What is BAAU?
Bay Area Artists Unite (BAAU) is an organization dedicated to building a network for current, former, and potential SF Bay Area Artists who are interested in meeting, collaborating, and hanging out with other creative and like-minded people. We’ve been around for over ten years now welcoming artists from all creative disciplines and all walks of life! Our ultimate mission is to stimulate and enrich the Bay Area Artist community by helping artists expand on their talents by bringing their creative visions to life. Within a casual and friendly atmosphere, member artists are encouraged to join forces and collaborate on fun and ambitious projects like art jams, gallery showings, zines, comics, games, videos, workshops, classes, and other productive activities.

What is BAAU Down?
BAAU Down is an annually published anthology of short comics, illustrations, photography, literature, and other artworks from BAAU members. Each year these books are showcased and sold at conventions and expos such as FanimeCon, AOD, Zinefest, SacAnime, and HyperCon, to name a few. The proceeds from the sales go on to fund the production costs for the following year’s anthology. BAAU Down has been going strong since 2001. We’ve published 9 anthologies since then, and it remains as our biggest and most renowned project.

How do I join BAAU?
Joining BAAU is easy!. Just sign up on our forum and you’re already on your way to becoming a fully fledged BAAU member! The next step would be to come join us at a BAAU Meet near you! Meet-ups are a very important part of BAAU’s activities, and are held almost every week throughout the SF Bay area.

How do I find BAAU Meets?
You can find information on our upcoming meets in the Meet Organization section of our Forum. Joining The BAAU Facebook Group is another convinient way to keep track of many BAAU activities and events.

BAAU meets are usually held at well known, public locations to accomodate large gatherings and establish a casual atmosphere for newcomers. Some popular meetup locations include the Milpitas Great Mall Food Court, as well as the bench area in front of the Kinokuniya Bookstore at Japan Town, San Francisco. While we do have signs indicating who we are at such meets, the easiest way to find us would be to look for a massive group of people chatting and drawing with their sketchbooks out. We're hard to miss!

At anytime BAAU members are welcome to propse new meets at any convinient locations around the SF Bay.

So what do you guys do at BAAU Meets?
Activities vary depending on the nature of our meets. Most BAAU meets are very laid back and are not driven by any agendas other than to draw, write, play, eat, or chat with fellow artists. Such gatherings provide a good oportunity for artists to socialize and expand their network as they swap sketchbooks and discuss interests. These settings often inspire new meets with more focused activities, collaborations, projects between artists. Some examples include taking classes together, doing comic jams/marathons, creative workshops, group art projects, and checking out museums, galleries, theaters, and exhibits, etc..

What about online BAAU activities?
The BAAU forum is at the center of many BAAU endeavers. Our Deviant Art Chatroom is also quite active on a daily basis - usually more so in the late evenings.