Todd Berman

Bio: Todd Berman is a San Francisco artist who travels the world and his local community, sketchbook in hand. His art reflects the colorful eccentricity bound within moments and individuals; depicting scenes of people coming together to improve their surroundings. Todd promotes creativity by asking people of all ages to create small, personalized drawings which he collages into larger collaborative art works. Working as a public school substitute teacher in San Francisco’s eclectic Mission District neighborhood, Todd creates scenes that capture a chaotic sense of community in bright, expressionistic drawing, painting and collage. Named San Francisco County 2006 Bike Commuter of the Year, Todd also uses his two wheels to bring his art to events, parks, and schools.

Todd was born in the hills of West Virginia, grew up on Long Island, NY, and moved to San Francisco in 1998. He has a BA in Public Policy from Brown University and continues his arts education through programs at U.C. Berkeley Extension and the San Francisco Art Institute. His art often hangs on the walls of local community spaces in San Francisco.

Statement:
My mission as an artist is to promote creativity. I do this indirectly through my own style of expressionism or more directly in my collaborative art.

When I look around, whether in the neighborhoods of San Francisco or while traveling the world, I do so with a sense of wonder and possibility. This translates into the energetic lines and vibrant colors of my marker drawings and acrylic paintings. With all of my art, I am saying, “Look how fun this is! Let us all constantly re-imagine the world around us.” That is my indirect way of promoting creativity.

When I make collaborative art, I ask people in public, at an event, or in a classroom to write or draw an idea on paper. For instance, I will approach you on the street and ask you to draw a picture of yourself (no skill needed, stick figure okay). I will cut your picture out, along with drawings done by your neighbors, and collage you all together into a painting of the neighborhood. The result is a painting that represents the diversity of a community.

With these paintings, I am directly prompting you to be creative, then I am showing you how your creativity can be part of something larger – something beautiful. And I bet you had lots of fun participating.