The Excelsior Action Group unveiled the parklet located at 4754 Mission Street in front of Mama Art Cafe. This community effort was backed by Out of Site Center for Arts Education, the City of San Francisco, along with vendors who donated materials to build the student designed structure.  The event attracted well over a hundred community members to enjoy the company of their neighbors, the food of local restaurants, the rhythms of an interactive drum circle, and of course, the Excelsior's first parklet!  Local photographer Stephen Heraldo documented the event.

Click here to see photos of the event!

Stephen Heraldo is a freelance Designer and Photographer. He is a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo alumni with a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Communication. He provides photography as a service (corporate events, portraits, editorial). He also co-founded Stellar Photographie with Alisa Orozco. Heavily influenced by photojournalism, the duo captures natural family moments (events, weddings, portraiture, family sessions).   Please visit stephenheraldo.com and stellarphotographie.blogspot.com to learn more about his work.

Join the Excelsior Action Group, Out of Site Center for Arts Education, and fellow Excelsior community members for the public unveiling and ribbon cutting of the first Excelsior parklet on Friday, April 20th. The event will be taking place at 4:00pm at the parklet location, 4754 Mission Street in front of Mama Art Cafe.

There will be representatives from EAG, OOS, the City of San Francisco, and numerous other parklet contributors who volunteered their time to help with construction or who donated materials. And of course, there will be plenty of representatives from the Excelsior community there as well, the people who the parklet was built for, You! Join us for a fun afternoon event of good food and good people! 

(San Francisco – April 3, 2012) The Excelsior community is abuzz in front of Mama Art Café (4754 Mission Street), marveling at the work of two local nonprofit organizations that have joined together to bring the neighborhood its first public parklet.  Harnessing the creativity of San Francisco public high school students and the overwhelming support of community members and local government, Out of Site Youth Arts Center and Excelsior Action Group have made this student-designed parklet a reality.    
 
The Out of Site Youth Arts Center, which offers free after school, weekend, and summer programs in visual, literary, and performing arts to public high school students, engaged approximately 50 students over the past year in both the design and construction of the parklet.  The Excelsior Action Group, a community and economic development organization that works to revitalize the Excelsior’s commercial corridor, provided seed funding for the project with a grant from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD).  The organization has also engaged the participation of Mama Art Café, as well as completed a robust campaign of community outreach to vet the project and the design with Excelsior community members.  In partnering, both organizations have lent unique focus and expertise to this project, which has amplified its incredible success.  

The Excelsior Action Group and Out of Site Youth Arts Center will be starting construction on the first Excelsior public parklet this upcoming Saturday, March 24th and continuing through March 31st. This will be the culmination of a year long community design process and collaboration between EAG, OOS, and Mama Art Cafe.
 
We encourage all interested residents to come out and view the construction effort or, better yet, lend a helping hand! Email or call us to find out volunteer times and sign up to help build the parklet, no experience is necessary. Contact EAG at (415) 585-0110 or Excelsior.AG@gmail.com for more information! 

When: Saturday, March 24th -- Saturday, March 31st. Times will vary day to day but will generally be between 11am - 4pm. 
Where: Parklet installation will be taking place in front of Mama Art Cafe, 35 San Juan Avenue. 

Join the Excelsior Action Group at Mama Art Cafe on February 24th to support the creation of the first Excelsior Parklet and witness the  public unveiling of its design by Out of Site Youth Arts Center

Festivities will include live music, food, and a silent auction

When: Friday, February 24th from 6:30pm -9pm
Where: Mama Art Cafe, 4754 Mission Street

Festive holiday lights line the windows of over 40 storefronts on Mission Street in the Excelsior this season thanks to the efforts of a community organization and its trusty volunteers.  This year, the Excelsior Action Group, an economic and community development organization serving the commercial corridor of Mission Street in San Francisco’s Excelsior District, spent the funding and the volunteer hours to decorate business windows one at a time.  

“I kept hearing Excelsior residents expressing their desire to see the corridor decorated for the holidays,” explained EAG Corridor Manager, Nicole Agbayani.  “Then, EAG was able to repurpose a small amount of funding from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and we said, let’s make it happen!”

Funding from the City was supplemented by the generosity of local stores, including discounted extension cords from the Excelsior’s Walgreens on Mission Street and half price window suction hooks for hanging the lights from J&J Hardware on Geneva Avenue.  Also instrumental in making this project a reality was the assistance of about a dozen dedicated community volunteers from EAG’s Beautification Committee, the Excelsior District Improvement Association, the New Mission Terrace Improvement Association, and Senator Leland Yee’s office.

“We are getting this neighborhood back to the way it used to be,” said volunteer and long-time Excelsior resident Tod Spediacci, “If you could’ve seen the way they used to decorate it years ago, you wouldn’t believe it!”

EAG and its volunteers distributed LED holiday lighting to businesses and hung the lights in storefronts free of charge.  In January, they will collect the lights and store them for another decorating project next year.  Business owners have been responding with gratitude and excitement at this festive service.  “Next year, I would like to see you put them on the trees,” said Luz Maria of San Vicente’s Restaurant, “But I still think this is a really good idea!”

The Excelsior Action Group is accepting contracting proposals for the Excelsior Facade Improvement Program.  We will be splitting the work into two master contracts: one for signage & awnings, and the other for cleaning, painting, & general repairs.  Qualified bidders may submit proposals for both contracts.  Note that there will be a walk-through featuring 10 facades that have already signed on to the program to give ideas about existing conditions.  

The walk- through will be Friday, December 9, at 10 AM, starting at the EAG Office 4702 Mission Street at Persia Avenue.  It is not mandatory, but bidders are encouraged to attend.  Please confirm your attendance with me.

Awning & Signage RFP
Cleaning, Painting, & General Repairs RFP