Art as economic stimulus

Imagine Market Street submerged under water, giant forest animals mingling among bleak downtown facades, huge white monsters marching in black pools of fluorescent light…These sound like scenes from a fantasy novel, but you can see them in real life, right now in San Fransico storefronts.  They are art installations, commissioned for a pilot program called “Art in Storefronts.” The project is trying to avoid blight by attracting foot traffic to commercial corridors around the city -- places like the Tenderlion, Central Market, Bayview and the Mission.  These are areas that fell victim to the latest economic downturn. 

So, what does it look like when property owners and merchants join forces with artists and the city to make something like this possible? Well, the program launched a couple of weeks ago, and now we have KALW’s Martina Castro to give us a more critical look at this complex economic picture.  Note: The last launch event for Art in Storefronts will be on November 20th in the lower 24th Street neighborhood of the Mission.  All art installations will be up through January 2010.  For more information you can click here.