-class component of the project. The artists will teach a series of four lesson plans and curricula written by the SFAC’s Arts Education Program. This coursework will ideally result in a mural being painted with the students on their school’s property. Artists will be paid to participate in curriculum trainings, in-class time and prep, and the collaborative mural creation if schools choose to advance the project to this level (entitled “StreetSmarts”). For full job description and how to apply...

Immediate Future: The 2009 Murphy and Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts, Opening Reception, Friday, October 9th, 6-8 pm
The SFAC Gallery is proud to present Immediate Future, with works by the recipients of the 2009 Murphy and Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts. This exhibition (October 7-December 12, 2009 at both 401 Van Ness Avenue and 155 Grove Street) provides a focused glimpse at what is being produced by promising artists in regional graduate programs. This exhibition presents an opportunity for the artists to share what they have been developing in their studios with a wider audience. The annual Murphy and Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts is sponsored by The San Francisco Foundation and assists art students in funding their final year of graduate studies. The jurors for this year’s awards were Betti-Sue Hertz, Ellen Oh, Isis Rodriguez and Meg Shiffler. More information...

Insights 2009, the Annual Juried Exhibition of Works by Blind or Visually Impaired Artists, Presented by LightHouse and SFAC Gallery Opens October 15th. Public Reception from 5:30-7:30 pm. Free.
October 5 – December 11, 2009 in San Francisco City Hall’s Ground Floor, Monday – Friday, 8 am – 8 pm. For more information about LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired visit www.lighthouse-sf.org or call (415) 431-1481, ext. 335. Audio guides by Acousticguide, Inc. See more...

New Works and Upcoming Events:
WritersCorps at Litquake - October 17th at Mission Comics & Art, 3520 20th Street, Suite B (near Mission Street). For the first time, the SF Public Library is hosting an after-hours party exclusively for teens. TeenQuake (October 16th) is part of the LitQuake Festival and will feature many WritersCorps youth. For more info on both events, go to: http://www.sfartscommission.org/WC/events

The Arts Commission’s Public Art Program Dedicated Maya Lin’s New Sculpture at the California Academy of Sciences on September 17th.
Entitled What is Missing?, the permanent site-specific sculpture is the international debut of a multi-sited, multimedia artwork dedicated to raising awareness about the current crisis surrounding biodiversity and habitat loss. The sculpture consists of a “Listening Cone” with a screen located within that features more than 20 minutes of video footage and sound recordings that link extinct as well as threatened and endangered species to the habitats and ecosystems vital to their survival. The footage is overlaid with text describing the decline of each species and the alarming degradation of their habitats. What is Missing? is part of a larger commission awarded to the artist by the Arts Commission that includes Where the Land Meets the Sea, which was unveiled in September 2008. The California Academy of Sciences is the only institution in the world to house two permanent sculptures—an artwork and a memorial—by Lin.

Bill Fontana’s Spiraling Echoes has been extended to December 11th. Come to City Hall’s Rotunda to experience, or re-experience this historic sound art installation.