Walking down the street today is mostly dodging people to maintain social distance and seeing your favorite restaurant shuttered. But stroll along San Francisco’s Divisadero Street — close to where the (usually) tourist-filled Painted Ladies are — and you’ll happen upon a wondrous surprise.
At least five local artists are utilizing the plywood coverings the street’s restaurants, bars and shops have propped up over their windows to offer a little bit of joy and color during a time when the shelter-in-place order seems to only offer gloom and doom.
“I think art is an essential service, especially during a pandemic,” said Tracy Piper, whose work in front of seafood restaurant Bar Crudo features two individuals gazing softly at each other.
“A lot of folks are struggling right now with the shelter-in-place order, Todd Kurnat said. “I saw an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.”
“I wanted to share something colorful with San Francisco and the NoPa District, a different view of the boarded up storefront,” Apexer said.
“Seeing so many artists’ work pop up around San Francsico feels like a breath of fresh air,” Orlie Kapitulnik said. “It’s a nice reminder that we still have a pretty vibrant, creative environment.”
“At first I was wondering what I could do to bring some positivity to this situation,” Deirdre Weinberg said. “And then I realized that just doing what we [artists] do is helping.”