Check out CAPITALISM IS OVER! If You Want It in the Febrero issue of Código Magazine HERE!
This weekend Airbnb held its first-ever conference for hosts in San Francisco. Inside, executivesrestated the company’s goal to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Outside, local cops allegedly shoved housing activists who were protesting Airbnb’s role in the eviction crisis, confining demonstrators into a “free speech” pen. …. Read more HERE
“Airbnb Open” Protest/Music Performance by Candace Roberts 22 Nov 2014 from Peter Menchini on Vimeo.
San Francisco’s Tenderloin district has the highest concentration of homeless persons (44%), comprises the highest proportion of residents living in poverty (69.7%) with a per capita income of $14,556 compared to San Francisco’s average of $73,802, and of the population 16 years and older, 47% are unemployed.
Megan Wilson and Christopher Statton have reached out to three of the new innovative businesses – Twitter, Zendesk, and Yammer – that are part of the Central Market CBA and who have voiced that they want to work with organizations in the community that are addressing the struggles of homelessness – to ask them to participate in our project Better Homes & Gardens Today. They are working with three organizations – two in the Central Market/Tenderloin area – the Gubbio Project and Coalition On Homelessness, as well as At The Crossroads Street Youth Support that serves homeless youth throughout SF – to help raise awareness and educate around the realities of homelessness, while helping to raise money to support these critical organizations. So far we’ve heard nothing back … we’ll keep trying.
ATA (Artists’ Television Access)
992 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110
In October 2014, artists Christopher Statton and Megan Wilson will present the window instillation and public project Better Homes & Gardens Today at ATA (Artists’ Television Access). The November location for the project is TBA. For Home Statton and Wilson will be partnering with the Gubbio Project, the Coalition On Homelessness, and At The Crossroads to: 1) Heighten awareness around “home” and the realities of homelessness; 2) Cultivate a dialog within communities and amongst disparate groups; and 3) Raise money to benefit each of these critical organizations.
Statton and Wilson, will spend October painting “Home” signs in different languages in the window space of ATA. The single word for “Home” will be painted in black against a color background. Within the first letter of each sign a flower will be painted. The signs will be painted on 1⁄4″ plywood and range in size from 12″x18″ to 16″x30.”
On October 29th & 30th Wilson and Statton will host evening events at ATA for tech corporations and their employees – such as Twitter, Zendesk, Yammer, Google, and Facebook who have expressed interest in helping to made a difference to ease the suffering experienced by those living on the streets. The evenings will include presentations by the participating organizations and discussion on:
1. The realities of being homeless
2. What the culture and climate of homelessness is like in San Francisco; and
3. What is truly needed to address this crisis – funding and policy change.
Attendees will be asked to participate in the project by purchasing a set of “Home” signs. The signs will be available for $100/pair. Purchasers will get one sign for his/herself and the other sign will be donated to one of the three partner organizations to use as they see best fit. Purchasers will also be provided with more information on each of the organizations and how they can further help. All of the proceeds and the signs purchased for the organizations will be divided evenly and go to the three partners (Gubbio Project, Coalition On Homelessness, and At The Crossroads).
We Lose Space, Installation by Megan Wilson and Gordon Winiemko, San Francisco Art Commission Grove Street Gallery (across from SF City Hall), San Francisco, CA, 2000, photo by Megan WilsonPreface: When I began researching and writing The Gentrification of our Livelihoods in early March 2014 one of my primary interests was the impact that the collaboration between Intersection for the Arts and developer Forest City’s creative placemaking 5M Project is having on the existing communities that have invested in and called the South of Market home prior to the tech booms. Having worked with many community-based organizations within the SoMa community for the past 18 years, I’ve had deep concerns about the development’s impact for the neighborhood and its impact on the future of Intersection.
However, I would not have predicted the announcement that Intersection made on May 22nd to cut its arts, education, and community engagement programs and lay off its program staff would come as soon as it did. What began as a reflection on the shortcomings of creative placemaking as a tool for economic development and its implications on gentrification and community displacement has become a cautionary tale for arts and community organizations to question and better understand the potential outcomes of working with partners whose interests are rooted in financial profit.
Over the past two months I’ve spoken with many of the stakeholders involved with the 5M development, as well as the creative placemaking projects that are helping to shape the changes in the culture and landscape throughout San Francisco, these include: Deborah Cullinan, former Executive Director, Intersection for the Arts; Jamie Bennett, Executive Director, ArtPlace America; Angelica Cabande, Executive Director, South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN), Jessica Van Tuyl, Executive Director, Oasis For Girls, April Veneracion Ang, Senior Aide to Supervisor Jane Kim, District 6 and former Executive Director of SOMCAN; Tom DeCaigney, Director of Cultural Affairs, San Francisco Art Commission; Josh Kirschenbaum, Vice President for Strategic Direction, PolicyLink, and an anonymous source within Forest City Enterprises … Continue Reading
An anonymous addition to curb paint at a public bus stop used by google buses.
