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"title": "The Colorful History of 1990s Graffiti Zines Comes Alive in New SF Exhibition",
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"content": "\u003cp>If you were a skater, punk or hip-hop fan in the ’90s, graffiti zines were just another part of the culture. The hand-stapled, photocopied scene reports were a product of graf writers and street art enthusiasts banding together, taking photos with cheap point-and-shoot cameras, developing the images, and then collaging the best ones to share with eager readers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://letterformarchive.org/news/subscription-to-mischief-graffiti-zines-of-the-1990s-exhibition/\">\u003cem>Subscription to Mischief: Graffiti Zines of the 1990s\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a new exhibition at \u003ca href=\"https://letterformarchive.org/\">Letterform Archive\u003c/a>, seeks to capture that community as it was before the new millennium rolled in. It’s a time machine for anyone who was there the first time around, and a valuable glimpse into a since-changed underground scene for those who weren’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13928902\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13928902\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM-800x477.png\" alt=\"A sheet of six images featuring the face of Andre the Giant with the text, 'Andre the Giant has a posse' and his height and weight.\" width=\"800\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM-800x477.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM-1020x608.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM-160x95.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM-768x458.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM.png 1130w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shepard Fairey’s ‘Andre the Giant has a posse’ stickers were ubiquitous in the latter half of the ’90s. This unusual full color set is on display at Letterform Archive as part of ‘Subscription to Mischief.’ \u003ccite>(Rae Alexandra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The small-but-dense exhibition was curated by Letterform Archive’s Kate Long Stellar and Rob Saunders, working in tandem with \u003ca href=\"http://www.greglamarche.com/\">Greg Lamarche\u003c/a> (a.k.a. \u003ca href=\"https://dirtypilot.com/collections/spone\">Sp.One\u003c/a>), the artist and former publisher of \u003cem>Skills\u003c/em> magazine. Fellow graffiti writers \u003ca href=\"https://www.keltroughtonstudio.com/\">Kel Troughton\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chinobyi/?hl=en\">David Villorente\u003c/a> (a.k.a. \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chino_BYI\">Chino BYI\u003c/a>, former editor of \u003cem>The Source\u003c/em> magazine’s\u003cem> Graf Flix\u003c/em> column) also curated. As such, the final result is an authentic look at the underground scene from those immersed in it. Many of the items on display come from Lamarche’s own personal archive of graffiti-related artifacts he’s faithfully collected for more than three decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glimpses of early works by street art giants like Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey and Steve Powers share equal billing with handwritten correspondence between those in the subculture at the time. The letters are often works of art in and of themselves, with highly stylized lettering and adjoining sketches. Their content is also a reminder of just how time- and effort-intensive these kinds of projects were in the days before the internet. “Take your time with my pictures,” a writer named The Dekster says in one letter. “I’m in no rush to get them back. I know they are in good hands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13928683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13928683\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-800x683.jpg\" alt=\"A hand written letter and sketch of a man done in 90s hip hop style lays on a sheet next to a photo of graffiti, a sticker with a JOKER tag on it and some artwork of a guillotine.\" width=\"800\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-800x683.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-1020x871.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-160x137.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-768x656.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-1536x1311.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11.jpg 1749w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘I’m back in the SF Bay Area where a lot of people are painting,’ this letter from Jerry (a.k.a. Joker) says. ‘So enclosed is (hopefully!) good photos of some of the new stuff that’s running.’ \u003ccite>(Letterpress Archive)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Though \u003cem>Subscription to Mischief\u003c/em> is focused largely on the east coast — starting with the New York subway art of the ’70s and ’80s — it also reflects a global community. Zines from as far afield as Copenhagen, London and Stockholm are included. San Francisco is represented by \u003cem>Girlzbomb\u003c/em>, a zine by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jocelyn_superstar/?hl=en\">Jocelyn Superstar\u003c/a> about female graffiti writers, and \u003cem>Graffiti\u003c/em>, by Nate Smith and \u003ca href=\"https://rvca.com/anp/artists/josh-lazcano.html\">Josh Lazcano\u003c/a>. Artwork from longtime SF resident \u003ca href=\"https://www.mikegiant.com/\">Mike Giant\u003c/a> is also featured via a 1997 issue of \u003cem>Huffer\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Subscription to Mischief\u003c/em> is a fascinating look at an incredibly specific moment in time. One that was forever changed by the arrival of the internet, legal clampdowns on graffiti and the advancement of street artists into mainstream culture. If you were a young person in the ’90s, expect pangs of intense nostalgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>‘Subscription to Mischief: Graffiti Zines of the 1990s’ is on display through Nov. 1, 2023, at Letterform Archive (2325 Third St., Floor 4R, San Francisco). \u003ca href=\"https://letterformarchive.org/news/subscription-to-mischief-graffiti-zines-of-the-1990s-exhibition/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If you were a skater, punk or hip-hop fan in the ’90s, graffiti zines were just another part of the culture. The hand-stapled, photocopied scene reports were a product of graf writers and street art enthusiasts banding together, taking photos with cheap point-and-shoot cameras, developing the images, and then collaging the best ones to share with eager readers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://letterformarchive.org/news/subscription-to-mischief-graffiti-zines-of-the-1990s-exhibition/\">\u003cem>Subscription to Mischief: Graffiti Zines of the 1990s\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a new exhibition at \u003ca href=\"https://letterformarchive.org/\">Letterform Archive\u003c/a>, seeks to capture that community as it was before the new millennium rolled in. It’s a time machine for anyone who was there the first time around, and a valuable glimpse into a since-changed underground scene for those who weren’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13928902\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13928902\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM-800x477.png\" alt=\"A sheet of six images featuring the face of Andre the Giant with the text, 'Andre the Giant has a posse' and his height and weight.\" width=\"800\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM-800x477.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM-1020x608.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM-160x95.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM-768x458.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-09-at-2.07.53-PM.png 1130w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shepard Fairey’s ‘Andre the Giant has a posse’ stickers were ubiquitous in the latter half of the ’90s. This unusual full color set is on display at Letterform Archive as part of ‘Subscription to Mischief.’ \u003ccite>(Rae Alexandra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The small-but-dense exhibition was curated by Letterform Archive’s Kate Long Stellar and Rob Saunders, working in tandem with \u003ca href=\"http://www.greglamarche.com/\">Greg Lamarche\u003c/a> (a.k.a. \u003ca href=\"https://dirtypilot.com/collections/spone\">Sp.One\u003c/a>), the artist and former publisher of \u003cem>Skills\u003c/em> magazine. Fellow graffiti writers \u003ca href=\"https://www.keltroughtonstudio.com/\">Kel Troughton\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chinobyi/?hl=en\">David Villorente\u003c/a> (a.k.a. \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chino_BYI\">Chino BYI\u003c/a>, former editor of \u003cem>The Source\u003c/em> magazine’s\u003cem> Graf Flix\u003c/em> column) also curated. As such, the final result is an authentic look at the underground scene from those immersed in it. Many of the items on display come from Lamarche’s own personal archive of graffiti-related artifacts he’s faithfully collected for more than three decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glimpses of early works by street art giants like Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey and Steve Powers share equal billing with handwritten correspondence between those in the subculture at the time. The letters are often works of art in and of themselves, with highly stylized lettering and adjoining sketches. Their content is also a reminder of just how time- and effort-intensive these kinds of projects were in the days before the internet. “Take your time with my pictures,” a writer named The Dekster says in one letter. “I’m in no rush to get them back. I know they are in good hands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13928683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13928683\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-800x683.jpg\" alt=\"A hand written letter and sketch of a man done in 90s hip hop style lays on a sheet next to a photo of graffiti, a sticker with a JOKER tag on it and some artwork of a guillotine.\" width=\"800\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-800x683.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-1020x871.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-160x137.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-768x656.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11-1536x1311.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/LfA_Mischief_press_11.jpg 1749w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘I’m back in the SF Bay Area where a lot of people are painting,’ this letter from Jerry (a.k.a. Joker) says. ‘So enclosed is (hopefully!) good photos of some of the new stuff that’s running.’ \u003ccite>(Letterpress Archive)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Though \u003cem>Subscription to Mischief\u003c/em> is focused largely on the east coast — starting with the New York subway art of the ’70s and ’80s — it also reflects a global community. Zines from as far afield as Copenhagen, London and Stockholm are included. San Francisco is represented by \u003cem>Girlzbomb\u003c/em>, a zine by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jocelyn_superstar/?hl=en\">Jocelyn Superstar\u003c/a> about female graffiti writers, and \u003cem>Graffiti\u003c/em>, by Nate Smith and \u003ca href=\"https://rvca.com/anp/artists/josh-lazcano.html\">Josh Lazcano\u003c/a>. Artwork from longtime SF resident \u003ca href=\"https://www.mikegiant.com/\">Mike Giant\u003c/a> is also featured via a 1997 issue of \u003cem>Huffer\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Subscription to Mischief\u003c/em> is a fascinating look at an incredibly specific moment in time. One that was forever changed by the arrival of the internet, legal clampdowns on graffiti and the advancement of street artists into mainstream culture. If you were a young person in the ’90s, expect pangs of intense nostalgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>‘Subscription to Mischief: Graffiti Zines of the 1990s’ is on display through Nov. 1, 2023, at Letterform Archive (2325 Third St., Floor 4R, San Francisco). \u003ca href=\"https://letterformarchive.org/news/subscription-to-mischief-graffiti-zines-of-the-1990s-exhibition/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Tax Dollars Kill’: Spie One’s Decades of Bay Area Graffiti Activism",
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"headTitle": "‘Tax Dollars Kill’: Spie One’s Decades of Bay Area Graffiti Activism | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Editor’s note:\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003ci> This story is part of\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/bayareahiphop\"> That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003ci>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he name Spie One has resonated in the Bay Area for nearly 40 years. The prolific graffiti artist, muralist and artivist may be less famous than his former painting partner, the late Mike “Dream” Francisco, but Spie is no less legendary. A mainstay of the TDK Collective, Irie Posse and FC — all with gravitas and legacy in the underground art world — Spie has been both observer and participant throughout the most dynamic eras in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But who is Spie? His \u003cem>nom de guerre\u003c/em> evokes subterfuge, counter-intelligence, covertness. Indeed, maintaining anonymity was imperative at the beginning of Spie’s career, during the formative stages of Bay Area graffiti itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, though, Spie evolved into a well-known force bridging activism and visual art in the streets. In recent years, he’s become an accomplished muralist working in different mediums, as well as a teacher, mentor and leader by example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who know Spie well enough to call him a friend talk a lot about his character — his ethics, his dedication to his craft and his belief in collective liberation. They also mention his idiosyncrasies — the bugged-out sketches he randomly emails folks, his insistence on using 20-year-old paint from his garage instead of modern spray cans, his continued willingness to get up on impromptu street art missions even though he’s married with children and has a day job as a high school art teacher.[aside postid='arts_13924167,arts_13925931,arts_13924109' label='More on Bay Area Hip-Hop Culture']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The words “community” and “family” invariably come up in conversations with and about Spie. While he can claim status in a field where toys are destroyed and respect is earned one piece at a time, one of his defining characteristics is humility. His ethos, he says, is a simple “each one teach one” philosophy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You got knowledge, you got to pass it on,” Spie continues. “I got something to share. That’s why I chose to take my work to the next generation, the youth, and to help cultivate their imagination, their radical thoughts… Hip-hop combined with that is what has shaped my pathway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I, Spie\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie grew up in a multiracial household in San Francisco in the 1970s, when the city was still identified with the remnants of 1960s counterculture. His artist mother and bus driver father were both activists whose shared worldview was shaped by revolutionary ideals. While his mom encouraged his artistic sensibilities, his dad let him pal along on bus rides and introduced him to eclectic, cutting-edge music, like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PobrSpMwKk4\">The Message\u003c/a>” — with bristling, Reagan-era sociopolitical commentary that made a lasting impression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A tall, lanky youth, Spie was somewhat introverted, letting his artistic expressions manifest on notebooks and a dresser in his room. No one particular flashpoint led him to pursue graffiti. As a half-Asian kid, or \u003cem>hapa\u003c/em>, living in a diverse city, he was eager to carve out his own identity and find a community. The emergence of hip-hop and graffiti in the early ’80s gave him the sense of belonging and creative outlet he needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie’s first public attempt at a graffiti piece came in 1985, at the tennis courts of McAteer High School in San Francisco. It was a simple piece: a red and black rendering of his early moniker “Spy,” written boldly. Next to it were the words “one man bomber” — a testament to the fact that Spie painted it alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926652\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926652\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s first piece at San Francisco’s McAteer High School, circa late 1983 or early 1984. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a 2017 episode of Adam Fujita’s popular \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-6-season-2-spie-tdk-fc-tmc-irie-possee/id1170942266?i=1000408431397\">graffiti podcast \u003cem>My Life In Letters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Spie explained how the piece brought him local notoriety; he soon became an active tagger on Muni buses, as well as in the Excelsior and the Mission. A Muni Fast Pass afforded him the opportunity to visit other neighborhoods and write his graffiti name across the city, and as he grew more prolific, so did his stylistic ability and reputation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young Spie wasn’t alone in this endeavor. Alongside him in the 1980s were hundreds, maybe thousands of restless youth finding their way within graffiti. The status quo called them vandals. But graffiti was \u003cem>their\u003c/em> counterculture, and a way to find meaning and identity in a society that didn’t always see or hear them. [pullquote size='large' citation='Spie']‘I got something to share. That’s why I chose to take my work to the next generation, the youth, and to help cultivate their imagination, their radical thoughts.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 1982, graffiti had become known as one of hip-hop’s four elements. But it was also a standalone culture that preceded b-boying, MCing and DJ scratching. The \u003ca href=\"http://southsideprojections.org/2018/the-mural-movement-and-the-black-arts-movement/\">community mural movement\u003c/a> dated back to 1967 Chicago and aligned with the Black Arts Movement. Murals were already part of the cultural expression of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcet.org/arts-culture/el-movimiento\">El Movimiento\u003c/a>, a.k.a. the Chicano Movement, a push for ethnic identity and empowerment. The \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/ijt2106/moment-of-departure/the-emergence-of-modern-graffiti/\">modern graffiti movement\u003c/a> originated in Philadelphia in the late ’60s before spreading to New York. And gang-affiliated tags had long permeated SF’s Mission and Excelsior districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cultural precedents were integral to graffiti’s evolution. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, New York’s aerosol kings conquered the subways of the five boroughs. Even though the Metropolitan Transit Authority combatted their wild styles with “the buff,” word spread around the country with films like 1983’s \u003cem>Wild Style\u003c/em>, along with the documentary \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>, which aired nationally on PBS the same year. Its broadcast on KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">catalyzed the Bay Area graffiti scene\u003c/a>. “There was this gravitational pull toward what was happening coming out of these films,” Spie recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>One wall to rule them all\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By the mid-’80s, a series of walls in an unsecured downtown parking lot near Van Ness Avenue and Market Street became an unlikely ground zero for aspiring aerosol aficionados. A wall painted by Doug “Dug-1” Cunningham in 1986 entitled “Psycho City” became so iconic, the quasi-legal graffiti spot was soon named in its honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When Dug hit it, it was a full-on burner,” Spie recalls, referring to a particularly impressive stylistic production that metaphorically burned competition. “It was like it was framed. It was very solidly panoramic, rectangular. It had characters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterwards, “[graffiti] just started to expand to all the neighboring walls, to the point where [Psycho City] became the place to go to paint,” Spie adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926653\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926653\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986.jpg 1011w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dug-1’s ‘Psycho City’ piece gave the legendary San Francisco graffiti spot its name in 1986. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Graffiti artists from all over the Bay Area, and even other states and countries, found their way to Psycho City. Over time, the scene became more competitive as wall space became more limited. A piece painted one night might be painted over the next. Needless to say, the competition fueled innovation, as productions became bolder, bigger and more ambitious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie recalls Psycho City remaining active up until November 1992, when a street festival featuring barbeque, DJs, and breakdancing by NYC’s Rock Steady Crew attracted police attention. In the ensuing confrontation, police vehicles were vandalized. The cops returned in greater numbers and began ticketing people. Soon after, “No Loitering” signs were put up, which allowed police to cite anyone in the area, effectively ending Psycho City’s reign. The irony, Spie says, is that instead of graffiti being contained within one centralized location, the police action “ended up pushing it to other parts of town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13864059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13864059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png\" alt='Mike \"Dream\" Francisco' width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1200x771.png 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1920x1234.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s late painting partner, Mike ‘Dream’ Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Pieces of a Dream\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By 1987, Spie had earned a reputation as an up-and-coming artist with a versatile array of lettering styles. That reputation would only grow over time — and with the help of a legendary collaborator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over in Oakland, a Filipino American artist named Mike “Dream” Francisco had established himself as the king of the 23rd Yard, a popular graffiti destination. At the time, “I didn’t know Dream, but he was my hero,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July 1987, Dream painted a massive mural at the 23rd Yard entitled “Best of Both Worlds.” The painting — which has since become the center spread of 2011’s \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-history-of-american-graffiti-from-subway-car-to-gallery\">The History of American Graffiti\u003c/a>\u003c/em> — consisted of two elaborately detailed letterforms, one in the computer-esque “New Wave” style and the other in the abstract “Funk” style. In mastering both styles, Dream was sending a not-so-subtle message to fellow artists of unity instead of division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie and some artist pals journeyed to Oakland to see the wall. “Everyone was talking about it,” he says. He and Dream became friends that day, although it would be another two years before they would begin collaborating in earnest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after, Phase 2’s widely respected magazine \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM08067.html\">International Graffiti Times\u003c/a>\u003c/em> put out a call for artist submissions. “Dream won that one and it got really popularized. And then everybody knew that the Bay Area had a scene going on… Dream put the Bay Area on the map as far as graff,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926667\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13926667 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1020x185.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-160x29.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-768x140.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1536x279.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-2048x372.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1920x349.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dream’s 1987 ‘Best of Both Worlds’ wall in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bay Area graffiti was growing exponentially, “but it was frowned upon,” says Susan Cervantes of Mission-based arts non-profit \u003ca href=\"https://www.precitaeyes.org/\">Precita Eyes\u003c/a>. “If you had a marker you were considered a criminal. Youth were taking a lot of risk trying to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the subculture continued to thrive. In August 1987, Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff’s book \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em> showcased local artists Crayone TWS, Del Phresh, Whisky and Daube alongside national and international talent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were in love with [\u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>],” Spie says. He notes Prigoff, then a local resident, would sometimes invite Bay Area artists over to his house to view photographs of graffiti from other regions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cervantes, a community muralist since the ’70s, recognized that a new artistic movement was underway. Precita Eyes hosted a book release party for \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, and Cervantes curated a graffiti art competition at Mission Cultural Center, which brought her into contact with 16-year-old Spie, who knew some of the artists in the competition. After the event, Spie stayed in touch with Cervantes and the organization as they started to integrate graffiti’s aesthetic into their youth programming. They’ve been connected ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1996, Spie and Dream participated in a panel during Precita Eyes’ first Urban Youth Arts Festival. “They discussed their experiences in the graffiti movement with all the young people who came to participate,” Cervantes says. “They were really good about the history of the graff movement and how important it was to show respect for each others’ work.” Their engagement with young people set a tone that Precita Eyes has followed for 27 years, with the annual festival as a linchpin of its programmatic activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Spie] is a really special person,” Cervantes says. “I think he’s very articulate not only in his visual expression, but also in activism around the issues that are important to him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926650\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926650\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1020x673.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1536x1013.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike “Dream” Francisco stands before his collaborative mural with Spie One, ‘Tax Dollars Kill,’ in 1995. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Fighting the power\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie has always viewed activism as a generational legacy. He tells a story of how, during the height of the anti-apartheid movement, Berkeley hosted a “Spirit of Soweto” street festival on Telegraph Avenue. Revolution Books provided canvases for artists to paint politically-themed works. Coincidentally, Spie and Dream both brought sketches of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVpsM3YAgw\">Steve Biko\u003c/a>, a martyred South African activist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clearly, the two artists were aligned in their politics and artistic sensibilities, and Spie and Dream began working together shortly after. By that point, Spie had become a master of letterforms, characters and backgrounds. In archival photographs of their many collaborations, the pair appear evenly matched; a 1992 co-production at Psycho City literally rises above lesser tags with blazingly vibrant colors and impeccable aerosol calligraphy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926654\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926654\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1020x659.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-768x496.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1536x993.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi.jpg 1685w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collaborative piece by Spie and Dream at Psycho City in 1992. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie joined Dream’s crew TDK, influencing the collective’s aesthetic artistically and ideologically. The acronym originally stood for “Those Damn Kids,” but soon morphed into alternate meanings, among them “Teach Dem Knowledge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Francisco “Amend” Sanchez was still in high school when he met Dream, who was working at the Built to Last tattoo parlor, where aspiring young artists would often “hover” to watch the master at work. At the time, Sanchez had a different tag, but he switched to writing Amend after Dream told him, “Your name should represent. You should have some value to who you are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TDK, Amend says, isn’t just about the style of graffiti. “It’s also about just the culture within, an urban community that you want to represent and speak up for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Amend, Spie plays a unique role within the crew. “He doesn’t get enough credit on how influential he’s been in the Bay Area for multiple generations. As far as TDK goes, I think he’s the main guy who would push Mike Dream, to push the crew to go into that whole social justice point of view, speaking up for … people in the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was the ‘Fight the Power’ era,” Spie recalls — a time when hip-hop often felt like a political movement, and rappers like Public Enemy and KRS-One pushed the envelope of sociopolitical commentary in pop culture. For Spie, it was a no-brainer to contribute visually, and inspire others to do the same. There were many causes to join: reproductive rights, opposing anti-immigration laws, protesting LAPD’s beating of Rodney King, pushing back against the Gulf War and resisting the 500-year anniversary of Columbus’ “discovery” of America in 1992.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a great time of awareness,” Spie says. “I was very much in a learning mode of being aware of the Native struggle and needing to [let people] know that we are occupying Native peoples’ territories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926719\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926719\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"580\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1020x740.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-768x557.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1536x1114.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy.jpg 1783w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s ‘Solidarity’ was commissioned by the Oakland Museum of California for the exhibition ‘Respect: Style and Wisdom of Hip-Hop’ in 2018. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>No justice, just us\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As political graffiti proliferated in the Bay Area, a January 1993 exhibition at Oakland’s Pro Arts gallery titled \u003cem>No Justice No Peace\u003c/em> became the first local gallery show to feature the artform. Eastside Arts Alliance co-founder Greg Morozumi organized it during the Rodney King protests, which raised profound questions about police accountability. The exhibition, Spie says, was a “proverbial middle finger” against the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To enter the gallery, attendees had to walk over an American flag. “That was the welcome mat,” Spie says. Inside, viewers were greeted by paintings by Spie, Dream, Krash, Dug-1 and Refa One — most of which questioned the authority of law enforcement while reinforcing community resilience. Spie and Dream’s “No Justice” paid tribute to Jesse “Plan-B” Hall, an \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/7-NYa6SDNP8\">emerging rapper who was murdered in a still-unsolved drive-by shooting\u003c/a> in Oakland’s Sobrante Park. Juxtaposed with a Krash painting of a porcine-faced police officer pointing a gun, the piece addressed the emotional toll of inner-city violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1020x706.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-768x532.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1536x1063.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93.jpg 1712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A look inside the ‘No Justice, No Peace’ exhibition at ProArts in 1993. