This Friday, August 4 from 6-9 pm, all Bernalese are invited to Neighbor Eden Stein’s fabulous Secession Art & Design store at 3235 Mission (near Valencia) to celebrate the store’s 10th anniversary party.

It’s a worthy cause for festivities, because in addition to operating her fabulous store, Neighbor Eden also leads the Mission-Bernal Merchants Association, which has played a very active role in helping our Mission Street corridor recover from the 2016 Cole Hardware Fire.

At the same time, Secession is also organizing a crowdfunding campaign. Neighbor Eden explains why:

In the time that I have owned my store I have been successful, been evicted and relocated two blocks from my original location, renovated a restaurant into a gallery, and worked almost every weekend. This past year the transit changes, the fire, politics, and changing retail behaviors have challenged whether or not I can continue to keep my doors open. Last week I had an attempted break-in, and another financial setback when they broke my glass door, which is not covered by insurance.

Neighbor Eden also shares this invitation to Friday’s 10th Anniversary Party:

You are personally invited to our 10th anniversary party on Friday night, 6-9pm.

Thank you to the lovely donors that have participated so far to our Gofundme campaign, and all the friends on Facebook who shared it. Your stories about why it is important to keep Secession Art & Design open in San Francisco moved my heart. Our goal is to raise 10k for our 10th Anniversary. The vision is to not only keep the doors open, but to grow. With additional capital, I will be able to hire one more person to the team, and create an event space in the back gallery with custom reclaimed wood benches, projector screen, and speakers.

I am always trying to be creative with how to use the gallery in new ways. The sky is the limit for what will happen in the next year. Most important is that I am able to hold onto this beautiful space. It is an epic journey every month to pay every bill. When you buy a painting, onesie, card, or gift certificate it means so much more. When you shop local, your money stays local. We are in this together.

You rock!
XO Eden

PHOTO: Courtesy of Secession Art & Design