Bridging the gap between artists and collectors in the Bay Area
SAVE THE DATE
April 18 Private Collections Spring Art Tour benefitting Enterprise for High School Students
May 10 Vernissage Preview SFAI MFA Graduate Exhbition, The Phoenix Hotel
May 17 ArtPadSF Opening night party, The Phoenix Hotel
May 8-18 See contemporary art in China with DeWitt Cheng, Julina Togonon, and me- email me for details!
ART WORLD DIARY
2012.1.28 Ann Weber (who is in charge of managing the excellent programming at the Berkeley Art Center) is now represented by Dolby Chadwick Gallery.
2012.1.27 What's the difference between Art Debutant/SanFrancisco and ArtSpan?
2012.1.25 The Sustainable Arts Foundation's Spring 2012 Awards application period has begun. SAF offers unrestricted cash awards to artists and writers with families -- specifically, at least one child under the age of 18. "Too often, creative impulses are set aside to meet the wonderful, but pressing, demands of raising a family. The foundation's goal is to encourage parents to continue pursuing their creative passion, and to rekindle it in those who may have let it slide." In this award cycle, they will be offering (5) $6,000 awards and (5) $6,000 "Promise" awards. The application deadline is March 1st, 2012. Apply here.
2012.1.24 Buy before they are famous! One of my favorite sales is happening this Saturday 1/28- a pop-up sale featuring the work of the 24 Mills MFA students to fund their graduation exhibition catalog. Nothing over $80! and El Taco Bike will be outside. 6-8, Marion and Rose's Workshop, 461 9th St., Oakland, marionandrose.com, member of the pop-up hood, close to 12th St. BART Station.
2012.1.18 The "save the date" for the May 1 Berkeley Art Museum gala honoring Cissie Swig arrived and wow, it's expensive. Opening price point ticket is $1000 ($800 deductible). I think the last party in recent memory that was this pricey was SFMOMA's 75th. The top tier ticket "honorary committee" at $10,000 includes an exclusive behind the scenes tour for you and your inner circle of the upcoming Barry McGee retrospective with Larry Rinder.
2012.1.14 Twitter's impeding arrival in the Mid-Market area is heating up demand for real estate. On Eigth between Mission and Howard it's red hot, and as a result, Noah Lang reports that after almost five years in that location Electric Works is looking for a new home. The landlord of 180 8th Street has been looking for a tenant to fill the upper floors of the building for years and recently they got an offer they couldn't refuse for all four floors. So last night the reception for Kathering Westerhout and Jim Haynes was the last one in that location; a new begining with the new year.
2012.1.4 Julina Togonon is closing her physical space at 77 Geary and continuing on as Julina Togonon Fine Arts. Moving On party this Friday, 5-8pm.
2012.1.3 It's the end of an era: Triple Base is closing its doors. Co-founder Dina Pugh (who took over the gallery from Oliver Halsman Rosenberg with Joyce Grimm in '07 and made it their own) has relocated to New York. Closing party this Saturday, January 7th, starting at 8pm and going late.
2012.1.2 Whoops. Seems that because I don't live in Emeryville, I am not eligible for the Public Art Committee. So disappointing!
2012.1.1 Sad news about John Buchanan. He took a bit of heat and criticism but seemed to have been fulfilling the FAMSF board's wishes. The obit in the Chron left out a few great shows including Asawa, Nevelson and Westwood.
2011.12.27 Today headed to the other end of the bay for the Joan Brown show at the San Jose Museum of Art. Could have taken the train but pocketbook was still stinging from yesterday's trip to Sacto. Interesting to see that most of the work was included courtesy of her son + husband + Paule Anglim, which I assume means it's all for sale.
2011.12.26 Since I'm married to a (former) clay guy, made a pilgrimage to see the Clayton Bailey show at the Crocker. Took Amtrak from Emeryville to Sacto- $27 one way! But extremely entertaining and very relaxing. Short walk from the station to the museum made it extra-easy. Will def do again. Word to the wise- figure out how the regular commuters buy their tix first.
