Photograph of the Farm, facing south towards the Army Street Freeway Interchange at Potrero and Army (now Cesar Chavez). Photograph © 1976 Bonnie Ora Sherk.

Life Frames, Inc. & A Living Library are pleased to invite you to view a special arts installation as part of this exhibit, by its Founder & Director, Bonnie Ora Sherk, on Crossroads Community (the farm), an early Life Frame.

Bonnie Ora Sherk was the Founding Director / President of The Farm, as it was commonly called, from 1974-80, and made the original drawings, collages, and photographs for this transformative community Life Frame, which are now part of this installation.

The Farm inspired the transformation of about 8+ acres of derelict land adjacent to and in the middle of the Army Street Freeway Interchange, located at Cesar Chavez and Potrero Avenue, into a new Community Park & Freeway Gardens, Green Center for Environmental Education, Art & Agriculture, and Alternative Art Venue, one of the first in the country.

The Farm was called Crossroads Community, as it was located in the crossroads of Bernal Heights, the Mission, Potrero Hill, and Bayview communities, at the convergence of three hidden creeks: Islais, Serpentine, and Precita Creeks, all framing the northernmost part of the Islais Creek Watershed.

Today, Life Frames, Inc. & A Living Library are still working with, and calling attention to, the importance of the Islais Creek Watershed - it's many resources, opportunities, and community linkages. The OMI/Excelsior Living Library & Think Park and Bernal Heights Living Library & Think Park Nature Walk are located within this Watershed in the Excelsior and Bernal Heights communities.

Proposals for Framing the Islais Creek Watershed and Creating Living Library Culture - Ecology - Technology Native Upland / Riparian Transit Corridors - "complete, better streets" - are also in the works with diverse community groups and City agencies in neighborhoods connected to the San Francisco Bay and each other within this Watershed: Excelsior, Portola, Bayview-Hunter's Point, Potrero, Bernal, Mission, Noe Valley, Glen Park. View Islais Creek Watershed Map & Narrative

This installation on Crossroads Community (the farm) will move to The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in March, 2007, and later will travel to Washington, D.C. where it will be on view at The National Museum of Women in the Arts, as part of the exhibit, Wack! Art and the Feminist Revolution. The installation may then travel to two additional art venues, not yet confirmed.

View a video, see before and after photographs, and learn more about The Farm.

View Press Release for “How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later”