In San Francisco, during the period after the 1906 earthquake and until the 1950’s, there were dozens of amazing theaters, most of them in central Market Street area.   The 20,000 Missing Seats mural will be an homage to those movie and performance art theaters (Strand, Unique, Embassy, Rialto, Granada, Regal, Imperia, Pantages, Tivoli, Hub, State, Egyptian, etc) that once graced this area of Market Street.

20,000 is an estimation of the cumulative capacity of the now empty or lost theater seats that once populated Market Street.

Painting of the mural will start in mid-April 2011 and will be completed May 13 2011.  This mural is one of several art projects funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission under their “Art in Storefronts” program.

The loss of those remarkable single stage/screen theaters is not unique to San Francisco.   Small towns and big cities worldwide have lost their share of these theaters as well.

I invite you to post and share stories of those cherished theater(s) that you remember.   What were the big shows, the big stars and events, how did the theaters look inside and out, where did people go before and after the shows and what about those fabulous marquees?  I hope it will be great fun as we share our collective stories (and those of your parents and grandparents!).   Those 20,000 missing seats on Market Street and all those in theaters like them are gone forever….yet they are still alive in our collective memories. / send your story here: contact / or in the facebook page: 20,000 Missing Seats

For those of us who love the old theaters, it will be a bit of a melancholic experience.  I hope the mural invites its audience to ponder the fate of all those missing chairs and a past golden era.  In addition, it may encourage us to go and support the ones still operating in San Francisco (Vogue, Bridge, Clay, Balboa, Castro, Roxie, Empire, 4Star, etc.) 

rafael-landea.com - fbk: 20,000 Missing Seats - fbk: Art in Storefronts - SFAC - map -