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1994, Dream and Spie painted an on-stage backdrop for KMEL’s annual Summer Jam concert. The show, headlined by Patti LaBelle, also featured locals E-40, Rappin’ 4-Tay, Tony! Toni! Toné! and A Lighter Shade of Brown, along with Public Enemy, OutKast and Queen Latifah. The backdrop proved that the duo weren’t always incendiary, with colorful letters spelling out “Respect” along with the message “peace follows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1995, Spie and Dream collaborated on one of their most unflinching murals: “Tax Dollars Kill.” The names of the artists appeared in typical graffiti wildstyle fashion; above them was a depiction of lightning striking the U.S. Capitol building. The symbolism was inescapable, especially because the mural’s title was rendered boldly above the signatures in white lettering, like a masthead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout their association, Spie and Dream would “always try to bring some kind of message … something poetic to be a part of what people were reading, as far as the painting goes. And that just kind of kept manifesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926708\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410.jpg 1224w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A copy of a 1994 edition of the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> saved by Spie One, showing Patti Labelle performing in front of his collaborative mural with Mike “Dream” Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to political influence, artist Cece Carpio, who calls Spie a mentor, maintains that he helped establish a Bay Area-identified lettering style. In the pre-internet days, she explains, graffiti was less ubiquitous and regions were often associated with specific styles. “Back then, the Bay Area letters got kind of curvy, just stylized lettering. I actually believe that’s something that the Bay Area started, and Spie was one of the pioneers who did that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A controversial mural with a message\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While enrolled as an undergrad at San Francisco State University in 1996, Spie painted his first work with acrylic paint and brushes: a portrait of Malcolm X to commemorate the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#third-world-liberation-front-paves-the-way-for-black-and-brown-unity\">1968 Third World Liberation Front student strike\u003c/a>, which resulted in the creation of one of the country’s first ethnic studies departments. Working in the mode of a traditional painter caused some apprehension and soul-searching for Spie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was always just this back-and-forth around, ‘Are you staying true to this art form? Are you trying to do that other established thing that other people already consider art?’” he recalls. “That was something that I struggled with a lot of those years. But I think the Malcolm X piece really helped me to open up my own personal arts avenues much wider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the mural’s unveiling was a success (Spie got to meet Malcolm’s widow, Betty Shabazz, who came out for the event), the project had a long and controversial backstory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An earlier version of the mural, painted by Oakland artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851520/rightnowish-refa-one-spraypaint-in-hand-honors-west-oaklands-history\">Refa One\u003c/a>, included a border with dollar bills, a burning American flag, and a Star of David. Needless to say, this did not go over well with the university, whose spokesperson \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/27/us/san-francisco-state-destroys-malcolm-x-mural-after-furor.html\">called the piece “hateful” in \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. [ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school administration ordered the mural to be covered up, but a group of students reclaimed it with a bucket of water and soap, and camped out in front of the mural to protect it from further harm. In response, the school brought in a tactical unit in riot gear, aided by the SFPD, Spie recalls. Eventually, the mural was sandblasted over. “It was like they were assassinating Malcolm twice,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years later, the university put out another call for artists, and Spie was selected. Facing pressure from student activists, the school administration asked him to work with a Black artist, Kamau Ayubbi, a friend he knew from the 23rd Yard. The completed mural, still visible today, features two portraits of Malcolm X, with the African continent surrounding the United States, painted in black, in the background. It also includes a Malcolm X quote: “Our objective is complete freedom, justice, and equality By Any Means Necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926660\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1020x727.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-768x548.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1536x1095.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-2048x1460.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1920x1369.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Kama Ayubbo’s 1996 Malcolm X mural at San Francisco State University. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Rebel without a pause\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2000, the unthinkable happened: Mike Dream was murdered in West Oakland. The still-unsolved killing deprived the Bay Area of its most legendary graffiti artist. “It was a devastating blow when he left this world. … So much of my own kind of self-actualization came through his guidance,” Spie \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-dream-continued-1/\">later told the \u003cem>East Bay Express\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Spie and the TDK crew have kept Dream alive and in their hearts for the past 23 years, organizing a series of annual “Dream Day” events in Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://hiphopandpolitics.com/tag/mike-dream/\">beginning in 2010\u003c/a>, benefitting Dream’s son Akil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than slow down, though, TDK remained active. Amend, Vogue and Stash all became widely known artists in their own right. Dream protege Marty Aranaydo, a.k.a. Meut TDK, a.k.a. DJ Willie Maze, furthered hip-hop activism through painting and as a member of socially conscious DJ collective Local 1200. Meanwhile, Spie soldiered on, earning a teaching credential and landing a job teaching art at a regional high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 2000s, a new generation of artist collectives emerged, building directly on Dream and Spie’s sociopolitical blueprint and the family values of TDK. \u003ca href=\"https://www.trustyourstruggle.org/\">Trust Your Struggle\u003c/a> member Carpio says Spie has gone out of his way to push her artistic efforts to the next level. And while \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13868732/cece-carpio\">Carpio’s work stands on its own\u003c/a>, Spie’s influence reflects in themes of Indigenous advocacy, resilience and racial solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two recently painted a commemorative project at UC Berkeley honoring the Third World Liberation Front. The project, which has yet to be installed, features vibrant portraits of revolutionary icons Richard Aoki, June Jordan, Lehman Brightman, Ron Takaki and LaNada War Jack. According to Carpio, “what makes [Spie’s art] different in comparison to a lot of other graffiti and street art is his accountability to the movement and his accountability to the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"816\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1020x1040.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-768x783.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1506x1536.jpg 1506w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1920x1958.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall.jpg 2006w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">2014’s ‘Key Tree,’ Spie’s contribution to Oakland’s Palestine Solidarity Wall, visualizes liberation of oppressed peoples. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie has painted in New York, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico and Portugal. Still, some of his most memorable work has been local. In 2007, he, Mike Ramos and H.O.M.E.Y. \u003ca href=\"https://digitalstories.famsf.org/teo/#teotihuacan-in-san-francisco\">painted\u003c/a> the mythical Aztec Feathered Serpent in the Mission. In 2014, he was one of 12 muralists who contributed to the “\u003ca href=\"https://artforces.org/projects/murals/usa/oakland-palestine-solidarity-mural/\">Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural\u003c/a>” in Uptown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, he manifested a solidarity-themed mural as part of the Oakland Museum’s first-ever hip-hop exhibit, and a ruby-throated hummingbird for environmental justice organization PODER. During the pandemic, he and several family members volunteered to paint the exterior of the Precita Eyes building. In 2021, during the George Floyd protests, he was one of the first artists to turn downtown Oakland into an outdoor art gallery. And in 2022, he painted a work entitled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.artspanart.org/eric-norberg-eai-summer-2022\">Serve the People\u003c/a>” on the window of Casa De Apoyo, a transitional housing resource center in the Excelsior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he’s become a more accomplished muralist, Spie has stayed true to his roots by including elements of graffiti even when working with other mediums. “I can remember that he started using acrylic paint with a brush to block in everything, and then he would do all the fine effects and details with the aerosol,” Cervantes says. “And that’s kind of what our youth arts program still does today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout his storied career, Spie says he “always chose the side of the earth, the subjected and the oppressed. And, you know, what they like to say: the voice of the voiceless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926662\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926662\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Cece Carpio collaborated on a tribute to the Third World Liberation Front and other revolutionary activists. Their work will be installed at UC Berkeley at a later date. \u003ccite>(Cece Carpio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>TDK: The Dream Kontinues\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie can recount descriptive accounts of protests from decades past, but when asked about future projects, he simply sends over a link to YBCA’s recent “YBCA 100” celebration, with a visual art display by TDK Collective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the event, Spie held court on the venue’s second floor, dressed unassumingly in a Madow Futur jacket and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/i5OX8pDTyow\">Bored Stiff\u003c/a> baseball hat. As he greeted attendees, including visual artist Agana and documentary filmmaker Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, a monitor played \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">Bay Area Graffiti: The Early Years\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, followed by \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art supplies were laid out on a table, along with various hardcover books on graffiti. Adjacent walls were decorated with TDK’s historical works: several Spie-Dream collaborations, including “Tax Dollars Kill,” and a tribute to the Rodney King uprisings that depicted an overturned police car, a colorful piece by Pak (R.I.P.), a tribute to Plan-B, and a late career piece by Dream. Several of Spie’s solo works were integrated, among them two vibrant “Spie” letterforms, linked by the word “vs.” (referencing the classic \u003cem>Mad\u003c/em> magazine cartoon “Spy vs. Spy”). The artist was clearly in his element.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie pulled out a binder he’d assembled, consisting of Dream’s pieces, sketches, quotes and airbrush work. The collection held serious gravitas; all that it needed to be included in a library alongside \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Dondi White: Style Master General\u003c/em> and similar graffiti books was a hardcover binding and written essays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whatever the future holds – a comprehensive TDK retrospective, the publication of his Dream book or some other legacy project – Spie doesn’t reveal exact plans. It’s understandable, and completely in character, that after five decades as an artist, he seems to take satisfaction in maintaining his mystique, revealing only what he deems necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Editor’s note:\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003ci> This story is part of\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/bayareahiphop\"> That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003ci>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>he name Spie One has resonated in the Bay Area for nearly 40 years. The prolific graffiti artist, muralist and artivist may be less famous than his former painting partner, the late Mike “Dream” Francisco, but Spie is no less legendary. A mainstay of the TDK Collective, Irie Posse and FC — all with gravitas and legacy in the underground art world — Spie has been both observer and participant throughout the most dynamic eras in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But who is Spie? His \u003cem>nom de guerre\u003c/em> evokes subterfuge, counter-intelligence, covertness. Indeed, maintaining anonymity was imperative at the beginning of Spie’s career, during the formative stages of Bay Area graffiti itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, though, Spie evolved into a well-known force bridging activism and visual art in the streets. In recent years, he’s become an accomplished muralist working in different mediums, as well as a teacher, mentor and leader by example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who know Spie well enough to call him a friend talk a lot about his character — his ethics, his dedication to his craft and his belief in collective liberation. They also mention his idiosyncrasies — the bugged-out sketches he randomly emails folks, his insistence on using 20-year-old paint from his garage instead of modern spray cans, his continued willingness to get up on impromptu street art missions even though he’s married with children and has a day job as a high school art teacher.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The words “community” and “family” invariably come up in conversations with and about Spie. While he can claim status in a field where toys are destroyed and respect is earned one piece at a time, one of his defining characteristics is humility. His ethos, he says, is a simple “each one teach one” philosophy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You got knowledge, you got to pass it on,” Spie continues. “I got something to share. That’s why I chose to take my work to the next generation, the youth, and to help cultivate their imagination, their radical thoughts… Hip-hop combined with that is what has shaped my pathway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I, Spie\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie grew up in a multiracial household in San Francisco in the 1970s, when the city was still identified with the remnants of 1960s counterculture. His artist mother and bus driver father were both activists whose shared worldview was shaped by revolutionary ideals. While his mom encouraged his artistic sensibilities, his dad let him pal along on bus rides and introduced him to eclectic, cutting-edge music, like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PobrSpMwKk4\">The Message\u003c/a>” — with bristling, Reagan-era sociopolitical commentary that made a lasting impression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A tall, lanky youth, Spie was somewhat introverted, letting his artistic expressions manifest on notebooks and a dresser in his room. No one particular flashpoint led him to pursue graffiti. As a half-Asian kid, or \u003cem>hapa\u003c/em>, living in a diverse city, he was eager to carve out his own identity and find a community. The emergence of hip-hop and graffiti in the early ’80s gave him the sense of belonging and creative outlet he needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie’s first public attempt at a graffiti piece came in 1985, at the tennis courts of McAteer High School in San Francisco. It was a simple piece: a red and black rendering of his early moniker “Spy,” written boldly. Next to it were the words “one man bomber” — a testament to the fact that Spie painted it alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926652\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926652\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s first piece at San Francisco’s McAteer High School, circa late 1983 or early 1984. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a 2017 episode of Adam Fujita’s popular \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-6-season-2-spie-tdk-fc-tmc-irie-possee/id1170942266?i=1000408431397\">graffiti podcast \u003cem>My Life In Letters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Spie explained how the piece brought him local notoriety; he soon became an active tagger on Muni buses, as well as in the Excelsior and the Mission. A Muni Fast Pass afforded him the opportunity to visit other neighborhoods and write his graffiti name across the city, and as he grew more prolific, so did his stylistic ability and reputation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young Spie wasn’t alone in this endeavor. Alongside him in the 1980s were hundreds, maybe thousands of restless youth finding their way within graffiti. The status quo called them vandals. But graffiti was \u003cem>their\u003c/em> counterculture, and a way to find meaning and identity in a society that didn’t always see or hear them. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 1982, graffiti had become known as one of hip-hop’s four elements. But it was also a standalone culture that preceded b-boying, MCing and DJ scratching. The \u003ca href=\"http://southsideprojections.org/2018/the-mural-movement-and-the-black-arts-movement/\">community mural movement\u003c/a> dated back to 1967 Chicago and aligned with the Black Arts Movement. Murals were already part of the cultural expression of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcet.org/arts-culture/el-movimiento\">El Movimiento\u003c/a>, a.k.a. the Chicano Movement, a push for ethnic identity and empowerment. The \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/ijt2106/moment-of-departure/the-emergence-of-modern-graffiti/\">modern graffiti movement\u003c/a> originated in Philadelphia in the late ’60s before spreading to New York. And gang-affiliated tags had long permeated SF’s Mission and Excelsior districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cultural precedents were integral to graffiti’s evolution. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, New York’s aerosol kings conquered the subways of the five boroughs. Even though the Metropolitan Transit Authority combatted their wild styles with “the buff,” word spread around the country with films like 1983’s \u003cem>Wild Style\u003c/em>, along with the documentary \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>, which aired nationally on PBS the same year. Its broadcast on KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">catalyzed the Bay Area graffiti scene\u003c/a>. “There was this gravitational pull toward what was happening coming out of these films,” Spie recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>One wall to rule them all\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By the mid-’80s, a series of walls in an unsecured downtown parking lot near Van Ness Avenue and Market Street became an unlikely ground zero for aspiring aerosol aficionados. A wall painted by Doug “Dug-1” Cunningham in 1986 entitled “Psycho City” became so iconic, the quasi-legal graffiti spot was soon named in its honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When Dug hit it, it was a full-on burner,” Spie recalls, referring to a particularly impressive stylistic production that metaphorically burned competition. “It was like it was framed. It was very solidly panoramic, rectangular. It had characters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterwards, “[graffiti] just started to expand to all the neighboring walls, to the point where [Psycho City] became the place to go to paint,” Spie adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926653\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926653\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986.jpg 1011w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dug-1’s ‘Psycho City’ piece gave the legendary San Francisco graffiti spot its name in 1986. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Graffiti artists from all over the Bay Area, and even other states and countries, found their way to Psycho City. Over time, the scene became more competitive as wall space became more limited. A piece painted one night might be painted over the next. Needless to say, the competition fueled innovation, as productions became bolder, bigger and more ambitious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie recalls Psycho City remaining active up until November 1992, when a street festival featuring barbeque, DJs, and breakdancing by NYC’s Rock Steady Crew attracted police attention. In the ensuing confrontation, police vehicles were vandalized. The cops returned in greater numbers and began ticketing people. Soon after, “No Loitering” signs were put up, which allowed police to cite anyone in the area, effectively ending Psycho City’s reign. The irony, Spie says, is that instead of graffiti being contained within one centralized location, the police action “ended up pushing it to other parts of town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13864059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13864059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png\" alt='Mike \"Dream\" Francisco' width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1200x771.png 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1920x1234.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s late painting partner, Mike ‘Dream’ Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Pieces of a Dream\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By 1987, Spie had earned a reputation as an up-and-coming artist with a versatile array of lettering styles. That reputation would only grow over time — and with the help of a legendary collaborator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over in Oakland, a Filipino American artist named Mike “Dream” Francisco had established himself as the king of the 23rd Yard, a popular graffiti destination. At the time, “I didn’t know Dream, but he was my hero,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July 1987, Dream painted a massive mural at the 23rd Yard entitled “Best of Both Worlds.” The painting — which has since become the center spread of 2011’s \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-history-of-american-graffiti-from-subway-car-to-gallery\">The History of American Graffiti\u003c/a>\u003c/em> — consisted of two elaborately detailed letterforms, one in the computer-esque “New Wave” style and the other in the abstract “Funk” style. In mastering both styles, Dream was sending a not-so-subtle message to fellow artists of unity instead of division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie and some artist pals journeyed to Oakland to see the wall. “Everyone was talking about it,” he says. He and Dream became friends that day, although it would be another two years before they would begin collaborating in earnest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after, Phase 2’s widely respected magazine \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM08067.html\">International Graffiti Times\u003c/a>\u003c/em> put out a call for artist submissions. “Dream won that one and it got really popularized. And then everybody knew that the Bay Area had a scene going on… Dream put the Bay Area on the map as far as graff,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926667\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13926667 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1020x185.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-160x29.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-768x140.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1536x279.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-2048x372.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1920x349.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dream’s 1987 ‘Best of Both Worlds’ wall in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bay Area graffiti was growing exponentially, “but it was frowned upon,” says Susan Cervantes of Mission-based arts non-profit \u003ca href=\"https://www.precitaeyes.org/\">Precita Eyes\u003c/a>. “If you had a marker you were considered a criminal. Youth were taking a lot of risk trying to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the subculture continued to thrive. In August 1987, Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff’s book \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em> showcased local artists Crayone TWS, Del Phresh, Whisky and Daube alongside national and international talent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were in love with [\u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>],” Spie says. He notes Prigoff, then a local resident, would sometimes invite Bay Area artists over to his house to view photographs of graffiti from other regions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cervantes, a community muralist since the ’70s, recognized that a new artistic movement was underway. Precita Eyes hosted a book release party for \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, and Cervantes curated a graffiti art competition at Mission Cultural Center, which brought her into contact with 16-year-old Spie, who knew some of the artists in the competition. After the event, Spie stayed in touch with Cervantes and the organization as they started to integrate graffiti’s aesthetic into their youth programming. They’ve been connected ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1996, Spie and Dream participated in a panel during Precita Eyes’ first Urban Youth Arts Festival. “They discussed their experiences in the graffiti movement with all the young people who came to participate,” Cervantes says. “They were really good about the history of the graff movement and how important it was to show respect for each others’ work.” Their engagement with young people set a tone that Precita Eyes has followed for 27 years, with the annual festival as a linchpin of its programmatic activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Spie] is a really special person,” Cervantes says. “I think he’s very articulate not only in his visual expression, but also in activism around the issues that are important to him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926650\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926650\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1020x673.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1536x1013.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike “Dream” Francisco stands before his collaborative mural with Spie One, ‘Tax Dollars Kill,’ in 1995. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Fighting the power\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie has always viewed activism as a generational legacy. He tells a story of how, during the height of the anti-apartheid movement, Berkeley hosted a “Spirit of Soweto” street festival on Telegraph Avenue. Revolution Books provided canvases for artists to paint politically-themed works. Coincidentally, Spie and Dream both brought sketches of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVpsM3YAgw\">Steve Biko\u003c/a>, a martyred South African activist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clearly, the two artists were aligned in their politics and artistic sensibilities, and Spie and Dream began working together shortly after. By that point, Spie had become a master of letterforms, characters and backgrounds. In archival photographs of their many collaborations, the pair appear evenly matched; a 1992 co-production at Psycho City literally rises above lesser tags with blazingly vibrant colors and impeccable aerosol calligraphy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926654\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926654\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1020x659.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-768x496.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1536x993.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi.jpg 1685w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collaborative piece by Spie and Dream at Psycho City in 1992. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie joined Dream’s crew TDK, influencing the collective’s aesthetic artistically and ideologically. The acronym originally stood for “Those Damn Kids,” but soon morphed into alternate meanings, among them “Teach Dem Knowledge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Francisco “Amend” Sanchez was still in high school when he met Dream, who was working at the Built to Last tattoo parlor, where aspiring young artists would often “hover” to watch the master at work. At the time, Sanchez had a different tag, but he switched to writing Amend after Dream told him, “Your name should represent. You should have some value to who you are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TDK, Amend says, isn’t just about the style of graffiti. “It’s also about just the culture within, an urban community that you want to represent and speak up for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Amend, Spie plays a unique role within the crew. “He doesn’t get enough credit on how influential he’s been in the Bay Area for multiple generations. As far as TDK goes, I think he’s the main guy who would push Mike Dream, to push the crew to go into that whole social justice point of view, speaking up for … people in the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was the ‘Fight the Power’ era,” Spie recalls — a time when hip-hop often felt like a political movement, and rappers like Public Enemy and KRS-One pushed the envelope of sociopolitical commentary in pop culture. For Spie, it was a no-brainer to contribute visually, and inspire others to do the same. There were many causes to join: reproductive rights, opposing anti-immigration laws, protesting LAPD’s beating of Rodney King, pushing back against the Gulf War and resisting the 500-year anniversary of Columbus’ “discovery” of America in 1992.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a great time of awareness,” Spie says. “I was very much in a learning mode of being aware of the Native struggle and needing to [let people] know that we are occupying Native peoples’ territories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926719\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926719\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"580\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1020x740.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-768x557.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1536x1114.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy.jpg 1783w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s ‘Solidarity’ was commissioned by the Oakland Museum of California for the exhibition ‘Respect: Style and Wisdom of Hip-Hop’ in 2018. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>No justice, just us\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As political graffiti proliferated in the Bay Area, a January 1993 exhibition at Oakland’s Pro Arts gallery titled \u003cem>No Justice No Peace\u003c/em> became the first local gallery show to feature the artform. Eastside Arts Alliance co-founder Greg Morozumi organized it during the Rodney King protests, which raised profound questions about police accountability. The exhibition, Spie says, was a “proverbial middle finger” against the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To enter the gallery, attendees had to walk over an American flag. “That was the welcome mat,” Spie says. Inside, viewers were greeted by paintings by Spie, Dream, Krash, Dug-1 and Refa One — most of which questioned the authority of law enforcement while reinforcing community resilience. Spie and Dream’s “No Justice” paid tribute to Jesse “Plan-B” Hall, an \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/7-NYa6SDNP8\">emerging rapper who was murdered in a still-unsolved drive-by shooting\u003c/a> in Oakland’s Sobrante Park. Juxtaposed with a Krash painting of a porcine-faced police officer pointing a gun, the piece addressed the emotional toll of inner-city violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1020x706.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-768x532.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1536x1063.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93.jpg 1712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A look inside the ‘No Justice, No Peace’ exhibition at ProArts in 1993. