In just one week, Project Artaud, the art cooperative at 499 Alabama St., was hit three times by seemingly the same thief, one who’s interested mostly in the artwork.
The thief took keys from the lockboxes near the sidewalk and let himself into the three-story complex, where artists live and work. He stole a sculpture, several paintings and prints from five artists. The stolen pieces add up to about $20,000 in losses, according to Javier Manrique, an artist at the building who had one of his paintings stolen.
“It’s just odd,” Manrique said of the video that showed a man in his late 20s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall. “But they knew what they were looking for.”
The thief was identified on security footage as the same man by Manrique, but Mission Local could not independently verify this. The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The break-in happened just a week after the spring open-studio weekend on April 12 and 13. On April 18, a wooden sculpture went missing overnight. On the evening of April 21, the thief returned and broke into the sculpture studio, stealing some electronics and speakers.
Two days later, on April 23, the thief showed up again between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. He entered through the back parking lot, “messed with” a double-locked door that had a broken top lock, and went directly to the third floor, Manrique said. There, he stole two paintings from artist Dale Erickson and then took a few more from the second and ground floors, plus a bike from the parking lot.
The thief used spray paint in the parking lot to obstruct one of the security cameras, but was caught on other cameras in the parking lot and on the sidewalk. He also left his footprints on the wet paint on the third floor during a floor-maintenance project.
Project Artaud, which takes up a whole block bordered by Alabama, 17th, Florida and Mariposa streets, has been a living and working space for artists since 1971. “Because it’s a big building and it’s a lot of living space,” Manrique said. “It’s very much empty during the middle of the night.”
At Project Artaud, hallway walls are usually filled with artwork by the residing artists, with hardly any blank spaces. During open studios in the spring and fall, the space is accessible to the public.
“It has put a damper on people’s spirit here,” said Manrique. Erickson, for instance, told Manrique that he will think twice before participating in open studios in the future.
After the break-ins, artists have become more cautious, and some have taken down their work hanging in the hallways.
“I could see the withdrawal of the art that was put out in our shared spaces,” Manrique said. “It kind of hurts to see that people’s participation may be stagnated, at least for the moment.”
This city continues to be destroyed by criminals .
It is time to up the consequences for crimes .
Remove the criminal from public .
Remove the hands they do in other countries .
The crime will go down.
SF babysits criminals . It doesnt work.
Alleged? You’re thinking this might just be a big misunderstanding?
A person has to make a living in the Mission, so please do not be quick to judge.