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Walking through The Mission on my way to meet Crow and Werc I knew very little about their work, although as it turned out I would have ample time to get to know these two very talented artists over the next four days.  I met them at El Capitan on Mission st.  El Capitan used to be a theater but was gutted and converted into a small hotel and a parking lot.  The lot is one of many old school graffiti locations throughout the mission with the majority of its wall space covered by Bay Area based artists.  Crow and Werc had been told by an organizer that they could paint anywhere they wanted.  As it was already late in the day the decision was made to start work early the next day.  Casual conversation ensued in which I learned that Crow and Werc had been traveling from their homes in Texas painting wall as they went accompanied by their significant others, a toddler and a small dog.  It struck me as a very positive interaction and I already liked the vibe I was getting from these artists.

Early the next day we met up and the guys began preparing to paint a large wall near the entrance to the lot.  Gloves were on and I was setting up when I noticed that progress had stopped.   I asked Crow what the plan was and he informed me that they were not going to paint.  You see they had been given permission to paint over existing work but as they looked at the wall with cans in hand they decided that it just didn’t feel right.   It was at this point that I knew this was going to be a special session.  I have a high respect for artist that see themselves as conduits of creativity.  One cannot force art but rather once the physical skills have been acquired one simply tries to allow creativity to flow through oneself in order to attain the best work possible.

Over the next day I had an amazing time simply walking through The Mission looking for wall space with Crow and Werc.  Eventually, after blocks of walking, pupusas and Pilz coffee, we found a prime spot on the corner of 24th and Capp.  As it turned out 24th st would be closed that weekend for the city streets program.  Everything fell perfectly into place and I feel if it were not for Crow and Werc’s patience, respect and humility the situation would have been extremely different.

Work began the next day and quickly two bright and vibrant pieces developed.  It was apparent that these artists had worked together for a very long time.  One could see how their styles were influenced by each other while also being completely different.  Werc’s twisting lines emanated from the subject matter of his piece in a way that reminded me of psychedelic and meditative paintings I had seen before.  This style was in stark contrast to the very linear and geometric design of Crow’s piece yet their vibrant color selection brought both pieces together nicely.  It was almost as if one was looking at two sides of the same coin.

As the piece came together over the next two days it was fully embraced by the community.  People of all walks of life and backgrounds stopped by and each time Crow and Werc had no problem stopping to talk to them.  Final touches were done during the 24th street closure and as Aztec dancers, B-boys, and samba drum lines occupied the streets I once again appreciated the work I was witnessing and the insistence of Crow and Werc to listen to their gut.  I will forever be a fan of their art both for its aesthetic beauty as well as the artists respect for the process of creation.

Telegraph Ave runs for several miles from Downtown Oakland to the UC campus in Berkeley. Its character changes as you pass through different neighborhoods. There is a stretch sandwiched between Downtown Oakland and Temescal beginning at 20th Street and ending at 35th Street festooned with hanging banners. Kono is boldly written on the banners, an acronym for Koreatown Northgate.
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If you have walked around downtown Berkeley lately you may have walked by a utility box or two covered with art. This is the result of Ariana Katovich of Streets Alive.

In 2010 Ariana Katovich noticed as she commuted to work in Berkeley, a city that appeared to be monotone in color and not reflective of her perception of Berkeley as a colorful artistic community. This inspired her to start Streets Alive, a restoration initiative of Earth Island Institute, a non-profit Berkeley based organization. In line with that organizations’ goals of preserving the environment, the purpose of the Streets Alive program is to bring art and nature to the Berkeley streets. Her concept is to bring artists and sponsors together to decorate the drab city owned utility boxes with sustainability themed art.

In 2010, 60 boxes located primarily in the downtown area were initially targeted for the program. Sponsors were solicited with a call to artists to participate. While any artist from Alameda County can submit their resume and portfolio, strong preference is given to artists who reside in Berkeley. The definition of artist and sustainability art is broad to encourage participation. The first three boxes were unveiled in October 2011. During the next 12 months 21 more boxes were launched.

As of this time, Streets Alive has rolled out the program to the rest of the city and is currently working with the Downtown Oakland Association to expand the program to that area.