2011.12.21 Lila Kanner executive director of Artadia, is stepping down as her family is relocating to Boston. Founder Chris Vroom himself is heading up the search commitee for her replacement. Big shoes to fill!
2011.12.20 Fun news I have been appointed to the City of Emeryville's Public Art Committee. (Technically I live in Oakland but our house literally straddles the border so I consider myself a resident of both cities.) With the new Arts and Cultural Center being designed by Jensen Architects, it's a particulary exciting time in E-Ville!
2011.12.19 Berkeley Art Museum has two plum jobs posted: Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and Phyllis C. Wattis MATRIX Curator and Director of Engagement
2011.12.15 After 19 years with SFMOMA, Libby Garrison is the new director of marketing and communications at the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio.
2011.12.14 Stanford's Board of Trustees approves sites for two new arts buildings: The Anderson Collection at Stanford University, which will open in 2014, and the McMurtry Building, which will open in 2015, will join the Bing Concert Hall, which will open in 2013, and the Cantor Arts Center as cornerstones of the new arts district. The core of the Anderson Collection, 121 works by 86 artists, is being donated to Stanford by Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson, and Mary Patricia Anderson Pence, the Bay Area family that collected the art over nearly 50 years. The arrival of the collection will represent a milestone for the Stanford Arts Initiative, a university-wide effort to enhance and support the arts and creativity and to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and engagement with the arts throughout campus.
2011.12.12 David Cunningham of the eponymous gallery just joined the board of SOEX and is offering to match donations to that nonprofit of up to $2500 out of his own pocket. Can we clone him?
2011.12.10 San Francisco Art Dealers Association launches First Saturday beginning Jan 7.
2011.12.9 SFMOMA assistant curator of painting and sculpture Ali Gass named curator at MSU's Broad Museum
2011.12.7 After weeding through 50 applications, San Francisco Arts Commission named a very young and very qualified Thomas DeCaigney director of cultural affairs to replace Luis Cancel.
2011.12.6 No more whining about being a B-list art town; Deitch San Francisco opens Thursday at 445 O'Farrell Street, right next to Ever Gold.
2011.12.5 Back now and am catching up on all the news in my in-box since I left, beginning with SFMOMA's anachronistic announcement: "We have... reached a new milestone in our expansion plans. With nearly 80 percent of the capital campaign goal raised two years ahead of the groundbreaking for our expansion, the museum's Board of Trustees has raised the capital campaign goal to $555 million from $480 million. These additional funds will go towards more and better spaces for education, exhibitions, and programs"... After four years in business in SF Gallery 291 is closing... Board changes at Zero1... Writer/artist Dave Eggers is Issue 16 of The Thing... Sunny Taylor's Yelling Clinic (founded in partnership with Katherine Sherwood) focused on issues of war, pollution and disability, is raising money to travel to Viet Nam to research the lingering effects of the chemical Agent Orange and to work with disabled Vietnamese activists and artists... SFAC continues to dialog about the SF Chron article by holding a series of open houses (join the mailing list to be invited); props for being open about the whole thing but everybody loves the SFAC- is all this explanation necessary?
2011.12.3 Shuttle from the convention center to the mainland not running early AM so we commandeered a van-cab with four other dismayed ladies back over to the Design District. There hit Scope (lots of tats) and had time to take a look at Red Dot. RD Fair organizer George Billis has doubled the size of his tent this year and filled the new space with independent artist-produced "solo projects-" a surprise for galleries in the front section of the fair. Then took a cab downtown to Miami Art Museum to see the Faith Ringgold show. Back uptown to take a peek at the tiny Burst show (6 booths) a block from our hotel. Then up Collins to recuperate at the Raliegh Hotel where we almost didn't make it through the forcefield to the bar/pool and had to wave our Basel VIP card around. Phew!
2011.12.2 Slowing down on Day 3: Only made it to hipster fair NADA (very clever that nonprofit model). PM drinks with Jennifer Weiss who had flown in the night before, then went to the Armani party at the W Hotel where the fashion was even more impressive than the Basel VIP preview hours.
