Strange fishes swim on land at The Bulb.

The Albany Bulb is one such magic place where the art is beautiful, informal, and mostly hidden. Bulb peninsula is a relic of almost a century of systematic filling of the shallow Bay and its adjacent wetland with garbage. The usual fill method can be seen in the rectangular lagoon at the west end of the Bulb peninsula, a remnant left when legal action finally forced closure of the dump: Enclose part of the shallow Bay with rock & concrete rip-rap, fill the created lagoon with garbage & debris, & (usually) top off with a layer of clay.

Much of the art reminds me of cave paintings.

Art Pop in the rubble.

Like other abandoned dumps, the Bulb was quickly vegetated and became habitat for a variety of wildlife, including songbirds, rats, mice, rabbits, and snakes and hawks that feed on them. Entwined among the vines and grasses, the flowers and foliage are works of art that remind me of cave paintings and gallery shows in one.  I am completely inspired by the collaboration between artists and nature that turned a garbage dump into a truly inspired place to be! Click here for more information about art at the Bulb and here for how to get there.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Playground is a gym, but nothing about it is like a typical gym. The “rules” are more like what you would see at a school playground: Be Safe, Help Out, Have Fun. The trainers are kind folks, many of whom have backgrounds in circus arts, and all are fans of hanging upside down. A typical monkey class looks like this:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now, I do not have the natural athleticism of the people in this video, but after a year I did manage to do a handstand against the wall without help. And the supportive folks at the Playground celebrated my accomplishment just as much as the guy who did his first one-handed, upside-down handstand in the middle of the room.

So, what influence does a handstand have on my painting then? I’m still not sure, but I do know that my work with creative process completely influences my physical activity. I would never have kept trying to do a handstand at all if it wasn’t for the amazingly supportive trainers. I bring this same unconditional support to my Brush Fire students in hopes that it will make painting for process easier for them. Once I show up, both as teacher and as student, my job is to suspend judgment, quit comparing myself to others, and bring all my attention to the task at hand without regard for the final product. When I can adopt this attitude I am fully present, absorbed in the task at hand, learning and growing and doing in ways perfectionism and fear of failure have kept me from for much of my life. I learned how to do this while painting, and it turns out to be important in so many ways, especially in situations I am not immediately comfortable in.

As for finding out more about how physical activity influences my painting, maybe I can figure out how to paint while standing on my hands. In the mean time, it is very clear to me that schools should encourage – rather than cut – athletics and art. They are both just the thing to cultivate the focus and curiosity necessary for all academic endeavors.

While she paints, Ariana can relax and let herself be innocent.

Leilani can share the worlds that exist in her imagination.

Tariq can experiment in ways that show him how he feels about things.

Jamison can make a mess without getting in trouble.

Eduardo can dream his biggest dreams.

And they do it all in a safe creative community!

We would love to know why creating things is important to you! Please let us know in the comments.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to paint!

Thanks to everyone who came out to support us at last week’s Art Carnival. It was great to see so many folks pitch in to play with us while raising funds for our programs! I always love to see community come together in play, and this gathering was especially dear since budget cuts have not been kind to us this year.  Know that your presence at the fundraiser will make a big difference to creative kids who need an opportunity to let their creativity shine. Didn’t get a chance to join us? You can still help by clicking here to donate.

Enjoy an evening of food, drinks, art, and play to support Brush Fire Painting Workshops; bringing art to the lives of marginalized  youth in San Francisco!

When: April 19th, 6:00 – 9:00 PM

Where:  SOMA Artists Studios, 689 Bryant Street, San Francisco

The fun includes:

Henna Tattoos by Robyn Jean of Healing Henna • Tarot Card Readings by Yesenia • Silent Disco from our friends at Silent Storm Sound System • Circus performance from Sweet Can Productions • Music from Brandi Brandes & Friend

Other goings on include Beer, wine and food • Raffle prizes (include spa packages, wine tours, art books and more) • Interactive art to take home • Live painting

All this for $20 at the door….we’ll  guarantee you’ll feel great for helping out!

Hope to see you there!

My first favorite book, The Fire Cat

In the mid-1990s, I was on the fast track for a glamorous career in the publishing world. My first love was books  and, I was busily building a resume working for a variety of book and magazine publishers that no publishing company in New York City could possibly resist.

I was well on my way to fulfilling my life-long dream, when I was asked to participate as a mentor for Each One Reach One (http://www.eoearo.org/) an organization that provides one-on-one playwriting with youth in the juvenile justice system. The pay was pretty good and the project sounded interesting, so I figured I would give it a go.

My first trip to the maximum-security facility for San Francisco’s most violent juvenile offenders was terrifying. As soon as we walked through the metal detectors at the front door I began to hold my breath. We were escorted down a long hall toward the unit, stopping every hundred feet or so for some unseen guard to unlock yet another door, a system designed to discourage escape. Who would be waiting on the other side of that final door?

I imagined that who ever her was, he’d be disinterested at best, violent at worst. I’d been a  self-defense instructor for a few years and I imagined my response to all manner of harassment by my mentee. I was trying to convince myself that I could handle what ever might happen.

In fact, nothing that I imagined prepared me for my two weeks as Andre’s playwriting mentor. He was genuinely surprised and delighted that we cared enough to show up. As I helped him form his play out of nightly writing exercises, I watched Andre become enthralled by his new-found ability to speak the truth he held in his heart through the characters he created.  It was gratifying to arrive every evening to witness Andre write the dialogue he’d imagined the night before while in his cell. I watched him transform into a confident writer, able to give shape to his characters and reflect his experience as a young Black man in San Francisco.

Even more compelling, though, was how those two weeks changed me. Prior to this experience, I thought I was able to understand and accept a wide variety of people. Sitting next to Andre for two weeks, I realized that I came to the mentoring experience with a host of preconceived ideas about incarcerated youth – especially youth of color  – as scary, violent, and out of control. I was just not aware of how I had absorbed the cultural norm that sees African-American youth as public enemy number one. Perhaps Andre really was dangerous – I found out that he was transferred to the California Youth Authority , (http://www.topjuveniledefender.com/california_youth_authority.html) a sentence reserved for youth who commit the most heinous crimes – but engaging with him over creative pursuits reminded me of his humanity. After all, how many people are really born bad? I became aware of how circumstances may have shaped the choices Andre made and how struggling with the challenges inherent in creative expression could help him to make different choices in the future.

Sharing Andre’s creative process was an electric experience – witnessing how creative expression had given both of us a new way of thinking about ourselves woke up a passion in me that I didn’t know I had. By the end of the final performance of Andre’s play, I knew that I wanted to be that witness again, facilitating connections between youth and their creativity. So Brush Fire Painting Workshops was born.

We are proud to return to the Bayview Opera House Dare to Dream Arts Program. There is nothing more invigorating than spending the summer steeped in the creativity of these young people! This video highlights the diverse arts programs provided by Dare to Dream.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We are also excited to extend our 5-year partnership with Mission High School to include this summer’s learning opportunities.  We are glad to respond to the administration’s recognition of the crucial role community-based organization play in meeting students’ needs.  Click here for more information about the changes in education happening at Mission High.

Mission High School as seen from Dolores Park

If you have some time to volunteer for either program, please email volunteer@Paintbrushfire.org. We look forward to seeing you soon!