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1994, Dream and Spie painted an on-stage backdrop for KMEL’s annual Summer Jam concert. The show, headlined by Patti LaBelle, also featured locals E-40, Rappin’ 4-Tay, Tony! Toni! Toné! and A Lighter Shade of Brown, along with Public Enemy, OutKast and Queen Latifah. The backdrop proved that the duo weren’t always incendiary, with colorful letters spelling out “Respect” along with the message “peace follows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1995, Spie and Dream collaborated on one of their most unflinching murals: “Tax Dollars Kill.” The names of the artists appeared in typical graffiti wildstyle fashion; above them was a depiction of lightning striking the U.S. Capitol building. The symbolism was inescapable, especially because the mural’s title was rendered boldly above the signatures in white lettering, like a masthead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout their association, Spie and Dream would “always try to bring some kind of message … something poetic to be a part of what people were reading, as far as the painting goes. And that just kind of kept manifesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926708\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410.jpg 1224w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A copy of a 1994 edition of the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> saved by Spie One, showing Patti Labelle performing in front of his collaborative mural with Mike “Dream” Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to political influence, artist Cece Carpio, who calls Spie a mentor, maintains that he helped establish a Bay Area-identified lettering style. In the pre-internet days, she explains, graffiti was less ubiquitous and regions were often associated with specific styles. “Back then, the Bay Area letters got kind of curvy, just stylized lettering. I actually believe that’s something that the Bay Area started, and Spie was one of the pioneers who did that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A controversial mural with a message\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While enrolled as an undergrad at San Francisco State University in 1996, Spie painted his first work with acrylic paint and brushes: a portrait of Malcolm X to commemorate the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#third-world-liberation-front-paves-the-way-for-black-and-brown-unity\">1968 Third World Liberation Front student strike\u003c/a>, which resulted in the creation of one of the country’s first ethnic studies departments. Working in the mode of a traditional painter caused some apprehension and soul-searching for Spie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was always just this back-and-forth around, ‘Are you staying true to this art form? Are you trying to do that other established thing that other people already consider art?’” he recalls. “That was something that I struggled with a lot of those years. But I think the Malcolm X piece really helped me to open up my own personal arts avenues much wider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the mural’s unveiling was a success (Spie got to meet Malcolm’s widow, Betty Shabazz, who came out for the event), the project had a long and controversial backstory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An earlier version of the mural, painted by Oakland artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851520/rightnowish-refa-one-spraypaint-in-hand-honors-west-oaklands-history\">Refa One\u003c/a>, included a border with dollar bills, a burning American flag, and a Star of David. Needless to say, this did not go over well with the university, whose spokesperson \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/27/us/san-francisco-state-destroys-malcolm-x-mural-after-furor.html\">called the piece “hateful” in \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school administration ordered the mural to be covered up, but a group of students reclaimed it with a bucket of water and soap, and camped out in front of the mural to protect it from further harm. In response, the school brought in a tactical unit in riot gear, aided by the SFPD, Spie recalls. Eventually, the mural was sandblasted over. “It was like they were assassinating Malcolm twice,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years later, the university put out another call for artists, and Spie was selected. Facing pressure from student activists, the school administration asked him to work with a Black artist, Kamau Ayubbi, a friend he knew from the 23rd Yard. The completed mural, still visible today, features two portraits of Malcolm X, with the African continent surrounding the United States, painted in black, in the background. It also includes a Malcolm X quote: “Our objective is complete freedom, justice, and equality By Any Means Necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926660\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1020x727.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-768x548.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1536x1095.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-2048x1460.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1920x1369.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Kama Ayubbo’s 1996 Malcolm X mural at San Francisco State University. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Rebel without a pause\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2000, the unthinkable happened: Mike Dream was murdered in West Oakland. The still-unsolved killing deprived the Bay Area of its most legendary graffiti artist. “It was a devastating blow when he left this world. … So much of my own kind of self-actualization came through his guidance,” Spie \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-dream-continued-1/\">later told the \u003cem>East Bay Express\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Spie and the TDK crew have kept Dream alive and in their hearts for the past 23 years, organizing a series of annual “Dream Day” events in Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://hiphopandpolitics.com/tag/mike-dream/\">beginning in 2010\u003c/a>, benefitting Dream’s son Akil.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/cDp38sltic8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/cDp38sltic8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Rather than slow down, though, TDK remained active. Amend, Vogue and Stash all became widely known artists in their own right. Dream protege Marty Aranaydo, a.k.a. Meut TDK, a.k.a. DJ Willie Maze, furthered hip-hop activism through painting and as a member of socially conscious DJ collective Local 1200. Meanwhile, Spie soldiered on, earning a teaching credential and landing a job teaching art at a regional high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 2000s, a new generation of artist collectives emerged, building directly on Dream and Spie’s sociopolitical blueprint and the family values of TDK. \u003ca href=\"https://www.trustyourstruggle.org/\">Trust Your Struggle\u003c/a> member Carpio says Spie has gone out of his way to push her artistic efforts to the next level. And while \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13868732/cece-carpio\">Carpio’s work stands on its own\u003c/a>, Spie’s influence reflects in themes of Indigenous advocacy, resilience and racial solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two recently painted a commemorative project at UC Berkeley honoring the Third World Liberation Front. The project, which has yet to be installed, features vibrant portraits of revolutionary icons Richard Aoki, June Jordan, Lehman Brightman, Ron Takaki and LaNada War Jack. According to Carpio, “what makes [Spie’s art] different in comparison to a lot of other graffiti and street art is his accountability to the movement and his accountability to the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"816\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1020x1040.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-768x783.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1506x1536.jpg 1506w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1920x1958.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall.jpg 2006w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">2014’s ‘Key Tree,’ Spie’s contribution to Oakland’s Palestine Solidarity Wall, visualizes liberation of oppressed peoples. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie has painted in New York, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico and Portugal. Still, some of his most memorable work has been local. In 2007, he, Mike Ramos and H.O.M.E.Y. \u003ca href=\"https://digitalstories.famsf.org/teo/#teotihuacan-in-san-francisco\">painted\u003c/a> the mythical Aztec Feathered Serpent in the Mission. In 2014, he was one of 12 muralists who contributed to the “\u003ca href=\"https://artforces.org/projects/murals/usa/oakland-palestine-solidarity-mural/\">Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural\u003c/a>” in Uptown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, he manifested a solidarity-themed mural as part of the Oakland Museum’s first-ever hip-hop exhibit, and a ruby-throated hummingbird for environmental justice organization PODER. During the pandemic, he and several family members volunteered to paint the exterior of the Precita Eyes building. In 2021, during the George Floyd protests, he was one of the first artists to turn downtown Oakland into an outdoor art gallery. And in 2022, he painted a work entitled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.artspanart.org/eric-norberg-eai-summer-2022\">Serve the People\u003c/a>” on the window of Casa De Apoyo, a transitional housing resource center in the Excelsior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he’s become a more accomplished muralist, Spie has stayed true to his roots by including elements of graffiti even when working with other mediums. “I can remember that he started using acrylic paint with a brush to block in everything, and then he would do all the fine effects and details with the aerosol,” Cervantes says. “And that’s kind of what our youth arts program still does today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout his storied career, Spie says he “always chose the side of the earth, the subjected and the oppressed. And, you know, what they like to say: the voice of the voiceless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926662\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926662\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Cece Carpio collaborated on a tribute to the Third World Liberation Front and other revolutionary activists. Their work will be installed at UC Berkeley at a later date. \u003ccite>(Cece Carpio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>TDK: The Dream Kontinues\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie can recount descriptive accounts of protests from decades past, but when asked about future projects, he simply sends over a link to YBCA’s recent “YBCA 100” celebration, with a visual art display by TDK Collective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the event, Spie held court on the venue’s second floor, dressed unassumingly in a Madow Futur jacket and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/i5OX8pDTyow\">Bored Stiff\u003c/a> baseball hat. As he greeted attendees, including visual artist Agana and documentary filmmaker Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, a monitor played \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">Bay Area Graffiti: The Early Years\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, followed by \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art supplies were laid out on a table, along with various hardcover books on graffiti. Adjacent walls were decorated with TDK’s historical works: several Spie-Dream collaborations, including “Tax Dollars Kill,” and a tribute to the Rodney King uprisings that depicted an overturned police car, a colorful piece by Pak (R.I.P.), a tribute to Plan-B, and a late career piece by Dream. Several of Spie’s solo works were integrated, among them two vibrant “Spie” letterforms, linked by the word “vs.” (referencing the classic \u003cem>Mad\u003c/em> magazine cartoon “Spy vs. Spy”). The artist was clearly in his element.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie pulled out a binder he’d assembled, consisting of Dream’s pieces, sketches, quotes and airbrush work. The collection held serious gravitas; all that it needed to be included in a library alongside \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Dondi White: Style Master General\u003c/em> and similar graffiti books was a hardcover binding and written essays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whatever the future holds – a comprehensive TDK retrospective, the publication of his Dream book or some other legacy project – Spie doesn’t reveal exact plans. It’s understandable, and completely in character, that after five decades as an artist, he seems to take satisfaction in maintaining his mystique, revealing only what he deems necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "honoring-dave-schubert-san-franciscos-wildest-street-photographer",
"title": "Honoring Dave Schubert, San Francisco’s Wildest Street Photographer",
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"content": "\u003cp>On Friday morning, I got word that my favorite San Francisco photographer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/daveschubertsf/\">Dave Schubert\u003c/a> had died suddenly. The long-time Mission District resident was discovered on Thursday, Jan. 5 by concerned friends at the 26th Street home Schubert lived in for two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schubert’s work had been a minor obsession of mine ever since 2005, when I first saw one of his photographs at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936275/111-minna-30th-anniversary-show-review-jeremy-fish-alec-huxley-sam-flores-interview\">111 Minna\u003c/a> show. The photo in question — a chaotic 16th Street brawl involving seven people and a bicycle — has hung in my home ever since. It offers a perfect snapshot of Mission District nightlife as I knew it back then: a grimy, hedonistic community of bartenders, graffiti writers, skaters, punks and bike messengers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923401\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13923401\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.57.33-AM-800x1226.png\" alt=\"A cluster of seven people push and pull each other in a street fight. A woman lies on the ground underneath it all, a bicycle laying on the ground in front of her.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1226\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.57.33-AM-800x1226.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.57.33-AM-160x245.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.57.33-AM-768x1177.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.57.33-AM.png 860w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dave Schubert captured this fight outside Delirium on 16th Street in 2003. \u003ccite>(Dave Schubert)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This underworld of smart-ass scrappers, non-stop taggers and street-fighting drunkards was a large part of why I fell in love with San Francisco in the first place. And Schubert documented all of it. Back then, in the late ’90s and early 2000s, it felt like there were no consequences for any amount of ill-advised behavior. If there \u003ci>was\u003c/i> trouble? Well, the story you told the next day was just that much better. In the 18 years since I first found Schubert’s work, no one has captured that chaos better than he did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schubert and I lived only a few blocks from each other in the Mission, so back in September 2022, I invited him out to lunch to talk about his work. He met me in the back of Old Jerusalem on Mission Street. In person, Schubert was sweet, polite, humble, and just a little wild-eyed. He told me right off the bat that he’d hit his head a lot over the years and showed me \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CLDyx_BsECr/\">photos of him swollen and bleeding\u003c/a> to prove it. “Bloody head shots,” he called them. He had a whole collection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923473\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13923473\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM-800x979.png\" alt=\"A young man with blood on his forehead and cheek, with a large lump forming on the side of his face, looks blankly at the camera. \" width=\"800\" height=\"979\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM-800x979.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM-1020x1248.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM-160x196.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM-768x940.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM.png 1056w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Schubert’s self-portraits, this one documenting the aftermath of a bicycle accident. \u003ccite>(Dave Schubert)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Schubert was also incredibly smart; a scholar about the history of photography and an easy conversationalist. We talked for longer than I expected that day about a wide array of topics. We talked about Schubert’s earliest photography inspirations: \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Richardson_(photographer)\">Bob Richardson\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Avedon\">Richard Avedon\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frank\">Robert Frank\u003c/a>. We talked about the history of the Mission. We talked about dead friends, in particular \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf0ZVR9u0DI/\">his best friend Dash Snow\u003c/a>, who Schubert memorialized with \u003ca href=\"https://panopticonpress.bigcartel.com/product/dash-i-miss-you-ap-edition\">a fanzine of photos\u003c/a> after Snow’s death in 2009.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schubert moved to the city in 1995 after being awarded a scholarship to study photography at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sfai\">San Francisco Art Institute\u003c/a>. Once he arrived, Schubert immersed himself in the Bay’s thriving skateboarding and graffiti scene. Back on the East Coast, he’d been a prolific skate videographer, primarily in Washington, D.C. On that September day, we talked about his more recent work for \u003ca href=\"https://www.skatedeluxe.com/en/gx1000-shop\">GX1000\u003c/a>, his friend’s skate company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923413\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13923413\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-4.10.30-PM-800x956.png\" alt=\"A man wearing blue jeans, flannel shirt and a chicken head mask perches on top of a graffitied bathroom stall, money falling from his hands.\" width=\"800\" height=\"956\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-4.10.30-PM-800x956.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-4.10.30-PM-160x191.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-4.10.30-PM-768x918.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-4.10.30-PM.png 1014w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo taken at The Cock, a New York City gay bar. \u003ccite>(Dave Schubert)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Best of all, we talked about the trouble he’d found himself in while taking photos of strangers doing illegal things — a habit Schubert had that reflected his audacious approach to his craft. He told me of one incident when a group of sex workers attacked him for taking a photo of them smoking crack in the Tenderloin. Mid-attack, Schubert told me, one of them began biting his finger. Hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had just watched a nature film with sharks that week though,” Schubert casually told me. “And it said if you’re attacked by a reef shark, don’t pull your hand out of its mouth because your flesh will tear. Instead, hit it in the throat so it will release you. So that’s what I did. That’s how I got the prostitute off my finger.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Talking to Schubert, these kinds of stories weren’t unusual. They were simply how he lived his life: on the edge, always adjacent to trouble, illuminating the darkest sides of city living with his camera, so that the rest of the world might see it too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923404\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13923404\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-800x517.png\" alt=\"A man stands casually wearing black clothing and an San Francisco 49ers baseball cap, while a woman casually tags a Muni bus in San Francisco. The bus doors are still open.\" width=\"800\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-800x517.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-1020x659.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-768x496.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-1536x993.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM.png 1550w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Every day acts of vandalism in SF, as captured by Dave Schubert. \u003ccite>(Dave Schubert)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He had a drive and passion for his work that is hard to find these days,” says Lindsay Mape, who first befriended Schubert in 1995. “I was studying painting at SFAI and he would sneak in with me and use the dark rooms all day long to print his film, while I painted in the studios downstairs. Then we would leave and go hang in the Mission or the TL all night, finding trouble, hanging with friends, laughing and chilling with my dog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He didn’t have a nasty bone in his body,” she remembers. “Genuinely the sweetest soul.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Noah Lang of the San Francisco gallery \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CnFgYPMS43k/\">Electric Works\u003c/a>, who first befriended Schubert in 1999, has similar memories of the photographer. “Even in his darkest times, he never had any anger,” Lang says. “He was an unstoppable force of positivity. He was very generous. He was interested in sharing everything that he had. He would have 17-year-old skaters email him saying they liked his work and he would just send them [a print]. He was not looking for fame or fortune ever. He just wanted enough money to live and make his books and that was pretty much it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like street photographers are born noticers,” Lang continues. “They notice all the things that we see but don’t find remarkable, and then they synthesize it. Dave was a really great noticer and synthesizer of the coral reef around him. He knew everything about it. He could see it all and he would make a photo of it and turn normalcy into poetry in 1/60 of a second.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923472\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13923472\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-800x512.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-800x512.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-1020x653.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-160x102.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-768x491.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-1536x983.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM.png 1910w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A very young Stevie Williams (skateboarder) poses between friends at Pulaski Park in Washington, D.C., 1993. \u003ccite>(Dave Schubert)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tributes poured in for Schubert over the weekend as news of his untimely death spread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/steveespopowers/\">Steve Powers wrote on Instagram\u003c/a>: “I don’t know a better photographer that shot both skateboarding and graffiti as well as Dave did, but, as he would say about bragging, ‘Don’t tell it, show it’ … Dave Schubert didn’t take pictures, he took the time to love and to show the love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/photography/the-chaos-he-memorialized-rip-san-francisco-photography-legend-dave-schubert/\">Evan Pricco of \u003cem>Juxtapoz\u003c/em> wrote\u003c/a>: “It feels as if an era of San Francisco has passed with the news of the death of photographer, Dave Schubert. Many of my earliest memories of art, of underground culture, of life being fucking lived, was through the lens and eye of Dave Schubert. He was telling me the story of my home city without me even being conscious of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Noah Lang and friends have set up a fundraising campaign to save and preserve Dave Schubert’s photographic archive. \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/dave-schuberts-photographic-legacy?qid=93785caa04562f1ed1bf1235d03c5de5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Details can be found on their GoFundMe page\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>An exhibit of Schubert’s photography will be on display at San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://etaletc.com/\">Et Al. Etc. Gallery\u003c/a> (2831 Mission Street) between July 29 and Aug. 18, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Honoring Dave Schubert, San Francisco’s Wildest Street Photographer | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Friday morning, I got word that my favorite San Francisco photographer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/daveschubertsf/\">Dave Schubert\u003c/a> had died suddenly. The long-time Mission District resident was discovered on Thursday, Jan. 5 by concerned friends at the 26th Street home Schubert lived in for two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schubert’s work had been a minor obsession of mine ever since 2005, when I first saw one of his photographs at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936275/111-minna-30th-anniversary-show-review-jeremy-fish-alec-huxley-sam-flores-interview\">111 Minna\u003c/a> show. The photo in question — a chaotic 16th Street brawl involving seven people and a bicycle — has hung in my home ever since. It offers a perfect snapshot of Mission District nightlife as I knew it back then: a grimy, hedonistic community of bartenders, graffiti writers, skaters, punks and bike messengers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923401\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13923401\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.57.33-AM-800x1226.png\" alt=\"A cluster of seven people push and pull each other in a street fight. A woman lies on the ground underneath it all, a bicycle laying on the ground in front of her.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1226\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.57.33-AM-800x1226.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.57.33-AM-160x245.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.57.33-AM-768x1177.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.57.33-AM.png 860w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dave Schubert captured this fight outside Delirium on 16th Street in 2003. \u003ccite>(Dave Schubert)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This underworld of smart-ass scrappers, non-stop taggers and street-fighting drunkards was a large part of why I fell in love with San Francisco in the first place. And Schubert documented all of it. Back then, in the late ’90s and early 2000s, it felt like there were no consequences for any amount of ill-advised behavior. If there \u003ci>was\u003c/i> trouble? Well, the story you told the next day was just that much better. In the 18 years since I first found Schubert’s work, no one has captured that chaos better than he did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schubert and I lived only a few blocks from each other in the Mission, so back in September 2022, I invited him out to lunch to talk about his work. He met me in the back of Old Jerusalem on Mission Street. In person, Schubert was sweet, polite, humble, and just a little wild-eyed. He told me right off the bat that he’d hit his head a lot over the years and showed me \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CLDyx_BsECr/\">photos of him swollen and bleeding\u003c/a> to prove it. “Bloody head shots,” he called them. He had a whole collection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923473\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13923473\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM-800x979.png\" alt=\"A young man with blood on his forehead and cheek, with a large lump forming on the side of his face, looks blankly at the camera. \" width=\"800\" height=\"979\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM-800x979.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM-1020x1248.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM-160x196.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM-768x940.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.17.47-AM.png 1056w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Schubert’s self-portraits, this one documenting the aftermath of a bicycle accident. \u003ccite>(Dave Schubert)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Schubert was also incredibly smart; a scholar about the history of photography and an easy conversationalist. We talked for longer than I expected that day about a wide array of topics. We talked about Schubert’s earliest photography inspirations: \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Richardson_(photographer)\">Bob Richardson\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Avedon\">Richard Avedon\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frank\">Robert Frank\u003c/a>. We talked about the history of the Mission. We talked about dead friends, in particular \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf0ZVR9u0DI/\">his best friend Dash Snow\u003c/a>, who Schubert memorialized with \u003ca href=\"https://panopticonpress.bigcartel.com/product/dash-i-miss-you-ap-edition\">a fanzine of photos\u003c/a> after Snow’s death in 2009.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schubert moved to the city in 1995 after being awarded a scholarship to study photography at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sfai\">San Francisco Art Institute\u003c/a>. Once he arrived, Schubert immersed himself in the Bay’s thriving skateboarding and graffiti scene. Back on the East Coast, he’d been a prolific skate videographer, primarily in Washington, D.C. On that September day, we talked about his more recent work for \u003ca href=\"https://www.skatedeluxe.com/en/gx1000-shop\">GX1000\u003c/a>, his friend’s skate company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923413\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13923413\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-4.10.30-PM-800x956.png\" alt=\"A man wearing blue jeans, flannel shirt and a chicken head mask perches on top of a graffitied bathroom stall, money falling from his hands.\" width=\"800\" height=\"956\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-4.10.30-PM-800x956.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-4.10.30-PM-160x191.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-4.10.30-PM-768x918.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-4.10.30-PM.png 1014w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo taken at The Cock, a New York City gay bar. \u003ccite>(Dave Schubert)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Best of all, we talked about the trouble he’d found himself in while taking photos of strangers doing illegal things — a habit Schubert had that reflected his audacious approach to his craft. He told me of one incident when a group of sex workers attacked him for taking a photo of them smoking crack in the Tenderloin. Mid-attack, Schubert told me, one of them began biting his finger. Hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had just watched a nature film with sharks that week though,” Schubert casually told me. “And it said if you’re attacked by a reef shark, don’t pull your hand out of its mouth because your flesh will tear. Instead, hit it in the throat so it will release you. So that’s what I did. That’s how I got the prostitute off my finger.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Talking to Schubert, these kinds of stories weren’t unusual. They were simply how he lived his life: on the edge, always adjacent to trouble, illuminating the darkest sides of city living with his camera, so that the rest of the world might see it too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923404\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13923404\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-800x517.png\" alt=\"A man stands casually wearing black clothing and an San Francisco 49ers baseball cap, while a woman casually tags a Muni bus in San Francisco. The bus doors are still open.\" width=\"800\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-800x517.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-1020x659.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-768x496.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM-1536x993.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-06-at-11.55.41-AM.png 1550w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Every day acts of vandalism in SF, as captured by Dave Schubert. \u003ccite>(Dave Schubert)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He had a drive and passion for his work that is hard to find these days,” says Lindsay Mape, who first befriended Schubert in 1995. “I was studying painting at SFAI and he would sneak in with me and use the dark rooms all day long to print his film, while I painted in the studios downstairs. Then we would leave and go hang in the Mission or the TL all night, finding trouble, hanging with friends, laughing and chilling with my dog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He didn’t have a nasty bone in his body,” she remembers. “Genuinely the sweetest soul.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Noah Lang of the San Francisco gallery \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CnFgYPMS43k/\">Electric Works\u003c/a>, who first befriended Schubert in 1999, has similar memories of the photographer. “Even in his darkest times, he never had any anger,” Lang says. “He was an unstoppable force of positivity. He was very generous. He was interested in sharing everything that he had. He would have 17-year-old skaters email him saying they liked his work and he would just send them [a print]. He was not looking for fame or fortune ever. He just wanted enough money to live and make his books and that was pretty much it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like street photographers are born noticers,” Lang continues. “They notice all the things that we see but don’t find remarkable, and then they synthesize it. Dave was a really great noticer and synthesizer of the coral reef around him. He knew everything about it. He could see it all and he would make a photo of it and turn normalcy into poetry in 1/60 of a second.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13923472\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13923472\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-800x512.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-800x512.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-1020x653.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-160x102.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-768x491.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM-1536x983.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Screen-Shot-2023-01-09-at-12.08.00-AM.png 1910w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A very young Stevie Williams (skateboarder) poses between friends at Pulaski Park in Washington, D.C., 1993. \u003ccite>(Dave Schubert)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tributes poured in for Schubert over the weekend as news of his untimely death spread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/steveespopowers/\">Steve Powers wrote on Instagram\u003c/a>: “I don’t know a better photographer that shot both skateboarding and graffiti as well as Dave did, but, as he would say about bragging, ‘Don’t tell it, show it’ … Dave Schubert didn’t take pictures, he took the time to love and to show the love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/photography/the-chaos-he-memorialized-rip-san-francisco-photography-legend-dave-schubert/\">Evan Pricco of \u003cem>Juxtapoz\u003c/em> wrote\u003c/a>: “It feels as if an era of San Francisco has passed with the news of the death of photographer, Dave Schubert. Many of my earliest memories of art, of underground culture, of life being fucking lived, was through the lens and eye of Dave Schubert. He was telling me the story of my home city without me even being conscious of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Noah Lang and friends have set up a fundraising campaign to save and preserve Dave Schubert’s photographic archive. \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/dave-schuberts-photographic-legacy?qid=93785caa04562f1ed1bf1235d03c5de5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Details can be found on their GoFundMe page\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>An exhibit of Schubert’s photography will be on display at San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://etaletc.com/\">Et Al. Etc. Gallery\u003c/a> (2831 Mission Street) between July 29 and Aug. 18, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A Half-Shredded Banksy Piece is Auctioned for $25.4 Million, a Record for the Artist",
