In a unanimous decision that's been a long time coming for the local arts scene, the San Francisco Port Commission has given the thumbs-up to a lease agreement with Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST). Pier 29 is slated to metamorphose into the city's most sprawling artist studio and exhibition venue. According to SF Port's news release, the waterfront site is looking at a future buzzing with artist residencies, public programs, and exhibitions designed to draw visitors and city dwellers to the Embarcadero.
The arts are taking back the waterfront in a major way. The partnership between CAST and the Port of San Francisco promises to revive an area that's been pretty dormant since America’s Cup took over in 2013, "Our arts and culture are driving San Francisco’s comeback, and this new space at Pier 29 is another exciting step in the right direction," Mayor Daniel Lurie stated in the same release, highlighting the move's potential to invigorate more than just the local artist community. CAST CEO Ken Ikeda chimed in, telling SF Port, "We’re trying to show that for all these underutilized spaces that exist in the Bay Area and beyond, there are ways we can partner to work through regulation and code-compliance to make them usable for a broad spectrum of artists and cultural organizations."
It's not just about giving artists a space to splash their canvases but also about building connections. Dave Eggers, the man behind the Hawkins Project, teams up with JD Beltran for Art + Water, an artist residency that stews creative minds in six-month stints. As Eggers put it in a statement by SF Port, "At a time when studio space is ever-less affordable, and art instruction costs a fortune, Art + Water will bring both together in one radically accessible space."
Featuring a 47,000-square-foot indoor event space and a 23,000-square-foot outdoor area, the plans for Pier 29 are shaping up as a cultural playground for creators and audiences, with a concoction of free public performances, immersive workshops and even a walk-in gallery where the public can not only view art in-progress but also take a piece of local creativity home, the details are thick in a report by CAST.
