“Spirit of the Arts,” an iconic mural on the face of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts on Mission Street near 25th Street has been restored and will be rededicated with a celebration tonight. From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., dancers and speakers including the Mixcoatl Aztec Dancers, District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen and MCCLA Director Jennie Rodriguez will...
All month, the phrase “Queers Hate Techies” has taken up residence in the window gallery at Artists’ Television Access (ATA) on Valencia and 21st. The words are printed on balloons, inscribed on a banner and written on stickers pasted to the glass. It’s one of the radical activist group Gay Shame’s well-known anti-gentrification slogans; they have used it in graffiti and...
Al Wunderlich has been sculpting, painting and performing for decades. He attended Cooper Union in New York City and has taught art at the Rhode Island School of Design. But, standing in the doorway to his new pop-up show, Wunderlich’s Wunderkammer, he had no doubt as to his first love – adventurer first, artist second. The exhibit at 3328 22nd...
There is lots to catch up with as I have been to several shows in the last couple of weeks – all of them worthy of your time. Bike, a group art show Through July 2. Back to the Picture, 934 Valencia St. Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday: 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. “Bike” includes work...
Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center, a 40-year-old arts organization based in the Mission District, is celebrating its history and the culture of street art with a film festival exploring the mural art from. From sociopolitical commentary to biographical fiction, the five films in the program explore the stories and motivations behind murals. The festival will be held at the Grand Theater,...
A mural at 24th and Folsom streets criticized last Friday because the artist had painted over an existing mural has been vandalized within a day of its completion. The new mural consists of colorful mandalas and the phrase “be a good person” on the Folsom street side of 2801 Folsom St., where a Peruvian restaurant is slated to open sometime this month....
A mural created in 2015 by Mission District youth under the guidance of Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center, on a wall at 24th and Folsom streets, became the center of a neighborhood spat on Friday afternoon when artists from the East Bay attempted to replace it without seeking permission from the local arts organization. “This is gentrification happening on 24th and Folsom right now,” said...
It’s time for MAPP, the Mission Arts Performance Project, when spaces around the neighborhood are opened up to the public and come alive with performances. This month, the organizers want to demonstrate their solidarity and the city’s role as a sanctuary, declaring that “The Mission will melt I.C.E. through our sanctuary & solidarity.” Venues around the neighborhood including bookstores, art galleries,...
After working at Black + Blue Tattoo for seven years and winning various accolades and awards, artist Brücius von Xylander is getting ready to strike out on his own and will open Black Serum at 310 Valencia later this summer. Black Serum, while it will function as a tattoo parlor, will offer more of a confluence of creative work. “As owner of the space,...
A circle of ceramic flowers now hangs above the 23rd Street entrance to Buena Vista Horace Mann, symbolizing the unity of the school’s community. After a year of divisive political rhetoric aimed at immigrants, the teachers and parents at San Francisco’s first public Spanish-English immersion school hoped creating the work of art would send its students a powerful message: They...
The door to Ratio 3 opens from Mission Street, near McDonald’s, offering a juxtaposition of art and urban pop. Flow through the gallery and another door connects to Capital, a three-month old gallery with an entrance on Lilac Alley. The new space opened when Chris Perez, the owner of the Ratio3, decided to rent a portion of his 5,000 square...
A bit of sunlight brought crowds out to the sidewalks of the Mission on Sunday to watch performers stationed in front of the neighborhood’s murals in “Baile en la Calle: The Mural Dances,” a recurring performance program, now in its fifth year, from Brava Theater Center and the Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center. Featuring Antoine Hunter & His Urban Jazz Dance...
Before a former motorcycle workshop becomes a multi-story housing development, it will be home to a pop-up arts and design shop called “Parlor.” The developers of a mixed-use project planned for 235 Valencia Street at Clinton Park are sponsoring an arts and design pop-up at the site, which they describe as “Part community living room, part art house, and part greenhouse.” The collection will feature...
Having raised a total of $1,295,007 from some 12,000 donors, the Gray Area on Friday ended its fundraiser for victims of the Ghost Ship warehouse and arts space fire that struck in Oakland in December of last year. The organization intends to have all the money disbursed by the end of the month, according to a press release. Per its published...
In the bruising tumult of San Francisco’s housing crisis, Paul Madonna’s On to the Next Dream is the absurdist balm to soothe your sore and weary soul. Madonna is an artist who for 12 years had a drawing and short essay series called All Over Coffee in the San Francisco Chronicle. You might more immediately recognize him by his detailed...
