A former manager of the iconic San Francisco Fillmore and Warfield concert venues is selling off his vast collection of rock poster art all for the love of dogs.
From Wednesday, May 17, to May 29, Richard Garwacki will sell dozens of concert posters from a gallery at 1400 Lincoln Avenue in Calistoga to raise money for his organization Bark 4 The Arts, which will in turn spread the money to other nonprofit dog organizations and individual pet owners in need.
During his time managing the two venues in the 80s and 90s, Richard Garwacki collected stacks of posters, which are traditionally handed out to concertgoers after shows — mementoes of their evening of music. Among the names artfully printed on his colorful collection: Primus to David Lindley to Bette Midler.
“So to recall some of these names and times, it’s been interesting," Garwacki said as he helped hang the posters on the gallery walls.
The posters feature art by some of the legends of poster artists like Stanley Mouse and Randy Tuten, the latter who spent more than five decades creating designs for the Fillmore. Garwacki said each image brought back a specific memory, whether it was David Byrne whom he cited as a favorite artist, Pearl Jam serving as an opening act, or a then up-and-coming band like the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“It’s all nostalgia,” said Garwacki. “Looking back and going, ‘David Byrne, what a good guy.’”
Garwacki began his managing career 42 years ago, running a music venue in Florida before taking a job managing Bill Graham’s San Francisco club Wolfgang’s on Columbus Avenue, which featured San Francisco stalwarts like Santana and the Grateful Dead. Working alongside Graham, he helped reopen the Fillmore, which suffered damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Garwacki held up a commemorative poster from the reopening concert, which showed the interior of the legendary concert hall filled with scaffolding.
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Garwacki said he loves the iconic posters and their images, but after years of them languishing in boxes, he hatched the idea of selling them to support his other love: dogs. The particular target of his devotion is his black lab, golden retriever mix named Addy.
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Several years back, Garwacki underwent surgery on his foot for a serious condition and was told he might not walk again. He credits his long walks with Addy for giving him the desire and exercise to rehabilitate. These days he’s able to walk using a cane.
“I credit Addy,” Garwacki said. “Absolutely.”
Garwacki’s sale will include about 178 posters as well as other donated rock memorabilia. For him, the trajectory of poster art to dogs wasn’t that big a stretch.
“I think there’s a simpatico too between music lovers and dog lovers," he said.
