The Drawing Room, located at 210 Clement Street, invited Bay area artists who live and/or work in San Francisco’s vibrant Richmond District, OR whose work is centered on the Richmond, to submit works for a fall 2023 exhibition, THE AVENUES.  This exhibition takes place at The Drawing Room’s main gallery at 210 Clement. 

The original inhabitants of what is now the Richmond District were the Yelamu Tribe of the Ohlone Nation.  Several Yelamu villages existed along the coast, but by the late 1700s, the Spanish had displaced, converted and assimilated them.  The area remained part of Mexico until it was annexed in 1848 and was officially made part of San Francisco in 1866.  Since then, the Richmond has continually reinvented itself.  Formerly known as the “Outside Lands” (being “outside” the original city boundaries when California became a state in 1850), the District encompasses “the dense Clement Street corridor and stretches out to the rocky cliffs of Land’s End and dunes of Ocean Beach.”  (source: Lorri Ungaretti, San Francisco’s Richmond District). Among the Richmond District’s long-gone landmarks and sites are Playland, Sutro Baths, swaths of cemeteries, farms, racetracks, and improvised cottages built in the wake of the 1906 earthquake. 

We asked artists to submit 1-2 works that reflect on the Richmond District’s opportunities and its challenges. Like many San Francisco neighborhoods, the Richmond is grappling with rising rents, displacement, homelessness and empty storefronts.  But at the same time, there’s a vibrancy and resiliency that prevails and is central to the residents and the businesses that support the ecosystems of life.  Alongside the complex cultural and historical landscape, the physical geography of the Richmond can be stunningly dramatic -- long a source of inspiration for San Francisco artists.  How do Richmond District artists address, and cope with, these dichotomies and express themselves in their artistic practice? How do residents view and interpret the evolution of the neighborhood? We hope to represent the Richmond District - past, present and future. 

 

KEY DATES

SEPTEMBER 16: Exhibition opens

SEPT 21: Opening Reception/Clement Street ARTWALK

OCT 21: Closing Day