Intersection of Sports and Arts Score Points for San Francisco

The 49ers’ return to the Super Bowl is a perfect kickoff to an unforgettable year in sports for San Francisco. In March, the finals of the World Baseball Classic will be held at AT&T Park, home of the 2012 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants. This summer, America’s Cup winner Oracle Team USA will defend their title when the world’s fastest sailing boats race on San Francisco Bay.

And the San Francisco Bulls hockey team will begin their second season at the Cow Palace in the fall.At the same time, San Francisco’s arts and cultural scene is experiencing an extraordinary period of innovation.

SFJAZZ has opened their new home, the only freestanding performance venue in the U.S. built specifically for jazz.

The Exploratorium, the original hands-on museum of science, art, and human perception will move to its new waterfront home at Pier 15 on April 17. In March, The Bay Lights installation will begin illuminating the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge for the next two years.

Only in San Francisco would these distinct worlds - athletics and the arts – converge in ways that seem as natural as, well, tossing a ball or humming a tune. Here are a few examples of how these two worlds intercept with results that reveal San Francisco’s unique personality.

This San Francisco 49ers tight end isn’t restricted to the gridiron. The gifted professional athlete is also a trained visual artist. From his days as an Art Studio major at the University of Maryland, Davis has maintained his connection to the fine arts as an avid painter and collector.

This past December, Davis opened Gallery 85 in San Jose’s Santana Row. Showcasing work from his own collection as well as that of local artists, Gallery 85 was a natural component to Davis’ art foundation, The Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts, which aims to promote art education and art appreciation among youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The newly opened gallery also dovetails nicely with his interior design firm, Modern Class Design, a full service fine arts and interior design company. Its mission to expand into urban renewal and inner city community initiatives has begun with collaboration with the non-profit agency EAH Housing to design a community recreation center in the San Francisco Bay Area’s city of Richmond, and with the Museum of Design in Atlanta (MODA) to benefit camp MODA’s art-centric youth outreach program.