2011.12.1 The joke's on me about the "brunch" at the Rubell Family Collection (current exhibition appropriately named American Exuberance). As veterans of this event know Jennifer Rubell makes you earn your breakfast (this year art lovers held up jars of yogurt to a dripping stream of honey coming from the ceiling, blown around by the wind- embarrassing to try AND witness). Then over to another "brunch" at Pulse where dealers were in the dark- literally. The fair had lost power and only about half of the exhibitors benefited from generator power. Some dealers' booths were completely obscured. Those showing neon were OK about it. Caterers couldn't start seling expensive salads until 245 because there was no power for the credit card machines (I hope no one got food poisoning from lack of refrigeration.). Then took a very efficient shuttle to Art Miami. Dinner that night with Trish Bransten at Wynwood Kitchen; Marx and Zavattero two booths away.
2011.11.30 Bumped in to Ravin and Alka Agrawal (SECA, MAC) and their two kids at the FLL Virgin luggage claim at 830 am coming off the red eye... Limited number of Bay Area peeps spotted at the Art Basel VIP preview: Larry Rinder at the Galerie 1999-2000 booth with a half dozen BAM ULDs in tow... the Stones... former San Franciscan and now Chicago resident and newly apointed director of Chicago's ArtExpo Nicole Berry. Later at the Sotherby's/Atadia reception at The Standard, saw Artadia/SECA pals Rimma Bottershan, Kelly Huang and Kevin Pong; host Chris Vroom was taking pictures while mixing. And at the hopping Aqua Hotel fair opening (big SF contingent), representatives from San Francisco Fine Art Fair and ArtMrkt were networking up a storm.
2011.11.29 Heading to Miami on the red-eye tonight with Maria Jenson. Looking forward to interviewing San Francisco/Oakland dealers from the front lines when we arrive. Got a burning question about this whole art fair biz you want me to ask? Email me at stark.guide@gmail.com
2011.11.23 I am thankful that Elysa Lozano has figured this whole art economy out.
2011.11.20 Maria Jenson, director of ArtPadSF has been invited to blog about the Miami art fairs next week for the Huffington Post by arts editor Kimberly Brooks.
2011.11.19 Jeffrey Fraenkel and Frish Brandt are the latest "power couple" featured in First Republic Bank's signature magazine back cover ad.
2011.11.18 SECA's 50th anniversary show covered by Reyhan Harmanci for Bay Citizen/New York Times
2011.11.17 Neighbors promoted neighbors in the Mission last night. Three great venues cross-promoted, making all of them a destination. The Thing gang was wrapping the latest issue by McFadden & Thorpe (by day the duo are graphic designers to the stars); SOEX was open late as a performance art element of the current exhibition Working Conditions; but the real action was at Kadist Art Foundation. There, curatorial practice believers sipped Manhattans (maraschino cherry yes) and nibbled on brownies while advisory board members Larry Rinder of BAM and Jens Hoffman of the Wattis Institute debated the auteur theory of curating. SRO spectators expected a mano-a-mano affair, but it turns out the two mavens are on same page. Interesting closing words from both: The Wattis Insitute is looking to hire a curator early next year who will focus on collaborating with partner institution CCA's students, and Rinder is exploring how BAM can support other disciplines on the Cal campus.
2011.11.16 Audit as therapy at the SF Arts Commission
2011.11.12 Congrats to the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, recently awarded a big grant from the Warhol Foundation. The tiny jewelbox on Yerba Buena Lane has a tiny budget too; the recognition is not only a huge compliment to director Jennifer McCabe and curator Natasha Boas and the whole team for their programming over the last few years, it's a big shot of adrenaline for the future. Their new exhibition, FIAT LUX Randy Colosky New Works was commissioned, the first exhibition to benefit from the new funds.
