THE TENDERLOIN PROJECT

Had the great opportunity to participate in JR’s “Inside Out” project thanks to my friend Hugh Leeman.  Inside Out is “a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work.” Hugh Leeman reached out to JR to become involved with his project and it was a big honor when Hugh asked if I’d be willing to include some of my photographs in the mural piece that he was putting together in collaboration with JR.  This new mural that went up today is located at 606 Ellis street at the corner of Hyde in the heart of the Tenderloin.  Thanks to everyone that came out to support and participate!

Dale (the man behind the iconic image from the Tenderloin Project) came into the Community Arts Program last week to check out the Tenderloin Project photography workstation for the first time.  It was great being able to share the workstation with him and for him to see first-hand where the project has since evolved to after first photographing him almost two years ago.  Below are some shots we took using Photo Booth, haha.

I’ve been conducting photo and video workshops every Thursday over at the Community Arts Program whereby I utilize the Tenderloin Project digital workstation.  Some of the projects that I work on with participants are ongoing, while other workshops are centered around a one-time project to simply learn the basics of using a camera.  Today I worked with a participant named Jim.  This is Jim…

As part of today’s workshop Jim and I took a stroll over to the Museum of Modern Art, a place that I always enjoy taking participants to.  Along the way Jim documented the sites and textures of Market street.  Below is a selection of photographs that Jim took throughout the course of the day.  He has no real plans for an ongoing project, but hopefully these will constitute the beginning of him immersion into photography.  Stay tuned…

The fine folks at Print magazine wrote a really nice online editorial that’s featured on their blog, imprint.  It coincides with the article they wrote for the 2011 New Visual Artist winners featured in the April edition of Print.  To see the full online editorial please click here.

Went out in the Tenderloin today with Hugh Leeman while he gave away some doughnuts and t-shirts to folks on the street.  These are images from an upcoming film project that I’m working on with him.  To see more of his work visit www.hughleeman.com.

Living Exhibition #5 was on display at 99% Gallery in Brooklyn, NY from September 17th through October 8th.  Showing the project on the other side of the country was an amazing experience and my great thanks goes out to everyone who made the exhibition possible, and to all of those who came to see the show in person.  The show is next off to Asia, where Living Exhibition #6 will be taking place in Tokyo, Japan!  More details to come very soon…

It was a great to see The Tenderloin Project get a little love in the October issue of Juxtapoz.  William Haugh (of Juxtapoz) was in attendance at the Butter Gallery opening in Miami and had a good time talking with him about the project at the opening.  Thanks for the shout out William!  It was also amazing to see the article on TL Project collaborative artist, Hugh Leeman, in the October issue as well.

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to 99% Gallery in Brooklyn last week for the opening of The Tenderloin Project.  It was amazing to bring the project all the way from The Tenderloin to New York.  Much appreciation to everyone who came out to the opening and to everyone who continues to support the project.  Stay tuned for updates on the next exhibition and the final book release…For now enjoy this little video recap from the big apple…

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to Butter Gallery over the weekend for the opening of The Tenderloin Project in Miami.  This was the fourth Living Exhibition, and once again it was incredible to see such a positive response to the project.  This was a unique exhibition as it was the first time that I was able to display works of art that were done by residents of The Tenderloin community, as previously showcased on the blog at the end of last month.  This is the future for the project – creating access to the arts for community residents and to allow their voices and their work to be seen and heard throughout the world.  A very special thanks to everyone who came out for the opening and an extra special thanks to Paco of Butter Gallery for making the show happen.  The exhibition will continue to live through the end of August before traveling to New York…

I’m a little late with sharing the entire Miami experience for The Tenderloin Project.  But below are some photos of us setting up Living Exhibition #4 for the project at Butter Gallery this past week.