Culture Wire: The ARTery Project
The ARTery Project is an exciting series of art events, fairs, installations and performances taking place along Market Street between UN Plaza and 6th Street.
Art in Storefronts Artists Talk Recap
Eva Xie, summer intern for District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim, wrote this recap of the Art in Storefronts Artists Talk that took place on June 15. Read about her experience and view some of the photos she took here.
Art in Storefronts Artists Talk
A group of talented San Francisco-based artists recently transformed vacant storefronts and neglected, boarded up buildings in the Central Market corridor. Join the Art in Storefronts artists for a lively discussion about their temporary projects and discover how they each addressed the neighborhood’s specific culture and history in their work. Then take a stroll through the neighborhood to check out the projects on a guided Art Walk.
Missed the AIS Launch? See it through video!
On May 13, the San Francisco Arts Commission hosted a big street celebration for the launch of Art in Storefronts. If you missed it, no worries! With the wonders of online video, you’ll be able to check out the different activities right at home.
Art in Storefronts Launch Recap
On May 13, the unlikely urban landscape of Central Market became a site for celebrating community creativity, as artists and art lovers came together to launch Art in Storefronts (AIS). To an exuberant sound-medley, hundreds of people converged on Market Street to commemorate The ARTery Project’s efforts to revitalize this once-vibrant commercial corridor.
Central Market
Lined with historic buildings, the Central Market area is home to neighborhood shops, restaurants and other retail, while its residential community and office workers add vitality to the district. A dense and urban neighborhood, Central Market is part of a larger downtown district referred to as South of Market, or SoMa. Concentrated along Market Street, the community includes beloved neighborhood gems, hidden treasures, and new and historical landmarks.
Download an Art in Storefronts pocket-sized map.
Press Release: Art in Storefronts Returns to Central Market
Now in its second year, Art in Storefronts (AIS) returns to Central Market with six storefront installations and five murals. The latest in The ARTery Project’s efforts to revitalize a once-vibrant commercial corridor, the program temporarily places original art installations by San Francisco artists in vacant and under-used storefront windows and exterior walls.
1020 Market Street – Rafael Landea
Originally from Argentina, Rafael Landea’s mural pays homage to the historic theaters that once lined Market Street. The mural depicts old theater seats swept up in a swirl of tornado-like activity. Each chair will be unique and reflects on the lost glamour of Market Street.
1112 Market Street – Indigenous Arts Coalition
Indigenous Arts Coalition (IAC) members Rye Purvis, Nizhoni Ellenwood, Spencer Keeton Cunningham, and Richard Castaneda collaborate to celebrate and enrich the Native American community of San Francisco. Founded in 2008, the IAC fosters a voice for those with indigenous backgrounds in the Bay Area. The storefront installation includes a series of projections juxtaposing historical footage, personal photography, appropriated images, and impactful text to represent the “double life” of individuals straddling cultural identities.
1066 Market – Vanesa Gingold
Vanesa Gingold presents a storefront installation of colorful sculptures and mobiles inspired by interviews and art projects with individuals from the Central Market community. Asking neighborhood members to recall childhood memories of favorite places, the soft tunnel-like sculptures reflect a shared sense of safety and comfort.
1127 Market – Paz de la Calzada
Paz de la Calzada is a multidisciplinary artist working in drawing, sculpture, and installation. A native of Madrid, Spain, she moved to San Francisco in 2003 after being awarded an artist residency at Djerassi Resident Artist Program in Woodside, CA. For her Art in Storefronts project, de la Calzada will do a site-specific art intervention on the old Strand Theater building. The façade will be covered with a charcoal drawing of tangled strands of hair, which appear to wrap around the building. Unlike traditional murals, this wall drawing will challenge the spatial boundaries of art, playfully engaging with the architectural space and creating a sense of wonder.
1089 Market Street – Amber Hasselbring
Swallowtails & Sycamores Description: Amber Hasselbring brings to life the story of the Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly and the London Plane tree, two indigenous species found on Market Street. Drawing attention to one of the natural habitats found on San Francisco’s main thoroughfare, the saturated, realistic photo-collage mural illustrates the metamorphosis of the butterfly and [...]
55 Taylor Street – Cat U-Thasoonthorn
Primarily a sculptor who also works with photography and installation, Cat U-Thasoonthorn has had a longstanding interest in night photography and incandescent light. For her storefront installation, the artist has documented defunct commercial signage in and around the Central Market neighborhood. Black and white images of these sites are combined into a panoramic fictional street view and reanimated with the insertion of neon and fluorescent lights. The artist is currently an MFA candidate at the San Francisco Art Institute.
1155 Market Street – Madeline Trait
With a degree in architecture, professional experience as an interior designer, and currently running her own “green” floral and event design business, Madeline Trait has also been making art personally for a number of years. Creating an illusion of transformation, Trait’s installation presents a pile of discarded aluminum cans that magically transform into gracefully flying butterflies. The butterflies fill the storefront as well as the exterior surroundings of the building.
55 Taylor Street – Erik Otto
Erik Otto has been working as a professional artist for almost ten years and recently completed the Artist-in-Residence program at Recology in San Francisco. Otto envisions change as a catalyst for Central Market’s history and future. His storefront installation depicts change through metaphors symbolized by clouds, houses, and a circle of neon light, representing the openness of the community and city to embrace a new future for the neighborhood.