Drawing from the personal papers of Mission Bay resident and small business owner Blanche Pastorino, this exhibition reveals a layered portrait of the pier located at 4th and Channel Streets and the San Franciscans who made it a gathering place for artists, poets and workers.
Past and present quietly converge on the pier beyond the Mission Bay Library windows. Once a semi-industrial landscape, the area hummed with both labor and imagination. Artists and workers shared space at Galerie de Blanche (1959-1988) and Blanche’s Garden (1988-1998), shaping an undercurrent of creativity often overlooked in today’s Mission Bay. This exhibit invites visitors into Mission Bay’s recent past and to sense the artistic echoes still present in the neighborhood.
The Blanche Pastorino Papers (SFH 40) were generously donated to San Francisco Public Library by the estate of Blanche’s dear friend Ruth Asawa. The Papers are open for research in the San Francisco History Center, Main Library.
Social: Mission Bay Branch Library Open House, Saturday, July 11.
Photo of Galerie de Blanche, 1976-1978.
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