1971 įollowing the Februarrest of several street artists, including William Clark, in the 700 block of Beach Street, a first attempt was made to organize the street artists.
![get a artist licence sf get a artist licence sf](http://pawsitivepetsf.com/img/business_registration.jpg)
In the 700 block of Beach Street adjacent to Victorian Park and near Fisherman's Wharf, between 15 and 25 artists would set up their displays and use lookouts to alert them to the arrival of the police. Artists and street performers who illegally set up in public areas were frequently harassed and arrested by the police. At this time there was an effort to sell crafts on the sidewalks of the liberal Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Some street artists were willing to be arrested time and again in order to draw media attention to their cause and to push for a change in existing laws.ĭuring the 1960s, California was the site of many outdoor art fairs, which nurtured a culture of independent artists and craftspersons. In response, street artists strategically organized by forming their own guild, hiring a lawyer, and drafting two ballot initiatives in order to create laws that enabled them to sell their work in public places.
![get a artist licence sf get a artist licence sf](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_ewNpH9jni0/Ueu-4WcEHgI/AAAAAAAAAhA/qf239RdxfB0/s800/hgw_invisibleman.jpg)
The program was the result of a hard-fought political battle by street artists who were sometimes harassed and arrested by police for selling their work on the city's sidewalks. The program generates an estimated $4 million annually for the city's economy. The Arts Commission currently licenses approximately 400 street artists, whose licensing fees cover all program costs. The artists are licensed by the San Francisco Arts Commission and are only allowed to sell work that has been "predominantly created or significantly altered in form" by the street artist. The Street Artists Program of San Francisco is a municipal arts program in which independent street artists and craftspeople sell their art and craft items in designated public spaces in the city of San Francisco, California.
![get a artist licence sf get a artist licence sf](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/12/69/18/1269181b91e9196c5c3c3b5bd745cc8d.jpg)
Municipal arts program Street Artists selling their handmade work along east Market Street