Artists: Design Our Gateway

Imagine your artwork standing astride Folsom Street, welcoming visitors to the LEATHER and LGBTQ Cultural District, like these:

Gateway to Little Saigon, on Larkin Street, in San Francisco

Two of the pylons on Chicago’s LGBT Legacy Walk (photo: the Legacy Project)
Drawing of Port Angeles Gateway Picture of Little Italy gateway

We want to construct a gateway on Folsom Street near 11th, as a centerpiece of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District.  We plan for it to be constructed as part of the SFMTA upgrade to Folsom and Howard Streets.

We want YOU to design it.  We hope you can reflect Queerness and Kinkiness, physically and/or conceptually. Themes and images for your inspiration (none required):

  • leather pride flag
  • other community imagery
  • boots
  • chains
  • a heart
  • a biker cap
  • a leather vest
  • rope
  • a fan
  • a rainbow
  • dancing
  • kinkiness
  • sexiness
  • celebration
  • freedom
  • individuality
  • rebelliousness
  • touch
  • solidarity
  • mutual support
  • equality
  • justice
  • representation

Specs:

    • Footprint: 3’ x 3’ max
    • Height: 14’ max
    • The gateway will be two pylons, one on each side of Folsom Street, each no more than 3’ square and no more than 14’ high.
    • The gateway may not extend over the street.
    • All designs must include the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District’s name and logo
      • (Note that there must be clear space all around the District’s logo of ½ the logo’s height.)
    • All text must be in the Proxima Nova font family.

Your creativity and vision are what we need RIGHT NOW.

Time is of the essence.  We need to get your completed submission by July 6, 2020.

All submissions become the property of the LEATHER and LGBTQ Cultural District.  One submission will be selected to receive a prize of $500. 

Revisions may be required for various reasons.  If your design is constructed under the city’s In Kind program, we will apply for an additional stipend grant for the winner, though any additional funds depend on grant approval and are highly uncertain.

We can accept most file formats (ai, pdf, jpg, png, preferred).

Send your submission (or a URL link to it), to gateway@sflcd.org.

On your mark, get set, create!


Local Queer and Kinky Artists, Artisans, and Performers in all media:  Are you on our Artists Roster?  Read about it here, or go directly to sign up here.

Cultural District Manager Needed

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District is seeking a District Manager to wrangle and execute our shared vision.

You’re ambitious, charismatic, and capable of operating both strategically and deeply in details. You understand how non-profits blend scrappy creativity with bureaucratic policy to serve the needs of their constituents. You love creating, fundraising for, executing, and measuring the success of a wide range of programs to support those needs. You will thrive working closely with the diverse business, organizational, artistic, citizen, and visitor stakeholders of the Cultural District, alongside the community-elected Board of Directors and folks at San Francisco City Hall, to make amazing things happen to protect and promote the global capital of Leather inside SoMa.

The full Job Description is here.

Deadline extended.  Apply by 5:00 p.m., June 26, 2020, by sending a letter, references and resume to: jobs@SFLCD.org

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

You Can Help SF Plan Housing

We have been asked by SF Planning to help recruit outreach and engagement in Digital Participation Platform for the Housing Element 2022 Update.  They want to ensure inclusive participation of San Francisco’s diverse population, and to elevate voices they haven’t heard from before.

Head here to get started!  (You might also find this page this page a useful introduction.)

SOMA Tour Performance

The antidote to being physically isolated is here! How about an interactive, online show that allows you to experience LGBTQ+ history coming alive? OUT of Site: SOMA is virtual-live-street-theater project that explores the history of San Francisco’s South of Market district, a catalyst location for radical change and a stronghold for queer and activist organizing.

This online show is a performance like you haven’t seen yet: immersive theater, drag, live music, puppetry, a virtual tour, a dance party – all in celebration of our radical LGBTQ+ figures who fought for justice and visibility.

With a recognition that now is the time to prioritize Black art and artistic voices, a portion of the proceeds from the show will be donated to national and local organizations that are doing on the ground work to support queer Black lives now: TGI Justice Project and the Center for Black Equity.

Performances are set for June 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28, 2020, starting at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time.  For video previews and information, visit eyezen.org/out-of-site.  Or order tickets directly hereYou can also donate to their INDIEGOGO campaign.

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