Artsy Fartsy

Andrew Cole

Thought paper 7

On this windy yet wonderful day our class went to the Mission and the Castro district. Both districts are beautiful with an overall artsy breeze in the air. One district however is a little more vibrant than the other. The Spanish first established the mission district, where they created the Mission San Francisco de Asis. The Castro district was named after José Castro, however is now known for its populations of lesbians, gays, transgender, etc.…

            The Mission was wonderful walking through because of its many attractions such as thrift town. Here I bought a fabulous Patagonia pullover. The streets seemed to be packed with people walking about the district. The overall feel was that of a welcoming fun loving area that was also hip and a bit artsy. I don’t have the best selection of pictures from this trip so I picked a very colorful building that we saw walking . (pictured at the bottom) this building is very colorful. The paintings are extremely bright and it clearly shows the life of a nurturing woman, which is appropriate seeing as how it is the front of the women’s building. This is just one part of the mission. Also there are a lot of fancy and up and coming bars and restaurants all popping up all throughout the area. The target for the this district would have to be the people who are into the art scene and for some reason I also feel like if people were to move from Oakland to San Fran they would most likely move into this neck of the woods. I mainly think that because when walking through Oakland, although not the most luxurious you can tell that it still is extremely artsy and has strong attempts of being hip throughout the city. Next we went to the Castro. Entering this area was extremely well marked because of the gay pride flags waving throughout the side of the streets. Here there seems to be a very happy energy to the area. This section, although stereotypical, appeared very nice and organized. The picture that I chose is that of the street with the flags along the poles. This section is for those well kept friendly types who, after walking into a fabulous clothing store, don’t mind spending half a grand on shirts and pajamas.  Clearly this district attracts those of LGBT interests and maybe some of the straight men who like to be a bit metro. Although different, each district is extremely rich with history and visual appeal.

            These two impressive sections of the city have been created and are continuously 


changing with time, however its historical feel mixed in with its hints of art still remain. 

polar opposites

Andrew Cole

Thought Paper

Our fieldtrip went into two extremely different worlds while traveling down market and venturing into the tenderloin. The two districts include one dealing with a lot of poverty and drug abuse, while the other targets wealthy consumers. Each district has a unique feel and overall appeal to them.

            While walking through the tenderloin I felt a sense community, however not the community one would desire. I felt as if people were almost lost and ended up in the tenderloin. Many of the advertisements that I saw in that area pertained to how to make cash quick, such as loans (see picture below). This audience clearly was for those who were on the street most of the day and were usually looking for money. The buildings themselves were interesting because one could tell their history just from their appearance. While going through market street and union square the advertisements changed very quickly. For the most part the signs were conveying some sort of product that a middle-upper class American would be interested in. for the most part it was advertisements for the local stores such as GAP and Abercrombie and Fitch. There were many people in this area who worked on market street so the advertisements never went to high This is also one of the main areas in the city so it is only expected to be a little over the top with signage.

            Overall the two districts that we explored clearly had two different audiences, one for the middle upper class American and the other for the lower class Americans. Each district although vast differences, had its own unique beauty to it.