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"content": "\u003cp>Sold!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Banksy’s world-renowned shredded painting, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034962331/banksy-shredder-girl-with-balloon-love-is-in-the-bin-auction-sothebys\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“Love is in the Bin,”\u003c/a> has fetched $25.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction, according to the auction house \u003ca href=\"https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/contemporary-art-evening-auction-2/love-is-in-the-bin-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nine people battled for the piece for around 10 minutes before an anonymous collector, represented by Nick Buckley Wood, won the auction, BBC News reports. The sale is a record for Banksy, beating out \u003ca href=\"https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6309459\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a piece\u003c/a> that was sold for around $22 million in March, with proceeds benefiting a UK charity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Love is in the Bin” made history with its creation mid-auction in 2018. The original piece, an image of a girl holding a balloon that was aptly titled \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/10/06/655252676/we-just-got-banksy-ed-girl-with-balloon-sells-for-1-4m-before-self-destructing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“Girl With Balloon,” \u003c/a>garnered $1.4 million at auction but the crowd was shocked when a shredder built within the frame activated as soon as the sale was complete, partly shredding the piece.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was an unforgettable moment in the art world, and the first time that a work of art had actually been created during an auction, according to Sotheby’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Auction officials have maintained that they had no idea what Banksy had planned for the 2018 auction. They were, simply put, “Banksyed,” Oliver Barker, auctioneer and chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said in a \u003ca href=\"https://sothebys-com.brightspotcdn.com/54/44/8b5ebd5140cc9b7488b457ac4cd8/sothebys-press-release-banksys-love-is-in-the-bin.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13898181,arts_13883386,pop_108995']Banksy himself confirmed as much in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/BpDMo26h3Cu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram post\u003c/a> where he stated plainly that the piece really was shredded and that the auction house was not “in on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Sotheby’s announced last month that “Love is in the Bin” would soon be up for sale, the piece was taken on a brief global tour before returning home to London. The auction house estimated then that it would go for $5 million to $8 million, a pretty substantial return for a piece of art that was purchased for only a fraction of that price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, “Love is in the Bin” went back up for sale in the very same room where it was created three years ago, according to Sotheby’s. But unlike then, this week’s auction was uneventful—no artwork was created or destroyed during the proceedings. It seemed to be a source of relief for Barker at least, who remarked, after all was said and done, that he was glad the work was “still there,” according to BBC News.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+half-shredded+Banksy+piece+is+auctioned+for+%2425.4+million%2C+a+record+for+the+artist&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Sold!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Banksy’s world-renowned shredded painting, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034962331/banksy-shredder-girl-with-balloon-love-is-in-the-bin-auction-sothebys\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“Love is in the Bin,”\u003c/a> has fetched $25.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction, according to the auction house \u003ca href=\"https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/contemporary-art-evening-auction-2/love-is-in-the-bin-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nine people battled for the piece for around 10 minutes before an anonymous collector, represented by Nick Buckley Wood, won the auction, BBC News reports. The sale is a record for Banksy, beating out \u003ca href=\"https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6309459\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a piece\u003c/a> that was sold for around $22 million in March, with proceeds benefiting a UK charity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Love is in the Bin” made history with its creation mid-auction in 2018. The original piece, an image of a girl holding a balloon that was aptly titled \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/10/06/655252676/we-just-got-banksy-ed-girl-with-balloon-sells-for-1-4m-before-self-destructing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“Girl With Balloon,” \u003c/a>garnered $1.4 million at auction but the crowd was shocked when a shredder built within the frame activated as soon as the sale was complete, partly shredding the piece.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was an unforgettable moment in the art world, and the first time that a work of art had actually been created during an auction, according to Sotheby’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Auction officials have maintained that they had no idea what Banksy had planned for the 2018 auction. They were, simply put, “Banksyed,” Oliver Barker, auctioneer and chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said in a \u003ca href=\"https://sothebys-com.brightspotcdn.com/54/44/8b5ebd5140cc9b7488b457ac4cd8/sothebys-press-release-banksys-love-is-in-the-bin.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Banksy himself confirmed as much in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/BpDMo26h3Cu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram post\u003c/a> where he stated plainly that the piece really was shredded and that the auction house was not “in on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Sotheby’s announced last month that “Love is in the Bin” would soon be up for sale, the piece was taken on a brief global tour before returning home to London. The auction house estimated then that it would go for $5 million to $8 million, a pretty substantial return for a piece of art that was purchased for only a fraction of that price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, “Love is in the Bin” went back up for sale in the very same room where it was created three years ago, according to Sotheby’s. But unlike then, this week’s auction was uneventful—no artwork was created or destroyed during the proceedings. It seemed to be a source of relief for Barker at least, who remarked, after all was said and done, that he was glad the work was “still there,” according to BBC News.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+half-shredded+Banksy+piece+is+auctioned+for+%2425.4+million%2C+a+record+for+the+artist&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Work has begun on a new mural at the San Francisco LGBT Center. Artists \u003ca href=\"https://jmanuelcarmona.com/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Juan Manuel Carmona\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://simonmalvaez.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Simón Malvaez\u003c/a> are in the process of painting \u003cem>Queeroes\u003c/em>—a tribute to LGBTQ+ heroes, both local and international. The artwork graces the center’s East-facing exterior wall, replacing \u003ca href=\"https://fnnch.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fnnch\u003c/a>’s trio of honey bears that was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896515/honey-bear-mural-painted-over-by-sf-lgbt-center-artist-fnnch-responds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">removed in late April\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CPEBGFGBl6o/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Queeroes\u003c/em> honors four figures from Bay Area LGBTQ+ history: Harvey Milk, Honey Mahogany, Juanita MORE! and Sister Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. It also features international icons including Freddie Mercury, Frida Kahlo, Marsha P. Johnson, Keith Haring, Chavela Vargas, James Baldwin, Sylvia Rivera and Willi Ninja. The piece incorporates the colors of the Progress Pride Flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Carmona and Malvaez identify as Latinx and queer, and say their work is impacted by their experiences as immigrants. On his website, Carmona says his work also reflects “the intersection of the LGBTQI and Latino communities of San Francisco.” Malvaez and Carmona finished a separate \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COs6yWHBCdv/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mural of Juanita MORE!\u003c/a> earlier this month at Alamo Square. That piece is part of \u003ca href=\"http://www.400divisadero.com/painted-gentlemen-murals/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Painted Gentlemen Project\u003c/a>—a series of artworks painted on plywood and affixed to a chainlink fence at 804 Steiner. The project is curated and managed by fnnch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13896327']The new LGBT Center mural follows a flurry of debate surrounding fnnch’s work and its broader impact on the city, which came to a boiling point last month. His honey bears—perceived by some as a symbol of gentrification—prompted a petition, an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CONzmTMhWRs/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">open letter\u003c/a> and several small protests at the mural’s Market Street intersection calling for its removal. Controversy was further stirred by fnnch identifying himself, during an on-camera confrontation, as an “immigrant” from Missouri. Protesters called for the center to employ lesser known, local, LGBTQ+-identifying artists to re-paint the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the launch video shared by the LGBT Center’s Instagram on Wednesday, Carmona and Malvaez expressed gratitude for the commission. “We feel very grateful to have this amazing opportunity to share our talent,” Malvaez said, “and have the power to raise our voices and celebrate who we are and who we represent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CPD1dXhN2fw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Work has begun on a new mural at the San Francisco LGBT Center. Artists \u003ca href=\"https://jmanuelcarmona.com/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Juan Manuel Carmona\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://simonmalvaez.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Simón Malvaez\u003c/a> are in the process of painting \u003cem>Queeroes\u003c/em>—a tribute to LGBTQ+ heroes, both local and international. The artwork graces the center’s East-facing exterior wall, replacing \u003ca href=\"https://fnnch.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fnnch\u003c/a>’s trio of honey bears that was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896515/honey-bear-mural-painted-over-by-sf-lgbt-center-artist-fnnch-responds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">removed in late April\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Queeroes\u003c/em> honors four figures from Bay Area LGBTQ+ history: Harvey Milk, Honey Mahogany, Juanita MORE! and Sister Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. It also features international icons including Freddie Mercury, Frida Kahlo, Marsha P. Johnson, Keith Haring, Chavela Vargas, James Baldwin, Sylvia Rivera and Willi Ninja. The piece incorporates the colors of the Progress Pride Flag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Carmona and Malvaez identify as Latinx and queer, and say their work is impacted by their experiences as immigrants. On his website, Carmona says his work also reflects “the intersection of the LGBTQI and Latino communities of San Francisco.” Malvaez and Carmona finished a separate \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COs6yWHBCdv/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mural of Juanita MORE!\u003c/a> earlier this month at Alamo Square. That piece is part of \u003ca href=\"http://www.400divisadero.com/painted-gentlemen-murals/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Painted Gentlemen Project\u003c/a>—a series of artworks painted on plywood and affixed to a chainlink fence at 804 Steiner. The project is curated and managed by fnnch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The San Francisco LGBT Center on Tuesday painted over a mural by the street artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fnnch/?hl=en\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">fnnch\u003c/a> that had become a flashpoint in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896327/fnnch-honey-bears-street-art-san-francisco\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">heated debate\u003c/a> about representation and gentrification in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Installed in June 2020, the mural had for the past 10 months showed three of fnnch’s trademark honey bears facing a busy Market Street intersection on the center’s large purple building. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COOiCRrhVjy/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">statement\u003c/a> issued Wednesday afternoon, the center cited a planned annual rotation of murals on the East-facing wall (prominently on view from the 101-N Octavia Street exit), but also acknowledged “the fact that fnnch has engendered a host of opinions and that some of his recent comments about being an immigrant have brought pain to many members of our community.” The statement emphasized “the Center does not agree with fnnch’s recent comments, and we have shared our concerns about the impact of his comments directly with him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13896327']In a confrontation \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-qwbvBoIR/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">uploaded last week\u003c/a> to Instagram by street artist DoggTown Dro and filmed outside the LGBT Center, fnnch, who is white and straight, identified himself as an “immigrant” from Missouri. The footage fed a flurry of social media activity as users voiced their opinions for and against fnnch’s work, which has proliferated widely across the city in the past year in the form of paper honey bears installed in home windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have been creating Pride art and donating to LGBT charities as long as I’ve been creating street art,” fnnch said in a statement provided to KQED, noting that 2020 held special importance to him as the 25th anniversary of his uncle’s death from AIDS. fnnch said the design of the three honey bears, painted in the colors of the Progress Pride Flag, the Bi Flag and the Trans Flag, was created in consultation with the LGBT Center. He also noted he “helped fundraise over $20k for the Center through T-shirt sales, painting donations, and my partnership with Humphrey Slocombe.” He did not the address the recent confrontation or social media criticism of his work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mural project “was already an idea the Center had conceptualized” before June of last year, Danielle Siragusa, the LGBT Center’s director of development and communications told KQED in an email. “As we were beginning to put an implementation plan in place, we were approached by fnnch at the beginning of shelter-in-place who offered to do the mural cost-free for us. We then decided this would be a great fit to be the inaugural mural to kick off the annual rotating mural project.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896549\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 503px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/muraldeface.jpg\" alt=\"A mural of honey bears by street artist fnnch is defaced on the side of the SF LGBT Center.\" width=\"503\" height=\"400\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13896549\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/muraldeface.jpg 503w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/muraldeface-160x127.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 503px) 100vw, 503px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural of honey bears by street artist fnnch is defaced on the side of the SF LGBT Center. \u003ccite>(Twitter/@Tosa_Dad)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over time, though, the fnnch mural became the site of contrasting visions of San Francisco. It was both a background in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CDMSmUopxOn/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">photo ops for local leaders\u003c/a> and the repeated target of graffiti, with San Francisco street artists focusing on the honey bears as a symbol of gentrification. Before it was painted fully white on Tuesday, messages written across the mural read “Dissolve the Honey Bear” and “Learn Our Culture B4 U Wreck It.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked how the controversy over the LGBT Center mural might change the way he approaches future projects, fnnch wrote in an email, “I am still learning from this experience. The clearest learning so far is to collaborate with artists from the communities I hope to uplift.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CONzmTMhWRs/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">open letter\u003c/a> to the LGBT Center, written by “members of the native SF community and those fighting to preserve it” and distributed by hand during a Wednesday afternoon gathering across from the site of the fnnch mural, called for the center to “reevaluate who you choose to represent the city you service.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of yesterday’s statement, the LGBT Center added that the next set of artists have been selected (a yet-unnamed collaborative duo) and that “they are both members of the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC community.” Their mural is scheduled to be unveiled in June for Pride month. The center also plans to hold open applications for future murals. “Our goal is to showcase a variety of perspectives, art and artists representing our diverse communities,” the statement reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read fnnch’s full statement provided to KQED below. \u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>A year ago I brainstormed with my publicist, a community leader in the LGBT community, how we could celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pride. I have been creating Pride art and donating to LGBT charities as long as I’ve been creating street art, and last year was of particular importance to me as the 25th anniversary of my uncle’s death from AIDS. We decided that a mural was something people could enjoy in a socially distant fashion, and so he approached the SF LGBT Center, asking if we could paint one there. Their wall, like most walls, had sat empty for over 100 years, and while they had discussed the idea of a rotating mural there, they had no concrete plans to do one but were generally open to the idea. I worked with them on the design over the period of months and we settled on one that they not only approved but ran by members of their community. I painted it for free, donating my time, team and materials, and it was generally well received. Throughout the year, over 100 community leaders came out to take photos with it, including London Breed, Mark Leno, Deborah Walker, Sister Roma, Paul Henderson, and Clair Farley. I also helped fundraise over $20k for The Center through t-shirt sales, painting donations, and my partnership with Humphrey Slocombe. The plan was always to rotate the mural after a year. It has now been a year. I am thankful to the SF LGBT Center that they let me paint this mural, and I am proud to have helped kick off a program that will bring public artwork to this incredible mural wall.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The San Francisco LGBT Center on Tuesday painted over a mural by the street artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fnnch/?hl=en\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">fnnch\u003c/a> that had become a flashpoint in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896327/fnnch-honey-bears-street-art-san-francisco\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">heated debate\u003c/a> about representation and gentrification in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Installed in June 2020, the mural had for the past 10 months showed three of fnnch’s trademark honey bears facing a busy Market Street intersection on the center’s large purple building. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COOiCRrhVjy/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">statement\u003c/a> issued Wednesday afternoon, the center cited a planned annual rotation of murals on the East-facing wall (prominently on view from the 101-N Octavia Street exit), but also acknowledged “the fact that fnnch has engendered a host of opinions and that some of his recent comments about being an immigrant have brought pain to many members of our community.” The statement emphasized “the Center does not agree with fnnch’s recent comments, and we have shared our concerns about the impact of his comments directly with him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In a confrontation \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-qwbvBoIR/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">uploaded last week\u003c/a> to Instagram by street artist DoggTown Dro and filmed outside the LGBT Center, fnnch, who is white and straight, identified himself as an “immigrant” from Missouri. The footage fed a flurry of social media activity as users voiced their opinions for and against fnnch’s work, which has proliferated widely across the city in the past year in the form of paper honey bears installed in home windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have been creating Pride art and donating to LGBT charities as long as I’ve been creating street art,” fnnch said in a statement provided to KQED, noting that 2020 held special importance to him as the 25th anniversary of his uncle’s death from AIDS. fnnch said the design of the three honey bears, painted in the colors of the Progress Pride Flag, the Bi Flag and the Trans Flag, was created in consultation with the LGBT Center. He also noted he “helped fundraise over $20k for the Center through T-shirt sales, painting donations, and my partnership with Humphrey Slocombe.” He did not the address the recent confrontation or social media criticism of his work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mural project “was already an idea the Center had conceptualized” before June of last year, Danielle Siragusa, the LGBT Center’s director of development and communications told KQED in an email. “As we were beginning to put an implementation plan in place, we were approached by fnnch at the beginning of shelter-in-place who offered to do the mural cost-free for us. We then decided this would be a great fit to be the inaugural mural to kick off the annual rotating mural project.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896549\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 503px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/muraldeface.jpg\" alt=\"A mural of honey bears by street artist fnnch is defaced on the side of the SF LGBT Center.\" width=\"503\" height=\"400\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13896549\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/muraldeface.jpg 503w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/muraldeface-160x127.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 503px) 100vw, 503px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural of honey bears by street artist fnnch is defaced on the side of the SF LGBT Center. \u003ccite>(Twitter/@Tosa_Dad)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over time, though, the fnnch mural became the site of contrasting visions of San Francisco. It was both a background in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CDMSmUopxOn/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">photo ops for local leaders\u003c/a> and the repeated target of graffiti, with San Francisco street artists focusing on the honey bears as a symbol of gentrification. Before it was painted fully white on Tuesday, messages written across the mural read “Dissolve the Honey Bear” and “Learn Our Culture B4 U Wreck It.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked how the controversy over the LGBT Center mural might change the way he approaches future projects, fnnch wrote in an email, “I am still learning from this experience. The clearest learning so far is to collaborate with artists from the communities I hope to uplift.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CONzmTMhWRs/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">open letter\u003c/a> to the LGBT Center, written by “members of the native SF community and those fighting to preserve it” and distributed by hand during a Wednesday afternoon gathering across from the site of the fnnch mural, called for the center to “reevaluate who you choose to represent the city you service.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of yesterday’s statement, the LGBT Center added that the next set of artists have been selected (a yet-unnamed collaborative duo) and that “they are both members of the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC community.” Their mural is scheduled to be unveiled in June for Pride month. The center also plans to hold open applications for future murals. “Our goal is to showcase a variety of perspectives, art and artists representing our diverse communities,” the statement reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read fnnch’s full statement provided to KQED below. \u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>A year ago I brainstormed with my publicist, a community leader in the LGBT community, how we could celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pride. I have been creating Pride art and donating to LGBT charities as long as I’ve been creating street art, and last year was of particular importance to me as the 25th anniversary of my uncle’s death from AIDS. We decided that a mural was something people could enjoy in a socially distant fashion, and so he approached the SF LGBT Center, asking if we could paint one there. Their wall, like most walls, had sat empty for over 100 years, and while they had discussed the idea of a rotating mural there, they had no concrete plans to do one but were generally open to the idea. I worked with them on the design over the period of months and we settled on one that they not only approved but ran by members of their community. I painted it for free, donating my time, team and materials, and it was generally well received. Throughout the year, over 100 community leaders came out to take photos with it, including London Breed, Mark Leno, Deborah Walker, Sister Roma, Paul Henderson, and Clair Farley. I also helped fundraise over $20k for The Center through t-shirt sales, painting donations, and my partnership with Humphrey Slocombe. The plan was always to rotate the mural after a year. It has now been a year. I am thankful to the SF LGBT Center that they let me paint this mural, and I am proud to have helped kick off a program that will bring public artwork to this incredible mural wall.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How fnnch’s Honey Bears Became the Most Despised Street Art in San Francisco",
