June 5, 2023 • Posted by Design Bay Area
Boom. Bust. Boom. Bust. Welcome to San Francisco.
Our city’s natural beauty and self-expressive nature have always saved us. Throughout history our vistas and creative citizens have consistently inspired awe. Today we make it formal, declaring San Francisco the City of Awe.
It’s an open-source moniker, one we hope will be embraced locally and internationally as we reinvent ourselves yet again. Feel free to use the term. You need not ask for permission. Let the words inspire you. Consider them a call to action. Make it your goal to do all you can to have our City live up to the label.
Illuminate rallies large groups of people together to create impossible works of public art that, through awe, free humanity’s better nature. Founded in 2011, we’ve been working quietly to create a city-wide foundation of artful endeavor that embraces the multifaceted spirit of San Francisco, in all its nuance and vibrancy. After 12 years we’re ready to bring the story into focus, in service of community. Bust times are the best of times when we take charge of the place we call home. Let’s create the city in which we want to live.
Together, we shall transform San Francisco through ten thousand direct actions, each designed to bring beauty into our collective lives. Plant a flower. Pick up a broom. Take control of your block. Paint a mural. Make joyous music. Join us at Illuminate in creating large-scale works of public art.
The only way to have San Francisco shine in the eyes of the world, is to make it an amazing place for ourselves.
Welcome to the City of Awe.
Photos courtesy of Illuminate.