By Laurie Maemura

When Evan Sirchuk looked at a photo he had taken of a screen-printed poster on Clement Street, he was stumped by the unrecognizable letterings.

The El Cerrito native said he was “starting from zero” after relocating to San Francisco two years earlier.

“I had to Google it and try and figure out based on the blurred letters what it was,” Sirchuk said. “I knew it said, ‘All Star.’”

The mystery led him to the All Star Art Club hosted by Friends & Neighbors, a gathering space and studio tucked in Richmond Plaza on Clement Street near Sixth Avenue. There, he met Valerie Luu and Eric Lam, residents of the Inner Richmond and co-founders of Friends & Neighbors.

Lam and Luu created the “community-based art practice” in their spare time through Intersection for the Arts, a local nonprofit.

“We started the mission with holding events for people so they can talk to each other, create art together and celebrate San Francisco culture together,” Lam said.

“We use that framework to get to know each other and talk,” Luu said.

The center’s popular events are movie nights, summer reading clubs and risograph photocopy printing workshops.

One of their most consistent events has been their walking club, which meets in front of All Star Donuts every Wednesday at 8 a.m. The idea came from a community member named Diyi in early 2023.

“We were really interested and excited about it,” Lam said. “Walking can be done by the majority of people. It’s about movement.”

Luu added that the club “exemplifies developing a regular cadence” before neighbors go off to do their own thing. “Community building and relationship building are easy low-barrier ways to be together,” Luu said.

Each walk begins with group introductions, cross streets and an icebreaker question. One prompt is, “If you could rename any street, what would it be?”

Sirchuk, who has been helping lead walks, believes the format lowers the stranger-to-stranger barrier.

“You start increasing the frequency of seeing people that you like and people you have some sort of thread with,” Sirchuk said.

The walks all have a no-phone policy, an idea which came from Lam and Luu. Lam emphasized the importance of a distraction-free space.

“That’s our deal. We live in a pretty technology saturated environment. It has effects on the way we interact,” Lam said. “We both feel like it has a negative impact on social interactions as a participant and for people who might be only interacting on social media.”

“We deserve privacy in being documented and being in a space without being catalogued,” Luu said.

The club has attracted a rotating cast of regulars and newcomers. When they stroll, they pause to observe a house with a story or a blue-billed duck at the pond.

Kat Stefanski discovered the walking club during her maternity leave, after an ankle injury kept her from participating in her usual run-club. She and her husband Johnny take turns attending now that they are new parents. Stefanski said the club helped her neighborhood feel like a community.

Elizabeth Ü, a caregiver to her father, joined at the end of 2023 after also noticing the studio’s unique posters on Clement Street.

“It is highly unlikely that I would get out in the world this early if it weren’t for the walk club,” Ü said. “It is definitely a little bit past my comfort zone.”

Ü has noticed newcomers are either invited by a friend or have discovered the risograph flyers. The “drop-in community” has led to friendships that stretch beyond Wednesday mornings.

“It’s a doorway to other things,” Ü said. “To me, it’s the place where you encounter people that you wouldn’t have encountered in any other context.”

Derek Dsouza, an engineer who joined earlier this year, said he was not initially looking for a community.

“I resisted for the longest time, also because I am not a morning person,” Dsouza said.

After attending many walks, Dsouza found himself looking forward to the following week.

“I like having this consistent container that’s just one hour long, not a big commitment, but it generates so much more outside of that,” Dsouza said.

“My favorite walks have to do with chance and serendipity,” Luu said. “Things beget other things. Relationships and friendships connect that change.”

Each walk ends with a moment of reflection inside the Friends & Neighbors studio as participants gather to reflect on the prompt, “Today, I commit myself to ….”

“The reason I keep going back is to deepen community with people that I already know,” Ü said. “But there are often new people. It’s great to expand the community, it’s usually friends of friends, and I come back.”

Sirchuk said, “You see people around and that’s where the richness is. That’s how you build a scene. You get to know people and their little niche things they care about.”

In a city often associated with technology, the walking club offers many a quieter form of belonging. It is based on repetition, presence and movement. Lam and Luu hope the events they continue to create are purposeful.

“If you want to experience (walking club,) do show up,” Lam said. “Be present even if it’s an hour. We always challenge ourselves to think about things that feel different than what you might find anywhere else.”

“Your presence is the present,” Luu added. “There’s nothing more generous than having someone’s full attention.”

“How do I make people feel more connected or belong? How do I make people feel proud of where they live?” Luu continued. “The walk is a way to address everyday experience.”

Learn more about Friends & Neighbors and its walking club at friendsandneighborssf.com.