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Beast Mode [Unlocked]
SF Has [No] Culture's first panel, a dance class with margaritas, and a children's book by a childhood friend
My previous(-ish) fear of public speaking traces back to the most common of origin stories: middle school embarrassment. Our 6th grade music teacher, Mrs. Boyd, assigned each of us to stand in front of the classroom and speak on a topic for one minute. But the seemingly simple task had a catch: she’d record it so the classroom could rewatch at 2x speed and see how our body language landed. Cue total 12-year-old mortification when my rewatch revealed me swaying through the entire speech like a Pip without Gladys. The classroom laughter resulted in a public speaking lesson: always be seated.
So while my heart still knocks at my eardrum before I take the mic, I hope you’ll join me as I co-host our first San Francisco Has [No] Culture panel event, support a childhood friend on her book tour, and attempt a bake of less than 2 dozen cookies.
Art Unlocked: Black Art Week & the SF Art World
Category: Art
Date: Tuesday, October 1st @ 6pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Shack15 (SF)
Price Range: $10 (Free for paid subscribers; promo code in paid section)
Why I Care: We out here, team! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be co-hosting a panel with gallerist Theresa Brockett as part of San Francisco’s first Black Art Week. My mission with this newsletter has been to make Bay Area arts more accessible, and our discussion will be focusing on just that. The panel will include artist Corinne Smith (aka Critty Smitty), who was named one of MoAD’s 2024-2025 Emerging Artists and tech-founder-turned-collector Storm Anthony Griffith. Fun fact: Corinne also happens to be the artist behind the Shack15 mural, making the event a homecoming of sorts.
Doors open at 5:30pm for the 6pm panel discussion. Hope to see you there and at the various Black Art Week events!
Book Launch: What Jewish Looks Like
Category: Literary & Family Friendly
Date: Saturday, September 28th @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Contemporary Jewish Museum (SF)
Price Range: $16 (for museum admission; free talk)
Why I Care: Author Caroline Kusin Pritchard is a total firecracker; and I would know since we played middle school basketball together. Caroline’s indefatigable spirit lives on in her most recent publication, What Jewish Looks Like, which highlights the multitude of bodies, faces, hair, and skin tones that represent Judaism. Meta removed her original book tour post because it celebrated “symbols, praise or support of people and organizations we define as dangerous.”
And in true Caroline spirit, her response is this: “To be clear: I DO think the Jews we celebrate in our book are dangerous…These people are dangerous to the oppressive systems and people in power during their time. And it’s why I’m more motivated than ever to share their stories with kids today.” So join Caroline in proselytizing good trouble.
Mill Valley Film Festival: Mind the Gap Day
Category: Film
Date: Saturday, October 5th @ 9am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: The Outdoor Art Club + local theaters (North Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Only 3 women have won Best Director throughout the Academy Awards’ 96-year history. The Mill Valley Film Festival is chipping away at that discrepancy through a day of screenings, discussions, and workshops dedicated to female and nonbinary filmmakers. Various theaters will be participating, with The Outdoor Art Club acting as a community hub for creators and supporters to break glass ceilings and fourth walls alike.
Ruth Correa Ballet Folklórico Class
Category: Dance
Date: Saturday, October 5th @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: NIDO’s Backyard (East Bay)
Price Range: $18
Why I Care: NIDO's is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with everything from linocut classes to a Latina entrepreneur meetup to this ballet folkórico class. The event will make traditional Mexican dance accessible to all levels of bodily intuition, even those born with two left feet. Plus you can even treat yourself with a little arroz con leche after a hard earned hour of choreo. Ok and maybe a spicy margarita.
SF Camerawork's 50th Anniversary Kickoff
Category: Art
Date: Saturday, September 28th @ 6pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: SF Camerawork (SF)
Price Range: $50
Why I Care: Community built SF Camerawork. A conversation amongst local photographers matured into exhibitions, which in turn became the nonprofit, whose mission is to nurture the next generation of Bay Area artists. The community celebration will include drinks, music, and snackity goods from locally-owned brands like Bi-Rite and Zaddy’s. For those with motivations beyond the culinary, proceeds from the silent auction will benefit the organization, with bids starting as low as $125, so like 12.5 Lucille Bluth bananas.
Exhibition Tour: To Exalt The Ephemeral
Category: Art
Date: Thursday, October 3rd @ 1:15pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) (East Bay)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: Only 3% of the average museum’s permanent collection is on display. So when an institution contemplates how their tenured objects can tell a new story, both the museum and community are in for a treat. BAMPFA turns the permanent collection on its head through an exploration of impermanence by exploring fragility, time, and of course, the ephemeral. The show pulls works from the 19th century. to the contemporary to reflect on art as a living and thus decaying incarnation of how artists represent the world around us.
Museum lunch break not in the cards? Head to BAMPFA at any time before 7pm for their free first Thursday.
Book Talk: Small Batch Cookies
Category: Culinary & Literary
Date: Thursday, October 3rd @ 6:30pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Omnivore Books on Food (SF)
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: God I love a cookie. I have taken buses, sat in line with a beach chair, and arrived embarrassingly early for bakery openings to capture the thrill of that crunch-doughy-crunch bite. Honestly, you could probably bribe a paid subscription out of me with the right salted chocolate chip cookie (pack). So when another Great British Bake Off star comes to talk about baked goods, a gallery opening or two may have to get bumped from the event list.
Come hear GBBO’s first ever winner
speak about the joys of baking cookies in small batches, a feat I’ve personally struggled to accomplish.
Next Drop: Monday, October 7th
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