One of my favorite mural-filled San Francisco streets. (off 24th, between Harrison and Treat)
BALMY ALLEY
Monday, November 23
Monday, November 9
A Drive Through the Trees
Along the drive North on Highway 1:
There's so much to be seen outside of San Francisco proper. I recently took a day trip up North, past Stinson Beach, and drove and drove and drove. Its beautiful. Small inlets and bays remind me of the North West, with its mossy groves and shallow beaches. But the trees speak of nothing but Northern California.
The smell of Eucalyptus trees never ceases to intoxicate me.
There's so much to be seen outside of San Francisco proper. I recently took a day trip up North, past Stinson Beach, and drove and drove and drove. Its beautiful. Small inlets and bays remind me of the North West, with its mossy groves and shallow beaches. But the trees speak of nothing but Northern California.
The smell of Eucalyptus trees never ceases to intoxicate me.
Thursday, October 29
Wednesday, October 28
PUBLIC SPACE
OUR RECLAIMED SPACE: Public Space and Community Involvement
(written by Kaitlin Fitzmahan)
In San Francisco’s Mission District, between Valencia and Guerrero on 18th, there lies the MaestraPeace of The Women’s Building. The mural is filled with women of diverse backgrounds and ages. Painted in animated colors from corner to corner, these women speak for the mission as they weave together a three-story illustrated narrative. Fifteen years ago, a group of locals decided that rather than Sony and Sketcher ads littering the building, they’d line their streets with morals and cultural icons. The neighbors painted on this wall their vision of community.
The status of our urban space has become a subject of increasing relevance as capital and economic priority encloses more and more on what we once thought of as ‘public.’ Although not typically considered public space, privately owned buildings whose walls face sidewalks and public thoroughfares affect the public visual landscape.
Increasingly, outdoor advertising in major metropolitan cities have appropriated ‘private’ walls. Advertising, the tacit co-opting of sights and sounds, is one of the most dominant visual presences in our cities on buildings, billboards, buses, walls, cars, sidewalks, and lampposts. Author John Jota Leaños notes in his work on public space and cultural identity, “Advertising zones are panoptic, penetrating, and borderless. Programmed with complex ideological code, corporate advertising has placed itself at the forefront of a new architectural landscape.”
There have also been increasing efforts by police and urban planners to control public spaces through architectural and technological tactics, in order to protect private property and maintain the stats quo.
What if communities are tired of the status quo?
It is time to address how we view public space and what to do with it. Isn’t it the community’s choice not to be bombarded by advertisements or bored by oppressive concrete walls? We can redefine our neighborhood and the city by bringing people together to inspire an urban transformation – an urban beautification.
Public art campaigns reconstruct the visual environment with the input and involvement of local city dwellers who crave to be made a part of city planning and urban development. Urban beautification – art in our streets – brings to the forefront the individual’s ability to talk back to our consumer-based city and its accompanying billboards.
Like the Women’s Building, the beautification of our cities calls for active involvement of our neighborhoods. Murals and community art campaigns exist throughout San Francisco and the Bay area: from the Deboce Biking Mural to convenience stores. Murals make our city an urban gallery. City programs such as the San Francisco Arts Commission and community projects like The Mission Arts and Performance Project (MAPP) encourage community empowerment through art.
Being a part of urban beautification means changing our urban surroundings to reflect our interests, our aesthetic, and our community. Despite the bureaucracy of the city and the deficit of the state, you can always hold up your paintbrush, your spray can, or your canvas and create a visual reality around you.
Want to be a part of urban beautification in your community?
Here are a few things you can do:
- Open up your own space (garage doors, sidewalks, building walls) and invite art projects and public involvement.
- Get involved with the many organizations who are taking part in urban beautification.
- Encourage more public space and more interaction by the people - leading to a greater awareness of the surroundings and more of an investment in the community.
o Get in touch with MAPP and become involved with their projects
o Stay up-to-date with city plans and projects for our streets. (City Design Group and San Francisco Arts Commission are good places to start)
o Walk through your city and find inspiration all around you. (For San Francisco dwellers, Balmy Alley and Clarion Alley are filled with artwork).
- Pick up a paintbrush or a spray can or a poster and make the change you want. Act proactively and CREATE. Make your neighborhood beautiful.
Related Readings
Jota Leaños, John. “The (Postcolonial) Rules of Engagement: Advertising Zones, Cultural Activism, and Xicana/o Digital Muralism” Jacoby, Annice ed. Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2009.
