“Public hot tub” NOT coming to Valencia Street For anyone who wet themselves over a sign outside of Valencia Street’s Betabrand store that reads, “COMING SOON, Betabrand PUBLIC HOT TUB” — sad news: the only thing being installed in front of the store is a sidewalk. The sign, said a Betabrand employee, is a prank — “just one of the...
As summer wanes, the San Francisco Symphony is being transformed into a celebratory space, showcasing elements of Mexican Día de los Muertos traditions. In past years, the production has included towering catrinas, colorful alebrijes and, of course, altars. Much of the cross-cultural festivities are orchestrated by musician and teacher Martha Rodríguez Salazar. Through her work at the Community Music Center, the Symphony, and beyond,...
MAPP! It’s MAPP weekend! The Mission Arts and Performance Project is putting on its bimonthly arts event, which will be featuring music, poetry readings and art shows at six locations around the Mission Saturday evening. In collaboration with MEXASB from UC Berkeley, MAPP will be hosting an art sale fundraiser for the victims of the earthquake in Mexico on Saturday...
Listen Local is Mission Local’s biweekly radio program. We broadcast live online at BFF.fm every other Thursday morning from 9:30 to 10:00. René Yañez, one of the artists crucial to bringing the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead to San Francisco, joins us to talk about the upcoming exhibition at SOMArts. This year’s exhibition, “Remembrance and Resistance,” opens Oct. 6...
Love dogs and country music? Swing by the SF Armory to see country-folk legends Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle (and others) sing their hearts out to save homeless and abandoned pooches. “Bummer’s Ball,” named after a member of a legendary stray-dog duo, is a fundraiser for Rocket Dog Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to saving dogs from being euthanized. Also in...
Musicians Joan Baez and Lila Downs took the stage at the Mission’s Brava Theater on Sunday and offered hundreds of people a roadmap for coping with uncertain times. In front of a packed house of about 360 people, Baez and Downs took questions from Chicana Latina Foundation Executive Director Olga Talamante as part of Voices of Resistance — a benefit...
Even if you don’t live in the Mission or consider yourself artistic, Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center has most likely touched your life. What started as a free mural-painting class has become the group of artists behind hundreds of iconic murals throughout the city and world, a steward for maintaining and educating the public about mural arts and a hub...
Disclosure: Mission Local rents its office space from MEDA. While affordable studio space has long been a concern in the local arts scene, the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Mission Economic Development Agency have now launched a program focusing on another factor in stabilizing the artistic community: Housing. The program, apparently the first of its kind in the city,...
Drivers coming into San Francisco where the 101 and 280 freeways merge have been greeted for the past few days by shimmering 12-foot-tall letters spelling out the word, “DREAM.” “You’re met with this word, and it’s almost like this welcome mat. It looks like reflections on water or the grass moving,” said Ana Teresa Fernández, the artist behind the piece....
The owner of a house on York and 25th streets where trees were removed in the days leading up to Sunday’s Fiesta De Las Américas block party will be fined nearly $6,000 for taking the trees down. Rachel Gordon, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Department of Public Works, confirmed that three trees — two in healthy condition and one...
Margaret Timbrell’s exhibitions “Auto-Corrected” and “RedWork” open this Saturday at the Pacific Felt Factory. In traditional “redwork” embroidery, she captures and interprets moments when autocorrect betrays the user with something inaccurate or embarrassing. We checked in with her to explore the effect. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. A reception is planned at the Pacific Felt Factory...
This Saturday, Sept. 9, creative learning center Ruth’s Table, along with its sister organization Bethany Center Senior Housing, is unveiling a new mural at its location at 3171 21st Street between Mission and Capp streets. The mural, which has been painted on a temporary wall erected for center’s remodeling, is a collaboration between local artists, Bethany Center residents, and folks...
A community hub that began as an empty furniture store will celebrate 40 years of supporting artists this Saturday as the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts throws its 40th Anniversary Gala. The focus and feel of the center has shifted dramatically through the decades, from its international political roots to its role as a community center for local artists...
In Ester Hernández’s print “La Ofrenda,” displayed in the Galería de la Raza on 24th Street, a woman holds out a rose to a the Virgin of Guadalupe, who’s tattooed onto the back of another woman. “This artist is offering a rose both to the Virgin of Guadalupe, but also to her lover,” exhibit co-curator Ed McCaughan said. “This was...
Disclosure: Mission Local produces a radio program every other week through BFF.fm, a community radio station located in the Secret Alley. The Secret Alley does a good job of living up to its name. From the street, you would never guess what goes on inside the second-floor creative workspace. But in a nutshell, here’s what happens behind the nondescript entryway:...
