Art installations will help city fight blight
July 22, 2009
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| An art installation sits in the storefront of this building on Valencia Street. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner) |
The City is offering $500 to individual local artists to fill 19 vacant storefronts in an effort to avoid blight during the recession.
Taking a cue from cities such as New York, San Diego and San Jose, the pilot program will temporarily place original art installations in vacant storefront windows. The first to be filled will be in the mid-Market Street area, followed by Taylor Street in the Tenderloin, Third Street in the Bayview district and 24th Street in the Mission district.
“Art in Storefronts” encourages a temporary alternative that will “reinvigorate our neighborhoods and commercial corridors, improve streetscape conditions and safety, and support merchants by increasing foot traffic and instilling community pride,” according to a statement from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
“We also believe that the art installations will ultimately help get these spaces leased,” Newsom said in the statement.
As The Examiner reported earlier this month, storefronts emptied the most between September and March, but no notable businesses moved in, according to a San Francisco-based retail broker. As a result, the retail vacancy rate leaped in the past year from 3 or 4 percent to 12 or 13 percent.
Several incentives to get businesses to move in to vacant spaces have been in the works at City Hall for months. Tax breaks, fee waivers and some kind of credit are possibilities, and even a vacancy fee for property owners who fail to fill their spaces is being considered.
Advertisers have even capitalized on the empty stores by buying space for makeshift billboards, but that practice is illegal under strict San Francisco signage laws.
In the meantime, San Francisco will make do with artsy window dressings.
The Arts Commission and Triple Base Gallery, a Mission district organization with previous storefront-art experience, will pick the artists. All winners must be San Francisco residents and are encouraged to incorporate the essence of the neighborhood in the final product.
“All genres of art will be considered, with an emphasis on high-quality presentations that reflect the positive qualities of the community and create an attractive display to draw potential renters,” according to the application.
Applications must be in by Aug. 14.
