B180 Personal 2020 Recap

Happy Belated 2021 from Building 180!

2020 was a year of tremendous change, endless unknowns and deep reflection

In our mind, these things - change, unknown, reflection - is at the core of creation. Creation is a birthing of something new, it can cause pain, it can cause true hardships. It asks us to reflect on the impact we are having, have had and what comes next. Creation also allows us to bring something important, beautiful and conversational into existence.

On the 1-year anniversary of the shelter-in-place mandate in San Francisco, we wanted to share with you 3 big things that changed for us in 2020 that we commit to moving forward.

1. Prioritization of Projects with Impact

Like many, COVID-19 forced us to postpone or cancel most of our work, which was terrifying as small business owners. Through the uncertainty, we created an opportunity to do something we never imagined.

We were able to start our first true community arm of Building 180, Paint the Void

Paint the Void is a fiscally-sponsored 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, born from an idea to help keep artists engaged and paid as guardians of hope and beauty in a time of fear and uncertainty. Since mid-April 2020, Paint the Void has facilitated and supported the creation of over 130 murals in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland, funding over 150 artists.

This Saturday, March 20, Our team will be one of five awardees honored with the 2021 SXSW Community Service Award, which honors individuals and organizations for their dedication to fostering positive community impact.

Building 180 was able to start its first true community arm, Paint the Void. Watch this recap about us by @bloombergdotorg Thank you to one of our co-founders, truly amazing photographer and our biggest advocator, @lisavortman

2. Rethink Spaces

Building 180 has always prided itself in working on complex designs with innovative and reliable artists. Much of our work is in the public to semi-public realm, we curate art in public spaces, workplaces and collaborative areas. Questions have come up such as

How do we continue to cultivate creativity, community and collaboration in a time when we need openness, invitation and interest to engage?

We believe art is the answer. Being conscious of spatial awareness, filling open space with beauty and color, we are uniquely positioned to activate safe spaces, support positive atmospheres and create dynamic destinations. Our goal is to create inviting environments that spark creativity, support culture and bring people together.

We believe intentional space making can:

  1. Spark Creativity and Curiosity
  2. Guide Navigation and Spaces
  3. Offer New Perspective
  4. Support the Human Experience in a Healthy and Fun way while Informing Behavior
  5. Foster Self Expression in a Vibrant and Open Way
  6. Build Community and Connectivity

CodaWorx honored Building 180 as one of the
Top 25 Creative Revolutionaries leading changes forward in the arts

We commit to continuing to do this.

Artist: Annie Tull at Amazon Studios
Los Angeles, California
Photographer Cooper Golding

3. Redevelop Community and Commitment to Artists

One of our favorite projects at Building 180 has been the two Artist Residencies we run. Due to COVID we were unable to continue these projects physically and felt the pain of being apart. We recently heard from one of our first-ever artist-in-residence, Zach Herbert, "St. Terrible," who took a huge chance on us at our Agapolis-Building 180 Residency. Zach reached out to share his newest creation with the note that our residency and experiences he had with us had a long-term effect on his work.

The film is a dark, symbol-rich journey that explores the often unseen experiences of those struggling with mental health and trauma, all the while using its imagery and music to walk the line between terror and beauty. It was written by and based on concepts by Zach Herbert, directed by Meredith Richardson and Zach Herbert and shot by Cody Gittings. The music from the project will be released in the form of an EP at the end of the month.

Zach is one of the many people who we have met along our tough and tremendously rich experience building our company. Thank you for the constant reminder of how much beauty can come with trust and time.

To Zach, and so many other artists who we have and have yet to work with, we want to open up our community and ask you to reach out and say hello! We thank our artists for opening doors for us. Do not stop creating. Do not stop believing. Your artwork, your vision, your words, your ways of perceiving are important and we hope that our world continues to open and embrace the weird, wild and unknown.

Change is our only constant.

We hope to propel these learnings into new ideas, creations and chapters of Building 180's life in 2021 and beyond and we thank all of those who have supported us. Remember to reach out to us to say hello and to be open, wild and weird this year.

Love,
Building 180 Team

Shannon Riley