Chicken John Mural & Call For Art by San Francisco Artists

Loid Mongoloid has painted a beautiful Chicken John mural on the side of his campaign headquarters (Chez Poulet Gallery) on Cesar Chavez in the Mission.

Tryntje Rapalje shot some great photos of the mural.

Speaking of art and his Chez Poulet Gallery, Chicken has just put out a “call for art” by San Francisco artists:

CALL FOR ART
Chez Poulet Gallery
3359 Cesar Chavez Street, San Francisco
(open by appointment and for special events)

What would YOU do if you were the official Grand Poobah of Arts for San Francisco?

Chicken John Rinaldi is running for mayor of San Francisco on an Arts and Innovation platform. It is his intention to raise awareness of the issues and challenges faced by residents of this city who are artists. See http://www.chickenjohn.com for more info.

San Francisco is a city full of artists. What prevents it from being the pro-art, pro-artist city it could and should be? Sure, we’ve got a great symphony, opera and ballet for those who can afford it – funded in part by a 12% hotel tax – but this is a hard, hard city for individual artists and small groups that support the arts.

We are putting together a group show of work by San Francisco artists* that focuses on this issue. Do you have something to express about exorbitant housing costs, lackluster exhibition opportunities, an opaque Arts Commission? Do you have a piece that describes your opinion about public art projects being granted to artists from other cities? Did you know that the city of Emeryville gives a tax break to artists who want to buy a home? Do you have a fantasy about what it would be like to live in a San Francisco with more opportunities and greater support for the arts?

Pieces submitted for juried selection by October 15th will be considered for a group exhibition beginning the week prior to the San Francisco election (November 6th). Pieces of any medium will be considered as long the piece can be safely exhibited or performed in the gallery space at Chez Poulet.

To deliver your piece or to ask questions, please contact:

Chicken John Rinaldi at chickenjohn AT chickenjohn DOT com
Ani Lucia Thompkins at anilucia AT gmail DOT com

* If you used to live in San Francisco but had to move Emeryville, we’d still like your submissions.

* Disclaimers: Chez Poulet Gallery features prominent and emerging artists on an ongoing basis. We do not provide insurance for your pieces, although you will be issued a receipt and we will treat your piece with the utmost care and respect – just like we like our own pieces treated.

One other bit of Chicken John news, he has recently redesigned and relaunched his chickenjohn.com website and it now serves as his official campaign website. His blog voteforchicken.com still exists and now feeds into his campaign site.

Chicken is now on Twitter as well, but he doesn’t appear to be using it much.