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...
The sites of catastrophic fires that displaced dozens of residents and several businesses at 22nd and 29th streets along Mission Streethave been adorned with poetic signage. Alliteration-heavy poetry is printed on signs that look like an office notice from the city. By the first paragraph, however, it’s clear something subversive and non-bureaucratic is happening here: “This marsh was built by captain...
In a burst of color and poetry, a new book of photography and writing called The Mission will enter the literary scene at the Grand Theater tonight. The Mission‘s focus is on the community murals the neighborhood is known for, photographed by Richard Evans, but also delves deeper than their artistic surfaces. With poetry and musings from important artistic and literary figures in...
Food, drink, bidding, and of course, a show will come to Dance Mission Theater this Sunday, April 8 in a fundraiser benefiting the Dance Mission Youth Program scholarship fund and teachers’ salaries. The event includes a dance party as well as a dance class and performance. Hip hop instructor and founder of the San Francisco International Hip Hop DanceFest Micaya will emcee...
After 35 years of enduring the Mission weather, the iconic mural that decorates the front of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts needed a bit of a facelift and that restoration started Tuesday morning with two of the original artists on hand. “What I did then, and what we hope to do again is to provide an opportunity for the...
For weeks, six up and coming artists in the world of contemporary dance have been creating performances that dig into the personal and the political that will premiere this weekend in ODC’s 68th season of the Pilot Program in a show called “Wild Bodies.” The choreographers, who are also dancers, have taken the initiative on every part of the production, including ticket sales and technical production. Among...
A film festival highlighting Chicano work and perspectives in Los Angeles will have a sister event in the Mission District for the first time in its more than 20-year run, bringing a party, panelists, and a screening to 24th Street on April 8 and 9. Organizations all along 24th Street will host thematically fitting events for the festival all day on Saturday, like...
Years after flyers around the Mission announced the production of a television series chronicling the tech life in the Mission District, “94110” has apparently made its online debut, Capp Street Crap reports. The casting call flyers caused quite a stir, but nearly 100 hopefuls attended the audition. At the time, producers insisted the show was a serious television program about techies living in the Mission....
There’s usually more than meets the eye when it comes to street artist Sirron Norris’ murals. Under the guise of a cute and unassuming cartoon character, they often present a provocative commentary on political and social issues. In Norris’ latest mural, his signature blue bear character is pictured wearing an orange t-shirt that reads “bad hombre” – the grinning bear is pointing...
