Open Studios at 1890 Bryant is back for its fall edition this weekend, one of two times a year the Mission-based art space opens its doors.
It is part of a series of Open Studios that involves more than 600 artists across San Francisco, with each neighborhood opening galleries, pop-ups, garages and cafes for a weekend over the next two months.
Home to a Best Foods mayonnaise factory until the mid-1990s, 1890 Bryant now hosts more than 100 art studios. Many of those will open their doors this weekend for the public to sneak a peek into the creative spaces of participating artists, who have organized the free-with-registration event since 2006.
Retired-landscape-architect-turned-painter Heath Massey has had an art space at 1890 Bryant for two years. To her, this weekend provides an opportunity to connect with fellow art lovers.
“It’s just very festive. Everybody is here at once. The building is full of people, traffic and fun conversations,” said Massey. “I especially enjoy the people who’ve just discovered the building for the first time, and they are all excited. It’s like a giant museum. It’s really fun to talk to people.”
Massey’s medium is oil and pastel paintings, often of landscapes from across the state, and of objects that have been recycled and reused, including lamps, chairs and doors from places like Urban Ore in Berkeley and Building Resources in Hunter’s Point.
Some of the artists participating this weekend have been around since Open Studios started about 20 years ago. Though the panic he once felt in the preparations leading up to the event is now gone, the excitement is not, said Charles Stinson, who moved into his space in 2006.
At Stinson’s studio, attendees will find bronze sculptures of men and women doing yoga poses, figures of Buddhas meditating, textiles, and collages made out of test prints of Stinson’s photography.
“Sometimes somebody walks in looking like they’re going to look very quickly at something, and then they pause and get engaged in the piece and ask questions about it and want to know more,” said Stinson.
“So, it’s that engagement, that connection when it touches people, either the emotional meaning or the just the design, that’s really fun and heartwarming.”
And while this isn’t Stinson’s first rodeo, it is for other artists.
Pierre Souloumiac quit his job as a mechanical engineer three years ago to do art after feeling burnt out from his career. He discovered his new passion for painting after taking classes at City College of San Francisco, and Open Studios will be Souloumiac’s first time showcasing his work.
He’s excited to see what other artists in the building have been working on. “A lot of my friends and some of my professors from City College are coming, so I’m a bit nervous to be showing them my work,” he said. “I’m always my worst critic, in a way.”
Souloumiac will show about a dozen portraits of friends. None of them will be for sale, as they were gifted to the subjects. Visitors can buy prints, however.
Michael Bykovsky, an oil painter who works with glass and canvas, joined the studios in April. He’s also looking forward to connecting with attendees, especially those who captivated by his pieces.
“It’s really interesting to me, which people seem to really engage with the work. You can never really predict based on the way people look or their age,” said Bykovsky, who called his work both surrealist and abstract.
“The most interesting part, for me, is seeing people’s personal responses to the work, because then I can see it from a perspective outside of my own.”
Open Studios at 1890 Bryant St. kicks off with a preview on Friday Sept. 26 from 6 to 9 p. m. On Saturday, Sept. 27 and Sunday, Sept. 28, the event runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Attendees can register for free here.
I’m pretty sure the Mayonaise Factory was at 1960 Bryant…