The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and San Francisco Beautiful have announced the five winners of the 2018 Muni Art Project. This year’s theme is “The Art of Poetry in San Francisco”. The five winning artists will have their newly created work presented along with five poems selected by the Poetry Society of America, all by local poets, displayed on 100 Muni buses that will be transformed into rolling art galleries throughout San Francisco beginning in January 2018.
Ten artists were chosen to compete for the final five slots by a jury comprised of individuals of the arts community and decisions were based upon quality of concept, expression of theme, diversity and the likelihood of the artist to be able to deliver the completed work by the November 6th deadline. The 10 finalists were then voted on by the public via a link from the San Francisco Beautiful web site to Neighborland.com that tabulated the winning votes and the five fortunate winners.
The 2018 Muni artists are:
- Donavon Brutus
- Mara Hernandez
- Tsungwei Moo
- Randi Pace
- Janet Rumsey
The theme this year, “The art of poetry in San Francisco” is a collaboration with The Poetry Society of America (sponsors of Poetry in Motion) who pre-selected five poems that each Muni artist will creatively interpret. The five poets and poems are:
- Juan Felipe Herrera – “Thich Nhat Hanh I Step With You”
- Diane di Prima – “To a Student”
- Kay Ryan – “Relief”
- Brynn Saito – “Traffic”
- Charif Shanahan – “LOVE POEM THREE AUTUMNS LATER”
"This unique concept builds on San Francisco Beautiful’s thrilling legacy of showcasing local artists in public transit. Riders will be simultaneously experiencing poetry and art, providing them with an exhilarating occasion to reflect upon the relationship between the two in five distinct gallery environments, each a special pairing between a local artist and a local poet."
Each artist also has three panels to freely use that reflect the 2018 theme for a total of eight original works that will line both interior display sides of the buses. Readings by the poets at local libraries are scheduled for Spring 2018.
“I can’t wait to see how the five artists interpret the five poems,” said Darcy Brown, executive director of San Francisco Beautiful. “This project is such an important addition to the San Francisco arts scene because it highlights five local artists, and now local poets, and gets their work in front of over 700,000 Muni riders every day for four months. What artist doesn’t dream of an opportunity like that?”
“The SFMTA is committed to improving the customer experience and this successful program can help give riders an even more pleasant ride,” said Ed Reiskin, SFMTA director of transportation. “From new vehicles and rapid routes, to poetry and art, we’re doing everything we can to make it easier to enjoy the ride.”
In addition to each artist having 20 Muni buses to use as a canvas, each artist will be awarded $1,250 at a press conference held on the steps of City Hall in January. The winners now have until November 6th to create and submit completed work that will be printed to conform to the specifications of Muni display space.
This year, the Muni Art project is funded by members of San Francisco Beautiful, AT&T and the Union Square BID.
