Culture Collective: SOMA's Open Studios

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Culture Collective: SOMA's Open Studios
Mohicano from the Mucho Burro exhibition at Little Raven

By: Taylor Snowberger (a.k.a. Ruthie Day)

In preparation for the 51st Annual SF Open Studios event put together by ArtSpan, I met with all manner of artists and curators in SOMA to talk about what they’ve put together for us in October. Weekend three (October 4 and 5) and weekend four (October 11 and 12) will take place all over SOMA, with a few events happening outside of SF Open Studios that came highly recommended as well.

Michael Yochum at Arc Gallery recommends you stop in to see the 25 hand-selected artists on display both in the gallery and in their workspaces during weekend four. They will have a preview party on the Friday evening before the event at their location, starting at 6 p.m. He also highly recommended Room & Board’s unique preview party, featuring nine artists and a swaggy hors d’oeuvres situation that sounds very fun and worth the trip.

Materials from an artists studio at Arc Gallery

Jasper Wilde (they/them) from ArtSpan gave me some insight into the inner workings of SF Open Studios at the opening night of the SF Open Studios Exhibition and ArtLaunch at SOMArts. Roughly half the artists participating in SF Open Studios are represented at the exhibit, and you can check it out yourself at the October 8 Art Tasting or during regular hours at 934 Brannan St. Jasper also recommended stopping by Root Division during weekend four in SOMA — a contemporary studio/gallery space where they have their own studio, alongside a litany of early-career artists and ArtSpan staff and volunteers.

Don’t forget to stop by 111 Minna for their annual celebration of the Chinese zodiac! This year the space abounds with snake iconography curated by the artists at Seventh Son Tattoo. They will be participating in SF Open Studios weekend three with a trio of artists alongside the Year of the Snake exhibit, October 4 and 5.

Kintaro Faces Phallic Metaphor in Context of Peter Pan Syndrome by Daryl Lasken, at 111 Minna Year of the Snake

Beyond SF Open Studios, I also talked with The Clayroom and Little Raven Gallery about their offerings:

Laura Kudritzki from Little Raven recommends the 2 Blocks of Art event that she has been part of organizing for over a decade, with 19 separate exhibits on Market between 5th and 7th.

“We curate art from every medium and activate vacant spaces on Market to get people inside the spaces, activate the block, and get great artists some exposure!” Laura says of the event. You can reserve tickets on Eventbrite at the link above.

Finally, Mayetta from The Clayroom invites you to a few free artist talks at the community studio, where woodworking and ceramics are practiced by residents in the area. The first, on October 3, will feature Molly Altman, who specializes in dipping plants in slip and firing them into biomorphic sculptures. The second will feature Lauren Nguyen, a resident artist and teacher from the Mendocino Art Center, on Friday, October 17.

Check back on the blog later this week for my coverage of all the sweet art events from September, and learn more about the wonderful people in SOMA who make this neighborhood an arts and culture hot spot!