It was an artful experience for San Francisco’s Rainbow Honor Walk (RHW), the nonprofit that highlights the contributions of LGBTQ pioneers with sidewalk plaques in the city’s Castro district, when an exhibit of works by the late acclaimed artist Beth Van Hoesen raised over $45,000. The exhibit, Beth Van Hoesen: Punks & Sisters, was held earlier this year at the Altman Siegel Gallery. When longtime Castro resident Hoesen died in 2010, her estate donated a significant number of her works to the RHW for sale to benefit its work.
“Thank you, Beth Van Hoesen,” said RHW President and San Francisco Bay Times columnist Donna Sachet. “Thank you to Diane Roby, who administered her artistic estate. Thank you, Altman Siegel Gallery, and especially thank you, Peter Goss, our longtime supporter and board member who helped to facilitate the sale of the Rainbow Honor Walk’s Beth Van Hoesen artworks. The work of the Rainbow Honor Walk, celebrating with members of our LGBTQ family who walked the walk before us, has never been more important than now, in a time when, sadly, our values, and our lives, are under threat.”
To date, the RHW organization—in conjunction with the San Francisco Department of Public Works—has installed 44 plaques along Market, Castro, and 19th Streets, as well as Collingwood Avenue. The Walk will eventually extend from the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy on 19th Street at Diamond down to Castro Street, and will continue up Market with additional extensions on 18th Street. On Market, the it will continue to the LGBT Center at Octavia Boulevard.
Each plaque costs approximately $6000, with all funds raised privately. For more information and to make a donation, visit: www.rainbowhonorwalk.org
Published on June 22, 2023
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