2011.11.10 7x7 Magazine hosted their design issue launch party at The McLoughlin Gallery last night and the place was hopping. Nosh provided by Trace (proudly committed to locally sourced ingredients), the new restaurant in the W Hotel. Joan McLoughlin opened her space at 49 Geary within the last year and then officially arrived on the scene when the gallery was featured on the cover of 7x7s art issue last July "The New Guard: 5 of the City's Most Exciting New Galleries" along with Baer Ridgway, Ever Gold, Guerrero Gallery and Gallery Hijinks. Gallery director is Cynthia Kagay, who does double duty as SECA's coordinator and is a founding board member of Artadia's Junior Council West. Note a famous last name listed in the stable shared with a dealer who had a well-respected galery in SF for years. The McLoughlin Gallery will donate a percentage of net sales to Stanford Cancer Center towards efforts for prevention and treatment of breast cancer.
2011.11.8 Today Liz Thomas announced she is no longer the curator of Berkeley's MATRIX Program for Contemporary Art. Gyongy Laky, formerly with Braunstein/Quay, is now a gallery artist with Cain Schulte Contemporary Art (Marina Cain used to work for Ruth Braunstein). Walnut Creek's Bedford Gallery has an open part time program manager position- with benefits.
2011.11.4 Exciting news! This year I have a formal role, associate director, in ArtPadSF. Website launched yesterday!
2011.11.3 Well it's about time. 49 Geary now has a polite sign at the front desk that says "for the safety of our patrons, dogs are no longer allowed on First Thursday gallery night" and there are THREE guards there to enforce the new rule. Phew!
2011.11.2 Kudos to Alka Agrawal, SFMOMA Bay Area Art Treasure Award Chair. The annual award given to a Bay Area artist for lifetime achievement is organized by the MAC Council. This year Mark di Suvero (Berggruen Gallery) is begin honored. Alka has upped the ante and turned the ladies-who-lunch event into a glamorous evening dinner party. Tickets start at $350. Way to get the husbands involved!
2011.11.1 Happy to be back in the swing of things! As some of you know I have a full time job in an unrelated field... just coming up for air after a very busy time. See you at First Thursday!
2011.10.30 Cantor Museum director Tom Seligman retires; gives candid interview to Kenneth Baker
2011.10.28 Best speaker of all at the San Francisco Fine Antiques Show has to be Robert Wittman, former Special Agent and Founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Art Crime Team (today at 2:30pm). Snaps to Lisa Podos, fair director, for shaking things up this year by inviting Chef Tyler Florence to be honorary chair. There's a fair for everyone- this one hosts The Ames Gallery, John Berggruen Gallery, Hackett | Mill, Montgomery Gallery, & Sarah Stocking
2011.10.21 Art and politics collids at the Jeff Adachi for Mayor.fundraising auction tonight. Art donated by Andrew Schoultz, Barry McGee, Kevin Taylor, Theophilus Brown, Hilary Pecis, Matt Gonzalez, Ryan Coffey, Guy Overfelt, and more. Co-hosted by Anres Guerrero.,
2011.10.2 Michael Rosenthal opened his kimono to his mailing list yesterday: "The cost of participating as an exhibitor is on average $20,000 and up. This includes, transportation, shipping, hotel, car, install, insurance, labor, lack of sleep, huge coffee consumption.
This week there are major art fairs in LA: Pulse, Art Platform and Fountain. We stayed home. So we saved $20,000 dollars. The traditional formula for the consignment of artwork is the gallery gets 50% of sales and the artist gets 50%. We are reducing the share the gallery receives substantially while committing to pay the artists their full 50%. By not going to this weekend's art fairs we can offer $20,000 dollars in discounts this week. All of the gallery inventory is priced at 10% to 40% off. We will be posting these prices online asap however to encourage your participation this weekend, we are offering a 30% discount off all inventory. Please call, write, or visit to inquire about purchasing. If you can't come to the gallery, we will ship the work to you at the discounted price, we pay the shipping. If you do not like the work, send it back within seven days for a full refund. This works for us, puts some needed dollars in the artists pockets and affords. us the opportunity to offer exceptional work to our friends and community at an exceptional price."