"headTitle": "How fnnch’s Honey Bears Became the Most Despised Street Art in San Francisco | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>In the summer of 2018, I put together \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/102978/a-guide-to-san-francisco-murals-and-the-artists-who-make-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a guide to six prolific muralists\u003c/a> in San Francisco, including maps of where to find their work. The idea was to create city walks that doubled as art treasure hunts, and to encourage people to learn more about some of our most visible local artists. The list included \u003ca href=\"https://sillypinkbunnies.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Fish\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.sirronnorris.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sirron Norris\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fewandfarwomen.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Few and Far Women\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://samflores.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Flores\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://theapexer.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">APEXER\u003c/a> and—try not to hate me—\u003ca href=\"https://fnnch.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fnnch\u003c/a>, the artist behind all those honey bears plastered everywhere in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, fnnch was as well known for his poppies, dogs and bright lips as he was for his honey bears. And at the time, I described his artistic contributions to the city as the “most Instagram-able” on the list, adding that each of his public pieces made the city “a more cheerful place to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost three years later, I cannot, in good conscience, say the same thing. In the past 12 months, San Francisco has become so oversaturated with fnnch’s honey bears that what was once an occasional sugar rush now feels like a nausea-inducing force-feeding. And I’m not alone: the backlash, brewing since last summer, finally reached its zenith this month. There’s a new (private) Instagram account, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fuckfnnch/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@fuckfnnch\u003c/a>, that celebrates “pics or videos of dissed or ripped bears.” There’s a Change.org petition titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/sf-lgbt-center-remove-fnnch-mural-from-sf-lgbt-center?source_location=petitions_browse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Remove fnnch mural from SF LGBT Center\u003c/a>.” And, notably, there are the local artists who’ve been confronting fnnch on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COD3Gg1BpH7/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">walls\u003c/a>, in person and online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CON1e9Hhwap/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the most visible and vocal is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rickyratcomix/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky Rat\u003c/a>, whose stories on Instagram often feature montages of honey bear destruction, parodies and badmouthing. “I don’t care where you’re from, but if you’re not doing something directly positive that reflects the real community, then I won’t support it,” \u003ca href=\"https://thebolditalic.com/san-franciscos-honey-bears-harmlessly-cute-or-symbols-of-gentrification-a1cdf925b1f1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky told the \u003cem>Bold Italic\u003c/em>\u003c/a> last August. “[fnnch] didn’t invent gentrification, but he most publicly represents what it’s about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896331\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896331\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-800x495.jpg\" alt=\"A collection of images featured on Ricky Rat's Instagram stories, on Monday April 26, 2021.\" width=\"800\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-800x495.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1020x631.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-768x475.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1536x951.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-2048x1267.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1920x1188.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collection of images featured on Ricky Rat’s Instagram stories, on Monday April 26, 2021. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @rickyratcomix)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last week, local artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/doggtowndro/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DoggTown Dro\u003c/a> uploaded a video of himself confronting fnnch and two of his assistants. The three were apparently cleaning “FUCK FNNCH” graffiti off the trio of honey bears on the side of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LGBT Center\u003c/a> when Dro arrived. “These bears have become synonymous with gentrification in San Francisco,” he told fnnch, “and the displacement of the artists that come from here.” At one point during the exchange, fnnch refers to himself as an “immigrant” from Missouri, a moment \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=fnnch%20immigrant&src=typed_query\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seized upon by his critics\u003c/a> over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-qwbvBoIR/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back when I wrote that mural guide, in 2018, fnnch was not a favorite within the art community—but he wasn’t this despised, either. He was seen as too generic, too clean-cut, too… \u003cem>safe\u003c/em>. But he held a mainstream appeal that few artists who paint on city walls hold. He was, to put it bluntly, a street artist for people who don’t actually like street art. If regular street artists were the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmoma.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SFMOMA\u003c/a>, fnnch was the \u003ca href=\"https://tickets.museumoficecream.com/event/museum-of-ice-cream-san-fran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Museum of Ice Cream\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>fnnch’s latest problems, however, are rooted in his transition from public selfie backgrounds into the realm of community issues, where he distills serious topics down into his honey bear image. And he’s been doing that, in earnest, since the pandemic began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13896515']It started harmlessly enough. In April 2020, fnnch began, according to one of his newsletters, “wheat-pasting COVID Bears on boarded up storefronts across San Francisco.” At the time, he said he wanted to “convert depressing storefronts into canvases for art, and encourage healthy behavior.” Then, in May, he came up with the #HoneyBearHunt. It was a more urban take on what was happening in the suburbs during the early days of shelter in place: instead of putting actual teddy bears in windows for neighborhood children, people could display fnnch’s honey bear, and kids could follow his virtual map to find them. He sold 3,500 bear window displays in four days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the year since, fnnch—a straight, white, former tech worker—has been bombarding San Francisco with those bears. After the initial mask and soap bears for the #HoneyBearHunt, there was a woefully \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/gygx2e/fnnch_bear_blackface/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ill-advised\u003c/a>—then \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CBY7kg5JUax/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">re-imagined\u003c/a>—Black Lives Matter-inspired bear. There was a bear to encourage voting. There was a Ruth Bader Ginsburg bear, a firefighter bear, a teacher bear, a coffee house bear (which fnnch said symbolized the “many everyday heroes of the pandemic”), a San Francisco Ballet bear, a movie bear and, most recently, a Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896343\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896343\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"This critique of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence honey bear recently appeared on Ricky Rat's Instagram account.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This critique of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence honey bear recently appeared on Ricky Rat’s Instagram account. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @rickyratcomix)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of the reasons people kept buying the bears was because most of them, in one way or another, support a good cause. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will receive 50% of funds from fnnch’s painting and print sales in their likeness. Mask bear and soap bear raised over $100,000 for \u003ca href=\"https://www.safetynetfund.io/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Safety Net Fund\u003c/a>. Of the firefighter bear sales, 50% benefited the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cafirefoundation.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CAL FIRE Foundation\u003c/a>. The SF Ballet got “50% of [related] art sales and 25% of other sales … to support their extensive COVID testing of dancers and staff.” Ten percent of the profits from the movie bear print went to \u003ca href=\"https://www.roxie.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Roxie\u003c/a>. A line of T-shirts donated 25% of sales to \u003ca href=\"https://www.stanthonysf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">St. Anthony’s\u003c/a>, a nonprofit community organization. As fnnch himself noted in one of his regular newsletters, he “went from raising or donating $12,000 in 2019 to $293,000 in 2020.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13890127']After the uproar that greeted his initial attempt at a BLM-inspired bear, an image that people likened to blackface, fnnch donated 50% of proceeds from his subsequent “Ally Bear” to the \u003ca href=\"https://eji.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Equal Justice Initiative\u003c/a>, and the other 50% to \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/newbills-barber-shop-and-salon-san-francisco-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newbills Barber Shop and Salon\u003c/a> on Divisadero. It was a rare occasion when the artist himself did not also profit from a design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What is less acknowledged when it comes to fnnch, though, is the primary reason people in the city are so sick of him. He has figured out a way to dominate public space, and without any of the risks or consequences that art that lives in public usually faces. (Such as weather damage, tagging, etc.) Honey bears pasted onto shuttered storefronts will have a shelf life of weeks. Honey bears stuck up safely inside people’s windows, protected by the rules of private property, can live indefinitely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is how you end up with this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896344\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896344\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-800x536.png\" alt=\"fnnch's own map of honey bear saturation in San Francisco demonstrates how few spaces remain bear-free.\" width=\"800\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-800x536.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-1020x684.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-768x515.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-1536x1029.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM.png 1898w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">fnnch’s own map of honey bear saturation in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @fnnch)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What’s worse, even at his current level of over-saturation, fnnch’s commitment to blanketing the city with a single image is only getting more aggressive. He specified in his January newsletter that people buying prints for his second honey bear hunt must display the bears in their windows for “at least 3 months.” He added, “It would be swell if you kept it up for the duration of the pandemic, but … after 3 months I will reach out with a survey to see if you’d like to keep your bear up longer.” Children haven’t been this invested in teddy bear hunts in months. So why keep up the proliferation? What’s in it for fnnch?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>fnnch’s honey bear now occupies every type of space in San Francisco: the windows of private homes, public walls, institutional facades, and, as of April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNpzXw6JnxG/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inside bus shelters\u003c/a> and on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-iAjbpm6_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sides of Muni buses\u003c/a>. Through sheer force of their omnipresence, fnnch’s honey bears are coming to define the city as a place that embraces a kind of bland homogeneity, even in its street art. This is the crux of the disconnect between fnnch and San Francisco writ large: How can the repetition of one image uplift a community that has long prided itself on its heterogeneity? That he continues his honey bear output isn’t just ill-advised, it speaks to how much he still doesn’t understand his adopted home of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the summer of 2018, I put together \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/102978/a-guide-to-san-francisco-murals-and-the-artists-who-make-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a guide to six prolific muralists\u003c/a> in San Francisco, including maps of where to find their work. The idea was to create city walks that doubled as art treasure hunts, and to encourage people to learn more about some of our most visible local artists. The list included \u003ca href=\"https://sillypinkbunnies.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Fish\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.sirronnorris.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sirron Norris\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fewandfarwomen.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Few and Far Women\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://samflores.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Flores\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://theapexer.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">APEXER\u003c/a> and—try not to hate me—\u003ca href=\"https://fnnch.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fnnch\u003c/a>, the artist behind all those honey bears plastered everywhere in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, fnnch was as well known for his poppies, dogs and bright lips as he was for his honey bears. And at the time, I described his artistic contributions to the city as the “most Instagram-able” on the list, adding that each of his public pieces made the city “a more cheerful place to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost three years later, I cannot, in good conscience, say the same thing. In the past 12 months, San Francisco has become so oversaturated with fnnch’s honey bears that what was once an occasional sugar rush now feels like a nausea-inducing force-feeding. And I’m not alone: the backlash, brewing since last summer, finally reached its zenith this month. There’s a new (private) Instagram account, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fuckfnnch/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@fuckfnnch\u003c/a>, that celebrates “pics or videos of dissed or ripped bears.” There’s a Change.org petition titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/sf-lgbt-center-remove-fnnch-mural-from-sf-lgbt-center?source_location=petitions_browse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Remove fnnch mural from SF LGBT Center\u003c/a>.” And, notably, there are the local artists who’ve been confronting fnnch on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COD3Gg1BpH7/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">walls\u003c/a>, in person and online.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>One of the most visible and vocal is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rickyratcomix/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky Rat\u003c/a>, whose stories on Instagram often feature montages of honey bear destruction, parodies and badmouthing. “I don’t care where you’re from, but if you’re not doing something directly positive that reflects the real community, then I won’t support it,” \u003ca href=\"https://thebolditalic.com/san-franciscos-honey-bears-harmlessly-cute-or-symbols-of-gentrification-a1cdf925b1f1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky told the \u003cem>Bold Italic\u003c/em>\u003c/a> last August. “[fnnch] didn’t invent gentrification, but he most publicly represents what it’s about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896331\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896331\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-800x495.jpg\" alt=\"A collection of images featured on Ricky Rat's Instagram stories, on Monday April 26, 2021.\" width=\"800\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-800x495.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1020x631.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-768x475.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1536x951.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-2048x1267.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1920x1188.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collection of images featured on Ricky Rat’s Instagram stories, on Monday April 26, 2021. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @rickyratcomix)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last week, local artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/doggtowndro/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DoggTown Dro\u003c/a> uploaded a video of himself confronting fnnch and two of his assistants. The three were apparently cleaning “FUCK FNNCH” graffiti off the trio of honey bears on the side of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LGBT Center\u003c/a> when Dro arrived. “These bears have become synonymous with gentrification in San Francisco,” he told fnnch, “and the displacement of the artists that come from here.” At one point during the exchange, fnnch refers to himself as an “immigrant” from Missouri, a moment \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=fnnch%20immigrant&src=typed_query\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seized upon by his critics\u003c/a> over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Back when I wrote that mural guide, in 2018, fnnch was not a favorite within the art community—but he wasn’t this despised, either. He was seen as too generic, too clean-cut, too… \u003cem>safe\u003c/em>. But he held a mainstream appeal that few artists who paint on city walls hold. He was, to put it bluntly, a street artist for people who don’t actually like street art. If regular street artists were the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmoma.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SFMOMA\u003c/a>, fnnch was the \u003ca href=\"https://tickets.museumoficecream.com/event/museum-of-ice-cream-san-fran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Museum of Ice Cream\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>fnnch’s latest problems, however, are rooted in his transition from public selfie backgrounds into the realm of community issues, where he distills serious topics down into his honey bear image. And he’s been doing that, in earnest, since the pandemic began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It started harmlessly enough. In April 2020, fnnch began, according to one of his newsletters, “wheat-pasting COVID Bears on boarded up storefronts across San Francisco.” At the time, he said he wanted to “convert depressing storefronts into canvases for art, and encourage healthy behavior.” Then, in May, he came up with the #HoneyBearHunt. It was a more urban take on what was happening in the suburbs during the early days of shelter in place: instead of putting actual teddy bears in windows for neighborhood children, people could display fnnch’s honey bear, and kids could follow his virtual map to find them. He sold 3,500 bear window displays in four days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the year since, fnnch—a straight, white, former tech worker—has been bombarding San Francisco with those bears. After the initial mask and soap bears for the #HoneyBearHunt, there was a woefully \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/gygx2e/fnnch_bear_blackface/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ill-advised\u003c/a>—then \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CBY7kg5JUax/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">re-imagined\u003c/a>—Black Lives Matter-inspired bear. There was a bear to encourage voting. There was a Ruth Bader Ginsburg bear, a firefighter bear, a teacher bear, a coffee house bear (which fnnch said symbolized the “many everyday heroes of the pandemic”), a San Francisco Ballet bear, a movie bear and, most recently, a Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896343\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896343\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"This critique of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence honey bear recently appeared on Ricky Rat's Instagram account.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This critique of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence honey bear recently appeared on Ricky Rat’s Instagram account. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @rickyratcomix)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of the reasons people kept buying the bears was because most of them, in one way or another, support a good cause. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will receive 50% of funds from fnnch’s painting and print sales in their likeness. Mask bear and soap bear raised over $100,000 for \u003ca href=\"https://www.safetynetfund.io/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Safety Net Fund\u003c/a>. Of the firefighter bear sales, 50% benefited the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cafirefoundation.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CAL FIRE Foundation\u003c/a>. The SF Ballet got “50% of [related] art sales and 25% of other sales … to support their extensive COVID testing of dancers and staff.” Ten percent of the profits from the movie bear print went to \u003ca href=\"https://www.roxie.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Roxie\u003c/a>. A line of T-shirts donated 25% of sales to \u003ca href=\"https://www.stanthonysf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">St. Anthony’s\u003c/a>, a nonprofit community organization. As fnnch himself noted in one of his regular newsletters, he “went from raising or donating $12,000 in 2019 to $293,000 in 2020.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>After the uproar that greeted his initial attempt at a BLM-inspired bear, an image that people likened to blackface, fnnch donated 50% of proceeds from his subsequent “Ally Bear” to the \u003ca href=\"https://eji.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Equal Justice Initiative\u003c/a>, and the other 50% to \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/newbills-barber-shop-and-salon-san-francisco-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newbills Barber Shop and Salon\u003c/a> on Divisadero. It was a rare occasion when the artist himself did not also profit from a design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What is less acknowledged when it comes to fnnch, though, is the primary reason people in the city are so sick of him. He has figured out a way to dominate public space, and without any of the risks or consequences that art that lives in public usually faces. (Such as weather damage, tagging, etc.) Honey bears pasted onto shuttered storefronts will have a shelf life of weeks. Honey bears stuck up safely inside people’s windows, protected by the rules of private property, can live indefinitely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is how you end up with this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896344\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896344\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-800x536.png\" alt=\"fnnch's own map of honey bear saturation in San Francisco demonstrates how few spaces remain bear-free.\" width=\"800\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-800x536.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-1020x684.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-768x515.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-1536x1029.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM.png 1898w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">fnnch’s own map of honey bear saturation in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @fnnch)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What’s worse, even at his current level of over-saturation, fnnch’s commitment to blanketing the city with a single image is only getting more aggressive. He specified in his January newsletter that people buying prints for his second honey bear hunt must display the bears in their windows for “at least 3 months.” He added, “It would be swell if you kept it up for the duration of the pandemic, but … after 3 months I will reach out with a survey to see if you’d like to keep your bear up longer.” Children haven’t been this invested in teddy bear hunts in months. So why keep up the proliferation? What’s in it for fnnch?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>fnnch’s honey bear now occupies every type of space in San Francisco: the windows of private homes, public walls, institutional facades, and, as of April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNpzXw6JnxG/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inside bus shelters\u003c/a> and on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-iAjbpm6_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sides of Muni buses\u003c/a>. Through sheer force of their omnipresence, fnnch’s honey bears are coming to define the city as a place that embraces a kind of bland homogeneity, even in its street art. This is the crux of the disconnect between fnnch and San Francisco writ large: How can the repetition of one image uplift a community that has long prided itself on its heterogeneity? That he continues his honey bear output isn’t just ill-advised, it speaks to how much he still doesn’t understand his adopted home of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "what-a-vandalized-oakland-mural-says-about-black-futures-in-america",
"title": "What a Vandalized Oakland Mural Says About Black Futures in America",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span> mural in West Oakland depicting three members of an African American family, dressed in white garb above the words “The Future is Ours,” was defaced this past weekend. It’s the third time the painting has been vandalized in the past two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lead artist behind the piece and founder of the street art collective AeroSoul, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/refa1love/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Refa One\u003c/a>, says he doesn’t know the identity of the vandal, but has a feeling racism plays a role in what’s going on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve covered Refa’s work before. I’ve had him on my podcast \u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em> to discuss his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851520/rightnowish-refa-one-spraypaint-in-hand-honors-west-oaklands-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Huey P. Newton mural\u003c/a> in West Oakland, and have photographed his Oscar Grant mural at Fruitvale BART Station. And, earlier this year, I wrote a story after Refa \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13874738/a-mural-of-tom-hanks-and-too-short-in-oakland-goes-deeper-than-paint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">covered up a Tom Hanks and Too $hort mural\u003c/a> on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland because he felt that it didn’t properly benefit the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, you may ask, how is his own mural being defaced any different?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no comparison,” Refa One tells me. “We halted cultural gentrifiers from coming into the Black community, and went and created art that is edifying for Black people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13890130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-13890130\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-800x1067.jpeg\" alt=\"A line is shown, drawn though an image of the Black family at the center of the mural on 14th st. in West Oakland\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-1020x1360.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A line is drawn though the image of a Black family at the center of a mural on 14th Street in West Oakland. \u003ccite>(Refa One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>he mural on San Pablo Avenue that depicted the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OGpenn/status/1222571572185055234\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">world-famous Hollywood actor beside the MC who popularized rapping about pimpin’ and selling tapes out of his trunk\u003c/a>—both raised in Oakland—has since been replaced with a note that a new mural is in progress (delayed by circumstances related to COVID-19) and a quote from the Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program: “We Want Decent Housing Fit For The Shelter Of Human Beings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Refa says his latest piece is a nod to the future of the Black community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AerosoulArt/status/1335471412883070976\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recently vandalized mural\u003c/a>, with its multicolored geometrical background, is located on 14th Street in West Oakland. The area was once home to a majority African American community that’s since embarked on a mass exodus due to a number of factors—urban renewal, the war on drugs, predatory lending, gentrification, you name it. The neighborhood is much like America itself: in the grips of constant tension driven by the all-too-familiar isms of racism, capitalism, sexism and classism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some folks in this country have this notion that since Joe Biden has been elected president, we’ll be able to “go back to normal.” But we all know what normal race relations look like in America. On top of that, we know there’s a large percentage of people—\u003ca href=\"https://cookpolitical.com/2020-national-popular-vote-tracker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">46.9% of voters nationwide\u003c/a>—who aren’t too fond of this new president.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month \u003ca href=\"https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2019-hate-crime-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the FBI released results\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> showing that, nationwide, the amount of reported hate crimes has been rising for almost 12 years, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/11/16/935439777/fbi-report-bias-motivated-killings-at-record-high-amid-nationwide-rise-in-hate-c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">this year is no different\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For the past decade, California has seen hate crimes reported at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://crime-data-explorer.app.cloud.gov/explorer/state/california/crime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a rate higher than the rest of the country\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider that there have been at least three Black men found hanged in California this year, all of which were initially ruled suicides. Over the summer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/us/hanging-deaths-california.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">two men in Southern California\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Malcolm Harsh in Victorville and Robert Fuller in Palmdale were found hanged; Harsh’s death has since been \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/politics/county/2020/06/20/sheriffrsquos-video-evidence-shows-malcolm-harsch-hanged-himself/42149381/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">proven to have been a suicide\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But questions still linger about the circumstances around Fuller’s death. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most recent incident happened this fall in Sacramento, where \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/sacramento-tipping-point/community-voices/article246767356.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Willie Brown Jr. was found hanged from a basketball hoop, just days before the election\u003c/a>. Although still officially ruled a suicide, questions remain as to what truly happened.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That same weekend, a boat parade of Trump supporters floated along the two rivers upon which the city was founded, the Sacramento and the American. Since then, pro-Trump rallies have continued in Sacramento, including \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/12/05/antifa-protesters-confront-pro-trump-demonstrators-proud-boys-at-californias-capitol-violence-ensues/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">one that turned violent this past weekend\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as Trump-supporting Proud Boys exchanged blows and pepper spray with Antifa activists on the perimeter of the state’s capitol building. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A day prior, in Richmond’s Point Richmond area, a conflict arose between a man posing with a Trump flag and a group of people fishing nearby, one of whom tried to snatch the flag. The \u003ca href=\"https://richmondstandard.com/richmond/2020/12/07/gunshot-fired-in-fight-over-trump-flag-in-richmond/?utm_source=facebook&utm_content=photo&fbclid=IwAR2KyOfzd5Tw8xyE1resasZ1DjpvqDMuE55SnKtjCji3KYCYRM_GlP7RhUs\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Richmond Pulse reports\u003c/span>\u003c/a> that the conflict led to a gun being fired in the direction of the Trump supporter, but that no one was hit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just about a month ago, on the other side of Contra Costa County in the city of Brentwood, protestors took to the street in anger over a local resident’s extreme show of Trump support—\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/trump-house-in-brentwood-targeted-by-angry-neighbors-police-monitor-scene\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">an effigy of Joe Biden\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> hanged from a window. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All the while, I’m thinking about the end of the Civil War, and the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/us/reconstruction-violence-lynchings.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2,000 Black people who were lynched\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the 24-month period immediately afterward.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13890131\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13890131\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-800x600.jpeg\" alt=\"A closer look at the defaced mural, showing a black line clearly through the image of the young child\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A closer look at the defaced mural, showing a black line clearly through the image of the young child \u003ccite>(Refa One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">S\u003c/span>o, yeah, when I hear about someone defacing a work of art dedicated to the proliferation of Black futurism, a part of me is like, ‘Yeah, murals get painted over everyday, B.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, I can’t help think about the timing, the environment and the symbolism—the lines are literally drawn on the child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mother depicted in the mural is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jazzhudson/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jazz Hudson\u003c/a>, a poet and owner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.goddessbutteroakland.com/shop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Goddess Butter\u003c/a>, and a friend I grew-up with in the Oakland arts community. She’s seen in a regal headwrap, sitting alongside her husband Olafemi Akintunde and the youngest of their three children, Selah. Jazz says she understands that painting over murals is all part of the street art game, but that doesn’t change how she feels seeing her child with a black line over his face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “This last time,” Hudson tells me, “I cried, I got scared. I immediately was like, ‘I want my son’s face off that mural.'” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hudson, also unaware of the identity of the vandal or the motivation behind the defacing, says that it could be someone who doesn’t like Refa’s work, or even someone who doesn’t appreciate her family. “Either way, it does speak to the constant attack on Black people thriving,” she tells me. “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To dress up in all white, for African people, is a representation of purity, your highest self and your ancestors.” \u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hudson was once hopeful that the mural, a visual representation of the evolution of their family, would stand as a proud artifact. She now says she’s removed her emotions from the piece.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The father in the mural, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bankhtheartist/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Olafemi Akintunde\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an artist and educator, used a well-known four-letter word to express his emotion toward the person repeatedly tarnishing the image of his family. “\u003c/span>My child’s face being defaced—it’s a powerful symbol,” says Akintunde. “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Black child, the Black male in particular, is a symbol that scares a lot of people,” he says, adding that fear-based energy “isn’t what’s winning right now, in general.