The Black Rock Arts Foundation is proud to support the installation of Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito’s sculpture Ecstasy at Patricia’s Green in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, CA. This hopeful, figurative work will be on display, free to the public, from February 7, 2010 till June 18, 2010.

First displayed at the Burning Man festival in Nevada in 2008, Ecstasy is one of the eight monumental metal figures of the artists’ masterpiece, Crude Awakening. In Crude Awakening, these eight figures surrounded a 99-foot tall wooden oil derrick in gestures of prostration, worship and exaltation. Alone, Ecstasy embarks on a hopeful journey. Instead of throwing her head back in reverie to the oil derrick, she gazes wistfully into the open sky as she steps forward into an optimistic future, free of dependency on fossil fuel.

Through our Civic Arts Program, BRAF is pleased to further the evolution of this artwork’s message by exposing it to a new audience and community, and to return to the site of Patricia’s Green. In 2005, this location was the site of BRAF’s first public art project.

Working closely with the residents and business owners of the Hayes Valley neighborhood, BRAF established a model of community collaboration towards the curation and installation of public art. These community members continued to work on bringing art into their neighborhood, forming the Hayes Valley Art Coalition. The installation of Ecstasy at Patricia’s Green further affirms the success of this collaboration, and of the model of public, temporary art installation.

Join us in celebration of Ecstasy at the opening reception:

March 19, 2010
Patricia’s Green
at Octavia and Hayes Streets
San Francisco, CA
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm

BRAF posts about Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito

photo: Michael Strickland

Invites you to attend 

Eat Your heART Out

• $75 adult ticket for meal only with cash bar (no reserved seating)
• $25 Children between 5 and 11 years old
• Kids under 5 free!
• Benefactor tickets $150 (includes reserved seating in your name and bottomless mimosas/marys served at your bed)
• Regular tickets $100 (includes brunch buffet and bottomless mimosas/marys at the bar; no reserved seating-beds seating first come first serve.

BUY YOUR TICKET NOW

artwork: jennybird

Sanlun Yishu in front of the Great Wall of China

Have you checked out the Black Rock Arts Foundation‘s BLOG recently?  It is filled with art from our grantees and events we would love to share with you.  Just in the last 10 days we have blogged about mobile interactive art in China, a Burning Man and Black Rock Arts Foundation artist, Dan Das Mann, Cardboardia in Russia, and a fabulous Valentine’s Day event in San Francisco we would love to attend with you.

We keep you up to date on our Grants to Artists, Civic Arts and ScrapEden programs.

Did I hear you say you aren’t familiar with the Black Rock Arts Foundation? 

“The mission of the Black Rock Arts Foundation is to support and promote community-based interactive art and civic participation. For our purposes, interactive art means art that generates social participation. The process whereby this art is created, the means by which it is displayed and the character of the work itself should inspire immediate actions that connect people to one another in a larger communal context.”

So come on over and check us out!

Cardboardia exhibit in a museum in Russia

Long time Burning Man artist, Dan Das Mann is featured in the East Bay Express, check it out, Das Mann of Steel recently.

In addition to being Burning Man artists, Dan and Karen Cusolito’s Passage was part of Black Rock Arts Foundation‘s Civic Art Program, which was installed at  Pier 14 as the first piece of temporary art in that space.

Congratulations Dan, it is always great to see art featured in the news!

Be sure and read Dan’s response to the article in the comments section, in which he credits his co-sculptor Karen Cusolito.

photo: Scott Beale\Laughing Squid Laughing Squid

Please join us for the dedication of Tree Spire, a permanent installation, on Thursday, December 10th at 12:30 pm.

A gift to the families and citizens that enjoy Whitaker Park!

Funded by Burning Man and exhibited in Black Rock City 2007, “Tree Spire” was the first project created by the Seattle art collective, the Iron Monkeys.  They created 4 fifteen-foot tall trees that were part of the “Mangrove”, a group of simulated trees fashioned from recycled industrial materials, surrounding the center-focused icon The Man.  These artificial trees were not burned: they survived to subdivide the blue of other skies.

Brought to the south bank of the Truckee River in downtown Reno, on the corner of Sierra Street and Island Avenue after the 2008 Burning Man event, the “Tree Spire” was displayed in the center of a collection of eight tree sculptures made by five different artist collectives called The Mangrove.  The creative works were made from construction waste and reclaimed materials.  The Black Rock Arts Foundation and a Project Grant from the City of Reno’s Art and Culture Commission funded this project.

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The ARTumnal Gathering
 

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Bently Reserve

400 Sansome St.
San Francisco, CA 94111

The Black Rock Arts Foundation invites you to the grandest annual celebration of our community’s vital spirit and extraordinary artists.

Once again, we gather in the majestic Bently Reserve to revel in support of  BRAF’s mission to inspire art, community and civic participation worldwide.

Enter into an enchanted world of abundant art, captivating entertainment, and tempting libations. Participate in interactive art experiences created by community visionaries.  Be the art!

Join us for our pre-event dinner for delightful fare, cocktails and auction.

Last year’s event sold out. Don’t miss out this year!

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We don’t usually tell you about local events but we thought this was so new and exciting you had to know about it!  A Black Rock Arts Foundation 2009 Grant Recipient, Live Debris 2009 is a series of international events sharing reuse traditions as a means of reducing stigmas around garbage, poverty and street culture. Live Debris has taken place in Beirut, Lebanon, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and now Portland, Oregon.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The Reno-Tahoe International Airport is hosting a Pre-Playa Party! YOU are invited to participate!

The Airport Authority is hosting a celebration of the partnership between Reno-Tahoe International Airport and Burning Man and of the thousands of air travelers this event brings to the region, on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 from 5pm – 7pm.

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