Join the Community Conversation to Map the Next 10 Years

by Carl Anthony

Can the arts help transform urban places facing tough problems of homelessness, drugs, prostitution,  and criminal activity in its tourist district,  building greater human dignity for vulnerable populations, a sense of welcome and safety for tourists, and a viable commercial district for shoppers and business people in the heart of one of its most visible public spaces?  If any city district can accomplish such a miracle, the mid Market Street area of San Francisco may be the place to watch.  The challenge, unsuccessfully addressed. has been facing this district, cheek by jowl with the city’s civic center for  decades.  Under the leadership of the San Francisco Arts Commission, this time it might be different.  The Commission has launched an ambitious program, including art in empty storefront windows, a design competition for kiosks along the street, to be installed early next year, and The Mid-Market Art Project, Storied Sites: Architecture, Politics & People,  a series of art interventions, along Market Street, taking place now from late April to early May 2012.  Check it out. www.midmarketartproject.org.”

Carl Anthony,  Breakthrough Communities, www.breakthroughcommunities.info

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