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With multiple layers of epoxy protecting the mural, the thin layer of aerosol paint sprayed on the piece requires spending money on supplies and a couple of hours of elbow grease in order to be erased.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A vandalized piece of art doesn’t compare to headlines of hangings or physical brawls at rallies. But it’s hard not to look at the defaced mural of Jazz, Olafemi and Selah and think of the everyday tension in the minds of people who reside in this divided land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only thing out here that’s more obvious than a three-foot-long jet black scar across a wall-sized painting of a Black family dressed in white are the racist and classist tensions that divide Americans—and a new president isn’t going to change that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "It may be just another defaced mural, but it's hard not to see its parallels to the post-election tension in America.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span> mural in West Oakland depicting three members of an African American family, dressed in white garb above the words “The Future is Ours,” was defaced this past weekend. It’s the third time the painting has been vandalized in the past two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lead artist behind the piece and founder of the street art collective AeroSoul, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/refa1love/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Refa One\u003c/a>, says he doesn’t know the identity of the vandal, but has a feeling racism plays a role in what’s going on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve covered Refa’s work before. I’ve had him on my podcast \u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em> to discuss his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851520/rightnowish-refa-one-spraypaint-in-hand-honors-west-oaklands-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Huey P. Newton mural\u003c/a> in West Oakland, and have photographed his Oscar Grant mural at Fruitvale BART Station. And, earlier this year, I wrote a story after Refa \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13874738/a-mural-of-tom-hanks-and-too-short-in-oakland-goes-deeper-than-paint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">covered up a Tom Hanks and Too $hort mural\u003c/a> on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland because he felt that it didn’t properly benefit the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, you may ask, how is his own mural being defaced any different?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no comparison,” Refa One tells me. “We halted cultural gentrifiers from coming into the Black community, and went and created art that is edifying for Black people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13890130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-13890130\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-800x1067.jpeg\" alt=\"A line is shown, drawn though an image of the Black family at the center of the mural on 14th st. in West Oakland\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-800x1067.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-1020x1360.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-160x213.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-II.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A line is drawn though the image of a Black family at the center of a mural on 14th Street in West Oakland. \u003ccite>(Refa One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>he mural on San Pablo Avenue that depicted the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OGpenn/status/1222571572185055234\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">world-famous Hollywood actor beside the MC who popularized rapping about pimpin’ and selling tapes out of his trunk\u003c/a>—both raised in Oakland—has since been replaced with a note that a new mural is in progress (delayed by circumstances related to COVID-19) and a quote from the Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program: “We Want Decent Housing Fit For The Shelter Of Human Beings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Refa says his latest piece is a nod to the future of the Black community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AerosoulArt/status/1335471412883070976\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recently vandalized mural\u003c/a>, with its multicolored geometrical background, is located on 14th Street in West Oakland. The area was once home to a majority African American community that’s since embarked on a mass exodus due to a number of factors—urban renewal, the war on drugs, predatory lending, gentrification, you name it. The neighborhood is much like America itself: in the grips of constant tension driven by the all-too-familiar isms of racism, capitalism, sexism and classism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some folks in this country have this notion that since Joe Biden has been elected president, we’ll be able to “go back to normal.” But we all know what normal race relations look like in America. On top of that, we know there’s a large percentage of people—\u003ca href=\"https://cookpolitical.com/2020-national-popular-vote-tracker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">46.9% of voters nationwide\u003c/a>—who aren’t too fond of this new president.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month \u003ca href=\"https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-2019-hate-crime-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the FBI released results\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> showing that, nationwide, the amount of reported hate crimes has been rising for almost 12 years, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/11/16/935439777/fbi-report-bias-motivated-killings-at-record-high-amid-nationwide-rise-in-hate-c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">this year is no different\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For the past decade, California has seen hate crimes reported at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://crime-data-explorer.app.cloud.gov/explorer/state/california/crime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a rate higher than the rest of the country\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider that there have been at least three Black men found hanged in California this year, all of which were initially ruled suicides. Over the summer, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/us/hanging-deaths-california.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">two men in Southern California\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Malcolm Harsh in Victorville and Robert Fuller in Palmdale were found hanged; Harsh’s death has since been \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/politics/county/2020/06/20/sheriffrsquos-video-evidence-shows-malcolm-harsch-hanged-himself/42149381/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">proven to have been a suicide\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But questions still linger about the circumstances around Fuller’s death. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most recent incident happened this fall in Sacramento, where \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/sacramento-tipping-point/community-voices/article246767356.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Willie Brown Jr. was found hanged from a basketball hoop, just days before the election\u003c/a>. Although still officially ruled a suicide, questions remain as to what truly happened.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That same weekend, a boat parade of Trump supporters floated along the two rivers upon which the city was founded, the Sacramento and the American. Since then, pro-Trump rallies have continued in Sacramento, including \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/12/05/antifa-protesters-confront-pro-trump-demonstrators-proud-boys-at-californias-capitol-violence-ensues/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">one that turned violent this past weekend\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as Trump-supporting Proud Boys exchanged blows and pepper spray with Antifa activists on the perimeter of the state’s capitol building. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A day prior, in Richmond’s Point Richmond area, a conflict arose between a man posing with a Trump flag and a group of people fishing nearby, one of whom tried to snatch the flag. The \u003ca href=\"https://richmondstandard.com/richmond/2020/12/07/gunshot-fired-in-fight-over-trump-flag-in-richmond/?utm_source=facebook&utm_content=photo&fbclid=IwAR2KyOfzd5Tw8xyE1resasZ1DjpvqDMuE55SnKtjCji3KYCYRM_GlP7RhUs\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Richmond Pulse reports\u003c/span>\u003c/a> that the conflict led to a gun being fired in the direction of the Trump supporter, but that no one was hit.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just about a month ago, on the other side of Contra Costa County in the city of Brentwood, protestors took to the street in anger over a local resident’s extreme show of Trump support—\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/trump-house-in-brentwood-targeted-by-angry-neighbors-police-monitor-scene\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">an effigy of Joe Biden\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> hanged from a window. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All the while, I’m thinking about the end of the Civil War, and the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/us/reconstruction-violence-lynchings.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2,000 Black people who were lynched\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the 24-month period immediately afterward.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13890131\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13890131\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-800x600.jpeg\" alt=\"A closer look at the defaced mural, showing a black line clearly through the image of the young child\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/12/Selah.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A closer look at the defaced mural, showing a black line clearly through the image of the young child \u003ccite>(Refa One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">S\u003c/span>o, yeah, when I hear about someone defacing a work of art dedicated to the proliferation of Black futurism, a part of me is like, ‘Yeah, murals get painted over everyday, B.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, I can’t help think about the timing, the environment and the symbolism—the lines are literally drawn on the child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mother depicted in the mural is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jazzhudson/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jazz Hudson\u003c/a>, a poet and owner of \u003ca href=\"https://www.goddessbutteroakland.com/shop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Goddess Butter\u003c/a>, and a friend I grew-up with in the Oakland arts community. She’s seen in a regal headwrap, sitting alongside her husband Olafemi Akintunde and the youngest of their three children, Selah. Jazz says she understands that painting over murals is all part of the street art game, but that doesn’t change how she feels seeing her child with a black line over his face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “This last time,” Hudson tells me, “I cried, I got scared. I immediately was like, ‘I want my son’s face off that mural.'” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hudson, also unaware of the identity of the vandal or the motivation behind the defacing, says that it could be someone who doesn’t like Refa’s work, or even someone who doesn’t appreciate her family. “Either way, it does speak to the constant attack on Black people thriving,” she tells me. “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To dress up in all white, for African people, is a representation of purity, your highest self and your ancestors.” \u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hudson was once hopeful that the mural, a visual representation of the evolution of their family, would stand as a proud artifact. She now says she’s removed her emotions from the piece.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The father in the mural, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bankhtheartist/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Olafemi Akintunde\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an artist and educator, used a well-known four-letter word to express his emotion toward the person repeatedly tarnishing the image of his family. “\u003c/span>My child’s face being defaced—it’s a powerful symbol,” says Akintunde. “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Black child, the Black male in particular, is a symbol that scares a lot of people,” he says, adding that fear-based energy “isn’t what’s winning right now, in general.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With multiple layers of epoxy protecting the mural, the thin layer of aerosol paint sprayed on the piece requires spending money on supplies and a couple of hours of elbow grease in order to be erased.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A vandalized piece of art doesn’t compare to headlines of hangings or physical brawls at rallies. But it’s hard not to look at the defaced mural of Jazz, Olafemi and Selah and think of the everyday tension in the minds of people who reside in this divided land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only thing out here that’s more obvious than a three-foot-long jet black scar across a wall-sized painting of a Black family dressed in white are the racist and classist tensions that divide Americans—and a new president isn’t going to change that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "‘The Art of Protest’ Doc Profiles Activist Artists on a Pressing Mission",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>The Art of Protest\u003c/em> is not a measured, neutral or objective documentary. It’s an unabashed call to action for protesters, outspoken artists and radical musicians—and it’s not in the least bit interested in being anything else. If you don’t fall into any of those categories, there’s a good chance at least some of its content will offend you. If you are a person upset with the state of the world, it’s likely to provide inspiration. But, more than anything, \u003ci>The Art of Protest\u003c/i> is a succinct snapshot of an America dominated by political divisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13837892']The film is divisive because of who produced it: \u003ca href=\"https://thisisindecline.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">INDECLINE\u003c/a>. The anonymous art collective has been active in the Bay Area—along with major cities across the country—for nearly 20 years. You might remember them for the naked \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/33376/so-theres-a-naked-donald-trump-statue-in-the-castro-now-nsfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donald Trump statue\u003c/a> they installed in the Castro back in 2016. Or the “1-800-GOT-JUNK?” billboard in Emeryville they transformed into \u003ca href=\"https://news.artnet.com/art-world/indecline-trump-immigration-billboad-1307870\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an anti-ICE statement\u003c/a> in 2018. As this film explains, the group has also, at various times, built a cemetery on a Trump golf course (“Here lies decency” read one of the tombstones), and built a rat-infested cell inside a Trump Hotel room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003cem>The Art of Protest\u003c/em> is not simply an advertisement for the activism of INDECLINE. The 45-minute film also features a fairly astonishing array of voices from the art, music and protest worlds, all of whom passionately share their views about the important role art can have in changing the world. And many of them are brazen about their willingness to cross legal lines to do it. Monica Guzman of LA’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sunrisemovement.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sunrise Movement\u003c/a> notes: “Breaking a law is a reminder to young people that the laws have to change. Why are we supposed to be following laws when corporations are destroying our planet?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYvUaChT508\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Featured artists include \u003ca href=\"https://www.ralphsteadman.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ralph Steadman\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://obeygiant.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shepard Fairey\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/sport/american-football/53415638\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fabian Williams and Ash Nash\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://monicacanilao.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Monica Canilao\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.drooker.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eric Drooker\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://jodieherrera.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jodie Herrera\u003c/a> and many more. All speak passionately (and punchily—some are reduced to swift soundbites) about their motivations and methods. As do political practical jokers \u003ca href=\"https://theyesmen.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Yes Men\u003c/a>, photographer \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_E._Friedman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Glen E. Friedman\u003c/a>, West Memphis Three survivor \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/damienechols\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damien Echols\u003c/a>, trans activist \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/buckangel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buck Angel\u003c/a>, and former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emory_Douglas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Emory Douglas\u003c/a>. Douglas describes how art was an essential method of spreading the group’s message. “The power of art,” he says, “is that it tells the truth that you won’t get from a bureaucrat, or politicians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musicians interviewed include Moby, Tom Morello, Dave Navarro and members of Anti-Flag, Youth Brigade, Agnostic Front, Rise Against, Crass and Pussy Riot. (“We were prepared to die for what we believe in,” Nadya Tolokonnikova casually notes.) Bay Area punk mainstays like Jello Biafra, Fat Mike from NOFX, and \u003ca href=\"https://winstonsmith.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Winston Smith\u003c/a> all pop up. As does San Francisco-based Burning Man co-founder \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law_(artist)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Law\u003c/a>, who firmly states, “Fucking shit up is really fixing things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just as the interviewees hold nothing back, the documentary’s visuals are equally unfiltered. That means sitting through some deeply upsetting (though already infamous) footage of Black men and protesters being harmed by police officers, as well as clips from racist rallies. Footage of children playing soccer with replicas of prominent politicians’ heads also does not fail in its goal to shock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Art of Protest\u003c/em> then is a single-minded attempt to win viewers over to the ideas of revolutionary action. And it does so with a passion and urgency that, at times, feels infectious. But it’s in more sedate moments that the film has the greatest impact. Like when musician \u003ca href=\"https://www.grandsonmusic.com/dirty?ref=https://www.google.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grandson\u003c/a> makes activism in art seem like merely a matter of good mental health: “Art parallels with the pent up anger—the unresolved calls for justice.” Or when Shepard Fairey points out that all art is capable of sharing something valuable with society. “The more contributing their voice in a creative way,” the Obey mastermind says, “the better the world will be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Art of Protest\u003c/em> can be streamed in full at \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/indecline-documentary-art-of-protest-resistance-1074196/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">RollingStone.com\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>The Art of Protest\u003c/em> is not a measured, neutral or objective documentary. It’s an unabashed call to action for protesters, outspoken artists and radical musicians—and it’s not in the least bit interested in being anything else. If you don’t fall into any of those categories, there’s a good chance at least some of its content will offend you. If you are a person upset with the state of the world, it’s likely to provide inspiration. But, more than anything, \u003ci>The Art of Protest\u003c/i> is a succinct snapshot of an America dominated by political divisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The film is divisive because of who produced it: \u003ca href=\"https://thisisindecline.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">INDECLINE\u003c/a>. The anonymous art collective has been active in the Bay Area—along with major cities across the country—for nearly 20 years. You might remember them for the naked \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/33376/so-theres-a-naked-donald-trump-statue-in-the-castro-now-nsfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donald Trump statue\u003c/a> they installed in the Castro back in 2016. Or the “1-800-GOT-JUNK?” billboard in Emeryville they transformed into \u003ca href=\"https://news.artnet.com/art-world/indecline-trump-immigration-billboad-1307870\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an anti-ICE statement\u003c/a> in 2018. As this film explains, the group has also, at various times, built a cemetery on a Trump golf course (“Here lies decency” read one of the tombstones), and built a rat-infested cell inside a Trump Hotel room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003cem>The Art of Protest\u003c/em> is not simply an advertisement for the activism of INDECLINE. The 45-minute film also features a fairly astonishing array of voices from the art, music and protest worlds, all of whom passionately share their views about the important role art can have in changing the world. And many of them are brazen about their willingness to cross legal lines to do it. Monica Guzman of LA’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sunrisemovement.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sunrise Movement\u003c/a> notes: “Breaking a law is a reminder to young people that the laws have to change. Why are we supposed to be following laws when corporations are destroying our planet?”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/uYvUaChT508'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/uYvUaChT508'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Featured artists include \u003ca href=\"https://www.ralphsteadman.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ralph Steadman\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://obeygiant.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shepard Fairey\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/sport/american-football/53415638\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fabian Williams and Ash Nash\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://monicacanilao.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Monica Canilao\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.drooker.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eric Drooker\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://jodieherrera.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jodie Herrera\u003c/a> and many more. All speak passionately (and punchily—some are reduced to swift soundbites) about their motivations and methods. As do political practical jokers \u003ca href=\"https://theyesmen.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Yes Men\u003c/a>, photographer \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_E._Friedman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Glen E. Friedman\u003c/a>, West Memphis Three survivor \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/damienechols\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damien Echols\u003c/a>, trans activist \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/buckangel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buck Angel\u003c/a>, and former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emory_Douglas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Emory Douglas\u003c/a>. Douglas describes how art was an essential method of spreading the group’s message. “The power of art,” he says, “is that it tells the truth that you won’t get from a bureaucrat, or politicians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musicians interviewed include Moby, Tom Morello, Dave Navarro and members of Anti-Flag, Youth Brigade, Agnostic Front, Rise Against, Crass and Pussy Riot. (“We were prepared to die for what we believe in,” Nadya Tolokonnikova casually notes.) Bay Area punk mainstays like Jello Biafra, Fat Mike from NOFX, and \u003ca href=\"https://winstonsmith.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Winston Smith\u003c/a> all pop up. As does San Francisco-based Burning Man co-founder \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law_(artist)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Law\u003c/a>, who firmly states, “Fucking shit up is really fixing things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just as the interviewees hold nothing back, the documentary’s visuals are equally unfiltered. That means sitting through some deeply upsetting (though already infamous) footage of Black men and protesters being harmed by police officers, as well as clips from racist rallies. Footage of children playing soccer with replicas of prominent politicians’ heads also does not fail in its goal to shock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Art of Protest\u003c/em> then is a single-minded attempt to win viewers over to the ideas of revolutionary action. And it does so with a passion and urgency that, at times, feels infectious. But it’s in more sedate moments that the film has the greatest impact. Like when musician \u003ca href=\"https://www.grandsonmusic.com/dirty?ref=https://www.google.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grandson\u003c/a> makes activism in art seem like merely a matter of good mental health: “Art parallels with the pent up anger—the unresolved calls for justice.” Or when Shepard Fairey points out that all art is capable of sharing something valuable with society. “The more contributing their voice in a creative way,” the Obey mastermind says, “the better the world will be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Art of Protest\u003c/em> can be streamed in full at \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/indecline-documentary-art-of-protest-resistance-1074196/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">RollingStone.com\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>he Velvet Bandit looks to the left, sizing up the street, and eyes a line of cars stopped at a red light in downtown Santa Rosa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13881659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Gabe.Bio_.Cap_.small_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Gabe.Bio_.Cap_.small_.jpg 180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Gabe.Bio_.Cap_.small_-160x181.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let’s wait for the light to change,” she says. “There looks like a lot of…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Naysayers?” her assistant asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon the light turns green, and the two speed-walk to their destination: an alcove of an abandoned building, highly visible, where thousands of people pass each day and a bright light shines at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visibility is a risk for the Velvet Bandit, a street artist who doesn’t fit the stereotypical profile of a “street artist.” I can’t really tell you who the Velvet Bandit \u003cem>is\u003c/em>, exactly; she operates under cover of night, and placing her art on public and private walls is, technically, not legal. This much is known: she is a single mom living in Sonoma County, and before COVID hit, she worked as a cafeteria aide at a local school, preparing lunch for schoolchildren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we reach the alcove, I take note of a “No Trespassing” sign, and quietly alert the Velvet Bandit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She keeps walking briskly, unconcerned, and in a small burst of freedom—from shelter-in-place, from our toxic political climate, from her day job—she quips: “Lunch ladies don’t give a \u003cem>fuuuuuucccckkk\u003c/em>!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A minute later, the deal is done, and the wall bears a hand-painted image of Uncle Sam, wearing a face mask, with a simple message: “VOTE.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two women step back to assess the job. “Oh, yeah,” one says to the other. “Yeah. That looks \u003cem>awesome\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885642\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885642\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1.jpg\" alt=\"Artwork by the Velvet Bandit, made during shelter-in-place, addresses the chaos of 2020.\" width=\"1830\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1.jpg 1830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1-800x262.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1-1020x334.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1-160x52.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1-768x252.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1-1536x504.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1830px) 100vw, 1830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artwork by the Velvet Bandit, made during shelter-in-place, addresses the chaos of 2020. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the Velvet Bandit)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> started to notice the Velvet Bandit’s colorful paintings a few months ago, wheat pasted to walls and poles, with their positive messages for the pandemic. At the start, they bore simple reminders, like “Stay Home” and “Wash Your Hands.” Then, while everyone waited for stimulus checks, I noticed one in my neighborhood of a woman holding a check, with the phrase “Mitch Better Have My Money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, people told me they’d seen her work in other cities too: as far north as Ukiah and Willits, and in Sonoma, Sebastopol and Petaluma. It evolved, also: her paintings have lately amplified messages of the Black Lives Matter movement and the need to save the Post Office. Most of them simply \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CEmk93HFJJh/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">acknowledge the struggle\u003c/a>, for everyone, that is the year 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, out in the streets at night, she and her assistant haven’t gotten caught—which is impressive, considering her work is prominent, colorful, and prolific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always dreamed, like, ‘It’d be really cool to have this mom graffiti gang that goes around and puts these positive messages out,’” the lunch-lady-turned-street-artist tells me when we meet up on a recent weekend night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, she says, like many, she was furloughed from her job. Shepard Fairey’s wheat-pasted art had been a longtime inspiration, and she’d kept a pile of newsprint in her studio, ready to paint. So, she says, “when I had nothing but my art supplies to keep me sane, it was the perfect opportunity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885645\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885645\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020.jpg\" alt=\"The Velvet Bandit takes a photo of her work on a recent night in Santa Rosa. \" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Velvet Bandit takes a photo of her work on a recent night in Santa Rosa. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Velvet Bandit has made about 600 pieces since, she estimates, putting up most of them in cities across the North Bay. Astonishingly, all of them have been painted individually, by hand. She tried making copies of her work like other street artists do, but “the vibrancy isn’t there,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, reaction to her work has been relatively positive. Rather than scraping her work from their walls, several area businesses owners have contacted her, either donating money or even requesting that she come put it up on their storefronts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the former Dollar Tree building in the Roseland district of Santa Rosa recently, a man came out and gruffly asked, “What are you doing? What agency are you from?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She explained she was putting up art, and when he saw her work, he asked if she had any more. “And he said, ‘Put it around the whole building!’” she explains. “’And in fact, put it on those two taco trucks over there!’