Million Fishes is an incubating program for emerging artists of visual art, film making, choreography / dance, music, conceptual art, new media, interactive art, interarts, and writing to build the tools necessary to establish themselves as contributors of art.

Members of the Royal Society of the Powdered Wigs put the finishing touches on furniture and vehicles.

Million Fishes empowers artists by creating an environment for them to create, critique, present, teach, and develop concepts and skills involved in producing art and sharing it with others.

Through presenting and making accessible new emerging artwork and ongoing projects as a result of this program, Million Fishes becomes a resource to local communities in the Mission District and the diverse, extended communities of our resident artists.

Million Fishes offers to its resident artists many resources, including: studio spaces, dark room, dance studio, music rehearsal space, computer lab, wood shop, living quarters, recording studio, and many gallery spaces. Numerous presentation opportunities for resident and outside artists of all disciplines are also available through Million Fishes in the form of individual and group shows in our window galleries, open studios, cellar gallery, and main gallery and participation events like the MAPP: Mission Arts and Performance Project.

Ongoing projects include: an artist-in-residence program, community yoga calendar, a bi-weekly writer's workshop, and a bi-weekly music composers group, formal and informal art critique sessions, and skill building workshops.

In support of the Interarts Project, Million Fishes has offered free rehearsal space, valuable critique sessions, ensemble members, technical support and equipment, stage design, publicity, performance opportunities, and exposure. With this support, the Interarts Project has been able to establish themselves as a contributor to the Bay Area arts scene, perform for many people, and connect with many great arts venues and projects and will continue to grow in the future. Million Fishes is a Member of the Intersection Incubator, a program of Intersection for the Arts providing fiscal sponsorship, incubation and consulting services to artists. Intersection is San Francisco's oldest alternative arts space, presenting groundbreaking works in the literary, performing, visual, and interdisciplinary arts. Visit www.theintersection.org.

how it works

Million Fishes is a Mission District-based collective composed of a diverse group of artists dedicated to collaborative, creative exploration. Embracing multiple forms of expression, our studios and venue serve as a platform for artistic cooperation as well as an interactive resource for our communities. Founded on the principle of co-creativity and group art projects, our organization has grown to also suit the needs of many distinct creative endeavors, from productions and events to ongoing programs and services.

Million Fishes events have included solo visual art exhibitions, fashion shows, musical and theatrical performances, and inter-art ”happenings”. Our facilities include a darkroom, an audio recording studio, a dance/yoga studio, a gallery, and workspace for painters, designers, and sculptors. Each space is flexible by nature, providing opportunities for gallery shows, rehearsals, installations and studios simultaneously. Ongoing projects within Million Fishes include MF Yoga, a weekday yoga practice and Amedium.org, a bi-weekly critique group for artists.

As a consensus-based organization with sixteen fully participating members, Million Fishes functions as an incubator for emerging artists to build the tools necessary to establish themselves as contributors in the art world and the communities around them. By living and working together, MF artists gain experience in conceptual development, creation, critique, presentation, teaching, and support skills.

The collective energy and drive of our group inspires and supports individuals to create art projects that they may not be able to accomplish alone. Our members represent a vast array of artistic talent and expertise. We are a melting pot of continuous feedback, critiques, and physical resources, all of which substantiate and aid in the success of each project. Million Fishes is a resource for local artists to realize individual endeavors as well as group projects, both of which add to San Francisco’s rich and growing art community.

Each member has been selected through a rigorous application and interview process. Selections are based on unique artistic vision, eagerness to collaborate, and group compatibility. Every new project ideas is proposed and discussed at our weekly group meetings. These meetings are open to the public; anyone with a proposal can show up and take part this process.

Based on the successes of many of our endeavors, we recognize that Million Fishes has carved out a niche for itself within the San Francisco art community. We provide the support, momentum and human resources necessary for the production of unique, community-based art projects, and our space is an exceptional venue for the public presentation of these endeavors. It transforms to suit the needs of each event we host. For visual art shows, it is an immaculate gallery, for film screenings, a theater. It has been a fashion runway, performance venue and concert hall all at once.

photo credit: misha purcell

history

Since its inception on November 1, 2003, Million Fishes has grown from three actively participating members to eighteen. Its debut as a venue was a solo painting show for artist and co-founder Michael Shankman in February 2004.

Three months later, Million Fishes hosted its first large multimedia event, Submerge. Drawing an audience of over three hundred people, Submerge was an amalgam of fashion, dance, visual art and music, in which each of our members (there were then sixteen of us) had an artistic role in his/her area of expertise.

Our next major event was Barbi, Speed and Graffiti, part of a multiple-venue interdisciplinary art show that celebrated American pop-culture. After the show closed here, its curator, Julie Andersen took selected work to Beijing as part of an artistic cultural exchange. Since then, we have hosted music events, MAPP (Mission Arts and Performance Project) activities, solo art shows, and collaborative exhibits.