Mission artists to be evicted from longtime art warehouse Engine Works

By io Yeh Gilman : missionlocal – excerpt

Back in the 1990s at the Engine Works building at Capp and 17th, B-boys danced, the Mission Burrito Project passed out food to the homeless, and members of the Mission School art movement hung out, including photographer David Schubert and artist Margaret Kilgallen, who painted a mural in the building (it’s since been removed).

Fast forward two decades and the converted warehouse was still an arts scene: The beach goth band The Growlers performed secret concerts, punk rock bands recorded albums, and bike messengers idled between deliveries.

Using the space now are an artist who paints sideshows and city life, a mechanical engineer who builds lighting contraptions with LEDs, and a DJ who creates digital art to be projected during performances.

But now that legacy is threatened. The artists who live at Engine Works were recently notified that they are being evicted under the Ellis Act, which allows property owners to exit the rental market and displace their tenants in the process…

But the artists’ residency faces another problem. The Engine Works building, a warehouse with a corrugated metal exterior, might not be meant for habitation. Three complaints filed with the city in 2016 and2018 allege that the building has been illegally used for living instead of commercial purposes. The complaints also describe blocked exits, construction work done without permitting, and hazardous electrical work.

The complaints were investigated by the Department of Building Inspection and ended with the city posting “orders of abatement,” which means that some violation has occurred and needs to be addressed.

Artists living in informal housing is nothing new: Numerous now-legal artist spaces across the city, including Project Artaud and Developing Environments, started through people illegally occupying studio spaces offering affordable rent.

Such informal living arrangements used to be very common in the city, said Debra Walker, a police commissioner and longtime San Francisco artist who lives in Developing Environments, but successive waves of gentrification have slowly displaced artists, who can’t afford to live and work elsewhere… (more)

Artists Salon

Florencia and Brian & Project Artaud  invite you to the next
Artists Salon Saturday April 20, 2024,  3-6pm
The Sculpture Studio – 401  Alabama St. #123

All Welcome!!! Especially Artaudians!!!!! Join us to celebrate music, and creativity with these three extraordinary artists. This is a project Artaud Community outreach event, please come and share with the community

3PM – Kitten on the Keys Special guest appearance by musician Sebastian Law Bay Area Native, musician Suzanne Ramsey aka Kitten on the Keys has been performing stateside and internationally -everywhere from sleazy bars to the award winning film “Tournee” at The Cannes Film Festival. She plays piano, accordion and sings bawdy cabaret originals, unexpected covers, and forgotten gems of yesteryear.  www.kittenonthekeys.com

4PM – Brian Goggin will give a brief  update about The Last Ice Project and share stories about his recent scouting trip to Greenland.

4:15PM Ed Holmes  Art Talk – Legendary artists of the SF counterculture:  (performer, comedian, father of the St Stupid’s Day Parade) in conversation with poet, author, cartoonist, Hal Robbins (aka Dr. Hal).

5:15PM – Kitten on the Keys 

There will be time before, during, and after to mingle and foster community.  Please consider bringing a beverage to share for the bar and cash for tips for the artists.

P.S. This is a regular series (3rd Saturday of each month) showcasing supporting and celebrating local artists, musicians, poets and scientists. If you or someone you know would like to be featured at an upcoming Salon, please reach out to us. We support BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and other less represented folks. Email: gogginartsalons@gmail.com

Cine Latino on Mission could become arts spaces, rooftop theater

by OSCAR PALMA : misisonlocal – excerpt

The 111-year-old building formerly housing Cine Latino at 2551 Mission St., between 21st and 22nd, played its very last movie back in 1987. In the last few months, its century-old facade, long derelict, has been replaced by a sleek, modern-looking three-story structure with floor to ceiling windows facing west to the shiny marquee of the Alamo Drafthouse theater.

The 9,225-square-foot ground floor will become retail and an art gallery, according to the architect in charge of the project. But that is not all: The owners are also planning to refurbish the top two floors to create individual artist studios, and may add a rooftop theater to the building…

The application specifies that all the spaces on those floors are intended for work spaces and not for housing purposes. In addition, the city issued an elevator permit last year and a fireproofing one in 2022.

Charles Hemminger, the architect working with the family on the project, said that the owner of the building, Vera Cort, who passed away on Monday, decided a year ago that she wanted to make the second floor spaces for artists…(more)

RELATED:

Vera Cort, longtime Mission landlord, dies at 82