There is a banner across the bottom of each box with the artist name as well as a QR code. Accessing the QR code on your smart phone will give you instantaneous information about the art on that specific box. If you want to see all the boxes, you can print a PDF map from the Streets Alive site.

About Streets Alive

Learn more about the organization and program. Find out who the current sponsors and artists are, where the painted and available boxes are located, how to become a sponsor and how to apply to paint a box. Streets Alive

Our friends over at 1:AM have built an amazing graffiti photo sharing app and community. It is like Instagram for graffiti and street art only. 1AM Mobile celebrates art in the streets by letting members capture and share what they see and view and share what others members have contributed. In essence, 1AM Mobile will tell you what’s up in the streets and let you take part in documenting street art history.

Not only does the app feature community contributed images of street art (with options to share, id tag, follow, and/or comment), but it also provides accurate directions to current and pre-existing pieces for an up close and personal experience. With the constant emergence, evolution, and removal of street art, all images are time stamped which give a historical chronology to every uploaded piece.

I have been testing this app for several months and really enjoy it. If you are a street art enthusiastic I highly recommend you check it out. It’s available to download in the iTunes store.

Make sure to add us as a friend on the app @StreetArtSF 😉

About 1:AM SF

1AM is one of the premier street art galleries and purveyors of fine paint located at 6th and Howard in San Francisco, CA. You can easily tell when they have a new exhibit because the walls change on the outside of their building. They offer a variety of classes including stenciling, the art of graffiti, toy modification and team building workshops. If you want to learn about graffiti history in San Francisco ask for Nate. He’s part of it. 1:AM SF Class Schedule.

Mike Shine currently has an installation titled “Flotsam’s Harvest” at White Walls Gallery that is open until April 6th. It combines street art, painting, film and print. On the opening day he and his roving band performed a medicine show and launched his graphic novelle “Flotsam’s Harvest”. Each provides coded tips and hints, offered to help viewers solve the dark, mysterious “World Riddle” posed by Friedrich Nietzsche in his book, Thus Spake Zarathustra.
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If you walk by Bryant and 24th Street in heart of the Mission District you will notice something that looks like a billboard with the requisite frame and overhead lighting. And yet the contents is never an advertisement. That billboard belongs to the Galeria de la Raza, an organization that has supported Chicano/Latino activism in the Mission District since 1970 and is situated on that corner. Originally it was a commercial billboard. But, the founding group of artists at the Galeria de la Raza rose up and took it for their own. For years now it has been the Galeria Billboard with frequently changing messages. (more…)

I met Ernest Doty during a gallery opening that we both had work featured in. After talking he invited me to film a mural he was going to be creating with Chris Granillo and Skombuzo Vbaza next month at an art space in the mission district. I was excited to see what was in store, as I already liked Ernest’s gallery work. His use of two sets of eyes as well as the general mystic quality intrigued me; I attributed it to his upbringing in New Mexico.

I arrived at the location early, was let in by Skombuzo and was shocked by the amount of color already in the space. It seemed to be a former small-scale factory or auto repair shop yet almost every square inch was covered with vibrant murals ranging from tradition letters to large-scale figures. The only space not covered was half of a large wall towards the rear of the main room; this was to be where the new work would develop.

Once Ernest and Chris arrived I was excited to learn that the subject of the mural was to be great American writers, specifically Edgar Allen Poe and Charles Bukowski, I attempted to contain my glee. It was very nice to see muralists recognizing the significance and greatness of these writers as well as understanding the power and influence that their own work could have on others. After some general planning regarding placement Ernset began working and soon after Chris and Skombuzo took their cues and started painting as well.