2011.10.1 There's a trifecta of openings at CCA Tuesday night: "Painting Between the Lines" at the Logan Galleries, "More American Photographs" at the Wattis Institute, and "Americana" at the Wattis Augustine Gallery.
2011.9.30 Abstract expressionism is alive and well in Emeryville on the walls of the 25th annual Emery Arts exhibition. The opening reception tonight demonstrated strong community spirit, but the city is going to have to up its game to match the new building designed by Jensen Archtects that will open next fall. (Mark Jensen's most recent high profile success in the art world is the SFMOMA roof garden.)
2011.9.25 Updates on Baer Ridgway split: Eli has rebranded as Eli Ridgway Gallery following Kent Baer's departure from the partnership. Kent Baer has joined forces with Chris Perez is now the gallery director at Ratio3.
2011.9.24 Matthew Draving (#2 guy at Johannson Projects by day), unvelis a new video piece tonight at Important Projects.
2011.9.22 SFMOMA is increasing membership prices in November. Renew online before then and get the old price for one more year.
2011.9.21 Pledge drive on steroids: Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive is taking a page from public broadcasting's pledge drive strategy and offering amazing perqs when you buy an econo-friendly $50 membership (one visit costs $10). The museum has inaugurated the East Bay Discount Club offering a myriad of deals at local eateries plus Kala, Cal Performances, Moe's, Hotel Durant and more.
2011.9.20 Firm letter from OCMA's Art Guild Travel Committee Chair Sandy Kessenick reminding members that they must join the museum at the $150 level if they wish to participate in overnight trips. The first notice that the Art Guild was catching up with the times came in the June 2011 newsletter, and it appears that people signing up for the amazing trips offered missed the missive. "We are aware that most museums require that those who travel with them support the institution at levels of membership significantly higher than $150." The old structure allowed members to participate in guild activities for $20 annually- and they didn't have to belong to the museum.
2011.9.13 Happy gathering last night at SFAI to welcome Charles Desmarais, new president of SFAI. Catering generously arranged by school trustee and McCall's EVP Lee Gregory. The party was completely full by 5:45pm thanks to valet parking. It was such a nice night that no one would go inside so staff moved the food tables out to the courtyard. Diane Frankel gave a spirited welcome speech listing Desmarais' most compelling attributes, which culminated in "loves fundraising!" Desmarais said a few words hailing SFAI's important place in the history of California art, The mood was happy and upbeat, and everyone was very excited about the school's new chapter. Many bold faced names spotted in the crowd: "the competition," CCA's Stephen Beal, trustee emeriti Paule Anglim & Roselyne C Swig, the youngest trustee Eli Ridgway of Baer Ridgway Exhibitions, and the woman everyone wants to meet, Elaine Asher director of development for the San Francisco America's Cup Organizing Committee.
2011.9.8 Danielle Fox is relocating Slate Centemporary from Oakland's hot foodie Temescal neighborhood to the even hotter downtown scene on 25th between Telegraph and Broadway next door to Vessel Gallery. AND she's taken on the job of executive director for Art Murmur (the website already looks updated and awesome). And speaking of Art Murmur, Jasmine Moorhead of Krowswork on 23rd reports a FOUR-FOLD increase in traffic since member galleries launched Saturday Stroll recently: lots of couples on dates!
2011.9.7 Art & Tacos is back! The grass roots networking event for the Bay Area visual arts professionals (curators, writers, educators, art dealers, gallerists, & arts administrators) is just for fun- with no art or outstretched hand in sight. The first annual Art & Tacos get together was founded about this time last year by the ArtFabric gang: SFAC Gallery director Meg Shiffler, all-around power broker Julie Lazar, Raman Frey of Frey Norris Contemporary & Modern, and interim cultural affairs director of the SFAC JD Beltran; and held at Beltran's Potrero Hill home. This year the ante's been upped, and it's being hosted by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and will be held in the lobby of YBCA in mid-September. If you didn't get an invite but want to be there, just find a friend who was invited and ask them to add you to the list.
