Talks
SoMa as a Cultural Magnet
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Noon
Participants
Jill Manton, director, Public Art Program, San Francisco Arts Commission
John S. Rahaim, planning director, San Francisco Planning Department
Rigo 23, artist
Mitchell Schwarzer, professor, California College of the Arts
Moderator: Henry Urbach, Helen Hilton Raiser Curator of Architecture and Design, SFMOMA
Images: Jensen Architects, rendering of SFMOMA Rooftop Garden, 2007; © Jensen Architects.
In the last 15 years, museums, galleries, and public art projects have proliferated in San Francisco’s South of Market district, along with a considerable number of hotels, restaurants, residential buildings, convention facilities, and shopping centers. The ongoing transformation of this neighborhood has profoundly influenced the quality of life and the cultural scene in the Bay Area. Panelists explore how this urban transformation has produced a magnetic center that attracts and supports a wide range of cultural activities.