No one was fighting for tattoo artists, so they started advocating for themselves

Jill Bonny has been tattooing in the Bay Area since 2000. Four years ago, she started her own shop in the Haight-Ashbury, Studio Kazoku, which specializes in Japanese-style tattooing.

But California’s shutdowns have made it extremely difficult for Bonny and other tattoo artists to keep their shops open. In 2020, tattoo and piercing shops had to close for seven consecutive months, and endured a few other closures besides. Bonny went through all of her savings to keep her shop afloat, and did some commissioned paintings on the side for extra money.

“It was very difficult,” Bonny said. “Nobody was able to prepare for it, there was no warning. So maybe people could hang on for a month or two, paying their rent and bills during the closures, but eight months, you know, you did start to see some businesses folding at that point.”

Paul King, owner of tattoo and piercing shop Cold Steel America, says his shop was only able to survive on funds he had been saving for five years to spend on a move to a new location. Doug Hardy, the son of influential tattoo artist Ed Hardy, who works at his father’s shop Tattoo City, said they’ve barely been able to stay afloat throughout the pandemic, and he took a second job to prepare in case of another shutdown.

In response to the pandemic, Bonny has become an advocate for tattoo and piercing shops across The City. After reaching out to other tattoo artists and parlors, she eventually established a coalition called The Unified Tattoo and Body Art Shops of San Francisco.

Read the full story here.