Local Maker Mart: The Temporary Artist & Maker Pop-Up in North Beach

As I’ve written about before, there’s a blight of empty storefronts all over San Francisco, particularly in North Beach. Luckily some plucky artists and makers have gotten together and opened Local Maker Mart to give people a place to shop for local art and goods.

After three years of sitting empty, the space that formerly housed a Citi Bank now bustles with life and art. The iconic three-domed bank at 580 Green St. has been activated as a holiday pop-up shop and art gallery.

The organizers are welcoming and sell locally made goods, fashion, speakers, crafts, and art from local artists.  It will be open every day from now until the end of the year. The goal is to help other makers and artists access amazing retail space and create abundance for the holidays. They want to bring hope, prosperity, and cheer to the neighborhood by creating a vibrant spot for the community to gather.

The idea for the pop-up came from Recreation Sound Systems, a local start-up company making sustainable portable speakers. Working with NEMS (North East Medical Services), a local non-profit and the current owners of the bank building, Recreation has opened a storefront for not only their speakers and lifestyle products but for local artists and makers who may not be able to afford their own storefront in this age of out-of-control rent. One of the artists at Local Maker Mart is Mega, an aerialist who performs in a rig set up in the middle of the space.

This pop-up shop for the holidays will hopefully only be the beginning, and Local Maker Mart, as a project of Recreation Sound Systems, hopes to transmute vacant spaces and their stagnant energy into vibrant activated spaces that support the local community.

Make sure to drop by and get a few unique gifts. You’ll be supporting hard working local artists and makers who are helping breathe new life into our city’s storefronts.