- San Francisco City Guides Tour: Fisherman’s Wharf: A Hidden HistoryGhirardelli Square, San Francisco, CA
Let's explore San Francisco's Fisherman Wharf with SF City Guides Tours.
We will meet at 10:45am at the Mermaid Fountain, Ghirardelli Square Courtyard for the 11:00 am tour given by Rachel B.DESCRIPTION From the SF City Guides site:
It may not look like it now, but underneath the sleek, commercial facade of today’s redeveloped Fisherman’s Wharf, hundreds of Italian immigrants built an entire industry on the backs of Dungeness crab. Dive into the tremendous history of a world-famous shore front. Hear stories of the lateen-rigged feluccas sailed by the city’s fishermen. We’ll talk about the bay and the courageous souls who’ve gone for a swim in it and if we’re lucky we’ll spot a harbor seal or sea lion.
Not everything on this tour happens on the water. We’ll look at Ghirardelli Square, once the factory of San Francisco’s most beloved chocolatier, and later an early adaptive re-use project. As we pass the Hyde Street Cable Car Turnaround, we’ll spend some time discussing the distinguished history of San Francisco’s cable cars, the last manually operated cable car system in the world. For something truly unique we visit the Musée Mécanique, a completely analog arcade.
But San Francisco has always been a seaport and we’ll explain the stories of many of the historic ships anchored at the Hyde Street Pier, the largest in-water ship museum in the world.
Discover a new side of the Wharf, featuring stories of the Bay that locals themselves don’t know.
***Please bring cash for donation to our tour guide. The site suggests $20 per person.
Please only sign up if you truly intend to come. I have a reservation for 6 (these events do fill up). If you must cancel I request doing it no later than 48hrs so someone has a chance to fill the spot.
Optional lunch following walking tour.
- Let's Mahj & Mingle in Oakland!Dimond District, Oakland, CA 94602, Oakland, CA
Come join us to play this fun and exciting tile game.
MahJongg (or Maahj, as it is often called) is a fascinating, rummy-like game played with tiles rather than cards.
We will be playing the American MahJongg. The National MahJongg League publishes the American version of the rules. It also Supplies the Official Standard Hands and Rules Cards which change each year beginning in April. The rules of the game rarely change, and the way hands are described (i.e., colors, letters, numbers, format) stays the same. The changes are in the shapes and patterns of the hands. A very small amount of time and effort is required to become familiar with the elementary principles of the game.
Don't forget to bring your 2024 Official MahJongg Card. You can purchase the card at NMJLeague Website . (I have never ordered the card via Amazon but they also list them here Amazon - NMJLeague.)
***Please feel free to pack and bring your own lunch and drink of choice.
- Outdoor Art Walk in SF’s Glen Park AreaGlen Park BART Station, San Francisco, CA
Previously, I led these walks under my own group but Meetup has increased their fees. Fortunately, this welcoming group allows us to post events for free, so I hope you will join me in this group.
We will explore the Glen Park residential area including Noe Valley and Sunnyside and discussing about a half dozen of their outdoor sculpture and other art locations, returning to the starting point. About 6 miles with an altitude gain of 1000 ft. including half a dozen disconnected blocks of steep climbs, steps (up 83, down 91), lanes, parks and pedestrian walkways. If it is too much for you to keep up with the group (up to 3 miles/hour) it is fine to drop out but please sign out for liability reasons. Restroom stop when we near the Glen Park Rec Center the second time. Points of interest include: the park outside Sunnyside Conservatory, Miguel Street Mural, Penny Lane. I plan to leave at 11:10 AM after attendees have signed my printed copy of the release of liability. (The Glen Park library with a restroom is a block away.) I will be wearing a giant, black hat and am not an art expert. If you want to contact me, please do so before I leave home, usually an hour and a half before the walk. Check back here after 9 AM the day of the event for updates. (Air quality worse than 100, will cancel.)
Dogs: Dogs allowed on leash (no more than 8 feet) and under control.
Food: Bring food if you want to eat on the walk. Optional refreshment probably at Bello Coffee & Tea after the walk.
