COMMUNITY SERIES #4: BRINGING URBAN ARTS TO SCHOOLS

February 03, 2010

Pedro Mena, a teacher at Ring Mountain Day School, wanted to add some flava to his art classes. He searched for graffiti art classes online and stumbled upon 1:AM gallery. Excited by his discovery, he immediately signed up for the Stencil and Toy Mod classes. Armed with an arsenal of urban art knowledge, he was able to incorporate a new swagger in the way he taught his 7th graders. Check out the kids’ creations after Pedro’s stenciling sessions:

We did a q&a with Pedro to learn more about how he became such an awesome teacher:

Can you tell me how old these kids are?

7th grade / 12 yrs old

What school do they go to?

Ring Mountain Day School

What class did they do this for?

Studio Art class

How did you come up with the idea to stencil on skateboards for one of their projects?

I’m always exploring how to integrate art and its many different forms into my students’ daily lives – whether it’s the design on their t-shirt, a graphic on a skateboard, or an interesting photo they took on their cellphone – getting them to think creatively will benefit them now and down the road. This is the first time I did this project and the idea came from watching some of my students skate to class. A friend recommended the book, Disposable: A History of Skateboard Art by Sean Cliver and then put me in touch with DLX skate shop in SF where I bought the used decks. After the first “Stencil” class with Roman, I thought of bringing in one of the boards and the Skate Art Project came to fruition. An old skate deck is a great “canvas” to work on. You can leave some of the original scratched paint, wood, stickers, and artwork showing as a sort of glimpse into the history of the board and let the viewer visualize where it has traveled or you can choose to paint it over and create a completely new and unique statement. It also serves as reusable / functional art – add some trucks/wheels and you’ve got basic transportation (if there are no cracks in the board that is ; ) .

How did you get into teaching?

As a practicing artist I always knew I wanted to teach and share art with others someday. I was hired two years ago for the New Teacher Institute program in SF and this is my rookie season as a head teacher.

Man, Pedro, you are one cool teacher. We wish we were as lucky as your students and had a teacher like you growing up. We need more teachers like you engaging students positively and making true connections with the youth. THANK YOU!

Keep the creative juices flowin, kids! You guys rock!!!

Check out more of the student’s artwork on our flickr.

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GRAFFITI LETTER STYLES, 1:AM STYLE

January 21, 2010

Back in December, we did a holiday party for a hi-tech marketing consulting firm called Stage Two Consulting. Since they were really into graffiti letter styles, team 1:AM, consisting of Roman and Robert, responded by whipping up (rather, laboring over… but they had fun doing it and that’s what matters right?) a couple of wooden canvases. They even borrowed San Francisco Art Institute’s wood shop room to make the canvases from scratch… measure, saw, sand, nail, repeat. Check out some of the art here:

"R" by Roman and Robert, team 1:AM

"E is for Easy" by Roman and Robert, team 1:AM

Even Mike “Bam” Tyau contributed his newest depiction of his signature geisha girl.

"Geisha Girl #4" by Bam and Runa

View more of this collection on our flickr.

Make sure you visit the gallery and educate yourself on some graffiti letter styles… and a graff geisha girl (droppin’ a bit o’ alliteration for ya, try saying that 5 times in a row). If you are interested in any of the pieces, email info@1AMSF.com.

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ATTABOY ON VIMBY… FINALLY!

January 15, 2010

Back in August, we had the pleasure of hosting Attaboy’s solo show “Antidote” at 1:AM gallery. Satva Leung, from VIMBY, interviewed him and they finally posted it online. We’ve been patiently waiting for this…

Check it out and be inspired to VERB SOMETHING!

VIMBY – Attaboy

Thanks Attaboy and Satva!

No Comments / / Q&A with the Artists / by 1:AM

COMMUNITY SERIES #3: POSITIVE TEACHERS = INSPIRED STUDENTS

January 14, 2010

Working at the gallery has a lot of perks. Probably one of the best perks is meeting people who are trying to inspire our community one person, or kid, at a time.

Back in September, a woman (we apologize for not catching her name, hopefully she will read this and holler at us…) came in and wanted to buy paint. She asked a lot of questions about the difference between Hardcore and 94s, colors, and tips. Since she seemed out of her element, we asked her what the paint was for to better help with her choices. She told us that she was a dance teacher at International Studies Academy (ISA) in Potrero Hill and she had trouble motivating one of her kids to participate. The student refused to dance but the catch was, he needed this class to pass his grade level. Instead of sending this disobedient kid to detention or worse, turning her back on him and giving up, she decided to approach the situation in a positive and inspiring way. She noticed that he was always sketching graffiti letter styles in his black book and gave him the task of heading up the set design for the class’ final project, a school recital. She said when she proposed the idea, he was ecstatic and motivated to do an excellent job. He even gave her sketches of what he envisioned the stage to look like. Then, there she stood in front of us at 1:AM gallery dropping more than $50 bucks of her own money to support this kid’s artistic interest.

Some of the local graff writers were in the shop that day and observed what this teacher was doing for her student. They commented that if they had someone in school who motivated them positively instead of the expulsion or negative insults they received in their adolescent and teenage years, they might have steered clear of a lot of the trouble they got into. The easy solution is always to turn your back. But cultivating a youth’s mind and investing in someone will benefit the community as whole in the future.

If the dance teacher is reading this, thank you.

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CIRCLE OF LIFE: FLOWER POWER

January 12, 2010

When given the theme “Circle of Life”, a couple of artists depicted the theme through growth and life cycles of flowers. What is so interesting is the different ways they portrayed it on their canvases. Here are the art pieces that can be blossoming on your walls: