IDEA 20090825 Improve San Francisco Arts

Arts in San Francisco are riddled with trinkets and doodads, small openings, and very little collective effort. While its astounding the city with the largest number of millionaires living in it, isn't the most amazing city for art, the large non-profit galleries still charge entrance fees. Thus, I propose two methods for SFMoma and Yerba Buena (and others that want to participate, to improve the overall flow, and cross-pollination of art in San Francisco:


 * 1) Don't charge admission to galleries. Instead, calculate revenue from ticket sales, seek advertising sponsors, partners, and calculate the increased traffic generation for sales in shops and cafes on-site
 * 2) Host weekly cutting edge drinks events for artists, designers, architects and other *creatives* with the goal of creating a vibrant young arts market, not only of passive tourist consumers.

While this all might seem short sighted, it is a path towards increasing flow, sharing, and making a renowned art scene.

If I were to add a couple of more thoughts on this thread, I would say:


 * 1) 49 Geary St galleries need to remove all their carpet
 * 2) There should be a collective San Francisco Art Map, that is based on-line and that is printable as a PDF (sell ads to stay afloat).
 * 3) Expand social media networking between galleries via twitter, develop a free shared calendar, and do it.

I raise these ideas, primarily to stimulate discussion, and encourage growth of the arts, beyond black rock arts.

NOTE: Gray Area Foundation for the Arts is really taking on a lot of these concerns already, so this IDEA is getting done! And will challenge other spaces to step it up!