By SF Artist Joshua Coffy

In the early morning hours of June 13th, the Journal Building at 1540 Market St. was broken into and robbed. The thief took $10k worth of cameras, lenses, lighting, and other valuable art supplies.

The Journal Building is known for it’s building-sized mural called Birdsong, painted by Artspan artists using a design by Joshua Coffy

The Journal Building is home to ArtSpan’s Studio Residency Program that serves as a workspace for artists in need of affordable studio space. These artists depend on their work and this workspace to make their businesses thrive. Losing much of their valuable equipment is indeed a detriment to their ability to continue as artists.

Artist Shane Izykowski recovered some of the stolen items after seeing a man literally walking around wearing his stolen equipment bag the next day. Shane called 911 and followed the man until police could arrive and arrest him.  The suspect had several stolen items on him and already had a warrant out for his arrest.  Shane scouted many of the local pawn shops for the rest of his equipment, but unfortunately the majority of the equipment and supplies are still at large.

Several costly pieces of camera equipment were stolen:

– Nikon D-600 with a battery grip – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $1200)
– Canon Rebel T71 Kit – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $1045)
– 70-200mm f2.8 VR 1 lens – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $2800)
– Nikkor 105 Macro – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $900)
– Nikkor 50 mm f1.4, – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $450)
– 24 mm f2.8, – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $400)
– 3 Nikon Speedlights, – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $1800)
– Sennheiser Lav mic set, – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $$630)
– Tamrac camera bag, – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $170)
– Dremel tool – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $100)
– Makita Drill – (Estimated Replacement Cost: $100)

As you can see the cost of replacing this stuff is astronomical…now imagine that these very tools were what you used to earn that money in the first place and you can get an idea of the problem.

Our city’s artists are asking people to dig deep and donate what they can. The Journal Building Artists are all very hard working folks that volunteer for ArtSpan and work hard to make San Francisco’s art scene the thriving, colorful, and diverse powerhouse that it is today. And right now they need a lifeline. Your help will get them back on track and back to work.

Thanks to Artist Joshua Coffey (also an Artist You Should Know) who rallied the community around this cause and set up the GoFundMe page.  If you have replacement equipment in lieu of cash or wish to help in other ways leave a comment on the GoFundMe page and someone will get back to you!

Help The Artists Recover by donating here: gofundme.com/journalbuildingrecovery