Paint the Void (PtV) is an initiative to match local artists with boarded up businesses to create murals as a response to the void left behind in the wake of Covid-19. Two public art organizations joining forces to create this initiative: Building 180 and Art for Civil Discourse. As of now, 2 months in, PtV has funded over 80 murals!
This project was started in mid April 2020 by three women: Shannon Riley, Meredith Winner and Ing Bard, as a response to the economic void of businesses closing all around the Bay Area in the wake of Covid 19. Meredith Winner and Shannon Riley founded an art production company, Building 180, that focuses on bringing large-scale and public artwork to the forefront by working with local artists and producing artwork. Inga Bard runs Art for Civil Discourse, a non profit dedicated to creating public art for community engagement and Lisa Vortman is a photographer and leader who advocates for better connection and self-expression within creative communities and wellness spaces. We all felt a strong need to give back to our creative community.
“We noticed plywood boards going up all over San Francisco and our artist friends all lost their jobs in the event, service and gig economies overnight. We thus hatched a plan to raise funds to pay artists a stipend for paint murals that highlight hope and beauty while we all sit tight and do our best to make it through the uncertainty. We are now a team of volunteers connecting artists with businesses who want to participate in this voluntary effort to uplift our communities. We are fundraising for artists stipends to cover time and materials. Most of our funding is crowd sourced through small donations.” - PtV
You can find a map of murals
around San Francisco here, but we’ve listed a few around our neighborhood to get you started.
Nora Bruhn at Absinthe, 398 Hayes St
Robert Louthan at Absinthe, 398 Hayes St
Optimist at Absinthe, 398 Hayes St
Chris Granillo at Absinthe, 398 Hayes St
Max Ehrman (EON75) at Absinthe, 398 Hayes St
Kelly Tunstall at Alla Prima, 539 Hayes St
Satyr at Arlequin, 372 Hayes St
Max Ehrman (EON75) at Arlequin, 372 Hayes St
Ian Ross at Arlequin, 372 Hayes St
Max Ehrman (EON75) at Chez Maman West, 401 Gough St
Nora Bruhn at Chez Maman West, 401 Gough St
jokrae415 at Destino, 1815 Market St
Nicole Hayden at Dish Boutique, 541 Hayes St
Olivia Bornstein at El Dorado Hotel, 150 9th St
Yon at F. Dorian, 370 Hayes St
Duser, Zoe Fry & Joel Millikan at Gazette, 334 Gough St
Messy Beck at Good Vibrations, 899 Mission St
Kate Siebert (Seibot) at Hayes Valley Grill, 320 Hayes St
Jonathan Smith at Welcome Stranger, 460 Gough St
“We are grateful to all the businesses and artists who we are collaborating with who also have seen this idea and project as essential and who are working hard to uplift our beloved cities. We are fundraising through paintthevoid.org which has been mainly personal crowdfunding and grants and we are working endlessly to continue to fundraise so that we can continue to support local Artists. “ - PtV
How can you get involved? Artists can apply by clicking here or Businesses can apply by clicking here. If you are interested in volunteering, reach out at paintthevoidproject@gmail.com and fill out the volunteer form here.
You can find Paint the Void on social media at:
Hashtag: #paintthevoid
Instagram: @paintthevoidproject
Facebook: www.facebook.com/paintthevoid/
Image credit:
Paint the Void: paintthevoid.org | @paintthevoidproject
PtV photographers: Mike Kukreja @mikekukreja and Lisa Vortman @lisavortman | lisavortman.com
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