Napafs riverfront will be hosting the second annual Chalk Festival on Sunday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Watch professional and amateur artists put chalk to concrete and create amazing works of art throughout the day.
Published: April, 2014
Chalk One Up for Napa
Napa’s riverfront will be hosting the second annual Chalk Festival on Sunday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Watch professional and amateur artists put chalk to concrete and create amazing works of art throughout the day. Bring the kids to downtown Napa’s riverfront to join the fun in their own children’s "chalk walk" sponsored by Nimbus Arts. This event is free and fun for all ages. For more information, call (916) 774-9600 or email jaills@augustineideas.com.
Human Rights Film Festival
From April 3 to 5, the University of San Francisco (USF) is proud to host its 12th annual Human Rights Film Festival. This year, the USF Human Rights Film Festival will showcase works addressing issues of environmental destruction, rights and equality, media censorship, political repression, HIV, poverty, effects of war on children and the failures of humanitarian aid. The festival seeks to promote awareness and discussion of global human rights abuses and to encourage action in order to prevent such injustices. The three-day festival is free and open to the public, and will include the screening of four to six films each day in USF’s Presentation Theater at 2350 Turk Boulevard. For more information, visit www.usfca.edu.
Conjure Me This
Direct from New York City, Magician Dennis Kyriakos presents an evening of amazing close-up magic in Conjuring Wonder at the Prescott Hotel in San Francisco. Performed entirely at close quarters, the show is a unique experience for the Bay Area. Forgoing the trappings of a large theater and elaborate lighting and music, Conjuring Wonder is presented with performer and audience gathered intimately around a table. Taking no prisoners, the performance begins with a rarely-seen classic of sleight-of-hand. Two minutes in, and with his credentials clearly established as a bona fide worker of wonders, you involuntarily and giddily give up control, safe in the capable hands of a seasoned performer. Conjuring Wonder is next presented Thursday, April 3 and on the first Thursday of every month in "the salon" of the Prescott Hotel, located at 545 Post Street in San Francisco. Performances begin at 7 p.m. and last approximately one hour. Tickets are $35 and available at miraclemagic.com/conjuring. Due to the nature of the performance, seating is limited to 15 guests and advance purchase is recommended. Ages 18 and over please.
History of Bay Area Art
On Friday, April 9, early California art expert Deric Torres will speak at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts in Alameda. Torres is the director of furniture and decorative art and early California fine arts at the Clars Auction Gallery in Oakland, where he also serves as an appraiser and auctioneer. He will discuss Bay Area painting from 1872 to 1920. He will also bring a small gallery of art from the period. This presentation is part of Art Talks, Bette’s new series of art history presentations for art lovers and collectors. All Art Talks programs are held at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts, 1601 Paru in Alameda, on the second Wednesday of each month from now until June 11. The talks start at 7 p.m., and the gallery is open at 6 p.m. for those who wish to view the current exhibits. Previous Art Talks presentations at the Bette Center have attracted capacity crowds, so reservations are recommended. Admission is $10 for guests, $5 for Bette Art Center members. For more information, visit www.frankbettecenter.org or call (510) 523-6957.
Easter Egg & Dog Bone Hunt
Bring the whole family including your pooch and hunt for eggs and bones on Sunday, April 6 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Rodgers Smith Park, 750 Grayson Rd in Pleasant Hill. Create arts and crafts, have an Easter picture taken, win a raffle prize, visit the booths, fill up your basket by purchasing bake sale goodies or buy clothes for your small dog and then redeem your eggs for cute prizes. $5 per participant (dog or child), $8 for two (any combination). Registration starts at 2 p.m. on site, the hunt at 2:35 p.m. Bring your own baskets and have a blast. For more information, visit www.cchumane.org or call (925) 279-2247. Proceeds benefit Contra Costa Humane Society.
Taikoza Returns
Taikoza, the masterful Japanese Taiko drummers, are back in San Francisco after last year’s sold out concert. Taikoza uses the powerful rhythms of the Taiko drums to create an electrifying energy that carries audiences into a new dimension of excitement. Drawing from Japan’s rich tradition of music and performance, Taikoza has created a new sound using a variety of traditional instruments, hitting the stage with a high-energy performance of traditional and original Japanese tunes featuring the soulful bamboo flutes and an amazing array of ancestral Taiko drums. The show will also feature some sensual and colorful traditional dances that you will not want to miss. The performance takes place on Monday, April 21at 7:30 p.m. at the Creativity Theater in the Children’s Creativity Museum, 221 Fourth Street in San Francisco (on the corner of Fourth and Howard street). Tickets are $30 in advance (children/senior/student $22) and $35 the day of the show (children/senior/student $25). Visit taikoza.bpt.me for tickets, or call (800) 838-3006 for more information.
Weird Art Show
San Rafael’s Art Works Downtown presents Mike Shine’s The Hell Brewers: A Peek into the Weird World of Dr. Flotsam and His Carny Clan. The show runs through Friday, April 18 throughout the Art Works Downtown center at 1337 Fourth Street in San Rafael. With no formal art school training, Shine’s background instead includes fine woodworking, furniture and cabinet making—skills that often appear in his artwork. He typically creates using driftwood and found objects, and many of his works invite (and even require) the observer to handle and operate them, something he considers contrary to the sterile "please don’t touch" world of museums and galleries. Shine has been featured in the Museum of Craft and Folk Art’s Indoor/Outdoor exhibit and a temporary outdoor installation at SFMOMA. Art Works Downtown is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit artworksdowntown.org or call (415) 451- 8119.
5th Annual Altered Book Show
The Fifth Annual Altered Book Show returns to the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art in the historic Hamilton Field in Novato. This popular event showcases the work of 150 Bay Area artists who re-construct and re-work books to produce a highly entertaining and remarkably varied exhibition. The opening reception will be on Saturday, April 19 from 5 to 7 p.m. Donna Seager, owner of Seager Gray Gallery in Mill Valley, will talk at 4 pm; she will be sharing her love of book collecting as well as a brief overview of the history of Book Arts in the Bay Area. All 150 artworks are offered in a silent auction running from April 19 through May 24 at MarinMOCA. On May 24, they will be auctioned off to the highest bidder in a Live Auction Closing Party from 5 to 7:30 p.m. A concurrent exhibition in the Ron Collins Gallery will feature selected works from the San Francisco Center for the Book (SFCB), a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering the joy of books and bookmaking as well as the artistry, history, and continuing presence of books in our culture as an important medium of self-expression. SFCB offers workshops, public programs, exhibitions and an artist in residency. More information about SFCB can be found at their website, sfcb.org. MarinMOCA is at 500 Palm Drive in Novato.
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