New Gallery To Feature Unsung Tenderloin Artists This Fall

New Gallery To Feature Unsung Tenderloin Artists This FallPhotos: Brittany Hopkins/Hoodline
Brittany Hopkins
Published on November 17, 2015

After 18 months of pounding the pavement and knocking on doors to meet every artist living and working in the neighborhood, the nonprofit Wildflowers Institute is preparing to debut an exhibition showcasing the work of Tenderloin artists. 

Hanmin Liu, president of Wildflowers Institute, said the exercise was meant to uncover what happens to a neighborhood that's surrounded by wealth on all sides. With the entire country grappling with issues surrounding racial and economic disparities, the group's findings could be used to support invisible artists locally and nationally.

"What the Tenderloin offers are the lessons of how we bridge these divides and heal people," he explained.

Through the process, the Wildflowers team and helpers they recruited from SROs around the neighborhood uncovered 650 art and culture workers living and working in the Tenderloin, Liu said. More than half, about 330, are independent artists working for themselves — not specific organizations.

Through one-on-one interviews and focused groups with these artists, Wildflowers came to the conclusion that independent artists are a powerful force in the Tenderloin, and a sustainable resource. "They are doing this work every day because they have to," Liu said, noting that most of the neighborhood's independent artists are not paid for their work. Rather, they use art and creativity as a strategy for healing. "Even if you don't have financial resources, it's still here, inherently part of the community," Liu said of their work.

Last weekend, Wildflowers honored 60 "hidden gems" — including visual artists, musicians, actors and more — at an awards ceremony, and by the end of November it expects to debut an exhibition featuring 29 visual artists at the new gallery Space Two Three Six at 236 Leavenworth St., which is being run by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic and the branding consultancy firm Design Rehab.


One of the artists featured in the gallery's first exhibition is Brian Bourassa, who lived in Tenderloin SROs for four years after suffering a life-altering disability that dropped his income substantially. "To get through what I was going through, I turned to art," he said.

Bourassa's work is pen and ink on paper, and he uses whatever supplies he can get his hands on — ballpoint pens, markers, highlighters. All of his pieces are done freehand using ink. He never plans a piece before starting and any mistakes are incorporated into the work, allowing it morph throughout the process. "I never give up on a drawing," he said, pointing to the hundreds of tiny green lines he painstakingly drew on one of his featured pieces to ensure the field resembled grass.

Bourassa with some of his pieces, which depict a variety of spiritual guides that came to life as he drew.

In addition to healing, art enabled him to "escape to a fantasy world" that's less intense than the Tenderloin. And while he prefers to work alone, he said creating art in public — especially when working with bright colors — draws positivity in. When interested people approach, they drop their "hustle," he said, and genuinely appreciate what they're seeing. "It will be great to have this open for people off the street. Art is really inspiring," he said.

Charles Blackwell — who also has a piece in the forthcoming exhibition — used art for its healing powers as well. Blackwell was a working artist with a degree in art history before losing a portion of his eyesight. "I thought it was over for me," he said, noting that he gave up his work for seven to eight years after his diagnosis. 

However, he did return to creating, and his artwork helped him overcome the trauma of an intense family court battle that ultimately stripped him of his inheritance.

Blackwell with his painting paying homage to the former Black Hawk jazz bar on Hyde Street.

"Doing art is therapy. I'm basically healed from all of that now," he said, noting that his work has been featured in galleries across the Bay Area and country.

Bourassa and Blackwell are just two of the diverse independent artists whose work will be on view and for sale once the gallery opens later this month, likely after Thanksgiving. Hours for the gallery will be 11am-6pm Tuesday through Friday and by appointment-only Mondays and Saturdays.