WELCOME TO OUR STUDIOS
Balay Open Studios
Sat, 3/18/23 from 12p-4p
863 Mission St @ 5th St
In SOMA Pilipinas
We’re opening our doors to the community to give a sneak peek of our secret workshop to view our amazing art, meet our artists, shop, get down with DJ’s, and learn about our grants programs.
Balay Kreative is a pop-up artist studio and streaming hub that was stealthily built during the dark days of the pandemic. We have a mission to accelerate the growth of Filipinx artistic expression in SOMA Pilipinas.
During our open studios we’ll be hosting workshops around our Kreative Growth Grants and giving tours of artist studio spaces in the CAST building that will be given to our awardees.
FeaturinG
Jon Reyes is a DJ and producer, one of half of the hip-hop electronic duo, DLRN. 🎶 His music production work has been featured influential radio shows such as Soulection Radio (Beats 1/Apple), The Main Ingredient (East Village Radio/NYC), Anthony Valadez (KCRW/LA) and Hey Listen (NPR/Sacramento). He has also been featured on various publications and websites such as TIDAL, Okayplayer, Earmilk, and URB Magazine. As a DJ, he's partnered with and played tunes for brands such as Everlane, TEDx, Converse and Guitar Center.
He is also one of the founders of San Francisco's ColdCutz! Music Club, a social club dedicated to the celebration and preservation of record culture. You can follow Jon at @stankpalmer
Born and raised in the Bay, Cristine Blanco (@cblanco) works in sculpture, video, and installation.
She uses environmental injustices, the precarity of resources, and her own familial story as inspiration behind her work.
Inspired by her grandmother’s home in the Philippines, she explores the impact of rising sea levels and considers how human connectivity and adaptation are essential to recovery and transformation. Through repetition, reenactment and reconstruction, Cristine processes and makes sense of a constantly evolving world by documenting personal and global changes.
Kristian Kabuay (@kristian.kabuay) is a household name within the Bay Area's Filipinx Community. Specializing in pre-Philippine script known as Baybayin.
Kristian Kabuay's experimental art live demo will showcase the creation of one-of-a-kind collectible art cards using the traditional Batok hand-tapping tattooing technique. Kristian's tattooing tools will be connected to instruments that will trigger sounds, adding a multi-sensory element to the art-making process. He will connect the past, present, and future through this work, combining traditional art forms and modern technology. The audience will be able to witness the creation of the art cards in real time and experience the interplay of sound and visual art. This live demo will offer a unique and immersive glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of pre-Philippine tattooing techniques and the evolution of these traditions in contemporary art.
Ramon Abad, one of Balay Kreative’s artists in residence, is a kid at heart. As a puppeteer with over 20 years of experience, his work focuses on embodying Filipino culture and characters in a playful and entertaining way for all to enjoy, especially the little ones. It is after all his life’s mission to create more spaces of children’s theater for Filipinx families and children in SOMA Pilipinas. He’s already making this happen with an upcoming puppet show at Yerba Buena Center Gardens. Known to many as Tito Ramon, he has also taught children to tap into their imagination and perform their own puppet stories. He’s paying it forward because Ramon understands the need to cultivate the creativity of children and why it’s important for kids to see artists and teachers who look like them.
Make it Mariko (pronounced MAH-ree-ko) is a San Francisco experiential events agency led by women of color that creates magical, meaningful moments for the community.
MUMU (pronounced “mu-moh”, Tagalog for “ghost”) summons the forgotten spirit of candlelit gravesite griots, who held storytelling ceremonies on All Souls Day in the Philippines. MUMU brings these stories back to Sentro, formerly known as the Filipino Cultural Center, located in SOMA Pilipinas, the Filipino Cultural Heritage District of San Francisco. All Souls Day in our history is not a day of mourning; in the homeland, it is a day to gather, remember, and celebrate. We invite you to commune with our ghosts at MUMU.
Featuring garments by ciriaco sayoc, chichai mateo, kip yanaga
Event Schedule
12pm - Doors Open
12pm to 4pm - Artists spaces activated, DJ Jon Reyes Spinning at the Streaming Hub and Republika Wall open for retail
2pm to 3pm - Kreative Growth Grants Workshop & CAST Tour hosted by Nicole Salaver, Program Manager