Get acquainted with the Tenderloin’s vibrant art scene with a visit to the May 15th Tenderloin Art Fair, produced by Tenderloin Museum and Tenderloin Merchants’ Association and featuring Art with Elders, Book & Job Gallery, CounterPulse, EngAge x DISH, Fleetwood, Hospitality House, SWIM Gallery, and Tenderloin Museum. This cross section of neighborhood art galleries, institutions, and programs will be sharing artwork, activities, performances, as well as information on how to get involved and participate.
Planned to coincide with VACATION’s bi-weekly flea market on the Larkin Street “Slow Street” area between O’Farrell and Eddy (and aided by the generous effort of Tenderloin Merchants Association and SF’s Shared Spaces program), the May 15 Tenderloin Art Fair is a great opportunity for to connect with the neighborhood’s artistically inclined and to discover work by Tenderloin resident artists.
Read on for more info on each of the participating organizations:
Art with Elders
Art With Elders uses the power of art, creativity, and community to enrich the journey of aging. Founded in 1991, AWE provides online and in-person art classes for older adults. Art created in classes is exhibited online and in a variety of venues around the San Francisco Bay Area. The Art With Elders booth will be providing information about the program and will have framed art, cards, and prints on display and available for sale.
Book & Job Gallery
Established in the summer of 2012, Book & Job Gallery is a space fully committed to the advancement of all forms of contemporary art, with a focus on providing quality local artists access to a wide range of promotional tools and means of exposure. Located in the eclectic Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, Book & Job seeks to connect artists of all different styles and mediums more directly to their patrons and visitors, both locally and abroad. The Book & Job booth will feature info on the gallery as well as a survey of Find Rangers Camera Club, Book & Job’s quarterly(ish) submission based film photo zine.
Counterpulse
CounterPulse is a celebrated Tenderloin arts non-profit that is committed to incubating and presenting risk-taking art that shatters assumptions and builds community. The CounterPulse booth will offer a family-friendly art making activity, drumming, and dance performances by Andreina M. from CounterPulse’s TenderArts DANCE! series.
EngAGE x DISH
EngAGE changes lives by transforming affordable senior and multigenerational apartment communities into vibrant centers of learning, wellness and creativity. In San Francisco, we currently provide health, wellness, and creative arts programming for three Tenderloin SRO sites operated by Delivering Innovation in Supportive Housing (DISH). At its booth, EngAGE will share program information, feature resident artists at work, and exhibit the Hope Quilt featured the recent EngAGE group show at SWIM Gallery, “Yours Truly,” and made by DISH residents and staff, members of the City of San Francisco’s social work teams who support DISH sites.
Fleetwood
FleetWood is a print shop, art gallery, and retail space that trades in locally made goods.
From custom printing jobs to art shows, FleetWood is committed to supporting local art and business. Fleetwood will showcase their line of goods, many of which are screen printed in-house.
Hospitality House
Founded in 1969, Hospitality House’s Community Arts Program, the City's only free fine arts studio for low-income artists, is an award-winning creative community and unique social enterprise. Artists refine their creative talents through skills-building workshops, reach broader audiences and exposure through exhibitions and thematic art shows, and keep 100% of the proceeds from their art sales, promoting the arts – and artists - as economic assets for the greater community. The Community Arts Program offers an outlet for creative self-expression and cultural connectivity that would otherwise be unattainable by offering neighborhood artist resources and materials to create, exhibit and sell their artwork.
SWIM Gallery
SWIM Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located at 509 Ellis St. in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. The mission of SWIM Gallery is to provide a space for emerging and established artists to showcase their work in a way that will foster the growth of their artistic careers. SWIM was founded in 2013 by Yarrow Slaps and Auguste Somers as a curated blog/traveling exhibition combining art, fashion, and music. In 2018, SWIM materialized into a physical space that continues to operate to this day.
Tenderloin Museum
Tenderloin Museum celebrates the pioneering activism and fierce resistance woven deeply into the story of our 31-square-block neighborhood through history exhibitions, resident-led walking tours, community programs, and the presentation of original artwork. The Tenderloin Museum booth will feature work from artists featured in TLM’s Shelter In Place art shows organized during quarantine.