Dear friends,

Summer is upon us and there is no shortage of events to choose from. Whether you’re a soccer stan, using your frequent flier miles for a vacation, or sticking around until the holidays - we hope you’re using sunscreen, staying hydrated, and nurturing that creativity like your skin: often.

This last month we had no OMCA sessions, no Salons, and just took it easy since we are down 1 team member. There are 7 of us right now sharing the responsibility of the event hosting - and some of us can only once a month. So we all try to plan ahead and make sure we have coverage for the events you know/love.

Along with continuing our themed, costumed salons. We had such a blast with the Sailor Moon event, so we’re hoping to recreate that same magic this Sunday for the Bubbline Sapphic event, aka Adventure Time.

Along with our exciting collaboration with the West Edge Opera for their Boston’s Apollo show, which opens up soon! We have our dearest model Allan taking over the embodiment of Thomas Mckeller, the unnamed model who was John Singer Sargent’s muse in much of his art.

We also had such a huge request to bring long poses back, so we did. But not without the help from our friends over at Mass Arts, who are supporting this series to come back in full force. We’re going in with these for a full month of the same pose. Come join us this month with Nella for a reclined pose for the month of July from 11am to 2pm at 995 Market street, 6th Floor in San Francisco. Some of our inspiration for this month’s is Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus in 1510 and Ruben’s Reclining Nude in 1628.

This gives you a great chance to get something started or finished before the deadline for the art show and the zine! We are still collecting sketches, finished art, sketchbooks, loose leaf artwork that was made at any of our events for both tings. The deadline to submit artwork for the zine and the art show is this Sunday, July 12th.

Last year at Madrone Art Bar, we sold over 10 paintings, sketchbooks, and prints. And we are so excited to not just have 1 but 2 Art Show Openings in August! Come party up with us at 5 Olive Gallery next month in August 6th and 8th from 5-8pm!

And of course, we have a tasty selection of workshops to choose from. Next month we have our friend Michael Buffington returning to teach Intro To Figure Drawing. Then in September, we outside with our other homie, Franklin Lei, who will be teaching Plein Air over 1 weekend. Ending that month with a quick, 1 day Fashion Illustration class with our other friend Nicky. We finally have our boy and designer of all things Sketchboard, Jeff, teaching stylized figure drawing. With the exception of the Plein Air Class, we will be holding all of these at Mass Arts in Frontier Tower on the 6th floor.

We’re super excited to continue curating these awesome offerings we pour a lot of love into. From extra event themed salons to group art shows to workshops, you can see there is no shortage of creative events to choose from. And it all can't be done without your financial gifts.

That said, we have a few more fundraiser events to celebrate the community and raise money to sustain programming for years to come. The next Figure Drawing Marathon will be on August 30th at Oakland Grove. 2 rooms, 4 stages, maybe some demo’s, and a bbq out back! 10am to 4pm.

Thanks for rocking with us for 13 years and with your support, we can do it for another billion more. Hope it’s lovely where-ever your eyes lay.

Local Events We Recommend

1. At Least We're Damned Together by Joel Hernandez; Moth Belly Gallery’s current exhibition on view

2. Adobe Books Group Art Show on 24th Street

3. Cal Surplus Group Art Show on Haight Street

4. Werkshack Artist Collective Art Show on 07/09

5. Monet and Venice at De Young

6. Matisse at SF MOMA

7. Lez Wrestling at Crybaby on 07/17

8. Hayes Carnival with Circus Bella on 07/18

What our team members are up to:

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FRM OUR FRIENDS AT TRANSBAY COALITION: Transit and Housing Cuts

Californians are losing $1.4 billion dollars a year in affordable housing and public transit funding because of the Newsom Administration’s decision to turn the state’s leading climate policy into a slush fund for Big Oil.  
We need the State Legislature to undo the damage, and fulfill the promise they made last year to fully fund affordable housing and public transit programs

Fill out this form to send a letter to legislative leadership and the Governor telling them to keep their promise and stop cuts to public transit and affordable housing. 
Here’s what happened: In May, Governor Gavin Newsom’s appointees at the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved changes to California’s Cap-and-Invest Program which gave billions to Big Oil and other large polluters and in doing so, slashed the funding available for transit, affordable housing, clean water, and clean air programs. 

This decision will make California an even less affordable place to live as housing and transportation expenses are the biggest household expense for Californians. 

We need to speak out and get the state legislature to maintain funding for these programs so our public transit doesn't get cut, affordable housing keeps getting built, and clean air and clean water programs make California a healthier place to live!

For more details, you can read this in-depth blog post for an overview of the situation.