Looks like the sycamore pruning was a success, the installation is still there!
The woven, willow-branch sculptures in the sycamore treetops at the Civic Center could be removed as early as this month, but will likely stick around until February.
The permit for the “Upper Crust” project by acclaimed artist Patrick Dougherty was approved by the Recreation and Park Commission in January, with the understanding it may come down this month for the annual pollarding (i.e. cutting back) of the trees.
However, it also indicated the permit could be extended until February if the project did not affect the pruning system. [sfexaminer.com]
TABI TABI PO – An art benefit for the victims of typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng
Opening Reception: Friday Nov 13th from 7-10:30pm
“Tabi Tabi Po” is an art show dedicated to celebrating Filipino folklore through urban contemporary art. The Kapre, Manananggal, Dwende, Tikbalang, and Aswang are just a sampling of these haunting creatures that will be brought to life in this exhibit. A percentage of the art sales will be donated to the victims of typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng through BAYAN Philippines and BALSA (Bayanihan para sa Sambayanan). [1:AM]
Just days after a “housing advocate” petitions against proposed 15-story three-star SoMa Mak Hotel, a man is murdered in the nearby Henry Hotel. Why the opposition? …”the [new] Mak Hotel would also ominously “create more of a police presence” in the Mission and 6th area.” See: Tenderloin housing advocate
A San Francisco artist who was chosen by city officials to paint a mural on Market Street was stabbed last weekend, and his paint was stolen while working on the piece.
Glen Park resident Jason Hailey, known among artists as “Chor Boogie,” has been painting a 100-foot-long mural in the 1000 block of Market Street as part of a series of city projects intended to beautify the seedy strip and attract more pedestrians and bicyclists.
But on Saturday, the aerosol artist became a victim of that effort.
While working on the colorful mural around 7:15 p.m., Hailey was attacked by three male assailants after a female swiped one of his spray cans, according to reports from the artist, his agent and those corroborated by the Police Department…
…The stabbing occurred about two weeks after Mayor Gavin Newsom held a media event on mid-Market Street to tout recent improvements in the area, including a largely expanded police presence.
During the event, Newsom said the area was being patrolled by 32 beat officers, 16 per shift, which is double the number prior to the changes. At one point, the mayor helped paint a portion of Hailey’s mural after the artist handed him a spray can.
An enlightening article on the “poverty pimp” complex operating in The Tenderloin, and surrounding areas:
Petitioners Line Up Against SoMa’s Mak Hotel for Bringing Cops
Friday, November 6, 2009, by Andy J. Wang [Curbed SF]
The former Kink.com porn studio and planned 15-story three-star hotel at 942 Mission is planning on moving ahead “at a rapid pace,” but so far it’s had its day at the Planning Commission pushed back a couple times in a row now. The Mint Developers project has already grabbed a go-ahead from the Planning Department, which declared it “could not have a significant effect on the environment,” but it seems certain parties are seeking a rollback of that decision. What’s the beef? Perhaps a super secret spy cam will tell us!
In the below video, left on Curbed SF’s front porch this morning, petitioners go door to door in what looks like an SRO, warning about an “expensive high-rise hotel” that will “displace people like you and I.” The signature seeker goes on to say, while referring to 942 Mission, that people like “you and I aren’t going to have any place to live around here,” though one must assume the video doesn’t take place in the abandoned porn studio. Then, (and perhaps here’s the kicker!) the Mak Hotel would also ominously “create more of a police presence” in the Mission and 6th area.
It’s not obvious who the petition seekers are in the video, but our scout blames the “appeal to the ghetto” indirectly on a Tenderloin housing advocate who “wants to stop any development in the tenderloin area. He will keep the area a ghetto if it’s the last thing he does, as long as he doesn’t live there himself.” Friends are so hard to come by these days.
More, from [bluoz.com]: “The two petitioners are employed by the Central City SRO Collaborative, and is a part of Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which is run by activist Randy Shaw. The entire operation, all three, are paid for with city funds and is primarily geared, by contract, for advocating and housing for the homeless.”
