The Art of Doing it Yourself to be part of the PBS Arts Festival,
Airing December 16
San Francisco has one of the most eclectic arts scenes of any city in America. Recognizing the wide diversity of artistic achievement in the Bay Area, PBS will provide a national showcase for KQED’s original mini-doc, The Art of Doing it Yourself. Airing as part of the PBS Arts Festival, The Art of Doing it Yourself will be included in the Festival’s San Francisco night, December 16, 2011, and will follow the evening’s principal attraction, San Francisco Ballet’s production of The Little Mermaid. Airtimes on KQED 9 are as follows: The Little Mermaid at 9pm, followed by the 13-minute documentary at approximately 11:09pm. The mini-doc will also be available online at kqed.org.
The Art of Doing It Yourself showcases San Francisco’s arts community at its best. The story centers on “Chicken” John Rinaldi, the artist/proprietor of a struggling artist’s warehouse/performance space located inSan Francisco. Chez Poulet is in danger of being shuttered due to a lack of funds. An array of visual, performance, and circus artists call the space home and Chicken John creates an only-in-San-Francisco benefit event to save the space.
The mini-doc allows the viewer to take a peek inside the warehouse and reveals the wide variety and styles of arts residing within but also, what it means to be an artist and the eternal push and pull between art and commerce. The space is designed for artists to have the freedom to make art because they feel like it, not because they need to commodify it and not because it needs to put dinner on the table or pay the rent. And yet, the reality lies with an unpaid mortgage and the hope that a benefit will allow Chez Poulet a little longer lease on life.