Mid-Market arts center caters to low-income residents

By Isaiah Kramer
The Guardsman

Robert  Stockland muses over sheets of charcoal drawings, his fingertips black  with charcoal. Just beyond his gaze, a man is painting a self-portrait.  In the back of the room, a 6-foot-3-inch man sculpts on a table strewn  with mounds of clay.

The studio space is silent save the sound of the artists working undisturbed.

All  three men are working as part of the Community Arts Program, the only  service in the city providing a free facility and free materials to  low-income or homeless artists, and everyone else.

“People  come here to escape whatever they need to. I come all the way from  Napa,” Stockland said. He sells his drawings on the Embarcadero as a  licensed street vendor.

The  space below the Luggage Store Gallery at 1009 Market St. houses an art  showcase, recently donated computers, shelves fully stocked with  materials, a screen printing machine and an operable kiln for firing  clay.

This  is a new location for the arts program, having temporarily moved from  its 146 Leavenworth address while renovations are made to the historic  building.

But  the Community Arts Program isn’t new. It’s been offering means for  creative expression since 1967 when it was called the Hospitality House.  Today, the Central City Hospitality House provides services for  low-income individuals.

Among  the efforts to elevate the notoriously blighted mid-Market to a  laudable arts corridor, the Community Arts Program stands alone in  catering to the people of central Market Street.

These  residents, who live near the poverty line in the affordable housing  units around mid-Market, also benefit from social services in the area.

“The  people here have amazing stories and personalities,” arts program staff  member Meredith Connor said. “They are beautiful and inspiring to work  with.”

The  arts program plans to hire a fine arts teacher and incorporate  workshops using the computers for graphic design, Connor said.

The  Community Arts Program offers weekly creative writing classes. Lessons  on the pottery wheel or help setting up materials are available on  request.

“Its good to give people space,” Connor said of her instruction method. “I show them and let them explore on their own.”

The  Community Arts program is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 p.m.  to 6 p.m., and Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All proceeds  from art sales go directly to the artists.