Green Festival is coming to San Francisco Nov 13|14|15. Volunteer media teams will be covering the event: Photography Team,Videography Team, Blogger Team (new), and the Twitter Team (new).
The mission of the Volunteer Media Team is to document the spirit of Green Festival and share it with the world. We are collecting video, photos, blogs, and tweets as a community-sharing project to spread Green Festivals. We will showcase the best media on the GreenFestivals.org website, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, etc., providing you with great exposure as a Green Media leader.
Yours truly will be on the Blogger Team covering the event on Saturday. I may even try my hand at doing a few Twitter tweets.
Throughout the festival, there will be an impressive line-up of speakers – articulate, powerful advocates for a just and sustainable world. I’ll be attending Using Aquaponics to Create a Cleaner Environment and Aquaponics: Urban Farming to Change Lives and Create Jobs.
San Franciscans have an endless supply of museums, galleries and exhibit space to visit when they need their art fix. But over the past few weeks, some of the city’s most eye-catching, conversation-sparking art has been available free of charge and in perhaps the city’s unlikeliest space: the streets of the Tenderloin.
It’s called Wonderland, and it took dozens of artists, most of them local, working for a year and virtually for free to produce the 15 large-scale installations.
There are giant wood frames wrapped in shiny silver material on the rooftops of the Warfield theater and Showdogs, a sausage joint across the street. A sound installation of recorded voices of Tenderloin residents singing and telling their stories. A big, hot pink, platypus-looking creature on wheels inspired by whimsical drawings by children.
There’s no wine and cheese opening for this exhibit – and you might have to walk past panhandlers and drug deals to see it. But for Lance Fung, curator of the show that closes Nov. 15, that’s what makes it worthwhile.
“Will a show at the MOMA change someone’s life? No, you have to save 20 bucks to go there,” he said. “I’m surprised that a project like this hasn’t happened yet in San Francisco.”… [SFGate]
A Tenderloin adult nightclub that earned the ire of neighbors and city officials alike for noise and violence was ordered closed by a Superior Court judge Wednesday.
The club recently closed its doors voluntarily after the City Attorney’s Office filed a motion to shutter the nightclub, which would often operate after hours. The court ordered the club to stay closed for one year.
The City Attorney’s Office complained of “illicit drug sales, prostitution, extended hours permit violations, illegal alcohol consumption, noise nuisance violations, and repeated episodes of violence and disturbances of the peace in the surrounding neighborhood, which includes nearby senior housing.”
Even more intriguing was that the owner of the building, Terrance Alan, also serves on The City’s Entertainment Commission, which is set to receive broad powers to discipline problem nightclubs throughout San Francisco.
On Monday, Alan apologized to the Board of Supervisors City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee about his tenant Pink Diamonds, and he promised to assist in evicting the operators. [sfexaminer.com]
Art in Storefronts (AIS) launched on Friday with a celebration featuring live bands and the students of LINES Ballet. AIS is the latest project in the Tenderloin / Central Market district — Wonderland, the East-bound traffic closure on Market, and yet another building-scale mural.
Find Yourself in Natural History, Helen Bayly and Leeanne Miller. (pictured, left)
…”At the end of October, San Francisco will launch Art in Storefronts, a collaboration between the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and the San Francisco Arts Commission that will fill 20 unused storefronts in four neighborhoods with the work of local artists. The goal is twofold: to spruce up areas that have seen high vacancy rates and to help support artists in a down economy.
There may eventually be another benefit, says Lisa Pagan, who runs San Francisco’s business improvement districts program. “The hope is that this may help people look at individual storefronts in a more positive way,” she says. Translation: get enough art lovers to traipse up and down a certain block and maybe some of them will start thinking about what a great place it would be to rent a storefront for their business.” [time.com]
Looks like the sycamore pruning was a success, the installation is still there!
A San Francisco artist who was chosen by city officials to paint a mural on Market Street was stabbed last weekend, and his paint was stolen while working on the piece.