2011.9.5 I'm all for public art, but $9M for Mario Chiodo's "Remember Them: Champions for Humanity" (featured in today's Chron) seems off. (All but $182k came from private donations- WHO are those people??) Allison Smith, chair of the CCA sculpture department, thinks so too: "There are far more radical approaches you could talk about that incorporate direct action and social change into the sculpture itself," she said, adding that she believed $9 million spent for arts education in West Oakland would have probably made a bigger difference." Courtney Fink took it a step further and said out loud what's on everyone's mind: "The art community in Oakland is really thriving right now," she said "It's an up and coming part of the arts scene. I'm struck by how out of tune this seems. ... It's not an of-the-moment piece." I am struck by how most every public art commission project listed in the Cafe system asks the applicant to talk about past experience with public commissions, making it impossible to break into the system, and making it easy for guys like Scott Donahue and Mario Chiodo to be awarded multiple commissions.
2011.9.1 End your dependence on web designers and host providers forever! I cannot say enough nice things about popslice.com -it's the perfect tool for creating and managing your own website. It's the easiest back-end I've ever used- easier than any blogging tool or open source design program. The least tech-savvy person on earth can manage this. Every artist should be using it for its BEAUTIFUL portfolio management tools- BEAUTIFUL galleries to choose from. For about $140 per year total (including hosting) you can redirect your personal URL to your popslice account. They're even home grown- based in Oakland! Thanks to Jenifer Kent for telling me about it. Sam's hooked up now too.
2011.8.20 For everyone who was disappointed when Fraenkel, Silverman and Meier passed on all three fairs last May, they've picked their team: SF20/21 (formerly SF20) the art & design show and sale September 15-18 sponsored by Dolphin Promotions with opening night gala benefiting SFMOMA. Official hotel of the fair is the Hilton / San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf.
2011.8.17 Email from Oakland Museum's director Lori Fogarty to donors announcing internal reorg: "The Museum staff is now organized into six cross-functional centers that bring together disciplines, specialties and expertise previously segmented into traditional departments of art, history, and natural sciences. The six centers are: the OMCA Lab, the Audience and Civic Engagement Center, the Creative Production Center, the Collections and Information Access Center, the Resource and Enterprise Center, and the Institutional Support Center. Built upon the new ways of working that Museum staff embraced as part of our major transformation, this reorganization ensures our ability to be a center of public dialogue, learning, reflection, and creative exploration of California and its people."
2011.8.14 Snaps to Colin Christy's 26 fans who together contributed $2,136.00 to fund his "Wild & Scenic" installation at Swarm Gallery (opening reception Aug 20, 6-8pm). Seems like micro-donation, building on the success of the Grameen Foundation's microcredit concept, is a viable alternative to applying for grants (and gets to the heart of the matter quickly, establishing whether or not there is an audience for the work).
2011.8.13 Maria Jenson, director of ArtPadSF, has joined the Berkeley Art Center's board of directors
2011.8.12 A scrapbook-worthy press release: "OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA ANNOUNCES NEW PHONE NUMBER. (OAKLAND, CA) August 12, 2011---The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) has a new phone number: 510-318-8400 effective Monday August 15. The toll free number remains unchanged at 800-OAKMUSE or 800-625-2258." Roger. Can't help but thinking that this is somehow related to the OMCA's pending divorce from the City of Oakland...
