Chris Granillo at Absinthe, 398 Hayes St

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!

Max Ehrman (EON75) at Absinthe, 398 Hayes St

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.

Nora Bruhn at Absinthe, 398 Hayes St

“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

Kate Siebert (Seibot) at Hayes Valley Grill, 320 Hayes St

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

Ian Ross at Arlequin, 372 Hayes 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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