Cool Art Exhibits, Parties, & Performances in SF
Sometimes there’s a dark, rainy period in life, (let’s call it January) when you’re pretty sure you’ve forgotten what the sun looks like, or that the sky was once blue, and not just different shades of damp grey. (I always use the preferred British spelling of ‘grey’ when talking about ‘shit weather’).
But have no fear my sad, soggy, San Franciscans…the future is bright! There are excellent collections of colors and creativity coalescing all over the kity! (I always replace a ‘soft c’ with a ‘hard k’ when alliteration is possible).
There are some lovely group exhibits opening this month, with cool collections of SF artists, an incredible photography exhibit based around a local legend, world-class acrobats are swinging into town, and of course, there will be music, dancing and dope little art parties.
Plenty of artful events to inject color and light into your dreary winter night…
‘Bonnie Ora Sherk: Life Frames Since 1970’
Bonnie Ora Sherk is a bit of an eco-art legend in the Bay Area. As in, they teach about her work in art schools to little rebel artists who would rather break the mold than cast an old, tired form. “Before urban farms reclaimed unused city parcels, before parklets popped up across urban streetscapes, before New York City’s High Line and the San Francisco Presidio’s Tunnel Tops repurposed stretches of railway and highway into green spaces – there was the groundbreaking work of Bonnie Ora Sherk (1945-2021).”
Decades ahead of her time, Sherk’s pioneering projects in 1970s San Francisco, including Portable Parks I-III and Crossroads Community (the farm), conceptualized new uses for overlooked urban landscapes, and laid the foundation for a global movement to reclaim urban spaces.
Gallery 308 at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture
Exhibit: January 13, 2024 – March 10, 2024
Friday Jan 19th: 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Guest curator Tanya Zimbardo appears in conversation with Director of Arts Programming Frank Smigiel. (This is happening During the Fort Mason Artwalk event).
Art Walk at Fort Mason
Join Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture (FMCAC), FOR-SITE, Haines Gallery, Gallery 308, Museo Italo Americano, SF Camerawork, and the San Francisco Children’s Art Center to celebrate the Winter art season with an evening Art Walk.
The Art Walk opens at 5:00 p.m. and features pop-up artist and curator talks across campus, an opening reception and an art workshop in Landmark Building C, a new public art commission at Landmark Building B, the Gateway Pavilion at Pier 2, and the Festival Pavilion at Pier 3. Check-in at the kiosk at Landmark Building C to obtain maps and drink tickets
Fort Mason Center For Arts & Culture Art Walk Winter 2024
1/19 | Fort Mason Center | 2 Marina Blvd, SF | 5 p.m. | Free
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FOG Design + Art 2024
In addition to the exhibitions on view, the FOG Fair once again presents FOG Talks, a programming series that explores ideas and issues relevant to the fields of art, design, technology, and the contemporary world, in the FOG Theater. The programs are included free with fair admission.
January 18-21, 2024 | Fort Mason Center | 2 Marina Blvd, SF | 7 p.m. | Starts at $30
GUILTY PLEASURES
This group exhibition brings together eight Bay Area female artists to explore the concept of ‘guilty pleasures’ from a feminine perspective. This exhibition will present artwork in a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, ceramic, glass, textile, and live performance.
Guilty Pleasures Features:
Emily Fromm – @emilylfromm
Amanda Lynn – @alynnpaint
Sabrine Haroun – @sabrinebrinee
Nicole Hayden – @nicolehaydenart
Sadie Greyduck – @sadiegreyduck
Mollie Johnson – @yourfacecreations
Messy Beck – @messybeck
Michelle Nguyen – @allthingsmeng
1/19 | 111 Minna Gallery | 111 Minna St, SF | 5 p.m. | Free, 21+
GUILTY PLEASURES – Curated by Emily Fromm and Amanda Lynn
Open By Appointment Saturday 1/20/24 – 04/01/24 – contact: dyoungv@111minnagallery.com
Drag Me to the Cinema
GALA INFO: “Drag Me to the Cinema” is an annual GALA to celebrate BOTH our Queer Performing Artist and Queer Cinema communities. Co-hosted by two non-profit organizations, Fishnets & Film, Inc. and the Oakland LGBTQ+ Community Center. Our program includes joyful & engaging Performances AND Screenings of current LGBTQ+ short films and videos. Our program is inclusive and FAMILY-FRIENDLY. Hosted by award-winning Bay Area filmmaker Robby Kendall. With special guests. Sponsored, in part, by HOT COOKIE SF, Crema, Del Cielo Brewing Company, and Frameline.
MORE INFO: We will also be having a Silent Auction in the lobby before, during, and after our program. Our Auction will display items and activities, donated from Bay Area sponsors, for you to “outbid” others and take home.
