A Welcome Letter from our Executive Director
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I’m excited to announce the grand opening of Gray Area’s new digital arts center and our inaugural exhibition: OPEN on October 1st, 2009. This culmination of months of hard work from so many people marks GAFFTA’s arrival as San Francisco’s leading digital arts organization and cornerstone of the city’s emerging Tenderloin Arts District.
As the world leader in technology and innovation, the Bay Area is home to a burgeoning community of designers, engineers, and creators making inspiring art with digital tools. Yet to date there’s been a lack of a dedicated home for these artists to collaborate and showcase their work in San Francisco. By filling this cultural void in a neighborhood currently lacking in positive creative outlets, GAFFTA is further cementing San Francisco as a global leader in digital creativity and social entrepreneurship.
Like the phrase gray area, our four year-old San Francisco-based project has reflected various connotations, from law to color theory. A gray area is not clear or certain — it is something that is open to interpretation. Individuals venture to understand and influence their environments, seeking to explain and manipulate our existence through philosophy, art, science, and spirituality. Creativity lies in the space that allows acceptance of the indefinable, counter-balanced with the tension that arises from curious exploration of the complexities inherent in life. Innovation is conscious discovery that leads to the development of advanced tools and concepts that have the power to transform the human experience.
Through these principles, and the welcoming of the openness in gray areas, GAFFTA has initiated a local movement that mirrors the state of consciousness witnessed in online open source communities. This movement has drawn together cross-purpose partnerships and collaborators, with each becoming inextricable components in the formation of the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts. Anchoring these principles, our new digital arts center is a physical place where shared ideas are given an environment to blossom through collaborative action, for the mutual benefit of our immediate and extended communities.
Over the years our vision has had multiple incarnations in both location and participants, but now we have finally found a place of permanence. Our new home is in the heart of San Francisco, place often avoided, forgotten: the Tenderloin District. The current economic climate has seen the closure of business and displacement of citizens. Amidst this swirl of uncertainty, we hope that GAFFTA can be a beacon of promise and possibilities through the exploration and celebration of art, design, sound, and technology.
Support from our community is essential for the success of GAFFTA and the renewal of the Tenderloin. By attending an event, becoming a member or making a donation, you will be a direct stakeholder in our shared vision of creating a new home for the digital arts in the heart of San Francisco.
With warm regards and unbridled excitement, we look forward to writing the next chapter in San Francisco’s creative legacy together.
Josette Melchor
Executive Director, Gray Area Foundation for the Arts
To commemorate our journey and celebrate our grand opening, we have produced a short documentary on GAFFTA’s past, present, and future entitled “forward/slash”. We hope you enjoy it, and encourage you to share it with your friends.
