the cathedral · a third place

a quiet room.
a long bench.
a name carved into stone.

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COVENactivatesthe city's monuments.

— mission · 543 howard st · san francisco

Torii by Bruce Johnson
i.ToriiBruce Johnson · San Francisco · 2024

✦in honor of the rooms that were · the rooms that are · the rooms not yet built✦

  1. ·1for the artists who waited in line and then made the line.
  2. ·2in memory of every studio priced out of its neighborhood.
  3. ·3for the makers who held the door for the next maker.
  4. ·4in honor of the curators who never got the credit.
  5. ·5for the rooms with names not yet written on them.
  6. ·6in memory of the gathering that scattered. it counted.
  7. ·7for the third place that hasn't been opened yet — it has a key.
  8. ·8in honor of you, reading this, for showing up.

— engraved here so it doesn't have to be carved in stone yet.

The next monument is unbuilt.

Build the next monument with us

tax-deductible · EIN 93-4043245

journal entry · ii. · 2026

he work began as a question:
where is the room?

COVEN powers entrepreneurial creatives and activates the Third Places where art is made and displayed. We amplify the sidelined voices of underrepresented artists through storytelling and support, disrupting the traditional patronage model with a creative economy engine.

three commitments

  1. 01.ACTIVATEActivate Third PlacesCommunity spaces for connection, learning, creation.
  2. 02.AMPLIFYAmplify Sidelined VoicesCentered on lived-experience perspectives.
  3. 03.POWERPower Entrepreneurial CreativesSupporting bold experimentation.

The patronage model kept the rooms locked. It said: wait your turn. Submit your work. Make yourself legible to people who will never know your neighborhood. It put gatekeepers between the maker and the wall, between the work and the world.

We are not asking permission.

in alignment

The dispatch is monthly. The work is daily.

Underwrite the next monument

— signed: every name on the wall, every room not yet built.

and so
the doorway opens.

· wait ·

ACTIVATEAMPLIFYPOWER

fund the city's monuments

the sermon · COVEN.next · v0.3 · click to detonate

cat. no. 2024.05 · permanent collection

COVEN

(a third place, ongoing)

Medium
Mixed media — time, talent, treasure, ties.
Artists, monuments, third places.
Date
2024 — ongoing
Provenance
Acquired through community support.
Donors are credited annually.
Location
543 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
EIN 93-4043245
Inquiries
[email protected]

Be there when the city wakes.