On September 30, City leaders and non-profit and arts communities will come together to celebrate the diversity and unique identity of the Central Market neighborhood through a number of groundbreaking programs designed to spark the imagination and build community through the arts and civic innovation.
Join us as we “flip the switch” on Light Up Central Market, a series of six interactive art projects including Block by Block, the latest Living Innovation Zone (LIZ), that will illuminate Market Street between Fifth and Seventh Streets. Also debuting that evening is the Central Market Showcase, a selection of prototypes that inspired connection and served their communities during the Market Street Prototyping Festival in April.
For an accessible version of this invitation, please click here.
John Rahaim, Director, San Francisco Planning
Deborah Cullinan, Chief Executive Officer at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Shelley Trott, Director, Art Strategy & Ventures, Kenneth Rainin Foundation
Mohammed Nuru, Director, San Francisco Public Works
Krista Canellakis, LIZ Program Co-Manager, Mayor's Office of Civic Innovation
Light Up Central Market combines art and technology to illuminate six site-specific art installations in San Francisco’s Central Market including the Block by Block Living Innovation Zone, the Luggage Store Gallery's façade, and four murals by artists Clare Rojas, Jenny Sharaf, Mark Bode and OSGEMEOS.
Funded by a $100,000 Kenneth Rainin Foundation grant, this project is a collaborative effort of the Luggage Store Gallery, Nighthouse Studio, and Marisha Farnsworth of the Hyphae Design Laboratory, and was designed to encourage interaction and dialogue around community identity, as well as to celebrate and showcase the vibrancy and innovative spirit that infuses this neighborhood.
Block by Block, San Francisco’s third LIZ, is a one-year kinetic 10 x 24 foot installation composed of blocks of milled urban timber and illuminated HDPE plastic. The elemental form of the blocks and their basic treatment suggests an intrinsic reconfigurability: stacking, swinging, pivoting. The installation is open for occupation and interpretation - a platform for performing, protesting, playing and for simply enjoying life on the block.
As the hub and largest installation for Light Up Central Market, this LIZ activates public space and encourages people to connect with each other and their city.
The Living Innovation Zones (LIZ) Program brings collaborative, temporary (two months - two years) installations to Market Street and surrounding areas that showcase innovation and activate the public realm. The program is co-managed by the San Francisco Planning Department and Mayor's Office of Civic Innovation in partnership with the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Department of Public Works.
For one month, the Market Street Prototyping Festival (MSPF) will showcase a selection of prototypes that inspired connection and served their communities during the prototyping festival last April. The featured prototypes will be installed between 6th and 7th streets on Market Street from September 27 through October 25.
The Central Market Showcase is a collaboration between YBCA, the San Francisco Planning Department and the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation.
Photos of the selected prototypes (below) by Tommy Lau.