The first weekend in May brought the semi-annual San Francisco Open Studios at Hunters Point Shipyard. For those uninitiated, years ago, Hunters Point was a naval shipyard in the Southeastern corner of San Francisco, fronting the bay. In 1974, the Navy closed the shipyard and leased much of the land to a commercial ship repair company. Nothing much happened in the area for many years and the site deteriorated. Beginning in 1980, existing buildings were renovated and artists started occupying the raw spaces.

Many times over the years since the artists moved in, there have been threats to the artists leases. Now the Navy is transferring the Shipyard to the city of San Francisco, but there is still some uncertainty about how the artists spaces will figure in the redevelopment plans. There are two propositions on the June 3, 2008 ballot that will affect the redevelopment. See article in the SF Chronicle about the propositions, and check out www.thepoint.com to see more about Hunters Shipyard.

During San Francisco’s Open Studios, art lovers have found the Hunters Point studios a great place to see many artists at one setting. There are over 250 artists on-site, with 160 artists showing their work this time around.

We took a tour of the studios on May 3rd, seeing as many artists as we could in one day. Amongst the next number of posts, we will feature artists from Hunters Point that we find inspirational.