![San Francisco Has [No] Culture](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_36,h_36,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F134d0298-cfa2-4012-b9cf-70fa3e39d4bb_590x590.png)
[Cake] By The Ocean
Let us eat cake, enjoy art, and get nostalgic
I have in fact cried over spilt batter. Our household was hosting a birthday dinner, but I also had a few concerts and cultural hangs to squeeze in that weekend. That’s when I had the brilliant idea of an 11pm bake session. Flash forward to 1am me in a puddle of tears and cake when the pan not only slips but flips and flies, splattering the kitchen in lemon rosemary goo. I still find flecks of dried batter in places both high and low. Truly, crime scene level damage.
Enjoy drama-free bakes, an art fair, and Mavis Beacon (yes, you read correctly) this coming week.
Cake Picnic
Category: Party (Culinary)
Date: Saturday, April 27th @ 2pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Portreo Del Sol (note updated location from GGP)
Price Range: 1 Cake/Attendee
Why I Care: Cake and community: a marriage made in sugar-high heaven. Organizer Elisa Sunga has made the Bay Area her home since moving from the Philippines over 20 year ago. A dreamer at heart,
balances UX program managing with her “pursuit of magic” and sun-kissed bakes. This inaugural picnic promises Alice-in-Wonderland vibes by requiring every attendee to bring a cake and filling the park with joy, color, and no small amount of butter.And if baking time is scant, trust me when I suggest just buying the damn thing.
Opening Reception: Fool’s Gold
Category: Art (Party)
Date: Saturday, April 27th @ 5pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: ICA SF
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: The title alone strikes a nerve in the wake of a tech valuation hangover. Fool’s Gold showcases work from California College of the Arts’ MFA students while simultaneously honoring late artist Peter Simensky. As chair of the CCA’s MFA program, Simensky gifted both heart and soul to his students and was known for incorporating pyrite (aka fool’s gold) into his work. The MFA program has produced artists such as Toyin Ojih Odutola and Bernice Bing, making a showcase of CCA’s current students all the more enticing.
SFFILM Festival: Seeking Mavis Beacon
Category: Film
Date: Friday, April 26th @ 7pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
Price Range: $20
Why I Care: If you don’t know Mavis Beacon, bless your gen z heart. A familiar name anchors this unconventional journey from educational software icon to glitch art, marginalization, and friendship. Attend as part of the wider SFFILM festival programming, filled with Bay Area filmmakers (both young and established), Luther Vandross, a timely Pakistani drama, and an otter love story.
Jerusalem Style Turkish Coffee Tasting
Category: Culinary
Date: Saturday, April 27th @ 11am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Senses
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: How else do we ensure you’ve got energy for all these events? This Sandouka Coffee pop-up will include a sand machine, live music, and “a performance of coffee”, which has certainly piqued curiosity. And if caffeinated choreography isn’t your jam, pop by Sunday for an afternoon of Tatreez as part of Senses’ larger Palestinian cultural weekend.
Book Talk: Tits Up
Category: Literary
Date: Wednesday, May 1st @ 6pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: The Commonwealth Club
Price Range: $25
Why I Care: The full book title kinda says it all: Tits Up: What Sex Workers, Milk Bankers, Plastics Surgeons, Bra Designers, and Witches Tell Us about Breasts. Author Sarah Thornton sealed her cultural status with Seven Days in the Art World, a personal favorite and sociological primer on the industry’s shenanigans. I happened to be wearing quite the relevant jacket when Thornton grabbed me at her partner’s gallery to chat. I certainly know what I’ll be wearing to the event.
SF Art Fair: San Francisco Arts Today Panel
Category: Art (Fair + Talk)
Date: Sunday, April 28th @ 1pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture
Price Range: $35 (includes day pass for the fair)
Why I Care: This one’s a stretch, team. Let’s see if I can wrangle some rationale on why misrepresentation of the vibrant Bay Area arts scene matters. Artists and curators will be addressing why the “doom loop” doesn’t apply to the city’s art scene as part of San Francisco Art Fair programming. Enjoy the lecture as part of the larger SF Art Fair, with galleries both local and international reaffirming why this city holds its cultural own.
Taking any and all advice on how to weasel my way onto next year’s panel.
Friends & Family Bar Anniversary Party
Category: Party (Culinary)
Date: Sunday, April 28th @ 2pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Friends & Family
Price Range: $20
Why I Care: Bingo?? Queer Speed Dating?? Flattering Bathroom Selfies?? What can’t this bar do? Named one of North America’s Top 50 Bars, Friends & Family delivers on cocktails, community, and vibes. Ticket includes snacks, a gift bag, and 1 welcome drink, but just assume you’ll order a 2nd (& 3rd?) round.
Next Drop: Thursday, May 2nd