(written by Kaitlin Fitzmahan)
In San Francisco’s Mission District, between Valencia and Guerrero on 18th, there lies the MaestraPeace of The Women’s Building. The mural is filled with women of diverse backgrounds and ages. Painted in animated colors from corner to corner, these women speak for the mission as they weave together a three-story illustrated narrative. Fifteen years ago, a group of locals decided that rather than Sony and Sketcher ads littering the building, they’d line their streets with morals and cultural icons. The neighbors painted on this wall their vision of community.
The status of our urban space has become a subject of increasing relevance as capital and economic priority encloses more and more on what we once thought of as ‘public.’ Although not typically considered public space, privately owned buildings whose walls face sidewalks and public thoroughfares affect the public visual landscape.
Increasingly, outdoor advertising in major metropolitan cities have appropriated ‘private’ walls. Advertising, the tacit co-opting of sights and sounds, is one of the most dominant visual presences in our cities on buildings, billboards, buses, walls, cars, sidewalks, and lampposts. Author John Jota Leaños notes in his work on public space and cultural identity, “Advertising zones are panoptic, penetrating, and borderless. Programmed with complex ideological code, corporate advertising has placed itself at the forefront of a new architectural landscape.”
There have also been increasing efforts by police and urban planners to control public spaces through architectural and technological tactics, in order to protect private property and maintain the stats quo.
What if communities are tired of the status quo?
It is time to address how we view public space and what to do with it. Isn’t it the community’s choice not to be bombarded by advertisements or bored by oppressive concrete walls? We can redefine our neighborhood and the city by bringing people together to inspire an urban transformation – an urban beautification.
Public art campaigns reconstruct the visual environment with the input and involvement of local city dwellers who crave to be made a part of city planning and urban development. Urban beautification – art in our streets – brings to the forefront the individual’s ability to talk back to our consumer-based city and its accompanying billboards.
Like the Women’s Building, the beautification of our cities calls for active involvement of our neighborhoods. Murals and community art campaigns exist throughout San Francisco and the Bay area: from the Deboce Biking Mural to convenience stores. Murals make our city an urban gallery. City programs such as the San Francisco Arts Commission and community projects like The Mission Arts and Performance Project (MAPP) encourage community empowerment through art.
Being a part of urban beautification means changing our urban surroundings to reflect our interests, our aesthetic, and our community. Despite the bureaucracy of the city and the deficit of the state, you can always hold up your paintbrush, your spray can, or your canvas and create a visual reality around you.
Want to be a part of urban beautification in your community?
Here are a few things you can do:
- Open up your own space (garage doors, sidewalks, building walls) and invite art projects and public involvement.
- Get involved with the many organizations who are taking part in urban beautification.
- Encourage more public space and more interaction by the people - leading to a greater awareness of the surroundings and more of an investment in the community.
o Get in touch with MAPP and become involved with their projects
o Stay up-to-date with city plans and projects for our streets. (City Design Group and San Francisco Arts Commission are good places to start)
o Walk through your city and find inspiration all around you. (For San Francisco dwellers, Balmy Alley and Clarion Alley are filled with artwork).
- Pick up a paintbrush or a spray can or a poster and make the change you want. Act proactively and CREATE. Make your neighborhood beautiful.
Related Readings
Jota Leaños, John. “The (Postcolonial) Rules of Engagement: Advertising Zones, Cultural Activism, and Xicana/o Digital Muralism” Jacoby, Annice ed. Street Art San Francisco: Mission Muralismo, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2009.
Monday, October 19
Illegal Advertising... What To Do?
I've followed these guys in NYC for a bit now. They're projects are prolific and organized and clever - three things I like to see in my public art campaigns.
(I'm thinking similar organized attacks on Advertising can be organized in our cities).
Who knows about PUBLIC ADVERTISING LAWS in San Francisco?
(I'm thinking similar organized attacks on Advertising can be organized in our cities).
Who knows about PUBLIC ADVERTISING LAWS in San Francisco?
Sunday, October 18
PAINTED WALLS
Wednesday, October 14
The (Outer) Mission
PAINTED WALLS
One of my favorite spots on Valencia - Off 24th.
SERIOUSLY DELICIOUS
LUCCA RAVIOLI.
Mission: 22nd and Valencia.
This is a tiny, crowded, and smelling delicious Italian deli. Take a number. Avoid getting stepped on by patientless old Italians.