It was impressive to see how these three artists fed off of each other, taking regular breaks to compare work and collectively decide on the next addition. As Ernest and Skombuzo continued to develop their figures Chris began work on a background. I began to notice how the combination of Ernest and Skombuzo’s characters were being complimented by the style and technique Chris’ was using on the background. The modern, almost three dimensional, style of Skombuzo’s Bukowski as well as Ernest’s self described futuristic and dreamlike depiction of Poe were being contrasted by the Chicano hand-style Chris was using to develop the background. This marriage of past, present and future was something I had rarely seen in large-scale murals and I felt gave the piece an added sense of contrast allowing the characters to really distinguish themselves from the background. Over the course of three sessions the mural continued to develop in this highly collaborative style.Once completed I set up a few lights to properly photograph this vibrant mural and sat each artist in front of their section in order to conduct interviews. I felt that with the highbrow subject matter of this work it was necessary to give each artist an opportunity to explain how they chose each character as well as comment on their broader views concerning street art and it’s impact on society. I was quite pleased with the eloquence of each artist as well as their candor. From all of the interviews I left with a feeling of hope for the street art movement and it’s potential to have a significant positive influence on society in the Bay Area and throughout the world.To accompany this piece I used one of my earliest tracks. I felt that the jazz hip-hop fusion sound captured a sophisticated mood that also incorporated graffiti’s underground urban roots. The addition of effects I felt hinted at the futuristic qualities this piece also holds. The name I had chosen for the track over a year before even meeting these artists was also appropriate: opening transmission.

One of the most intriguing street art walls in the Mission District is located on Mission Street at the northern border, just beyond Division. It is set back on Erie Alley in a parking lot surrounded by a chain link fence. How many people notice the wall or let alone know who did the art, or wonder how it came about? What goes on behind this fantastic wall?

The wall is the outside face of Public Works, an event and community venue that also promotes and provides studio space for emerging artists and a gallery to display their art as well as local and visiting artists. Many people are familiar with Public Works having attended cutting edge private and public events in that building with DJ hosted and live music, dancing and beverages.

Fortuitously, the year they were preparing to open, Banksy was in Los Angeles promoting the movie, Exit through the Gift Shop. They asked him to consider doing a stencil on their wall. Banksy drew a very long tree trunk with a stenciled bird on a limb tweeting through a megaphone in April, 2010.

That August, they presented Outside Art, a block party hosted by 161 Project, Pink Mammoth and The Fringe Collective and invited 17 artists to paint the rest of the wall, The general public was invited to watch them paint to live music, food and drinks with proceeds benefiting the youth of San Francisco through the ROOT DIVISION and The SAN FRANCISCO PARKS TRUST.

The artists who participated in that event were: Bethany Rose, Brittany Howard, Chor Boogie, Delvin Leake, Duser, Dyno, Eli Spear, Frank Callozzo, Jason Cohen, Joel Dean Stockdill, Lopan, Meryl Pataky, Nils Thorsen, Rebecca Whipple and Rocky Villanueva.

It was a rather eclectic group, comprised of new and established artists, some who had not previously painted a mural or anything on the street. The concept was there was a tree outline for each person to do as they saw fit. Rebecca Whipple and Rocky Villanueva helped coordinate everything and constructed the basic layout.

You can see from the wall, every artist did not chose to paint within a tree. Chor Boogie painted the golden halo Boogie bird (that currently has a silver halo), Jason Cohen painted the white winged umbrella, Rocky painted the golden bird cage suspended by the top of a tree and Dyno painted the purple dinosaur.

So who did the trees that day? Moving from left to right, Niles Thorsen painted the white tree with the orange writing, Duser did the faces, Lopan did the woman’s blue face and Jason Cohan did the dots at her base. Rebecca Whipple painted the tree stump at the base of the next tree. Bethany Rose painted the blue and white stripped worm. Brittany Howard stenciled the ants. Delvin Leake painted the tree with all the heads and finally Frank Callozzo, Joel Dean Stockdill and Eli Spear worked on the wooden tree with Meryl Pataky making light up swing.

The stenciled construction worker that you may have noticed stenciled around the Mission District was done by a mystery artist whose identity you will have to discover on your own.

The wall is a work in progress that has subsequently been embellished by Blek le Rat of France (stenciled man at the base of Banksy tree), EON75 (organic base of worm tree), Jeremy Novy (fish), and Kenzo of Spain (pink octopus). This past month the latest piece, a skeleton sitting on a heart by visiting artists Icy and Sot of NY.

Check out our Public Works page to see more photos.

Here is a movie that was produced on the day the forest was added around the tree.