2011.8.9 It's that time- fishing in a barrel! Excited for my favorite juried show for emerging artists, the Jack & Gertrude Murphy Fellowships, and the Edwin Anthony & Adelaine Bordeaux Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts. Curated this year by Susan O’Malley of the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, Chris Perez of Ratio 3 Gallery, and Justin Hoover of SOMArts Cultural Center. And for the first time the exhibit is being held at SoMArts. Who are the Murphys and Cadogans? Wish funding institution San Francisco Foundation would tell us more about them. Artists who are selected for this award are between their first and second year in grad school- nominated by their teachers. Exhibition information here. Fellowship recipients:
Andrew Chapman, Stanford University
Li Chen, San Francisco Art Institute
James Coquia, California College of the Arts
Christine Elfman, California College of the Arts
Joel Frudden, San Francisco Art Institute
Stephanie Halmos, California College of the Arts
Joey Izzo, San Francisco State University
Adam Katseff, Stanford University
Michael Koehle, Mills College
Senalka McDonald, California College of the Arts
Kate Nartker, California College of the Arts
Toyin Odutola, California College of the Arts
Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck, University of California, Berkeley
Kari Orvik, University of California, Berkeley
Maya Pasternak, California College of the Arts
Christine Peterson, California College of the Arts
Yulia Pinkusevich, Stanford University
Michelle Ramin, San Francisco Art Institute
Amy Rathbone, University of California, Berkeley
Helene Schlumberger, California College of the Arts
Sofia Sharpe, Mills College
Elia Vargas, San Francisco State University
Rachel Weiss, San Francisco Art Institute
2011.8.6 Sure to be a "Paris in the 20s" moment at Gallery Hijinks tonight, kicking off a solo show for Greg Ito, co-owner of Ever Gold Gallery and co-founder/editor of San Francisco Arts Quarterly (both ventures with business partner Andrew McClintock).
2011.8.5 Oakland Art Murmur tonight! Dinner last night with Derek Weisberg, the founder of the Murmur. He's headed from OAK to JFK on a one-way ticket tomorrow for a residency with Greenwich House Pottery. But he'll be back for sure for the retrospective of his former boss and mentor Stephen de Staebler at the De Young in January 2012.
2011.8.4 Watch out Oakland Art Murmur, now there's North Beach First Friday. Stop by tomorrow August 5, from 6-8 (and a few galleries are open later than that). Who knew there were over ten galleries in North Beach? Hoping they will update their Facebook page with a complete list of participating spaces and an easy to view/print map.
2011.8.3 ArtSpan, the organization that sponsors Open Studios and professional development ops for independent artists, has a fabulous new website, making it super easy to find the artist whose art is right for you. And they have a fabulous new board chair. John Melvin has stepped back into the leadership seat.
2011.8.2 Caught up with photographer Ellen Shershow Pena last night to hear about her new dog portrait venture "J'adore le Chien." Too bad cats don't sit still.
2011.8.1 Heard a rumor that the Concourse Exhibition Center, home of '11 artMRKT fair, is doomed to become high density housing in the next 18 months...
2011.7.31 Thinking of applying for "The Spectacular Seat" at the Performance Art Institure. Not.
2011.7.30 Dinner at Marjory Graue + Marty Bloes' place
2011.7.29 Blu urban residences (631 Folsom) to see Patter Hellstrom's and Rebecca Fox's sculptures in a room that started with the art (what a luxury) designed by McGuire Furniture director Robert McMillan
2011.7.27 Meeting with Jay Jeffers to talk EHSS Private Collections Art Tour 2012
2011.7.26 Farewell reception for Luis Cancel, San Francisco Cultural Affairs Director, at Braunstein Quay
2011.7.24 Afternoon sangria with Maria Jenson, director of ArtPadSF
2011.7.23 Donated $25 to Colin Christy's pop-environmental installation project "Wild and Scenic" at Swarm Gallery (he needs $2,000 by the end of August to cover his costs & make it happen).
22011.7.21 ArtTable monthly member get-together at Cecile Moochnek Gallery on Fourth Street in Berkeley
2011.7.20 Zombies Identified, a slideshow by George Pfau exploring the zombie lexicon in film, visual art and pop culture at Unspeakable Projects.
2011.7.19 Met with a friend who needs help finding a painting for her living room: looking for a large, colorful, genre painting by an emerging artist.
2011.7.16 Opening Swarm Gallery: New work by Joshua Churchill & Doug Garth Williams
2011.7.13 Artadia's Junior Council West kickoff party
2011.7.10 YBCA's Bay Area Now 6 opening night VIP tour
2011.7.7 Rena Bransten Gallery "Big A%# Sculpture" closing reception