Arts Extra! San Francisco

SOUTH OF MARKET — The San Francisco Old Mint was at its most productive by 1934, storing one third of the United States’ gold reserve in its vaults. On April 9th, 2005, the Granite Lady hosted a priceless contribution to its local community that cannot be repaid except through the community’s continued support for the arts.

ArtSFest 2005 announced it’s upcoming season of art and performances with no less jubilance and cacophony than a circus parading into town through Main Street. Spectra Ball, a fundraiser held at the historic Old Mint offered a colorful preview of eclectic performances, spell-bounding music and thought-provoking art.

Proceeds from the gala celebration went to benefit ArtSFest, a non-profit organization that seeks to bring the public closer to the art around them.

Brad Nye, executive director for ArtSFest, said the May festival features emerging and established Bay Area arts organizations, artists and performers who are coming together to support imagination, innovation and expression. “The magic of creativity brings down barriers and allows the diverse array of attendees to revel and celebrate the joys of the arts and one another,” Nye said.

Patrons of the arts community showed up to the ball in flamboyant costumes and opulent flair harboring a quenchless desire to explore each exhibit and attraction nestled in the Old Mint. The historical building hosted 12 rooms of visual art installations and performances that included dance, music, theater, film, circus arts and spoken word.

Velocity Circus, gregangelo.com, was among the vibrant and compelling circus acts performing that evening. In their second year of participation, Jeffrey Ferns, managing director and founding member of Gregangelo & Velocity Circus, said his group feeds on the excitement of giving the community a taste of things to come for the arts festival. “The festival is extraordinary. It encompasses all the arts in San Francisco and gives these local artists visibility and exposure,” said Ferns.

Other art spectacles perplexed visitors, such as Steven Raspa’s “Win” installation, stevenraspa.com, which he described as “Not entirely cerebral and apparently absurd.” The display drew curious looks from Stephen Perreault, vice president of construction services for URS Corporation, and Hyland Baron, director of Art City Builders, artcitybuilders.org. “I feel like a winner,” Perreault remarked, surveying a human head made from shredded U.S. dollar bills impaled on a tripod garnished with rabbits’ feet and an artillery shell.

Not to be outdone in pushing the conceptual side, Jim Wen and Filu Freeman hawked their installation to passers-by that entertained as well as mystified guests. Wen, originally from New York, and Freeman, born in Romania, said their installation, “It Takes a Lot of Balls to Fly,” provides hope to citizens trapped in the machinations of materialism.

Deconstructing the meaning behind a children’s bicycle, marbles glued to a wallboard, and a suspended stuffed doll, Wen eagerly explained, “The bike is one of the first worldly possessions we receive that accounts for our first interaction with the material world. The stuffed doll shows how we are able to break away from materialism while we still have our innocence,” said Wen.

And the performances became even more elaborate with the acrobatic innovations of Xeno, xenodrome.com, whose modern dance provocatively intertwined deft choreography with tantalizing music. Xeno performer Rich ‘Spark’ Szpigiel said his group has performed together for nine years, and the real challenge is to explain to others what they do without trying to impose a label. “It’s theatrical, it’s spoken-word, it’s dance and more,” Szpigiel said. “Most of all, it’s a hybrid performance that we put everything we have of ourselves into.”

Among the talented guests who came out to support other performers that evening was Dr. Techno of the Technomania Circus. While coming out to support the arts, he also helped support those who cover the arts by buying me a drink. Big circus thanks to the doctor!

The Bay Area’s most eclectic annual celebration of the arts features more than 40 exhibitions, performances and art happenings taking place May 5th to 30th. The San Francisco Old Mint is located at 88 Fifth Street, at Mission. To find out more about ArtSFest 2005, visit artsfestsf.org or call the organization at (415) 626-6710.

To view more artists who participated in Spectra Ball, visit ArtSFest 2005.

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View more photos from Arts Extra! at flickr.com/photos/artsextra.

All photos by Jamie Windborne unless otherwise noted. Copyright (C) 2005 Jamie Windborne, www.artsextra.com. All rights reserved.