Creating at CREATE! Downtown San Francisco

Posted by jeremysutton on Apr 25, 2024 in Action Painting & Talks | No Comments

This digital painting was painted live at CREATE!, free public event in Downtown San Francisco
https://downtownsf.org/things-to-do/create
CREATE! was a wonderful “only in San Francisco” celebration of creativity and the performing, literary and visual arts that took place at the historic Landing at Leidesdorff, next to the Transamerica Pyramid, where the financial district of downtown San Francisco intersects with the North Beach, Chinatown and the old Barbary Coast neighborhoods. The celebration was produced by The Downtown SF Partnership, a nonprofit funded by property and business owners in the downtown district which covers the Financial District and Jackson Square.

I was located at the intersection of Leidesdorff and Commercial Streets, a picturesque pedestrian area free of cars, and created the colorful digital painting of the vibrant scene that you see featured here on this page. My view included a wonderful mural, titled “Beyond the Sea – the life and legacy of Captain Leidesdorff,” created by the Twin Walls Mural Company.
https://www.sf.gov/news/mayor-breed-celebrates-launch-new-landing-leidesdorff-downtown-destination
Visitors were able to watch my brush strokes unfold in real time on a large display and see my creative process as I painted what I saw (using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and the Procreate app).

CREATE! honored the historical artistic significance of the Montgomery Block, affectionately known as ‘Monkey Block,’ an artist enclave that once flourished on the site now occupied by the Transamerica Pyramid. Over its nearly century-long existence, this building was a hub for housing and hosting notable artists, both literary and visual, including Frida Kahlo, Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dorothea Lange, Diego Rivera, Ambrose Bierce, Bret Harte, and Mark Twain.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/chronicle_vault/article/Iconic-SF-building-was-home-to-Bohemians-for-13340080.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Block

The Landing at Leidesdorff, where I was located, is named after Captain William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr., the country’s first African-American diplomat amongst many firsts, and one San Francisco’s most notable founders.

William Alexander Leidesdorff (1810-1848)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leidesdorff
It is called “Landing” since in the 19th century it was where ships landed and was the original coastline walked by SF’s earliest inhabitants.
https://downtownsf.org/things-to-do/landing-at-leidesdorff/history

Thank you to The Downtown SF Partnership team!

Here are photos from the event: