Bay Area Arts Communities Rally Behind SF Fine Art Fair
May 19 – 22 at Fort Mason Center
San Francisco Arts Commission Gives “Lifetime Achievement Award” to Richard L. Greene at benefit for ArtCare emceed by Liam Mayclem of CBS-5’s Eye on the Bay
SF Chronicle’s Steven Winn moderates “State of Arts Education Panel” featuring first ever discussion between heads of
SF Art Institute, Academy of Art University and California College of the Arts
Art for Healing, Oakland Museum, Palo Alto Art Center, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Visual AID, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
featured at West Coast’s Largest Art Fair
www.sffineartfair.com
4 April 2011 – San Francisco, CA: The SF Fine Art Fair (www.sffineartfair.com) knows there is an art to throwing a good party. Every day of the largest arts fair on the West Coast, May 19 – 22 at Fort Mason Center, is – literally – a pARTy filled salute to the Bay Area’s cultural community. From the Fair’s Gala Preview on Thursday, May 19 when the San Francisco Art Commission (www.sfartscommission.org) will honor SF MoMA Vice Chair Richard L. Greene with a “Lifetime Achievement” Award to the Fair’s closing day on Sunday, May 22 when the dean of Northern California arts journalists, Steven Winn, leads an unprecedented onstage dialogue between the directors of San Francisco’s leading art schools, the SF Fine Art Fair puts the “art” squarely in the middle of its pARTy schedule.
“San Francisco is the cultural capital of the West Coast,” said Rick Friedman, director of the SF Fine Art Fair. “We are honored by the participation and support from 35 arts, civic and business organizations from the Bay Area region and beyond.”
The 2010 SF Fine Art Fair showcased the highest caliber of art, with its opening night alone drawing more than 3,000 attendees representing the “who's who” of the northern California art buying community. This year, the Fair are poised for even greater heights. Presented in Fort Mason’s lavish 50,000 square foot Festival Pavilion overlooking San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge will be over 5,000 significant works of art from 400 internationally-acclaimed artists represented by 60 plus prominent galleries worldwide.
“Richard L. Greene is the very definition of the civic minded collector,” said Luis R. Cancel, San Francisco’s Director of Cultural Affairs. “Through his tireless activism on behalf of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the entire Bay Area arts community, he has been a remarkable force that has advanced the visual arts milieu of the City. The Arts Commission is proud to honor him.”
“It is special to receive an award for doing something I have enjoyed so much,” said Greene, who serves as Vice Chair (after 10 years as President) of the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (www.sfmoma.org). “Believing that the arts are vital to the fabric of a community, I am honored to be recognized by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the SF Fine Art Fair as deserving of their Lifetime Achievement Award.”
As part of the Fair’s community partnership program, every day of the Fair a different Bay Area nonprofit or educational institution will be highlighted. In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award for Greene, The Fair’s opening preview party on Thursday, May 19, 5:30pm – 7pm, will benefit ArtCare, an innovative program of the San Francisco Arts Commission. ArtCare raises funds for the restoration of San Francisco’s most vulnerable works in the Civic Art Collection (www.sfartscommission.org/pubartcollection/). The evening’s second half from 7pm – 9:30pm will serve as a benefit for the venerable San Francisco Art Institute, one of the nation’s oldest arts education institutions, celebrating its 140th anniversary this year. On Friday, evening, the Fair will pay tribute to two esteemed charities: Visual AID (www.visualaid.org) and Art for Healing (www.artforhealing.org). On Saturday, arts institutions from around the entire region will converge on San Francisco during a series of events highlighting the work and collections of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art (www.svma.org), the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (www.ybca.org), the Oakland Museum (www.museumca.org) and the Palo Alto Arts Center (www.paacf.org). From 5pm – 7pm on Saturday evening, 7x7 Magazine will host its Young Collectors Reception.
Throughout the Fair’s three day run, the West Coast Art Collectors Conference will present 11 one hour educational sessions, free to all attendees. Session topics include:
· Decoration, investment, passion? why collect art?
· Protecting your art-installation concerns and priorities, insurance, framing and security
· Critical Perspectives: Four leading West Coast critics discuss how they approach their work
· The Book as a medium for art
· Tips and strategies for effective buying
· Collecting fine art photography: what you need to know.
· Understanding performance art
On the Fair’s closing day -- Sunday, May 22 at 12noon, Steven Winn of the San Francisco Chronicle will lead a lively – and unprecedented – conversation between the heads of San Francisco’s three leading arts universities: Dr. Elisa Stephens, President of the Academy of Art University (www.academyart.edu) , Steve Beal from the California College of Arts (www.cca.edu) and Jeannene Przyblyski, Ph.D.Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs San Francisco Art Institute (www.sfai.edu). The topic of the discussion will be “The State of Arts Education in San Francisco.”
The SF Fine Art Fair will be held at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion (Marina Boulevard @ Buchanan Street), May 20 through May 22, Friday, 12noon–8pm; Saturday 11am–7pm; Sunday, 11am–6pm. Admission is $ 20 per person; $15 advance. www.sffineartfair.com
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