**** SUNDAY January 21, 2024 ***** Show starts 12:30pm / Red Carpet Entry & Silent Auction start 11am)
The New Parkway, Oakland
Casa gala
Children’s After School Arts, better known as CASA (but not to be confused with San Francisco CASA), will take over warehouse gallery space SOMArts on January 19 for a party that is definitely not for the youth it serves. The silver-riddled festivity is for those 21 and older with drinks and dancing thanks to numerous art performances from the multi-hyphenate staff including drag phenom Per Sia and DJ Nico. The organization is well-loved not only for its weekly after-school support at Rooftop Alternative School in Twin Peaks but also for its unifying power for LGBTQIA+ artists in the city.
Friday, January 19
CASA’s Silver Anniversary Gala
SoMaArts
Tickets
“Nourish Your Roots” Reception at the JCCSF, Co-curated by ArtSpan
14 San Francisco Bay Area artists who explore the profound connections between humankind and the natural world. Exhibition features over 50 works, including ceramics, collage, photography, oil painting, print, collage and sculpture. All artwork is by local artists and available for purchase easily through ArtSpan’s online gallery.
Exhibiting Artists: Laura Abrams Salma Arastu Liz Bloomfield Dale Eastman Ray Gonzalez Saira Grube Liz Lauter Suki Liebow Larraine Seiden Christine So Mimi Sweeney Sydney van Delft Melissa Willett Lorraine Woodruff-Long.
Thursday, January 25 · 6 – 8pm
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
FREE – Info
Envelop SF
Envelop SF is a pioneering immersive listening space that allows you to experience sound like never before.
John Tejada shares his new album, Resound, in Envelop SF with an incredible spatial audio mix and in-person Q&A! Listen to the new immersive mix with John, and let the music take you on an inspiring sonic journey.
Envelop SF is a pioneering immersive listening space that allows you to experience sound like never before.
1ST SESSION
7:00 pm Doors | 7:30 pm Start | 18+
2ND SESSION
9:00 pm Doors | 9:30 pm Start | 18+
SF Midway, Jan 21st
Tickets
Manifest Differently
Clarion Alley Mural Project announced the largest exhibition organized in its 32-year history, Manifest Differently, on view at Minnesota Street Project from February 1 to March 16, 2024. There’s no link to the exhibit yet, but this will be fucking cool.
Opening Reception
Saturday, February 3, 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Minnesota Street Project, 1275 Minnesota Street, San Francisco
https://minnesotastreetproject.com/exhibitions
Drawing Room ‘Annex’!
The Drawing Room found a new spot on Valencia, and they opened last week! Now they’re hosting artist talks and stuff!
The Drawing Room ANNEX introduces you to a new exhibition, HOME, to take place at 599 Valencia Street. This exhibition invited artists from the SF Bay Area to submit a piece of work related to the theme of HOME, designed to invite works from local artists that address a multitude of issues including the social and physical constructs of housing, immigration, identity and the histories of urban and land development. The theme is also intended to explore what the concept of “HOME” and what it provokes and inspires in each of us; be it emotional, sensory or physical.
599 VALENCIA ST. SF
JANUARY 13TH – FEBRUARY 11TH, 2024
OPEN THURS-SUN 11-7
ARTIST TALK SERIES: JAN 18TH, JAN 25TH, FEB 1ST 5-7PM
FRESH FESTIVAL 2024
A FESTIVAL OF EXPERIMENTAL DANCE, MUSIC, DISCUSSION, PRACTICE PERFORMANCE, PARTY
** Featuring 1 week + 2 weekends of practices by artist: gizeh muñiz vengel + Albert Mathias, enNingúnlugar, mayfield brooks, Amber Julian, Rama Hall, Sonja Pregrad
** PLUS 2 weekends of Main Stage Performances by: Clarissa Rivera Dyas + ainsley elizabeth tharp, enNingúnlugar, Sara Shelton Mann, Jesse Zaritt, Niall Jones, mayfield brooks, Sonja Pregrad
KHFRESH Festival is 9 days of performances, immersive training in dance and related forms, and inclusive, interactive community events featuring an abundance of live, cutting-edge, risk-taking embodied art in different historic locations around San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO’S 15TH ANNUAL FRESH FESTIVAL 2024
Feb 9 – 17 2024
A FESTIVAL OF EXPERIMENTAL DANCE, MUSIC, WORKSHOPS, PERFORMANCE, PARTIES
TICKETS INFO
Photos: Matt Beard & Bernard Letendre Costumes: Marie Chantale Vaillancourt Cirque du Soleil 2022
Cirque is back in SF
Bring in the clowns!!! And the high-flying acrobatics, whimsical characters, lavish costuming, colorful sets, hilarious clowning, and a powerful live score.
The Cirque du Soleil Big Top has returned to San Francisco for the first time since 2019. Close to 80 crew members and 70 local stagehands came together to push more than 100 poles to raise the Big Top marking its official return to the Bay Area to welcome the razzle-dazzle spectacular, KOOZA.
January 17 through March 10,
cirquedusoleil.com/kooza
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