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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kitka and Hasmik presents Armenian folk songs and dance workshop. Hasmik's workshop at 4pm offers a full-body and voice immersion into Armenian song, dance, and life. Concert at 8pm. Come prepared to sing your heart out and to dance your socks off!

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.

In this new solo music theater work, percussionist Steven Schick will perform on a stage whose every object and surface is sonically active. Schick explores the relationship of man vs. machine, using both traditional percussion and new large-scale instruments that Paul Dresher will invent and build specifically for this composition.

Listen to live music by folk revivalists The Crooked Jades, who were chosen by Sean Penn to be part of the soundtrack of his Oscar-nominated film Into the Wild (2007). Their performance kicks off the opening night of Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown, an exhibit at the de Young Museum.

The 2009 International Taiko Festival features Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka and San Francisco Taiko Dojo as well as special guests from Japan, Wako Daiko (Japan), SF Taiko Dojo Rising Stars, Sacramento Taiko Dan, and Jun Daiko (Mountain View).

This rapid-fire series of mini-plays, songs, and dances, is a surreal mosaic based on perceptions of the future. The Future Project is a collaboration between the Erika Chong Shuch Performance Project and Campo Santo. Choreographer Erika Chong Shuch and actor Sean San Jose share the stage for the first time, along with the original music of Denizen Kane. Thursdays are 'Pay What You Can' night.

Celebrating Butoh Dance 50th Anniversary there will be 3 nights of performances including Bay Area and Beyond Butoh on Friday and the following night Ledoh, Katsura Kan, Koichi and Hiroko Tamano and Harupin-Ha. On the final night is Sunday at 7pm is Katsura Kan's Student Showing.

AXIS Dance Company performs at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts for their 2009 home season. Known for their integration of performers with and without disabilities, their program includes a new work choreographed by Guggenheim Fellow David Dorfman. The program also features Alex Ketley's Vessel, Sonya Delwaide's Terre Brune, and a suite of Remy Charlip's Air Mail Dances.

This multi-discipline festival showcases young artists of color and progressive art. Celebrating their 10th anniversary by premiering two commissioned performances: 'Raw-Dios' -- a look into the pop cultural landscape of the Shock and Awe era -- by headRush and 'Farid Mercury' -- a mash-up of the words and lyrics of iconic rockstar, Farrokh Bulsara, AKA Freddie Mercury, Queen, with Iranian characters -- by Robert Karimi.

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.

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).

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.