LIVININTHELOIN

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]