LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District

The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District is compiling a roster of artists and and artisans in all media – including craftspeople, performers, musicians,  writers – who live, work, exhibit or perform in the District, or whose creative work reflects the culture of the queer, kinky and/or leather community.

View our catalog here (if you are age 18+):

LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural Catalog

Artists in all media are urged to submit their contact information, a description of their work, and additional materials for inclusion.

Artists may choose to simply be listed by name, with basic contact information, or include either samples or links to samples or pages displaying their work.  In some cases we may prepare a separate page featuring their work.  We will be able to present graphic or video files in all standard Web-friendly formats, subject to any technical or legal limitations.  (So please submit nothing involving human trafficking or children, and nothing violating anyone else’s copyright, reputation, or privacy.)

This LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural Catalog will be available to all visitors to our Web site (ages 18+), and we expect it will be used to recruit artists and performers for a variety of exhibitions, events, commissions and other projects.  Artists are welcome and encouraged to share the link to their featured page.  We believe this may be particularly useful for artists who wish to display their adult or leather-themed work separately from their other public portfolios.

Graphic artists are encouraged to take appropriate precautions (e.g. steganographic fingerprinting, watermarks, lowered resolution, etc.) to prevent the graphic samples on our Web site from undermining the value of their original artwork.

Please write to arts-chair@sflcd.org if you have problems with the form, need to submit your materials in a different way, or to discuss.

Bob Goldfarb was invited to join a panel called “Lavender Talks: The State Of San Francisco’s LGBTQ Cultural Districts” at the Commonwealth Club, on May 28, 2020.

The program explored the status of San Francisco’s LGBTQ cultural districts. How and why did they come into being? How are they used today? What’s next? It featured leaders from the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, the Transgender District, the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District, and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.

The program was produced in association with San Francisco Pride, and made possible by the generous support of Comcast.

Here is the video:

The San Francisco LGBTQ community and city leaders are speaking out after the city’s oldest gay bar was painted over ahead of Pride weekend.

Read the story on the KRON Web site, or view the video below:

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

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!

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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.