Wall of Shame & Solutions, Christopher Statton, Megan Wilson, Mike Reger, Clarion Alley Mural Project, 2014. Photo by Steve Rhodes.
Clarion Alley Mural Project Wall of Shame & Solutions
New Mural on Clarion Alley by Christopher Statton, Megan Wilson, and Mike Reger
Wall of Shame & Solutions, Christopher Statton, Megan Wilson, Mike Reger, Clarion Alley Mural Project, 2014. Photo by Steve Rhodes.
In a city that is rapidly changing to cater to the one-percent at every level, Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) is one of the last remaining truly punk venues in San Francisco, organized by a core and revolving group of individuals who have collectively volunteered tens of thousands of hours throughout its history over the past 21 years.
As part of CAMP’s mission to be a force for those who are marginalized and a place where culture and dignity speak louder than the rules of private property or a lifestyle that puts profit before compassion, respect, and social/economic/environmental justice, CAMP artists/organizers Megan Wilson, Christopher Statton, and Mike Reger have just completed Clarion Alley Mural Project’s Wall of Shame and Solutions to address the current crisis of displacement and the dismantling of our city’s historic culture.
Wilson herself was evicted in 2008 through the Ellis Act from her home of 13 years. In 2013 she was evicted from her studio at 340 Bryant Street, along with 150 other artists, by developer Joy Ou of Group i to make way for new tech offices. 340 Bryant Street was one of the last remaining affordable industrial spaces for artists’ studios in San Francisco. Additionally, during the painting of the “Wall of Shame and Solutions” Wilson was held by a Mission District police officer (with a back-up team of two officers) for 30-minutes for “breaking San Francisco’s Sit/Lie Ordinance” by sitting on the ground while taking a break from painting the mural.
SHAME: 3,705 Ellis Evictions 1997 – 2013, SF Eviction Epidemic
SOLUTION: Ellis Act Relocation Bill & Support the Anti-Speculation Tax and Support the SF Community Land Trust
SHAME: “Google Buses” / SFMTA
SOLUTION: Ban Private Shuttles From Public Bus Stops and Pay Into The Existing Public Transit System
SHAME: Corporate Tax Give-Aways by: Mayor Ed Lee & Supervisors Jane Kim, Scott Weiner, Malia Cohen, Mark Farrell, Eric Mar, and David Chiu
SOLUTION: End Corporate Welfare and Tax Them and Make Them Pay Their Fair Share
SHAME: Uber, Lyft, Sidecar etal.
SOLUTION: Regulate & Tax
SHAME: Airbnb
SOLUTION: Regulate & Tax
SHAME: Corporate Community Benefit Agreements
SOLUTION: Just Say “NO” – Make Them Pay Their Fair Share
SHAME: Closure of Chess Game in Mid Market
SOLUTION: Bring Back The Public Chess Games
SHAME: SF Sit/Lie Ordinance
SOLUTION: Repeal Sit/Lie
SHAME: Closing SF Public Parks at Night
SOLUTION: Re-open The Parks at Night
Wall of Shame & Solutions, Christopher Statton, Megan Wilson, Mike Reger, Clarion Alley Mural Project, 2014. Photo by Steve Rhodes.
San Francisco is experiencing a massive displacement of its residents, its communities, and its diverse culture – as the high tech industry and its workers continue to move into our City and to recruit more and more of its employees from outside of the Bay Area. Additionally, high numbers of foreigners are buying up property in San Francisco as second or third homes, contributing to the shortage of affordable housing. Those being forced out of their homes and neighborhoods include longtime residents (many who are low and middle income, immigrants, and communities of color), local businesses, and non-profit social service and arts organizations – agencies that act as integral parts to the neighborhoods they live in and serve. It’s been truly heartbreaking to watch so many people who have spent many years creating and contributing to our communities be forced to leave because, while they have plenty of creativity, energy, and love for their neighborhoods, they don’t have enough money to keep their homes, small businesses, and community-based organizations.
This is an epidemic rooted in a systemic war being forged by politicians and for-profit interests across the world. In San Francisco it’s a war being led by Mayor Ed Lee (led by Gavin Newsom before him, and Willie Brown before that), District Supervisors, and the Planning Commission, funded by deep pockets with the money to pull these City “leaders”’ strings. These are the folks who have created and are creating the changing image of San Francisco as “money is the priority,” not culture and/or a voice for the disenfranchised. All eyes throughout the world are now on San Francisco and watching as the city that was once known for its progressive free-love counterculture is rapidly being dismantled by free-market capitalism on steroids.
Ultimately the power of the people who don’t have deep pockets lies in calling these interests out, demanding better, and coming up with “creative solutions” to put an end to the powers that are cruelly targeting the most vulnerable populations locally, nationally, and globally.
Together We Can Defeat Capitalism responds to the Google Glass controversy in Francisco with Glass War!
