The San Francisco Fine Art Fair in conjunction with The San Francisco Arts Commission & The San Francisco Art Dealers Association Are Proud to Honor Roselyne “Cissie” Swig with “Lifetime Achievement Award”
Presentation to be made at ceremony May 17 to benefit ArtCare, providing ongoing support of San Francisco’s public art collection throughout the city.
SF Fine Art Fair, Largest Arts Fair on the West Coast, Returns May 16 – 20 at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center
16 March 2012– San Francisco, CA: Throughout San Francisco, and the art world internationally, her name is synonymous with philanthropy, artistic excellence and dedication to supporting young and developing artists: Roselyne “Cissie” Swig. On Thursday, May 17, the SF Fine Art Fair (www.sffineartfair.com) in conjunction with the San Francisco Arts Commission (www.sfartscommission.org) and the San Francisco Art Dealers Association present Swig with their third annual “Lifetime Achievement Award” for her historic and ongoing contributions to the city’s cultural legacy.
“We are grateful to SF Fine Art Fair organizer Rick Friedman for inviting the San Francisco Arts Commission to be a beneficiary of this incredible event, which has brought tremendous visibility to our city,” said San Francisco Director of Cultural Affairs Tom DeCaigny. “The fair is a wonderful platform for us to communicate about the growing and substantial needs of our Civic Art Collection, and we are honored to have the opportunity to recognize the many achievements and contributions of Roselyne Swig. She has been a paragon of civic virtue who has left an indelible mark on San Francisco through her leadership and fervent support of the arts.”
For the third year in a row, the San Francisco Arts Commission, the San Francisco Art Dealers Association and the SF Fine Art Fair have partnered to honor a notable San Franciscan for a lifetime of efforts. The awards reception, which takes place on Thursday, May 17 at 5:30pm, raises funds for and awareness of ArtCare, a public-private partnership which ensures that San Francisco’s unparalled collection of public art is preserved for future generations.
“Our goal is to magnify and salute the arts community which has been so welcoming and supportive to our artists and gallery owners,” said Rick Friedman, director of the SF Fine Art Fair. “San Francisco’s ArtCare initiative, and the ongoing work of the San Francisco Arts Commission, is a perfect example of why San Francisco’s motto is ‘the city that knows how.’ We’re thrilled to be partners in this effort once again.”
Mrs. Swig has devoted many years to philanthropic and community service efforts, at the local, national and global level with a focus on women empowerment, social welfare, fine arts, political advocacy and education. Some of her contributions to the arts include the founding of Artsource in 1978 and serving as the Director of the U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies Program under President William J. Clinton from 1994-97. She is currently on the board of the NPR Foundation; Mills College, Lifetime Trustee; SF Art Institute, past president & Trustee Emeritus; Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archives, past president; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the Contemporary Jewish Museum, past president. She was also the president of the San Francisco Arts Commission and a member of the San Francisco Library Commission. She holds honorary degrees from the San Francisco Art Institute, University of San Francisco, Mills College and Santa Clara University.
An unprecedented 40+ leading museums, arts and cultural organizations from around Northern California have joined the third annual SF Fine Art Fair. In addition to the San Francisco Arts Commission, this year’s cultural partners include Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, the Modesto Art Museum, the Napa Valley Museum, the San Jose Tech Museum, the Museum of Monterey, the Oakland Museum of California, the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and the Chinese Historical Society among others.
“In addition, this year we are expanding our geographic reach,” notes Friedman. “We are being joined by cultural partners from Southern California and the Southwest region that participated in our recently successful Palm Springs Fine Art Fair. Included among these are the Phoenix Art Museum, Desert AIDS Project, LA Art Association and Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. We will be attracting visiting art lovers from outside San Francisco in our efforts to invigorate and enhance the dynamic art marketplace we are creating at Fort Mason, introducing new and untapped art collecting prospects into the fair.”
The 2011 SF Fine Art Fair showcased the highest caliber of art, with its opening night alone drawing more than 5,000 attendees representing the “who’s who” of the northern California art buying community. This year, the Fair is 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.
The San Francisco Fine Art Fair will be held at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion (Marina Boulevard @ Buchanan Street), May 16 through May 20: Wednesday, May 16, 5:30pm – 9:30pm; Thursday, May 17, 11am – 7pm; Friday, May 18, 11am – 7pm; Saturday, May 19, 11am-7pm; Sunday, May 20, 11am-6pm. Individual tickets are $25 for one day; $40 for all four days. Preview on May 16, tickets are $125 for 5:30pm — 7pm and $75 for 7pm – 9:30pm; which includes a four day pass to the Fair. www.sffineartfair.com. Facebook: www.facebook.com/SFFineArtFair ; Twitter: twitter.com/SFFineArtFaira
About ArtCare: San Francisco is home to a world-renowned Civic Art Collection consisting of some 4,000 artworks valued in excess of $90 million. This collection helps distinguish San Francisco as an important cultural destination. Unfortunately, due to limitations set upon the funding sources used to commission new artwork and the city’s budget crises, the Arts Commission has received inadequate funding to restore many of the works in the collection. Established in 2010 in partnership with the San Francisco Art Dealers Association, ArtCare is dedicated to raising funds for the conservation and maintenance of the Civic Art Collection. ArtCare provides a vehicle for the private sector to become involved with preserving the city’s public monuments and artworks so that future generations can enjoy these works for many years to come. For more information visit, sfartscommission.org/pubartcollection.