Best Of All: $5 half pan PIZZA! You can easily split this between two.
Important to NOTE: They also make their own ravioli.
For all needs: PIGS FEET
One of my favorite spots on Valencia - Off 24th.
SERIOUSLY DELICIOUS
LUCCA RAVIOLI.
Mission: 22nd and Valencia.
This is a tiny, crowded, and smelling delicious Italian deli. Take a number. Avoid getting stepped on by patientless old Italians.
Best Of All: $5 half pan PIZZA! You can easily split this between two.
Important to NOTE: They also make their own ravioli.
For all needs: PIGS FEET
Tuesday, October 13
The Crow and the Wolf: Open Studio
THE CROW AND THE WOLF
These girls know whats up.
The Crow & The Wolf is a conceptual community arts initiative that will begin in San Francisco, and from there, travel around the United States entering communities for approximately one month at a time before traveling to the next. The initiative incorporates a house-like structure constructed out of all green materials. As the foundation of the exhibition, the house will integrate traditional and interactive works of our own, as well as act as an exhibition space and the home base for community projects that will be specifically designed for each location.
As the house travels it will naturally age and evolve both physically and emotionally. With scars and modifications, comes memories and history. With each community's physical contributions and involvement, the house will truly live and exist as a catalyst, capturing positive energy and irreplaceable memories to share and inevitably begin a new dialog. The projects will interconnect with those hosted in future communities we visit, resulting in the goal to unify people around the country through art and communication.
http://thecrowandthewolf.blogspot.com/
The Marina's better side: Pelicans
I've lived in San Francisco for one year and had never been to The Marina - until today.
There's little I like more than SIGNS.
... and stencils:
The reason for this visit to the far north of our SF peninsula.
THE BLUE ANGELS.
What I found more exciting: THE PELICANS.
diving and diving.
There's little I like more than SIGNS.
... and stencils:
The reason for this visit to the far north of our SF peninsula.
THE BLUE ANGELS.
What I found more exciting: THE PELICANS.
diving and diving.
Thursday, October 8
It Usually Starts with COCONUTS
BLUEGRASS - Day Two:
You can smell the ocean from the trees.
THE DAY BEGINS with a good gallivant to the Ocean (the ocean foam was excessive today).
TROUBLE COFFEE: the best goddamn cold-press in San Francisco (paired nicely with a leviathan of cinnamon-sugar-BUTTER toast)(oh, and a fresh coconut + spoon).
Then off to the park...
Bluegrass Day Two! Started with the Banjo Stage and some fine down-home banjo solos.
The crowd swelled today. Far more than the evening before - with the addition of all recovering Lovelution-goers.
Modern-day Bluegrass-going Gypsies. I bought a small patch with a print (as seen above) with a spray can on it. When I asked the guy where he's from and if I could see his stuff anywhere else, he replied: "I guess you'd say, I'm kind of all over. Here's my stuff [he points to his backpack and case]. I'm just here for the music and the business" - he shrugs his shoulders.
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW was the highlight. Wagon Wheel and Cocaine Habit were belted and sheared to and EVERYONE was dancing: in trees, in the pathways, on fences, up in the hills and deep in the heart of the dusty sweat.
The evening finished off with a mid-crowd post-show sidewalk chalk session.
You can smell the ocean from the trees.
THE DAY BEGINS with a good gallivant to the Ocean (the ocean foam was excessive today).
TROUBLE COFFEE: the best goddamn cold-press in San Francisco (paired nicely with a leviathan of cinnamon-sugar-BUTTER toast)(oh, and a fresh coconut + spoon).
Then off to the park...
Bluegrass Day Two! Started with the Banjo Stage and some fine down-home banjo solos.
The crowd swelled today. Far more than the evening before - with the addition of all recovering Lovelution-goers.
Modern-day Bluegrass-going Gypsies. I bought a small patch with a print (as seen above) with a spray can on it. When I asked the guy where he's from and if I could see his stuff anywhere else, he replied: "I guess you'd say, I'm kind of all over. Here's my stuff [he points to his backpack and case]. I'm just here for the music and the business" - he shrugs his shoulders.
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW was the highlight. Wagon Wheel and Cocaine Habit were belted and sheared to and EVERYONE was dancing: in trees, in the pathways, on fences, up in the hills and deep in the heart of the dusty sweat.
The evening finished off with a mid-crowd post-show sidewalk chalk session.
Friday, September 11
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