Perpetual Weekend Outdoor Art Show

Creating a center for the arts in Hayes Valley

The goal of The Octavia Boulevard Art Show (TOBAS) is to connect the community to the arts, while creating a cultural center for fine arts in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley. Comparable in scope and spirit to various farmers’ markets held weekly throughout the City, TOBAS would be the cultural equivalent for fine art. TOBAS hopes to promote visual arts in all forms and to expand the public awareness and acceptance of new visual art forms created beyond the mainstream culture while helping artists develop the business skills necessary to sustain themselves as full-time professional artists. Contemporary life is one of multiple meanings, images, ethnicities and influences, and today’s arts are seen online, on streets, on bodies and in every day media. TOBAS strives to blur the lines between “high” and “low” art by setting forth a new definition of art as inclusive and inventive.

TOBAS plans to provide the opportunity for a large number of San Francisco’s emerging artists to exhibit and/or sell their work along a newly renovated high-profile section of Octavia Boulevard in Hayes Valley. A year-round revolving event, TOBAS will run every weekend throughout the year, weather permitting. To cover the promotional and operational costs of TOBAS, Artists will be charged a nominal space rental fee in addition to a small percentage of their sales. Only original artists showing and selling their original artworks and limited edition prints will be accepted.

Running along the eastern side of Octavia Boulevard, from Hayes Green Park to Market Street, TOBAS’ “artwalk” format, with rambling exhibit spaces adjoining the Boulevard’s eastern sidewalk and free public admission, is the perfect setting for promoting San Francisco’s fine arts scene, infusing culture while increasing tourism and local spending.

TOBAS proposes to utilize the City owned vacant fenced parcels on the Eastern side of Octavia Boulevard for artist exhibit space. Realizing that these parcels are slated for future development, TOBAS will temporarily optimize the use of this space in a way that benefits the community until the lot development commences.

To promote TOBAS and the San Francisco “art scene” in general, a unique and exciting promotional marketing campaign has been developed: The “I HEART ART™” Campaign. This campaign will feature “Art,” a virtual character. Art, the TOBAS mascot, possesses all of the characteristics associated with visual art - ”he” is creative, passionate, sexy, intelligent, and thoughtful, etc. The goal is for the masses to “find” Art-to fall in love with “him” all over again. Of course this is a play on words... What is really intended is for people to re-connect with artwork and to fall in love with visual art all over again. TOBAS would like to partner with The City Mayor’s Office and The San Francisco Arts Commission to co-promote the “I HEART ART” Campaign in City buildings, busses, on street banners and the like.

By Chris Mejia, chris@artistparty.com