- Coffee & Conversation - OaklandMe and Jungle Cafe, Oakland, CA
Please note that this event has been changed to Saturday, October 5th as I'm currently under the weather. Sorry for any inconvenience!
Let's meet at this colorful cafe on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. We'll do our best to find some seats on the outside patio, so please dress accordingly. Me & Jungle Cafe offers espresso drinks, tea, and healthy food including savory breakfast entrees, salads, wraps and bowls. Street parking or there's a large lot at 41st between Piedmont and Howe. Please note the cafe opens at 9:30 am, so we will meet then. Hope you can join us!
- Mary Cassatt at Work at Legion of Honor, SFLegion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
# Mary Cassatt at Work
Too often dismissed as a sentimental painter of mothers and children, Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) was in fact a modernist pioneer. Her paintings, pastels, and prints are characterized by restless experimentation and change. Cassatt was the only American to join the French Impressionists, first exhibiting with the group at Degas’s invitation in 1879, and quickly emerged as a key member of the movement. Alongside scenes of women at the opera, visiting friends, and taking tea, Cassatt produced many images of “women’s work” — knitting and needlepoint, bathing children, and nursing infants. These images suggest parallels between the work of art making and the work of caregiving. The exhibition calls attention to the artist’s own processes of making — how she used her brush, etching needle, pastel stick, and even fingertips to create radical art under the cover of “feminine” subject matter.
Articles for Additional Reading:
- "Offering fresh insight into Cassatt’s world and working methods."
-Hettie Judah, The Art Newspaper - "It’s Cassatt’s artmaking as a source of independence and vital means of self-definition that comes into view."
-Chadd Scott, Forbes - "The first large exhibition of the artist in the United States in over 25 years."
-Karen Chernick, Artnet
Tickets can be purchased at FAMSF. We may have free tickets depending on how many members sign up. If you are a member please obtain two tickets and let me know.
Let's meet and greet at the Cafe where we can enjoy a cup of coffee, tea or drink of your choice before the scheduled Docent Tour at 11:30.
Carpooling: If you want to carpool, include a comment that you can drive or want to be a passenger and your approximate location. Further arrangements can be made via Direct Message.
- "Offering fresh insight into Cassatt’s world and working methods."
- FYI Only: The Mountain Winery (Saratoga) Concert Tickets on Sale Now!Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA
This posting is for information only. Please feel free to use the comment section to discuss concerts you would like to see.
The Summer Concert Series start May 5th and ends October 25th.
If you've never experienced a concert at **The Mountain Winery **then maybe this is the year you should. The line-up has something for everyone. The amphitheater has a Spanish portal which provides a dramatic backdrop to the stage. A 12th Century portal, reputed to be medieval and imported from Spain. It is said that it was acquired by Paul Masson from the rubble of the old St. Patrick's Cathedral in San Jose.
Please feel free to contact me for further information with regards to pre-concert dining, picnic tables at site, parking etc.
Not open - Tamara de Lempicka at De Young, San FranciscoDe Young Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco, CA
# Tamara de Lempicka
With works that exuded cool elegance and transgressive sensuality, Tamara de Lempicka (1894–1980) helped define Art Deco. Her paintings captured the glamour and vitality of postwar Paris and the cosmopolitan sheen of Hollywood celebrity. This exhibition — the first major museum retrospective of Lempicka in the United States — explores the artist’s distinctive style and unconventional life through four major chapters. The more than 100 artworks on display range from her post-Cubist work in 1920s Paris to her most famous nudes and portraits to the melancholic still lifes and interiors of her final days in the United States and Mexico. Including an in-depth look at the artist’s drawings and studies, this exhibition reveals the creative process behind her iconic paintings.
Additional Reading:
**With over 120 works on display, Tamara de Lempicka will present a new perspective on the artist, her life, her work. -Exhibition Press Release
#### **"I live life in the margins of society, and the rules of normal society don‘t apply to those who live on the fringe.“-TAMARA DE LEMPICKA -Tamara's Life
Tickets can be purchased at FAMSF. We may have free tickets depending on how many members sign up. If you are a member please obtain two tickets and let me know.
Carpooling: If you want to carpool, include a comment that you can drive or want to be a passenger and your approximate location. Further arrangements can be made via Direct Message.