INSIDE
Publisher's View: Loneliness Pg. 2
JULY 2025
Mission Creek Park "Grizzlies" Pg. 4
Islais Creek Bridge to be Replaced Pg. 6
Literacy Improvement Resources Pg. 6
History: Yard-Long Potrero Photos Pg. 8
San Francisco is home to lots of museums. The de Young and Legion of Honor feature “high” art. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not is kitschy. The Museum of Craft and Design’s name tells visitors what to expect, while the Cable Car Museum, Beat Museum, and GLBT Historical Society specialize in slices of local history. If tattoo artist Peter Bogdanov has his way, a unique museum focusing on the type of creations he produces inside his Legend Ink shop in Potrero Hill will soon be a part of this academy. Bogdanov wants to display art originally drawn on the skin of the person who wore it. Each tattoo featured in the “Beyond the Flesh” museum will be harvested from the person on which it’s inked following their death, put through a process of post-mortem preservation similar to the plastination method used in exhibits such as Body Worlds. First presented in Tokyo in 1995, Body Worlds displays dissected human bodies, animals, and other anatomical pieces. The show has been installed at 50 museums globally, attracting more than 50 million visitors. The concept of saving tattoos after death isn’t without precedent. Save My Ink Forever, founded in Ohio by Michael
and Kyle Sherwood, has been performing such operations for nearly a decade, preserving more than 1,200 tattoos from deceased people as personal mementos for their loved ones. Bogda nov wa nts to publicly display the tattoos, offering widespread access to view this unique art form. He’s launched a website detailing his vision for how a permanent exhibition space would allow tattoo artistry to “transcend the boundaries of mortality” and “become portals to the souls who once wore them, telling tales of passion, identity, and Peter Bogdanov has a vision for a permanent exhibition space that'd allow tattoo the vibrant hues of the artistry to “transcend the boundaries of mortality” and “become portals to the souls who once wore them, telling tales of passion, identity, and the vibrant hues of the human experience.” human experience.” PHOTO: Courtesy of Peter Bogdanov Bogdanov was first tattooed in 1991: a gecko skeleton on his said, “and then I was a hundred bucks leg. Another soon followed. Within a an hour within a couple of weeks, and I year, he secured tattoo equipment and never looked back.” Two years later, he expanded, movopened his own shop in the 900 block of Rhode Island Street in a house originally ing into a space on Townsend Street, owned by his grandfather, Matthew. TATTOO continues on page 14 “I tattooed five people for free,” he
Last April, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) announced new restrictions on use of funds raised by Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), as well as municipal grants from such sources as the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families (DCYF). These monies have historically paid for intervention and English Learner (EL) teachers, instructional coaches, lunch yard monitors, librarians, social workers, and basic supplies, like paper. The District’s discretionary fund restrictions largely limit PTA personnel expenditures to classroom teachers. The San Francisco Board of Education adopted them to help balance its budget and avoid a state takeover. Schools can hire for approved certificated positions, like intervention teachers, when certain conditions have been met, principally that general education spots are 92 percent occupied across SFUSD and all “high potential +” schools have filled vacant out-of-classroom positions.
High potential + schools are those in which student learning outcomes haven’t changed in the past few years. They can also be Vision, Values, Goals, and Guardrails (VVGG) Focal schools, with a proficiency rate of 50 percent or less of SFUSD goals for end-of-year targets. Intervention teachers are credentialed to assist students experiencing classroom difficulties, often related to reading skills. Instructional coaches are credentialed to support classroom educators, assisting with setting instructional goals and implementing curriculum changes. EL teachers are credentialed to help students who need additional instruction in English to be able to read, write, and speak proficiently at grade level. Neither Daniel Webster nor Starr King are high potential + schools. Starr King hasn’t been on that list since the 2019-2020 school year. Daniel Webster has never been placed in that category. “If the District were to fund these schools properly so the PTAs didn’t have to raise money for paper, staff for a student wellness center, and a school
Summer Stride of Library Love BY JASON ROSENBURY
librarian, there would be more equity. That’s not the case,” said Stephanie McGarrigle, Daniel Webster PTA president. “My approach is to be a little cautious but also transparent,” said Anita Parameswaran, Daniel Webster Elementary School principal. “What is expected is ever-changing. I feel that I get new information every couple of days. I can’t get too attached to anything. I can’t get frustrated or upset.” Parameswaran previously served as Daniel Webster’s Academic Response to Intervention Facilitator – a reading specialist – and has worked in the District for more than a decade, teaching third grade for eight years. A key SFUSD goal is that students matriculate from elementary to middle schools with gradelevel reading skills. Reading is both a standalone and foundational ability that determines how well scholars do in all subjects. “It was unclear what SFUSD would allow Daniel Webster PTA to fund and
“Summer Stride is our biggest program,” said San Francisco Public Library Mission Bay Branch Manager Jana De Brauwere. “We prepare all year for it.” As part of Summer Stride, the main and all 27 library branches offer tailored programs and activities, distributing free tote bags to those who engage in 20 hours of reading, listening, and/or event attendance from June to August. Summer Stride is, “a big effort and our patrons show up time and time again,” said Potrero Branch Manager Rachel Bradshaw. “Last summer, we had more finishers than ever before.” According to De Brauwere, Summer Stride tote bags have become popular collectible items. This year’s sack was designed by San Franciscan Kenard Pak, a picture book artist and animation art director. It features parrots enjoying books and comes in two sizes. Qualifying participants, or “finishers” – who self-report their 20 hours – can choose between a regular size tote bag or a smaller version. SFPL will have enough bags for all finishers through Summer Stride’s August 31 end date. As part of Summer Stride both branches give away books; visitors can choose one volume a day to adopt. The libraries hold monthly raffles, with prizes donated by museums, movie theatres, Bi-Rite Market, San Francisco Giants, and Golden State Warriors. Visitors can enter once per person daily; frequent branch guests increase their chances of winning. According to De Brauwere, Mission Bay receives between 600 and 800 entries a month. In addition to Sumer Stride, the Mission Bay and Potrero branches sponsor art shows. Through August 22, Potrero is hosting the Annual Potrero Hill Artists Exhibition, featuring works of artists who “live, learn, work, or worship on Potrero Hill or Dogpatch,” according to Bradshaw. The Mission Bay Branch, located at 960 Fourth Street between Berry Street and the Mission Creek Channel, is on the ground floor of a Mercy Housing residence for low-income seniors, some of whom have lent or donated works for display. South-of-Market-based 6th on 7th Photographic Workshop is also exhibiting at Mission Bay. Both branches screen films. Potrero movie night is on occasional Wednesday
PTA continues on page 14
LIBRARY continues on page 14
Potrero Hill PTAs Adjust to SFUSD’s New Expenditure Rules
BY JESSICA ZIMMER
FREE
Serving the Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Mission Bay and SOMA Neighborhoods Since 1970
Tattoo Museum Would Make Ink Truly Permanent BY MARK STEENSL AND
W O C R O S S D S Pg. 11