What's New with I Heart Art: SF - Leadership Council Call!

There's a whole lot of action going on behind the scenes here at I Heart Art: San Francisco & we're letting you in on it! Here's the second installment of our group of three "What's New?" posts:

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I Heart Art: SF wants YOU!

We'd LOVE to have you!
[Image from SF Etsy Member ChristinaWilliams]

That's right, folks! We all know that Rome wasn't built in a day! We need lots of help to get I Heart Art: San Francisco up & running like we'd all like to see it run. That's where YOU come in!

In the other incarnations of I Heart Art, there have been Leadership Councils to give direction to how the initiative was going to impact their cities. We'd like to form a Leadership Council of our very own in San Francisco. But first we'd like to know a little more about you!

If you're interested in being part of the I Heart Art: San Francisco Leadership Council, please fill out this form by Monday, May 1st, 2011. Tammy & I will be taking a week to review the applications & will get back to you all with our newly-formed Leadership Council by the following Monday, May 8th!

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Would you like to help out & support I Heart Art: SF in another way? We're always looking for volunteers! We'd love to hear from you. You can email us with your ideas &/or sign up for our newsletter to get started!

What's New with I Heart Art: SF - Co-Chairs

There's a whole lot of action going on behind the scenes here at I Heart Art: San Francisco! And by that I mean, I'm going to start letting you all in on that action. In a series of three posts, of course! :) Here's the first of the group:

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WAY TO CO-CHAIR!

Meet Tammy George
I Heart Art: San Francisco's new Co-Chair!

Tammy George has been an artist for as long as she can remember & that passion drives her to want to help people in the Bay Area to connect with one another over something meaningful: ART!

With experience in fields ranging from general merchandise buyer for retail boutiques, managing teams of 80+ employees, attending FIDM for both fashion and interior design , workshop leader and Color (un)Therory enthusiast, I feel that Tammy is just what this initiative needs to get going in the right direction.

Looks for more posts by Tammy about our coordinated efforts for getting I Heart Art: San Francisco events happening in the Bay Area!

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AND...

Steph Cortés
Co-Chair of I Heart Art: San Francisco

Tammy was sweet enough to bring up that you all need to meet the OTHER Co-Chair! hehe

Aside from constantly giving into the geekiest of impulses, Steph Cortés has been enjoying being in leadership positions from the age of 14. With experiences as a Team Leader in Jumpstart with Americorps, Sales Manager for a flagship retail establishment & even a "Sandwich Artist" Assistant Manager, she loves to help other people get to where they want to be.

Upon entering the craft show circuit in June 2010, Steph instantly loved all the people she met in the SF artist scene & hungered for more! She helped out with recruiting for Market SF & went on to help organize SF Etsy's last show, Winter Wonderland Craft Bazaar at Urban Bazaar.

Recently accepting a position in the SF Etsy Leadership Team, Steph volunteered to lead up the I Heart Art: San Francisco initiative because of her enthusiasm for all things surrounding the local craft community. When the opportunity to connect tons of local crafters, artists, institutions & organizations presented itself, it's no wonder she was stoked!

Feel free to chat her up about I Heart ART: SF or general nerdity in an email.

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Got questions, comments & ideas? Contact the I Heart Art: SF Co-Chairs here! Or stay connected with what's going on by signing up for our newsletter.

San Francisco Hearts ART - Etsy & Crafting Community Connect at MOCFA

Etsy Meet-Up for I Heart Art: San Francisco at the MOCFA
Photo courtesy of Vanessa Bertozzi - Etsy Admin

One of the best things about running an Etsy business is experiencing a great sense of community with other creative entrepreneurs. What's even better is when those same individuals can connect with other local businesses, museums and schools to strengthen and build up that very same community to whole new levels!

We had a GREAT turnout for our I Heart Art: San Francisco Meet-up at the MOCFA this past Saturday, April 2nd. Not only were SF Etsy members coming from as far as Mt. Shasta, CA, but various Etsy Admin joined us for an open discussion about what this new program could mean for our local artisans, artists, and crafters.

Etsy's I Heart Art programs vary from city to city, but the common goal for each and every project has been to enrich the creative communities in which they take place. This can often be done by connecting the different demographics within these communities while working closely with various organizations to be able to make art and craft more accessible and meaningful to the general public.

Local SF Etsy Team members brainstorming ideas for I Heart Art: San Francisco
[Left to Right: Katy Atchison, Jen Johnson, Genevieve & Shelly from Lightbox SF]
Photo by Steph Cortés

This past Saturday, before the larger meet-up, a bunch of savvy small business owners from the SF Etsy Street Team came together to meet with Vanessa Bertozzi, the Director of Community & Education at Etsy, to brainstorm about what we envisioned I Heart Art to look like in San Francisco. "The idea is to dream BIG," Vanessa beamed, "And once we've got the ideas out, we can focus on what we really want." This opened up a whole series of lists: from local businesses or collectives that were already on board with the vision of a more artful SF to incredibly helpful resources & activities to assist local sellers honing their craft. A few of these included:

• Open studio tours of various local artists in neighbourhoods all around the City
• Workshops or panel discussions guided by SF Celebrity Sellers to help Etsy business owners with everything from effective social media marketing to fab product photography tips & tricks
• Special showcases and events held at museums like the California Academy of Sciences and Museum of Craft & Folk Art that invite the public to participate in hands-on workshops
• And in Portland, they've done a successful Mixer Match! - which is kind of like Speed Dating for Etsy Sellers, but more like "Speed Networking—a whirlwind night of rapid-fire elevator pitches and electrified business connections!" [Read more about I Heart Art: PDX's Mixer Match here]

Those are just a few of the many ideas so far. At the core of every I Heart Art program is collaboration with and within the local community. SF Etsy folks, and likeminded local creative types, this means you!

Tons of SF Etsy members and local business owns alike, mingling at the MOCFA
Photo courtesy of Vanessa Bertozzi - Etsy Admin

It was fantastic to see so many people come out to the meet up, and there seems to be a lot of interest in what I Heart Art: San Francisco might look like. We are very excited by all the possibilities and still in the planning and preparing stages for this project. We welcome your input, and if you have relevant resources or info to share, we'd love to hear about it! 

If you have feedback or suggestions -- for programs, workshops, events, etc -- we'd love to hear that too. Please leave us a comment or you can convo SF Team Leader & I Heart Art: San Francisco Co-Chair Steph of nerdJERK or Co-Chair Tammy of PunkRawkPurl.

Stay tuned for more details about I Heart Art: San Francisco in the coming weeks!