Art for The People by People like You and Me

Carolyn Castaño's Dancing Women in Balmy Alley

Buildings, garage doors, trucks, tunnels and various public spaces are our canvas. Public art provides an outlet for social commentary and illustrates our diverse culture in San Francisco. Whether you’re going to a local corner store or walking through neighborhoods like the Mission you see art murals and graffiti. The buildings of San Francisco exhibit public art through paint mediums like graffiti and wall murals, and interactive 3-d displays. 
Before Tiffany Holmes lecture I asked myself, in a city that's moved beyond fossil fuels what are our options for public art? We need to recognize a post-carbon environment excludes petroleum. Our reliance on petroleum to manufacture and distribute paint products like spray-paint and acrylic do not hold hope as an art medium in a post-carbon environment. Not to mention spray paints, aerosol cans, emit toxic chemicals like propellants, adhesives and solvents. So what are our options you may ask? The lovely media artist, Tiffany Holmes, suggests to brainstorm the meaning of your art piece and then tackles the logistics. So lets take a step back and think about what public art means to us. Public art, I imagine, should be done by the people. The art piece should have a purpose, a social message understood by everyone, and visually appeal to the eye. Art should also set an example for the meaning you want it to hold. Since we're envisioning a post-fossil fuel world, mediums like moss paint and reverse graffiti promote environmental awareness through liberating us from our dependency on petroleum today. Also, moss paint and reverse graffiti enable a public exhibition of what we want to say to the public legally! So let your nature dissemble the site through your messages, and try out these mediums at home with this how to below!

Geary Greens Brochure

Welcome to Geary Greens! Check out all our community has to offer in this brochure. To read more and see the brochure larger, click on the Geary Greens tab.

Why A Post-Carbon City?

Imagine a world of darkness. You flip the light switch, but nothing happens. Electricity no longer exists because our addiction to fossil fuels has fueled us to use them up. Even the days are gloomy because the sky is blanketed with thick brown clouds of pollution. You look around and see only cement and skyscrapers. There is nothing green in sight. Forests are extinct; all were cut down to accommodate the ever-growing human population that has taken over the earth. This overpopulation coupled with overconsumption has led to extreme shortages in food and water. Sea levels have risen by 5 feet, displacing millions of families and ruining entire ecosystems. This is our future if we continue on the path we are on today. However, it's not our only option. Post-carbon cities offer us a creative strategy to avoid this bleak future.

Good Day to you, Green Fields

Morning Cup of Community

By: Amber Manuwa

Hazily opening my eyes, the sunlight filters through the white sheer curtains and fills my bedroom with a beautiful morning yellow. Lying in bed for a few minutes, I hear through my open window a couple of the neighborhood children playing superheroes outside. It’s Saturday morning rising out of bed and walking to the kitchen, I fix myself a cup of tea and munch on some strawberries with sourdough toast. Taking my petite déjuener outdoors, I read the news at the farm table on the grass that has replaced the ripped out asphalt and sidewalk that once made up my street. Contentment and awe bubble up inside me and makes me smile from ear to ear. With the view of the city to my right and the ocean to my left I think, “Life could not get any better than this!” My head suddenly comes down from the clouds “Good morning,” I cheerfully greet the parents of the two little superheroes as they stroll over to join me. Conversation consumes my morning the community garden, the skill resilience program, and the free concert tonight at the town center makes up a few of the topics. As I part ways, I ponder how none of these facets of the neighborhood would of been possible without community involvement and support. Grabbing my basket, which I weaved at the skill resilience workshop, I head to the community garden to forage for a few lunchtime ingredients.