To celebrate our Heritage in the Neighborhoods: Haight-Ashbury month in August 2022, SF Heritage invited two local artists to decorate the windows at our storefront space at 1506 Haight Street, located on the ground floor of the historic Doolan-Larson Building.
This week, we are spotlighting artist Bee Betwee, an illustrator and sculptor based in San Francisco. A graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines with a degree in Fine Arts and Design, Bee’s work is inspired by bold and colorful advertising. She utilizes a variety of styles from illustration, surrealism, photography, and animation, and her work has a hint of playfulness and kitsch.
We initially came across her work in the Excelsior neighborhood, where Bee sketched window portraits of friends and neighbors of Heavenly Bakery (4845 Mission Street) as part of ArtSpan’s Excelsior Art Initiative. This initiative celebrated small businesses and community in the Excelsior, and Bee’s work in this neighborhood made her a great choice to capture legacy business owners and neighbors in the Haight-Ashbury.
On August 1 and 2, Bee sketched Haight-Ashbury legacy business owners and neighbors on the windows at our 1506 Haight Street space for her piece “Deeply Rooted.” Her unique creative process affords her the opportunity to converse with the community members with whom she is sketching, as a way to get to know the neighborhood’s character.
“My process involves meeting new people and asking them to be a part of the artwork by drawing them on the spot,” Bee told SF Heritage. “So I enjoyed getting to know the individuals that make up the Upper Haight community, and seeing the reactions to their portrait drawings – good and bad!”
…I enjoyed getting to know the individuals that make up the Upper Haight community, and seeing the reactions to their portrait drawings – good and bad!
Bee Betwee
Stop by 1506 Haight Street to see Bee’s special window display, which remains up until August 31, 2022. While you are there, check out our pop-up exhibition “Mouse House,” running inside the gallery until August 31, 2022.
