Dan

Dan Fontes-BioMuralist Dan Fontes, was born in Oakland in 1958 and grew up about a mile from the Grand Lake theater near Lake Merritt. In 1982 he received a bachelors degree in Fine Art from Cal State Hayward. He is probably best known for his Giraffe murals beneath the 580 freeway at Oakland Avenue in Oakland. Or you might know his Bethany Senior Center mural, San Franciscos tallest mural located in the Mission district at 21st & Capp Street. Still other people might only know his Playland Not at the Beach murals in El Cerrito. As a public artist in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past twenty-seven years Dan has worked on some of the most recognized murals in Northern California. Additionally he was employed as a design supervisor for Craig Lazarus Lighting Designer, makers of fiber optic sign display for ten years.Also an accomplished watercolorist, his work has appeared in many shows throughout the Bay Area. He has taught art to thousands of children in many schools and taught dozens of workshops throughout Northern California as well as in two of Oaklands sister cities in China and Japan.Dan has served on the Board of Directors for ProArts, Oaklands Center for the Visual Arts, The East Bay Depot for Creative Re-Use, Health through Arts and Renaissance of Papermaking.His work can be found in multiple publications including San Francisco Murals, by Tim Drescher and Painting the Towns by Dunitz and Prigoff as well as an estimated 400+ newpaper articles.He has presented over 100 slide lectures in public and private schools, churches, civic groups and retirement centers on multiple subject including public art, contemporary murals, the history of mural painting and Los Tres Grandes.Among the many awards hes received have been from the California Arts Council recipient (for work with Renaissance of Papermaking). Winner of Oaklands OBA award for individual artistic achievement. Two Oakland Orchid awards for Giraphics and Lake Merritt murals. Winner of East Bay Express newspapers Best of the Bay Area awards for six various years including 2002. Winner of Bay Guardian newspapers Best Award in the public art-mural category 1997. Nominated for Fleishhacker Foundations Eureka award 2002. Winner of 2004s Master Muralist Award from Precita Eyes Mural Art Center.What folks might not know is that Dan Fontes has collected pinball and arcade machines for the past decade and has probably owned somewhere between 300-400 machines (not all at once of course). He is a skilled pinball player and you should not challenge him to a game, especially on a 1977 Gottlieb Jacks Open. You will lose. The studio in Oakland that he shared with NEA/CAC/Florence Biennale award-winning paper artist, Lana Rose, was a treasure-house of old arcade equipment including a photo-booth, a phone booth, gun games, shooting galleries and jukeboxes as well as a gallery for his art and a performance space for local musicians.Today, he lives on a houseboat in Sausalito and continues to paint murals everywhere. He presents house-concerts about once a month with his partner and friend, Julie Lucchesi and invites you to be a part of the fun!More photos of his work and more information can be found at: www.danfontes.com