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I witness the same reaction in person later, when I accompany her and her assistant around downtown. While they dip into the supplies stored in their inconspicuous purses, and paste a “REGISTER + VOTE” painting in an alley, a man and a woman walk by. The woman points. For a flash of a second, I think we’re busted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh, look!” she says, pleasantly. “We’re getting a mural!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885643\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1819px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885643\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2.jpg\" alt=\"The Velvet Bandit's work touches on a variety of social issues during a tumultuous year. \" width=\"1819\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2.jpg 1819w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2-800x263.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2-1020x336.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2-768x253.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2-1536x506.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1819px) 100vw, 1819px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Velvet Bandit’s work touches on a variety of social issues during a tumultuous year. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the Velvet Bandit)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">P\u003c/span>ublic art is always a source of debate, but it reached high temperature in Santa Rosa last month when a \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/white-hand-sculpture-painted-black-outside-santa-rosa-mall/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">giant marble hand in front of the mall\u003c/a> was painted black by Black Lives Matter activists. On one side of the issue, people argued that one should never vandalize art, and that the artist had intended the giant white hand to honor the region’s farmworkers. On the other side, people, mostly young, argued that the entire concept of public art should progress beyond staid marble sculptures that stay in place for 30 years and lose their relevance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Velvet Bandit wants public art to be “more fun.” She knows the city often looks for artists to participate in sanctioned art projects, “but it just seems like a lot of work to fill out an application,” she says. The idea of having to outline a project and its goals beforehand is cumbersome, too: “I just like to do it as I go, and not put too much thought into it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What about grants, or the money she could get from the city for art? “Maybe I’ll warm up to that idea,” she says. “But I get a thrill out of the fact that I’m not \u003cem>supposed\u003c/em> to be doing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At any rate, the Velvet Bandit has goals beyond mere recognition. She truly does want people to wear masks, and to take COVID seriously. She wants Trump out of office. She wants people to register to vote. She wants people to take care of themselves, and each other; the very first artwork posted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thevelvetbandit/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">her Instagram\u003c/a> reads, simply, “Free Hugs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13885652\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBandit.FISTGIF.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, when she puts up a trio of raised fists in the center of town in Courthouse Square, I notice just how quickly and discreetly the Velvet Bandit works. In just half an hour, she and her assistant have pasted nearly 20 pieces downtown. Two dozen or so people mingle around the square, which is itself surrounded by plenty of chatty, unmasked outdoor diners. A man walks by with a stroller. A woman listens to Sheryl Crow nearby in her parked blue Hyundai. No one seems to notice us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s then that I realize: why would they? The year 2020 has been such a turbulent mess. The news is a rollercoaster, everything changes quickly, hope is illusory and our attention spans are mush. And in that way, the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">medium is the message\u003c/a>—the Velvet Bandit’s quickly changing, here-today-gone-tomorrow wheat pastes match this chaotic year, and simultaneously, they’re a liberating change from overthinking everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because all of this work is fleeting, and I don’t know the lifespan of it, I don’t get hung up,” she says. “If it works, it works. And if it doesn’t, whatever. Who cares? It’s all gonna get taken down anyway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Find more at the Velvet Bandit’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.thevelvetbandit.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">website\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>he Velvet Bandit looks to the left, sizing up the street, and eyes a line of cars stopped at a red light in downtown Santa Rosa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13881659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Gabe.Bio_.Cap_.small_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Gabe.Bio_.Cap_.small_.jpg 180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Gabe.Bio_.Cap_.small_-160x181.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let’s wait for the light to change,” she says. “There looks like a lot of…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Naysayers?” her assistant asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon the light turns green, and the two speed-walk to their destination: an alcove of an abandoned building, highly visible, where thousands of people pass each day and a bright light shines at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visibility is a risk for the Velvet Bandit, a street artist who doesn’t fit the stereotypical profile of a “street artist.” I can’t really tell you who the Velvet Bandit \u003cem>is\u003c/em>, exactly; she operates under cover of night, and placing her art on public and private walls is, technically, not legal. This much is known: she is a single mom living in Sonoma County, and before COVID hit, she worked as a cafeteria aide at a local school, preparing lunch for schoolchildren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we reach the alcove, I take note of a “No Trespassing” sign, and quietly alert the Velvet Bandit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She keeps walking briskly, unconcerned, and in a small burst of freedom—from shelter-in-place, from our toxic political climate, from her day job—she quips: “Lunch ladies don’t give a \u003cem>fuuuuuucccckkk\u003c/em>!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A minute later, the deal is done, and the wall bears a hand-painted image of Uncle Sam, wearing a face mask, with a simple message: “VOTE.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two women step back to assess the job. “Oh, yeah,” one says to the other. “Yeah. That looks \u003cem>awesome\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885642\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1830px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885642\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1.jpg\" alt=\"Artwork by the Velvet Bandit, made during shelter-in-place, addresses the chaos of 2020.\" width=\"1830\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1.jpg 1830w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1-800x262.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1-1020x334.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1-160x52.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1-768x252.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail1-1536x504.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1830px) 100vw, 1830px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artwork by the Velvet Bandit, made during shelter-in-place, addresses the chaos of 2020. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the Velvet Bandit)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> started to notice the Velvet Bandit’s colorful paintings a few months ago, wheat pasted to walls and poles, with their positive messages for the pandemic. At the start, they bore simple reminders, like “Stay Home” and “Wash Your Hands.” Then, while everyone waited for stimulus checks, I noticed one in my neighborhood of a woman holding a check, with the phrase “Mitch Better Have My Money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, people told me they’d seen her work in other cities too: as far north as Ukiah and Willits, and in Sonoma, Sebastopol and Petaluma. It evolved, also: her paintings have lately amplified messages of the Black Lives Matter movement and the need to save the Post Office. Most of them simply \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CEmk93HFJJh/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">acknowledge the struggle\u003c/a>, for everyone, that is the year 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, out in the streets at night, she and her assistant haven’t gotten caught—which is impressive, considering her work is prominent, colorful, and prolific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always dreamed, like, ‘It’d be really cool to have this mom graffiti gang that goes around and puts these positive messages out,’” the lunch-lady-turned-street-artist tells me when we meet up on a recent weekend night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, she says, like many, she was furloughed from her job. Shepard Fairey’s wheat-pasted art had been a longtime inspiration, and she’d kept a pile of newsprint in her studio, ready to paint. So, she says, “when I had nothing but my art supplies to keep me sane, it was the perfect opportunity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885645\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885645\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020.jpg\" alt=\"The Velvet Bandit takes a photo of her work on a recent night in Santa Rosa. \" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvBandit.OK2020-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Velvet Bandit takes a photo of her work on a recent night in Santa Rosa. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Velvet Bandit has made about 600 pieces since, she estimates, putting up most of them in cities across the North Bay. Astonishingly, all of them have been painted individually, by hand. She tried making copies of her work like other street artists do, but “the vibrancy isn’t there,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, reaction to her work has been relatively positive. Rather than scraping her work from their walls, several area businesses owners have contacted her, either donating money or even requesting that she come put it up on their storefronts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the former Dollar Tree building in the Roseland district of Santa Rosa recently, a man came out and gruffly asked, “What are you doing? What agency are you from?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She explained she was putting up art, and when he saw her work, he asked if she had any more. “And he said, ‘Put it around the whole building!’” she explains. “’And in fact, put it on those two taco trucks over there!’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I witness the same reaction in person later, when I accompany her and her assistant around downtown. While they dip into the supplies stored in their inconspicuous purses, and paste a “REGISTER + VOTE” painting in an alley, a man and a woman walk by. The woman points. For a flash of a second, I think we’re busted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh, look!” she says, pleasantly. “We’re getting a mural!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885643\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1819px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885643\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2.jpg\" alt=\"The Velvet Bandit's work touches on a variety of social issues during a tumultuous year. \" width=\"1819\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2.jpg 1819w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2-800x263.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2-1020x336.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2-768x253.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBanditRail2-1536x506.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1819px) 100vw, 1819px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Velvet Bandit’s work touches on a variety of social issues during a tumultuous year. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the Velvet Bandit)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">P\u003c/span>ublic art is always a source of debate, but it reached high temperature in Santa Rosa last month when a \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/white-hand-sculpture-painted-black-outside-santa-rosa-mall/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">giant marble hand in front of the mall\u003c/a> was painted black by Black Lives Matter activists. On one side of the issue, people argued that one should never vandalize art, and that the artist had intended the giant white hand to honor the region’s farmworkers. On the other side, people, mostly young, argued that the entire concept of public art should progress beyond staid marble sculptures that stay in place for 30 years and lose their relevance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Velvet Bandit wants public art to be “more fun.” She knows the city often looks for artists to participate in sanctioned art projects, “but it just seems like a lot of work to fill out an application,” she says. The idea of having to outline a project and its goals beforehand is cumbersome, too: “I just like to do it as I go, and not put too much thought into it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What about grants, or the money she could get from the city for art? “Maybe I’ll warm up to that idea,” she says. “But I get a thrill out of the fact that I’m not \u003cem>supposed\u003c/em> to be doing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At any rate, the Velvet Bandit has goals beyond mere recognition. She truly does want people to wear masks, and to take COVID seriously. She wants Trump out of office. She wants people to register to vote. She wants people to take care of themselves, and each other; the very first artwork posted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thevelvetbandit/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">her Instagram\u003c/a> reads, simply, “Free Hugs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13885652\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/VelvetBandit.FISTGIF.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, when she puts up a trio of raised fists in the center of town in Courthouse Square, I notice just how quickly and discreetly the Velvet Bandit works. In just half an hour, she and her assistant have pasted nearly 20 pieces downtown. Two dozen or so people mingle around the square, which is itself surrounded by plenty of chatty, unmasked outdoor diners. A man walks by with a stroller. A woman listens to Sheryl Crow nearby in her parked blue Hyundai. No one seems to notice us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s then that I realize: why would they? The year 2020 has been such a turbulent mess. The news is a rollercoaster, everything changes quickly, hope is illusory and our attention spans are mush. And in that way, the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">medium is the message\u003c/a>—the Velvet Bandit’s quickly changing, here-today-gone-tomorrow wheat pastes match this chaotic year, and simultaneously, they’re a liberating change from overthinking everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because all of this work is fleeting, and I don’t know the lifespan of it, I don’t get hung up,” she says. “If it works, it works. And if it doesn’t, whatever. Who cares? It’s all gonna get taken down anyway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Find more at the Velvet Bandit’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.thevelvetbandit.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">website\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Tenderloin Murals Meet their Audience at Street Level",
"headTitle": "Tenderloin Murals Meet their Audience at Street Level | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Chad Hasegawa’s new mural, finished Aug. 1, is painted above Blessings Ministry, a medical marijuana dispensary with a star of David over the door. It’s right down the block from the historic Hibernia Bank Building. Across the street on McAllister, a man wearing shades and a sports coat has a lawn chair laid out. He’s playing Rhianna from a vintage speaker—loud, and he’s singing. The streets are full of people. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were sitting out every day watching me paint,” Hasegawa remembers, “I had fans. Well, there was nothing else they could do during the pandemic.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"artschool_826\"]Hasegawa’s mural, spread across two walls, pairs a patchworked brown bear on one section with two minimal spheres on the other. The bear, which he reasons is a symbol of California, was chosen rather arbitrarily. “Basically,” Hasegawa explains, “I started out painting all these animals, but then people wanted me to paint their pug or like a tiger and I didn’t want to be a pet portraitist so I decided to only do the bear.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thinking about the spectrum of browns that coalesce in the bear’s appearance, Hasegawa drew out two predominant hues that articulate different shades, red and blue. The colors illuminate extremes and the effect is radiant. “I wanted the colors to turn each other on,” Hasegawa says of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chadhasegawa/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">his work\u003c/a>. “As if there are energies in them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The panel opposite the bear features two interlocking spheres which the artist made painstakingly, with a meticulous tape stencil. It’s minimal and perfect, more like a printed image than a painting. But, Hasegawa assures, if you look closely you can see the brushstrokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885217\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1600\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885217\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chad Hasegawa’s recently completed ‘Kachusha the American,’ 2020. \u003ccite>(Darryl Smith)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Darryl Smith, The Luggage Store']I still see the importance of well-curated exhibitions but I love tearing down fences and putting art out there.[/pullquote]The mural, on 83 McAllister, is the latest in a series of large-scale public works commissioned in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market neighborhoods by The Luggage Store gallery and funded primarily by Someland Foundation. So far three other murals have been completed, the first was \u003ca href=\"https://anglimgilbertgallery.com/clare-rojas/#ms-7880\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Clare Rojas\u003c/a>’ \u003cem>PROMISE\u003c/em> on the Warfield; then in 2018, \u003ca href=\"http://www.jackhanley.com/artists/alicia-mccarthy\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Alicia McCarthy\u003c/a>’s \u003cem>Untitled\u003c/em> went up at 7th and Market; and in 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://www.taubaauerbach.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Tauba Auerbach\u003c/a> painted the colossal \u003cem>2020\u003c/em> on 455 Eddy. A new mural is planned for October by the artist \u003ca href=\"https://monacaron.com/street/mona-caron-artist\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mona Caron\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These projects,” explains Luggage Store co-founder Darryl Smith, “are about giving people access to art at the highest level. I still see the importance of well-curated exhibitions but I love tearing down fences and putting art out there—it seems to me a more interesting way to reach many cultures and people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hasegawa has painted murals in San Francisco, his home of over 20 years, for almost as long as he’s lived in the city. Before he works on a mural he always spends time scoping out the area. “The first bear I did was right down the street from The Stud. I thought since there was a big bear scene in the gay community there, they’d like it. And they did.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With museums and galleries shuttered during the pandemic, it is, at the risk of sounding corny, a beautiful thing to see art in the company of others. Especially in a community as strong and interlinked as the Tenderloin, where everyone seems to know each other’s name. This proliferation of public murals is an antidote to the staleness of art museums, providing a lively context, formed by an engaged scene on the streets, that knocks high art out of its rarified, and often apolitical, frame. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885213\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885213\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luggage Store co-founder Darryl Smith with Alicia McCarthy’s mural in the background. \u003ccite>(Barrett Moore)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“People really like them,” says Smith, who is constantly greeting people on Eddy. “Just being on the street, walking through the neighborhood, I encounter people who thank me for the murals. Some even talk to me about other walls that could use one.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A longtime resident of the Tenderloin, Hasegawa wanted to honor McAllister’s strategic location as a protest route. “That’s why I had the bear throw its hand up, as a sign of hope,” he says. “Like keep going people, we still have to scream at City Hall, it’s not over yet.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He painted the Pan-African flag in his mural as a sign of respect to the Black Lives Matter movement; he figured it was something the Black community that spends time on the block would appreciate, “even if they weren’t about the art.” The mural itself is titled \u003cem>Kachusha the American\u003c/em>, in honor of a friend of Hasegawa’s who was attacked by the police in the Mission after acting as a witness to their harassment of a family. According to Hasegawa, while defending himself from the violent officers, Kachusha screamed, “I can’t breathe. I’m an American.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He kept saying that,” says Hasegawa, “because he felt like he was caught in a war.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885215\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 768px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142229-adj-ver-05-clr-cntrst-ok-768x1050-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1050\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885215\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142229-adj-ver-05-clr-cntrst-ok-768x1050-1.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142229-adj-ver-05-clr-cntrst-ok-768x1050-1-160x219.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tauba Auerbach’s ‘2020,’ 2019 on Mosser Towers. \u003ccite>(Jay Jones)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Color and Form on an Epic Scale\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A girl with “Elon Musk” written on her arm in thick black marker is marveling at 2020, Auerbach’s hypnotic black and white mural. She has a pile of high heels in front of her and is modeling a particularly nice pair of red pumps. Gliding back and forth impressively, lightly encouraging people to buy them off her feet, she engages someone about the mural. She says she thinks it’s beautiful, then, softly, and only to herself, she whispers, “Best art ever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Auerbach’s mural depicts what looks like a rectangular piece of glass being dipped into inky milk. Adroit painted shadows falling from the glass give the mural a disconcerting trompe l’oeil effect and from a distance it’s as if the building is caught in a perpetual collision. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The largest work Auerbach has ever done, the mural was made with the assistance of a two-person crew from \u003ca href=\"https://www.newbohemiasigns.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">New Bohemia Signs\u003c/a>, where Auerbach worked early in her career. The geometric precision and dedication to work by hand for which Auerbach is known wrap around the building with staggering care. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few blocks away sits Alicia McCarthy’s 100-by-100-foot untitled mural. Made with foot-long rollers acting as stand-ins for brushes, it’s a net of interlocking stripes painted line by line. Each color in the painting is unique, mixed by the artist. Following a line horizontally or vertically lends the mural a visual undulation; each color is constantly re-contextualized by its intersections. McCarthy, who worked with a crew of artists to put up the mural, notes the pure pleasure of watching colors interact with one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not trying to illustrate anything,” says Oakland-born McCarthy. “It is just color and lines and you see exactly what goes into it. There is no manipulation. My work is just about adaptation and context.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Street Art and the Battle for the City’s Soul\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Tenderloin and Mid-Market murals are funded by Sara Williams and her foundation \u003ca href=\"https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/453438376\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Someland\u003c/a>, which she started with her husband Evan Williams, a co-founder of Twitter. While political justice and education seem to be the primary recipients of Someland’s donations, they’ve supported the arts in San Francisco by contributing to 826 Valencia and the FOR-SITE foundations’s \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.for-site.org/project/home-land-security/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Home Land Security\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the area has long been a site of discontent, where new money meets a resilient community, there is an inherent tension between tech companies and the shrinking viability of small DIY and nonprofit organizations. On top of that, street art has recently become a kind of code for “gentrifying neighborhood” in the vernacular of start-ups like Airbnb or Tripadvisor. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Alicia McCarthy']It means a lot to work on this with Darryl and Laurie. Luggage Store is family.[/pullquote]Someland’s decision to directly support a steward of the community like Luggage Store—and in turn, the people they serve—marks an unusual and somewhat optimistic moment. By working with artists who have deep roots in San Francisco, and are politically attuned to the responsibilities of making public work, Smith is helping restore the Mission School’s long history of painting artwork on city walls, for free and for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We look at Mid-Market and the Tenderloin where there is a strong African American community and we are proud that a number of murals have been done by Black people, people of color and women,” Smith says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The artists he’s curated have taken care to be politically conscious, weighing a number of factors before committing to a mural—and its location. The luxury hotel Proper that hosts Alicia McCarthy’s mural used to be an SRO. “That was a difficult decision for me,” McCarthy says of taking the commission. “I did it on the condition that half my artist fee be donated to a nonprofit.” Ultimately, she reasoned she could trust the The Luggage Store, where she has shown and viewed art for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not in the field for any professional reasons, but it means a lot to work on this with Darryl and Laurie,” McCarthy says of the co-founders. “Luggage Store is family. They are one of my core influences, I don’t think anyone could do what they do the way they do.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885216\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1007\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885216\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1-800x787.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1-1020x1003.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1-160x157.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1-768x755.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alicia McCarthy’s ‘Untitled,’ 2018 on the Proper Hotel. \u003ccite>(Jay Jones )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Art and Access\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The term “art market” has always struck me as strange. It’s as if art is a naturally occurring resource like oil or corn. As if it can be mined, processed and commodified, and isn’t the result of deeply personal and political expression. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Luggage Store is committed, in its own way, to protecting the Tenderloin from gentrification and the looming recession while bringing art to its neighbors. In this mural project, public art is not a stepping stone towards gentrification, but a way of improving the daily lives of the people who are already there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic has irrefutably highlighted the link between wealth and access to art, as works become further entombed within galleries open only by appointment and museums, still closed. But in the streets of the Tenderloin, there is a vitality to these freely accessible murals—curated with extreme care and hand-painted by artists who love San Francisco—that no economic crisis or pandemic could extinguish. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Luggage Store-organized murals break down barriers of access, commissioning artists with local ties to create art for an often-overlooked community.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Chad Hasegawa’s new mural, finished Aug. 1, is painted above Blessings Ministry, a medical marijuana dispensary with a star of David over the door. It’s right down the block from the historic Hibernia Bank Building. Across the street on McAllister, a man wearing shades and a sports coat has a lawn chair laid out. He’s playing Rhianna from a vintage speaker—loud, and he’s singing. The streets are full of people. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were sitting out every day watching me paint,” Hasegawa remembers, “I had fans. Well, there was nothing else they could do during the pandemic.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Hasegawa’s mural, spread across two walls, pairs a patchworked brown bear on one section with two minimal spheres on the other. The bear, which he reasons is a symbol of California, was chosen rather arbitrarily. “Basically,” Hasegawa explains, “I started out painting all these animals, but then people wanted me to paint their pug or like a tiger and I didn’t want to be a pet portraitist so I decided to only do the bear.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thinking about the spectrum of browns that coalesce in the bear’s appearance, Hasegawa drew out two predominant hues that articulate different shades, red and blue. The colors illuminate extremes and the effect is radiant. “I wanted the colors to turn each other on,” Hasegawa says of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chadhasegawa/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">his work\u003c/a>. “As if there are energies in them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The panel opposite the bear features two interlocking spheres which the artist made painstakingly, with a meticulous tape stencil. It’s minimal and perfect, more like a printed image than a painting. But, Hasegawa assures, if you look closely you can see the brushstrokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885217\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1600\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885217\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/HasegawaMurals_1200-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chad Hasegawa’s recently completed ‘Kachusha the American,’ 2020. \u003ccite>(Darryl Smith)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "I still see the importance of well-curated exhibitions but I love tearing down fences and putting art out there.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The mural, on 83 McAllister, is the latest in a series of large-scale public works commissioned in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market neighborhoods by The Luggage Store gallery and funded primarily by Someland Foundation. So far three other murals have been completed, the first was \u003ca href=\"https://anglimgilbertgallery.com/clare-rojas/#ms-7880\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Clare Rojas\u003c/a>’ \u003cem>PROMISE\u003c/em> on the Warfield; then in 2018, \u003ca href=\"http://www.jackhanley.com/artists/alicia-mccarthy\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Alicia McCarthy\u003c/a>’s \u003cem>Untitled\u003c/em> went up at 7th and Market; and in 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://www.taubaauerbach.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Tauba Auerbach\u003c/a> painted the colossal \u003cem>2020\u003c/em> on 455 Eddy. A new mural is planned for October by the artist \u003ca href=\"https://monacaron.com/street/mona-caron-artist\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mona Caron\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These projects,” explains Luggage Store co-founder Darryl Smith, “are about giving people access to art at the highest level. I still see the importance of well-curated exhibitions but I love tearing down fences and putting art out there—it seems to me a more interesting way to reach many cultures and people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hasegawa has painted murals in San Francisco, his home of over 20 years, for almost as long as he’s lived in the city. Before he works on a mural he always spends time scoping out the area. “The first bear I did was right down the street from The Stud. I thought since there was a big bear scene in the gay community there, they’d like it. And they did.