In a market where e-commerce has usurped traditional retail and research suggests consumers go out for experiences rather than to shop, some Mission businesses are finding success in offering what can’t be ordered at the click of a button. Steve Fox opened his San-Francisco-themed indoor mini-golf course Urban Putt in 2014, with exactly that in mind. His plan had never been...
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. Now in its new home at the Placita, the Mission Community Market has been around for seven years as the neighborhood’s farmers market. But it is more than just another place to buy produce. We talk with Jeremy...
“Spirit of the Arts,” an iconic mural on the face of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts on Mission Street near 25th Street has been restored and will be rededicated with a celebration tonight. From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., dancers and speakers including the Mixcoatl Aztec Dancers, District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen and MCCLA Director Jennie Rodriguez will...
A rare, stinky and somewhat sexual spectacle about to unfold at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers has its roots in a Mission District bathroom. Terra the Titan, a titan arum plant also known as the corpse flower (or by its scientific name, amorphophallus titanum) is about to bloom. That is a momentous occasion, as the plant only manages to...
Precita Eyes Mural Arts Center, a 40-year-old arts organization based in the Mission District, is celebrating its history and the culture of street art with a film festival exploring the mural art from. From sociopolitical commentary to biographical fiction, the five films in the program explore the stories and motivations behind murals. The festival will be held at the Grand Theater,...
It’s time for MAPP, the Mission Arts Performance Project, when spaces around the neighborhood are opened up to the public and come alive with performances. This month, the organizers want to demonstrate their solidarity and the city’s role as a sanctuary, declaring that “The Mission will melt I.C.E. through our sanctuary & solidarity.” Venues around the neighborhood including bookstores, art galleries,...
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. Some call him the “Mayor of the Mission” and you’ve seen him active on countless issues, but today’s guest Roberto Y. Hernández has also long been the artistic director of, and one of the driving forces behind, Carnaval in...
A nonprofit serving San Francisco’s Chicano, Latino and Indígena communities on Mission Street near 25th Street is celebrating the completion of a new mural on its rear facade facing Lilac Street. The alley is known for its colorful and culturally relevant murals. Instituto Familiar de la Raza’s new mural, titled “The Cycle of Re-Generation,” is the work of Darren Villegas. It depicts tree...
Witness an urban version of California’s famous superbloom at the Garden for the Environment’s fundraiser and spring garden party next Saturday. The garden, devoted to teaching sustainable gardening practices like composting, growing food, and reducing water use, relies on donations to function. The party, featuring pizzas with ingredients from the garden, beer, wine, honey, music, a raffle, and tours, will serve...
A group of artists, musicians and activists will mark May 5 by exploring the history of the battle that made the day famous, in which a Mexican militia defeated the French army in Puebla, Mexico. The San Francisco Living Wage Coalition will host an art and literature gala with work exploring the meaning of the holiday, and its modern significance, on May...
To mark President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, an artist coalition called 100 Days Action will host a dance party featuring music and DJs from the seven countries affected by Trump’s travel ban. The event takes place Saturday, April 29 at the Gray Area on Mission Street. “We believe it is important to insist on joy when things are bleak,...
Stroll down Valencia Street on a warm spring evening and you’re likely to find, within barely two blocks of one another, two variations on a theme: Mobile theater. One is Mr. Brandy in his van – the ex-Texan pianist lives and works out of a van draped in sparkly fabrics and oddball decorations, crammed in next to the piano he...
What would San Francisco sound like expressed in south Indian percussion? In a new work called “7 x 7” premiering at the Community Music Center on April 29, composer, percussionist and educator Rohan Krishnamurthy has given that concept a go. Krishnamurthy took field recordings from around San Francisco’s nature and neighborhoods, as well as conversations with San Francisco artists, and reinterpreted them in solo composition...
Athletes, messengers, and even some professional cyclists will come pouring into the Mission District this Saturday for the fourth annual Mission Crit, a 40-minute fixed-gear bike race. The crit (short for “criterion”) sends riders around and around a triangular course from 16th to 17th streets along Treat Avenue and Harrison Street, no small feat at the speeds these cyclists reach....
In a burst of color and poetry, a new book of photography and writing called The Mission will enter the literary scene at the Grand Theater tonight. The Mission‘s focus is on the community murals the neighborhood is known for, photographed by Richard Evans, but also delves deeper than their artistic surfaces. With poetry and musings from important artistic and literary figures in...
