SFMTA and San Francisco Beautiful Kick-Off Muni Art 2020
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and San Francisco Beautiful (SFB) announce the kick-off of the 2020 Muni Art Project. This year’s exciting event will take place on January 9, 2020 at 10:30 am on the Polk Street steps of San Francisco’s City Hall.
“This incredible project works to cultivate local artists for the benefit of thousands of public transit riders each year,” said Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer. “It’s an honor to host this kick-off for the third year in a row. In fact, I still have last year’s Muni Art on display in my office!”
The 2020 theme, “Hidden Gems of San Francisco” is the fifth year that the SFMTA, San Francisco Beautiful and The Poetry Society of America (sponsors of Poetry in Motion ®) have collaborated to bring art and poetry to Muni commuters.
“Muni is the one place in the City where everyone comes together, so our buses are also the best possible art gallery,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation, Jeffrey Tumlin. “Art elevates people and changes their perspective. Transit connects people. Art and transit are perfect partners.”
Begun in 2015, Muni Art is the only public art project that exclusively features San Francisco artists and poets. The artists’ original work and five poems selected by the Poetry Society of America, is presented on 100 Muni buses throughout San Francisco from January through April, 2020. Over 750,000 Muni riders will experience Muni Art 2020!
A Muni bus with a selection of this years’ art will be on site at the event for the press and public to tour.
The 2020 Muni artists are:
Wendy Ackrell
Shannon Bodrogi
Vanessa Fajardo
Skooter Fein
Jocelyn Li Langrand
The 2020 Muni poets are:
Iris Jamahl Dunkle
Randall Mann
Melissa Stein
Tess Taylor
Mathew Zapruder
In addition to the poet panels, each artist also has three panels to freely use reflecting the theme for a total of eight original works that will line both interiror display sides of the buses and conform to the specifications of Muni display space. In addition, each artist will be awarded $1,000 at the press conference. The poets will be on hand to read the chosen poems as will Matt Brogan the recently announced new executive director of the Poetry Society of America.
“San Francisco Beautiful is so grateful to the SFMTA and the Poetry Sociaty of America for making Muni Art 2020 possible,” said Darcy Brown, executive director of San Francisco Beautiful. “This project is the definition of real public art; not a destination but a delightful daily encounter.”
This year, the Muni Art Project is funded by members of San Francisco Beautiful, AT&T and UpCal Entertainment.
For more details on the winners of the Muni Art Project, please visit www.sfbeautiful.org/muniart. Examples of each artists’ work can be found at the SFMTA Muni Art webpage sfmta.com/muniart.