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With museums and galleries shuttered during the pandemic, it is, at the risk of sounding corny, a beautiful thing to see art in the company of others. Especially in a community as strong and interlinked as the Tenderloin, where everyone seems to know each other’s name. This proliferation of public murals is an antidote to the staleness of art museums, providing a lively context, formed by an engaged scene on the streets, that knocks high art out of its rarified, and often apolitical, frame. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885213\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885213\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/DarrylSmith_1200-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luggage Store co-founder Darryl Smith with Alicia McCarthy’s mural in the background. \u003ccite>(Barrett Moore)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“People really like them,” says Smith, who is constantly greeting people on Eddy. “Just being on the street, walking through the neighborhood, I encounter people who thank me for the murals. Some even talk to me about other walls that could use one.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A longtime resident of the Tenderloin, Hasegawa wanted to honor McAllister’s strategic location as a protest route. “That’s why I had the bear throw its hand up, as a sign of hope,” he says. “Like keep going people, we still have to scream at City Hall, it’s not over yet.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He painted the Pan-African flag in his mural as a sign of respect to the Black Lives Matter movement; he figured it was something the Black community that spends time on the block would appreciate, “even if they weren’t about the art.” The mural itself is titled \u003cem>Kachusha the American\u003c/em>, in honor of a friend of Hasegawa’s who was attacked by the police in the Mission after acting as a witness to their harassment of a family. According to Hasegawa, while defending himself from the violent officers, Kachusha screamed, “I can’t breathe. I’m an American.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He kept saying that,” says Hasegawa, “because he felt like he was caught in a war.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885215\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 768px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142229-adj-ver-05-clr-cntrst-ok-768x1050-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1050\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885215\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142229-adj-ver-05-clr-cntrst-ok-768x1050-1.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142229-adj-ver-05-clr-cntrst-ok-768x1050-1-160x219.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tauba Auerbach’s ‘2020,’ 2019 on Mosser Towers. \u003ccite>(Jay Jones)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Color and Form on an Epic Scale\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A girl with “Elon Musk” written on her arm in thick black marker is marveling at 2020, Auerbach’s hypnotic black and white mural. She has a pile of high heels in front of her and is modeling a particularly nice pair of red pumps. Gliding back and forth impressively, lightly encouraging people to buy them off her feet, she engages someone about the mural. She says she thinks it’s beautiful, then, softly, and only to herself, she whispers, “Best art ever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Auerbach’s mural depicts what looks like a rectangular piece of glass being dipped into inky milk. Adroit painted shadows falling from the glass give the mural a disconcerting trompe l’oeil effect and from a distance it’s as if the building is caught in a perpetual collision. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The largest work Auerbach has ever done, the mural was made with the assistance of a two-person crew from \u003ca href=\"https://www.newbohemiasigns.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">New Bohemia Signs\u003c/a>, where Auerbach worked early in her career. The geometric precision and dedication to work by hand for which Auerbach is known wrap around the building with staggering care. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few blocks away sits Alicia McCarthy’s 100-by-100-foot untitled mural. Made with foot-long rollers acting as stand-ins for brushes, it’s a net of interlocking stripes painted line by line. Each color in the painting is unique, mixed by the artist. Following a line horizontally or vertically lends the mural a visual undulation; each color is constantly re-contextualized by its intersections. McCarthy, who worked with a crew of artists to put up the mural, notes the pure pleasure of watching colors interact with one another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not trying to illustrate anything,” says Oakland-born McCarthy. “It is just color and lines and you see exactly what goes into it. There is no manipulation. My work is just about adaptation and context.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Street Art and the Battle for the City’s Soul\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Tenderloin and Mid-Market murals are funded by Sara Williams and her foundation \u003ca href=\"https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/453438376\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Someland\u003c/a>, which she started with her husband Evan Williams, a co-founder of Twitter. While political justice and education seem to be the primary recipients of Someland’s donations, they’ve supported the arts in San Francisco by contributing to 826 Valencia and the FOR-SITE foundations’s \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.for-site.org/project/home-land-security/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Home Land Security\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the area has long been a site of discontent, where new money meets a resilient community, there is an inherent tension between tech companies and the shrinking viability of small DIY and nonprofit organizations. On top of that, street art has recently become a kind of code for “gentrifying neighborhood” in the vernacular of start-ups like Airbnb or Tripadvisor. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Someland’s decision to directly support a steward of the community like Luggage Store—and in turn, the people they serve—marks an unusual and somewhat optimistic moment. By working with artists who have deep roots in San Francisco, and are politically attuned to the responsibilities of making public work, Smith is helping restore the Mission School’s long history of painting artwork on city walls, for free and for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We look at Mid-Market and the Tenderloin where there is a strong African American community and we are proud that a number of murals have been done by Black people, people of color and women,” Smith says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The artists he’s curated have taken care to be politically conscious, weighing a number of factors before committing to a mural—and its location. The luxury hotel Proper that hosts Alicia McCarthy’s mural used to be an SRO. “That was a difficult decision for me,” McCarthy says of taking the commission. “I did it on the condition that half my artist fee be donated to a nonprofit.” Ultimately, she reasoned she could trust the The Luggage Store, where she has shown and viewed art for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not in the field for any professional reasons, but it means a lot to work on this with Darryl and Laurie,” McCarthy says of the co-founders. “Luggage Store is family. They are one of my core influences, I don’t think anyone could do what they do the way they do.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13885216\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1007\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13885216\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1-800x787.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1-1020x1003.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1-160x157.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/08/P1142250-adj-ver-06-trns-cntrst-clr-OK-1024x1007-1-768x755.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alicia McCarthy’s ‘Untitled,’ 2018 on the Proper Hotel. \u003ccite>(Jay Jones )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Art and Access\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The term “art market” has always struck me as strange. It’s as if art is a naturally occurring resource like oil or corn. As if it can be mined, processed and commodified, and isn’t the result of deeply personal and political expression. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Luggage Store is committed, in its own way, to protecting the Tenderloin from gentrification and the looming recession while bringing art to its neighbors. In this mural project, public art is not a stepping stone towards gentrification, but a way of improving the daily lives of the people who are already there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pandemic has irrefutably highlighted the link between wealth and access to art, as works become further entombed within galleries open only by appointment and museums, still closed. But in the streets of the Tenderloin, there is a vitality to these freely accessible murals—curated with extreme care and hand-painted by artists who love San Francisco—that no economic crisis or pandemic could extinguish. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Sometimes the energy of a movement looks like the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LinaBlanco/status/1274059418770927616\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">mass mobilization of people marching towards a common goal\u003c/a>, and sometimes it’s hundreds of square feet of painted plywood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May, as protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin began in downtown Oakland, businesses covered their storefronts with plywood, inadvertently creating surfaces primed for messages of liberation and solidarity. In the days that followed, artists and volunteers lined the sidewalks with buckets and spray cans of paint, putting up Cornel West quotes, Black Power imagery and, over and over again, the names of those killed by police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost as soon as these large-scale murals went up, people \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/is_a_lau/status/1270374072166178817\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">began asking\u003c/a> how the ephemeral pieces of public art could be preserved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/OGpenn/status/1270021040312221696\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The consensus is that this is an important time,” says Randolph Belle, spokesperson for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.blackculturalzone.org/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Black Cultural Zone\u003c/a>, a coalition of Black residents, leaders and organizers working to keep Black culture and people in East Oakland. “The movement is what we’re most concerned with. But the artwork is obviously a result of the protests, and the protests are a result of the historical injustices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Black Cultural Zone, \u003ca href=\"https://bettiono.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Betti Ono Gallery\u003c/a>, and other Black-led arts organizations, with support from ally organizations like the Oakland Museum and Oakland Art Murmur, are now attempting to bring some order to the preservation of murals that emerged spontaneously and without centralized coordination. The Black Cultural Zone has launched an \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwvM8ZV7Ln2CwiPtCyywTaPzE0xwTw2jXDB9947Z1rbLj1lw/viewform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">online form\u003c/a> to help identify artists and artworks, which business owners or landlords can use to let the group know if they’re planning to remove a mural.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Endeavors, a project affiliated with Oakland’s Good Mother Gallery, has simultaneously created \u003ca href=\"https://www.endeavors-oakland.com/home-copy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an online gallery\u003c/a> of mural documentation, also hosts a form which promises to notify artists when their boards are removed.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13881569\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13881569\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM-1020x765.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist unknown. \u003ccite>(Cianni Jackson)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, certain questions linger: Should pieces go back to the artists, stay with the businesses, go into archival storage, or remain on view at another public location?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Museum of California Director Lori Fogarty underscores Belle’s point about focusing on the movement, first and foremost, over the murals. Though the institution was on \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Bethpikegirl/status/1270023479228686342\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many minds\u003c/a> as a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OKcouncil/status/1270033041319026688\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">possible home\u003c/a> for the murals, Fogarty says the museum isn’t yet looking to accession artwork or schedule an exhibition. Instead, OMCA is providing logistical support to the preservation efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Black-led organizations and artists need to be at the forefront,” Fogarty says. “It is a paradigm shift we need to acknowledge and honor at every step.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curator and arts organizer \u003ca href=\"https://artistasfirstrespondercom.godaddysites.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Ashara Ekundayo\u003c/a> watched the murals go up, visiting the downtown gallery every day. She says early on her conversations with artists raised red flags about the challenges of documenting and preserving the murals. “What alarmed me was that very few of the artists had thought about the importance and value of their work, and what could happen to it without them knowing and being credited or compensated,” she says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also noticed racial and cultural dynamics playing out in the murals: white artists were being commissioned to write “Black Lives Matter” on boarded-up storefronts and Black artists were not being paid for their work. Not acknowledging the artwork as valuable, particularly the work of Black artists, Ekundayo says, “will continue to perpetuate this idea that artists will make art for free and that we can disrespect them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CBygQVZhC1v/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the Black Cultural Zone specifically, we really wanted to be documenters of the documentation,” Belle says. “We don’t want to own a movement, but it is important that a Black voice holds this conversation. As people are saying that this feels different, we’ve got to make sure it \u003ci>is\u003c/i> different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13881529']In this vein, Betti Ono Gallery is hosting a conversation on Thursday, June 25, for Black artists and community members to collectively decide how to honor, preserve and protect the art. Possible outcomes Belle lists off include reinstallation of the murals in a lot in East Oakland, a spot the Black Cultural Zone currently uses as a distribution point for hot meals, produce and other supplies. Or, he says, “Some of the panels could be used to build something semi-permanent.” An in-depth immersive exhibition incorporating video footage of the murals, or something similar, could take place several years down the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have no interest in nor would we support privatizing this art other than in the hands of the artists and support of our Black community,” the Black Cultural Zone writes in the description for Thursday’s event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as discussions about how to collect and preserve the murals continue, many of the artworks are already coming down—and only some of their destinations are known.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13868732/cece-carpio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cece Carpio\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.trustyourstruggle.com/a/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trust Your Struggle Collective\u003c/a> painted three murals in downtown Oakland. “We just went forward and protested the way we knew how, which is to paint up the streets,” she says. They weren’t thinking, at the time, about the future of their work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CBCYs9fhTF0/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those murals—featuring five raised hands and fists and the text “We Got Us” over the boarded-up doors of a Chase bank—became the backdrop for an altar to those killed by police violence. When workers later arrived with the task of removing the plywood to create an entrance to the building, they refused to dismantle the altar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They saw our crew name and made the call to make sure this is preserved,” Carpio says. “It was very lucky and fortunate that it was within the community of folks.” Carpio was able to call her friends to move the altar, and the workers delivered the plywood boards directly to her own Oakland backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other muralists say they too thought only passingly about the future of their murals as they worked to get them up. Estella Tse and Sofia Sharpe, who both grew up in Oakland, painted a mural in honor of Breonna Taylor on June 5—what would have been her 27th birthday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Her name was kind of getting swept in between larger events happening around her, and she wasn’t getting a lot of the recognition for the justice she deserved,” Sharpe says of the impulse behind their painting. Only one of the three officers who shot Taylor has been fired; the other two have been placed on administrative reassignment, and none have been charged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13881568\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13881568\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM-1020x765.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The mural in honor of Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday, painted by Sofia Sharpe and Estella Tse. \u003ccite>(Cianni Jackson)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sharpe echoes the Black Cultural Zone’s desire to place the murals within the context of the movement for racial justice. “It’s not just about murals, but about everything that is happening and has led up to it and where it’s going from there,” Sharpe says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Objects can tell powerful stories, which is why conversations about how to preserve and honor items related to the Black Lives Matter movement and the latest uprisings are happening at both the grassroots community level and in national organizations. Coalition building and the centering of Black voices is key: The National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of American History and the Anacostia Community Museum \u003ca href=\"https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/news/statement-efforts-collect-objects-lafayette-square\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">recently announced\u003c/a> a collective effort to document and preserve “expressions of protest and hope” from Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You never know what stories artifacts and objects will tell,” Fogarty says, pointing to architectural fragments exhibited in OMCA’s \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://museumca.org/exhibit/all-power-people-black-panthers-50\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, testaments to the physical destruction of the Black community. While it’s difficult to know exactly which objects will speak most loudly a half century from now, the mistakes of the past can be illuminating. “We’re very mindful of what the museum was not collecting in 1968,” Fogarty says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Tse and Sharpe, whether or not their own work is preserved is less important to them than the messages the murals contain, and how the desire to document those messages illustrates art’s place in social movements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can see from this how art heals, there is an impact, there is a purpose for art,” Tse says. Citing the difficult and long process of going through official channels to create public art, she adds, “I just hope there’s more opportunities for artists to make art like this in very challenging times.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carpio agrees: “I feel like this is one way to mark this moment and is also another way of really showing that what artists can contribute to a movement, and how we can envision a different future than what we normally have lived, prior to the pandemic and prior to the uprising.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Sometimes the energy of a movement looks like the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LinaBlanco/status/1274059418770927616\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">mass mobilization of people marching towards a common goal\u003c/a>, and sometimes it’s hundreds of square feet of painted plywood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May, as protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin began in downtown Oakland, businesses covered their storefronts with plywood, inadvertently creating surfaces primed for messages of liberation and solidarity. In the days that followed, artists and volunteers lined the sidewalks with buckets and spray cans of paint, putting up Cornel West quotes, Black Power imagery and, over and over again, the names of those killed by police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost as soon as these large-scale murals went up, people \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/is_a_lau/status/1270374072166178817\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">began asking\u003c/a> how the ephemeral pieces of public art could be preserved.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>“The consensus is that this is an important time,” says Randolph Belle, spokesperson for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.blackculturalzone.org/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Black Cultural Zone\u003c/a>, a coalition of Black residents, leaders and organizers working to keep Black culture and people in East Oakland. “The movement is what we’re most concerned with. But the artwork is obviously a result of the protests, and the protests are a result of the historical injustices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Black Cultural Zone, \u003ca href=\"https://bettiono.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Betti Ono Gallery\u003c/a>, and other Black-led arts organizations, with support from ally organizations like the Oakland Museum and Oakland Art Murmur, are now attempting to bring some order to the preservation of murals that emerged spontaneously and without centralized coordination. The Black Cultural Zone has launched an \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwvM8ZV7Ln2CwiPtCyywTaPzE0xwTw2jXDB9947Z1rbLj1lw/viewform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">online form\u003c/a> to help identify artists and artworks, which business owners or landlords can use to let the group know if they’re planning to remove a mural.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Endeavors, a project affiliated with Oakland’s Good Mother Gallery, has simultaneously created \u003ca href=\"https://www.endeavors-oakland.com/home-copy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an online gallery\u003c/a> of mural documentation, also hosts a form which promises to notify artists when their boards are removed.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13881569\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13881569\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-41-25-PM-1020x765.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist unknown. \u003ccite>(Cianni Jackson)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, certain questions linger: Should pieces go back to the artists, stay with the businesses, go into archival storage, or remain on view at another public location?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Museum of California Director Lori Fogarty underscores Belle’s point about focusing on the movement, first and foremost, over the murals. Though the institution was on \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Bethpikegirl/status/1270023479228686342\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many minds\u003c/a> as a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OKcouncil/status/1270033041319026688\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">possible home\u003c/a> for the murals, Fogarty says the museum isn’t yet looking to accession artwork or schedule an exhibition. Instead, OMCA is providing logistical support to the preservation efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Black-led organizations and artists need to be at the forefront,” Fogarty says. “It is a paradigm shift we need to acknowledge and honor at every step.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curator and arts organizer \u003ca href=\"https://artistasfirstrespondercom.godaddysites.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Ashara Ekundayo\u003c/a> watched the murals go up, visiting the downtown gallery every day. She says early on her conversations with artists raised red flags about the challenges of documenting and preserving the murals. “What alarmed me was that very few of the artists had thought about the importance and value of their work, and what could happen to it without them knowing and being credited or compensated,” she says. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also noticed racial and cultural dynamics playing out in the murals: white artists were being commissioned to write “Black Lives Matter” on boarded-up storefronts and Black artists were not being paid for their work. Not acknowledging the artwork as valuable, particularly the work of Black artists, Ekundayo says, “will continue to perpetuate this idea that artists will make art for free and that we can disrespect them.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“From the Black Cultural Zone specifically, we really wanted to be documenters of the documentation,” Belle says. “We don’t want to own a movement, but it is important that a Black voice holds this conversation. As people are saying that this feels different, we’ve got to make sure it \u003ci>is\u003c/i> different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In this vein, Betti Ono Gallery is hosting a conversation on Thursday, June 25, for Black artists and community members to collectively decide how to honor, preserve and protect the art. Possible outcomes Belle lists off include reinstallation of the murals in a lot in East Oakland, a spot the Black Cultural Zone currently uses as a distribution point for hot meals, produce and other supplies. Or, he says, “Some of the panels could be used to build something semi-permanent.” An in-depth immersive exhibition incorporating video footage of the murals, or something similar, could take place several years down the road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have no interest in nor would we support privatizing this art other than in the hands of the artists and support of our Black community,” the Black Cultural Zone writes in the description for Thursday’s event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as discussions about how to collect and preserve the murals continue, many of the artworks are already coming down—and only some of their destinations are known.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13868732/cece-carpio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cece Carpio\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.trustyourstruggle.com/a/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trust Your Struggle Collective\u003c/a> painted three murals in downtown Oakland. “We just went forward and protested the way we knew how, which is to paint up the streets,” she says. They weren’t thinking, at the time, about the future of their work.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>One of those murals—featuring five raised hands and fists and the text “We Got Us” over the boarded-up doors of a Chase bank—became the backdrop for an altar to those killed by police violence. When workers later arrived with the task of removing the plywood to create an entrance to the building, they refused to dismantle the altar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They saw our crew name and made the call to make sure this is preserved,” Carpio says. “It was very lucky and fortunate that it was within the community of folks.” Carpio was able to call her friends to move the altar, and the workers delivered the plywood boards directly to her own Oakland backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other muralists say they too thought only passingly about the future of their murals as they worked to get them up. Estella Tse and Sofia Sharpe, who both grew up in Oakland, painted a mural in honor of Breonna Taylor on June 5—what would have been her 27th birthday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Her name was kind of getting swept in between larger events happening around her, and she wasn’t getting a lot of the recognition for the justice she deserved,” Sharpe says of the impulse behind their painting. Only one of the three officers who shot Taylor has been fired; the other two have been placed on administrative reassignment, and none have been charged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13881568\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13881568\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Photo-Jun-06-3-39-53-PM-1020x765.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The mural in honor of Breonna Taylor’s 27th birthday, painted by Sofia Sharpe and Estella Tse. \u003ccite>(Cianni Jackson)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sharpe echoes the Black Cultural Zone’s desire to place the murals within the context of the movement for racial justice. “It’s not just about murals, but about everything that is happening and has led up to it and where it’s going from there,” Sharpe says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Objects can tell powerful stories, which is why conversations about how to preserve and honor items related to the Black Lives Matter movement and the latest uprisings are happening at both the grassroots community level and in national organizations. Coalition building and the centering of Black voices is key: The National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of American History and the Anacostia Community Museum \u003ca href=\"https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/news/statement-efforts-collect-objects-lafayette-square\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">recently announced\u003c/a> a collective effort to document and preserve “expressions of protest and hope” from Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You never know what stories artifacts and objects will tell,” Fogarty says, pointing to architectural fragments exhibited in OMCA’s \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://museumca.org/exhibit/all-power-people-black-panthers-50\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, testaments to the physical destruction of the Black community. While it’s difficult to know exactly which objects will speak most loudly a half century from now, the mistakes of the past can be illuminating. “We’re very mindful of what the museum was not collecting in 1968,” Fogarty says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Tse and Sharpe, whether or not their own work is preserved is less important to them than the messages the murals contain, and how the desire to document those messages illustrates art’s place in social movements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can see from this how art heals, there is an impact, there is a purpose for art,” Tse says. Citing the difficult and long process of going through official channels to create public art, she adds, “I just hope there’s more opportunities for artists to make art like this in very challenging times.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carpio agrees: “I feel like this is one way to mark this moment and is also another way of really showing that what artists can contribute to a movement, and how we can envision a different future than what we normally have lived, prior to the pandemic and prior to the uprising.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
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"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
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},
"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"planet-money": {
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"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 16
},
"link": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-Friday-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
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