Paint the Void
Paint the Void was created at the onset of the 2020 pandemic to help keep artists engaged and paid as guardians of hope and beauty in a time of fear and uncertainty. The project is fiscally sponsored by the 501(c)(3) organization Intersection for the Arts and made possible through private donations and city grants. Paint The Void commissions local Bay Area artists to create uplifting murals on boarded storefronts of local businesses, turning bleak plywood into public art. The process keeps artists at work, beautifies neighborhoods across the San Francisco Bay Area and gives small-business owners a new lease of hope. The local community is pivotal to its success and is encourage to participate.
Paint The Void has now completed 165+ murals receiving massive acclaim from public and private sectors while touching the lives of thousands of Bay Area residents. The entire project was organized and executed remotely by Building 180 founders, Shannon Riley and Meredith Winner alongside Art for Civil Discourse founder Inga Bard. The three female founders quickly saw success stemming from its initial goal to commission 15 artists. The founding team brought on Veronica Phiels as a co-founder and Project Manager and Lisa Vortman as co-founder and photographer. Paint the Void evoked and inspired art and economic recovery during times of adversity. Paint the Void is now managed by Building 180.
Since 2020 Paint the Void has raised close to $500k for local artists, most of whom lived within walking distance to the murals they painted. The organization received over $250,000 in grants from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development in San Francisco. They also launched a Facebook Fundraiser, collecting close to $200,000 in donations from friends, family and the local community who were captivated by their impact in the Bay Area neighborhoods.
This effort was recently celebrated in January 2022 with an exhibition titled "The City Canvas: A Paint the Void Retrospective," which showcased 49 murals, two live paintings and one community mural. Over 8,000 people attended the event over a 7-day period at Pier 70 in San Francisco. The founders were determined to have the exhibit free to the public to allow inclusivity and to reflect the way the artwork was experienced. Paint the Void is continuing to fundraise and paint murals, they are currently creating 12 participatory and community murals--one per month--in the 12 San Francisco districts. The first project was a success attracting over 100 volunteers to paint 25 plywood boards.
