While 1540 Market St. is earmarked for demolition as part of Build, Inc’s proposed One Oak tower, the current four-story building has been granted temporary new life thanks to a deal with ArtSpan.
The nonprofit, which serves as a resource network for local artists and has organized SF Open Studios for the past 40 years, will temporarily sublease the 6,000-square-foot building to 25 local artists. For the next nine months, studio spaces in the building will go to artists who have been displaced from their studios or who’ve never had a studio of their own.
In a press release regarding the deal, ArtSpan Executive Director Joen Madonna said that while the space is only temporary, creating new spaces for artists in the city is key to the organization's mission.
“The simple truth of the matter is artists are resilient and resourceful," she added. "They have an uncanny ability to thrive in circumstances others would find too daunting."
To celebrate the new residency program, ArtSpan and SF Open Studio artist Joshua Coffy designed a 50 foot by 120 foot mural that he and 20 other artists painted last weekend on the building's facade — which is just across a parking lot from the recently installed mural on another Build, Inc property housing donut shop All Star Cafe.
ArtSpan will be announcing a call for studio residencies soon, but in order to apply, artists must be current ArtSpan members, we were told. Keep an eye on ArtSpan's website or Facebook to learn more.
