WHAT: The San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries (SFAC Galleries) is hosting its signature event, Passport, on Sunday, October 22, 2017 for the first time in Middle Polk. This unique event puts the art collecting experience in the hands of the general public. By bringing local artists in venues throughout Middle Polk, Passport attendees can "create" their own limited-edition artist's book by collecting original, artist-designed stamps in a customized "passport" notebook. Walking throughout Middle Polk, an estimated 300 do-it-yourself art collectors will follow a designated route to collect stamps from hot Bay Area artists while discovering the small businesses that line one of the Mayor's Invest in Neighborhoods corridors.

Sixteen emerging and established artists/collectives will participate this year including: Bonanza LLC., Jayde Fish, Nicki Green, Sahar Khoury, Lynn Marie Kirby, Jeremy Mende, Mansur Nurullah, Carissa Potter, Miriam Klein Stahl, Suavecita Press, Ben Venom, and Leila Weefur among others.

Artists will stamp passports at a variety of unique businesses and organizations in Middle Polk, including: Bob’s Donuts, Bird School of Music, Bow Wow Meow, the Candy Store, Cheese Plus, ReLove, Studio Gallery and many more. The SFAC Galleries worked closely with the Middle Polk Neighborhood Association and the Middle Polk Merchants Association to ensure that the entire community is engaged in the event.

This fall is Passport’s ninth anniversary. SFAC Galleries has been able to support its mission of making contemporary art accessible to broad audiences through this annual event. In the past, Passport has engaged Chinatown (2016), Japantown (2015), The Mission: Calle 24 (2014), the Divisadero Corridor (2013), North Beach (2012), the Castro (2011), Hayes Valley (2010) and The Mission (2009); worked with over 125 local Bay Area artists including Barry McGee, Clare Rojas, William T. Wiley, Enrique Chagoya, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Hung Liu; partnered with over 100 San Francisco neighborhood businesses and venues and managed hundreds of community volunteers.

WHEN: Passport Stamping Day: Sunday, October 22, noon - 4 p.m.

WHERE: Various locations in Middle Polk (Polk St. between California and Green Street)
 
PASSPORT COST: $25.00 or $125.00 for a Concierge Passport (comes fully stamped)

INFO: sfartscommission.org 

About SFAC Galleries
Located in the heart of San Francisco's Civic Center, the San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries makes contemporary art accessible to broad audiences through curated exhibitions that both reflect our regional diversity and position Bay Area visual art production within an international contemporary art landscape. By commissioning new works, collaborating with arts and community organizations and supporting artist's projects, the SFAC Galleries' programs provide new and challenging opportunities for contemporary art to engage with a civic dialogue. The SFAC Galleries was founded in 1970 and is the exhibitions program of the San Francisco Arts Commission, the arts agency of the City and County of San Francisco.

The San Francisco Arts Commission is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy. Our programs include: Civic Design Review, Community Investments, Public Art, SFAC Galleries and Street Artist Licensing. To learn more visit, sfartscommission.org.

The Invest in Neighborhoods Initiative (IIN) is a division of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.  The Initiative leverages partnerships between City agencies, nonprofits, and community partners to enhance and revitalize neighborhood commercial corridors around San Francisco. The goals of IIN is to strengthen small businesses, improve physical conditions, increase quality of life, and build community capacity for the community. To learn more, please visit www.oewd.org/neighborhoods

Middle Polk Neighborhood Association (MPNA) began in 2006 as a grass roots effort between residents and local merchants concerned about quality of life issues in our neighborhood. We became a 501(c)(3) organization in 2008 [tax ID 26-2403243]. We continue to work closely with neighboring community organizations and the Polk District Merchants Association to make our neighborhood a cleaner, safer and more inviting place to live, work, shop and dine.