Event Picks
Listed below are the events that we recommend or are planning on checking out ourselves. Who knows? You may just find the Spark crew on location.
Life in the art world is always open for interpretation. With this in mind please double check the dates, times, and locations with the presenting organizations before heading out to any of the following Spark Event Picks.
Click on the titles of the events below for more details. There are more Spark Event Picks listed here. To search all of KQED's event listings, go to our Search page.
Visual Art
San Francisco's Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts celebrates Dia de los
Muertos with the exhibit Bring Back the Dead with altars and installations by the Rivera Family, Larry Reed, Favianna Rodriguez, and many others. There
will also activities for families at the gala reception on November 2 (starting at 6pm) as well as workshops scheduled throughout
the exhibition.
Sat, November 21 - Michael Arcega: The Collaspe at Marx & Zavattero
The solo exhibition of San Francisco-based artist
Michael
Arcega presents a multi-dimensional installation that explores a meditative post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Arcega uses humor
in his sculptures to deal with episodes of power, tragedy, human folly, and recently, the possibilities of renewal.
Sat, November 21 - Fernando Botero the Abu Ghraib Series
The Latin American artist's collection of paintings and drawings that shows the horrors of prisoner abuse is now on display at the Berkeley Art Museum.
Sat, November 21 - 'Moby Dick' at Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art
A group of 32 international artists (including
Damian Ortega, Angela Bulloch, Paulina Olowska, and Richard Serra), working across multiple media
(from sculpture to film, video, drawing, and photography), present works related to Herman Melville's epic novel. More than
half of the participating artists have created new works specifically for this show in response to the novel's wide-ranging
and evocative themes. The exhibition will also feature numerous historical artifacts and documents.
Sat, November 21 - A Sense of Place: Location/Inspiration at the de Saisset Museum
The works in this group exhibition represent are
executed in a variety of media, most of the pieces represent actual locales that one can find on a map. For some artists,
such as Michael Mazur, Nathan
Oliveira, and Gregory Edwards, the objective was to capture a feeling, rather than specific geographic details. Photo:
detail of Thomas Moran's East Hampton, Long Island.
Music
The San Francisco Jazz Festival is a
two-week celebration with jazz concerts, from the classic to the avant-garde, gathering the legends of today and the rising
stars of tomorrow in venues throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area. Check their site for for times and venues: sfjazz.org.
Performance
Smuin Ballet's Fall Program opens with a world premiere by choreographer-in-residence
Amy Seiwert, accompanied by music from Grammy Award-winning group Kronos Quartet's album Pieces of Africa. The program continues
with Michael
Smuin's 'Medea,' and 'Fly Me to the Moon,' which pays homage to the songs made famous by Frank Sinatra.
Sat, December 5 - The Nutcracker at the Zeum
Don't miss Mark Foehringer Dance Project's new holiday show! Specifically
designed for young families and children, 'The Nutcracker' at the Zeum is a new version of the classic ballet 'Nutcracker'
with a contemporary twist. Featuring music direction by Michael Morgan, set design by Peter Crompton,
costume design by Richard Battle, and Magik*Magik Orchestra , 'The Nutcracker' at the Zeum is an affordable, 50-minute, fun
and zany rendition of this popular holiday tradition.
Multimedia
This exhibition includes 48 works by 13
artists who teach studio art at Stanford University: Kevin Bean (painting), Matt Kahn (paintings/design), Terry Berlier (sculpture
and media), Jan Krawitz (film), Enrique
Chagoya (paintings, prints, and mixed media), Joel Leivick (photography), Robert Dawson (photography), Jamie Meltzer (film),
Paul
DeMarinis (interactive new media), Kristine Samuelson (film), John Edmark (interactive kinetic sculpture), Gail Wight
(new media), and Lukas Felzmann (photography).
Mon, November 23 - Insights 2009: 20 Years of Creative Vision
Insights 2009 celebrates 20 years of works by
blind and visually impaired artists, featuring 118 works in a variety of media by 38 artists, and offers a free audio tour
-- with voiceovers provided by locals like Harry Denton of the Starlight Room, Mattin Noblia of Top Chef Season 6 and District
4 Supervisor Carmen Chu, and Lyrics Born bass player Uriah Duffy. Photo: Haley Goodlett's Abalone from Insights 2008.