“Givin the People what they Want”

About Public Works

Learn more about the events at Public Works. Website: http://www.publicsf.com/
Location: 161 Eire Street San Francisco, CA 94103
Telephone: (415) 932-0955

For newcomers to street art in San Francisco, Mike Francisco, known as Dream and King Dream from the East Bay was one of the original Bay Area writers and a TDK crew member. He began writing around 1983 and was very passionate about letters and writing and took an active stance in his beliefs. He was senselessly murdered during a street robbery in Oakland on February 17, 2000 when he was only 30 years old. His legacy has been kept alive by friends and family with tribute pieces and events around the Bay Area.

“I’ve been writin’ since 1983 and basically started as most writers do in the fame game, getting up as much as possible pushin’ you and only you. But once you get past that stage I think it gets to a point where depending on what type of individual you are and the type of consciousness you’re grown up around, then you owe it to your people to drop some kind of consciousness. So everything we have here was something to do with pushing the struggle.” Dream

You can find one of those tributes in San Francisco at 100 Alemany Boulevard close Bayshore Blvd, where 101 and 280 converge. The wall there is completely dedicated to Dream with about a dozen pieces all saying Dream, including his piece that is shown above.

“Style is the most important thing in writing. It’s your identity. It’s what sets you apart from everybody else.” Dream

Learn more about him by watching this video and visiting Mike Dream Site . Check out our Dream page

If you have been following street art for years, you have probably had the opportunity to enjoy the colorful murals of dragons and demons on walls around the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond by local artist Skinner.
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It all started when I received a call from a local club promoter, whom I had worked with before on a dj night, asking me if I was willing to meet him in the Mission district the next day to cover a mural. He had commissioned an artist to paint the exterior wall of a local bar and inquired if I was available to film the process. Of course with such late notice I was not expecting much. I could not have been more wrong.

Upon arriving at the location I was immediately struck by the amount of energy and enthusiasm contained in Zio Ziegler as the promoter introduced me to him. Within minutes Zio was already discussing his clothing line and inquiring about a look book. It was quite refreshing to meet someone so project oriented and I had a feeling I was in for more than I had bargained for. Pretty soon though pleasantries and coffee were over and it was time to get down to business.

As I began filming Zio the first thing I noticed was his lack of a rough draft. I had worked with several muralists before and had noticed that all of them preferred to work from source material but this guy was different. Without pause he jumped from one area to another with a seemingly perfect sense of spacing and size. His speed and accuracy let me know that I needed to be 100% focused, this was not going to be some casual shoot where the artist took frequent breaks for cigarettes or to ponder his next move. I was glad that I had memory cards and batteries to spare for my DSLR. Quickly an outline formed.

What Zio lacked in color he more than made up for in the intricacy of his design. Filling in his figure with cross hatching began to add depth and style that was in my mind an exotic blend of African and South American design. I found my self frantically moving from one location to another with little sense of time as all of my focus was directed purely on capturing the image developing before my eyes. Every now and then I would snap out of this state to notice a crowd formed on the opposite side of the alley from where Zio was working. People who had been going about their day had been intrigued by what was occurring and had decided to put their plans on hold to sit and witness art being created. I’m sure all who stopped found themselves under the same trance I was experiencing and paused for far longer than they had originally planned. It was almost as if Zio and, by witnessing his work, all around him were moving at one speed while the world continued to pass us all by at another. Yet it wasn’t so much that Zio was moving faster than reality but more as if time stopped to allow him to paint and then speed up again to catch up with reality during his rare pauses. I attempted to capture this feeling in the video I created by continually altering time whenever Zio was painting or others observed him. To accompany these images I focused on composing a soundtrack that combined an aggressive full forced bass line with drawn out strings, glitchy percussion and spacey voices with heavy amounts of reverb. I only hope I have accurately captured what it is like to witness Zio Ziegler work.

Zio Ziegler’s predominately black and white murals can be seen throughout San Francisco. They feature giant figures with an incredible amount of detail and began popping up around San Francisco in 2012. Check out Zio’s other work. Zio Ziegler

When we were checking out the food trucks at the Chronicle we came across a series of chalk boards on Mary Street at Mission between 5th and 6th Street. They are installed on the backside of the Chronicle building. (more…)