As I watched the history minute video from outsidelands.org yesterday, I heard a mention of the Richmond in the song that opens the clip. OMG! A song mentions our neighborhood?! Stop the presses!

So I reached out to the artist, Richard March, who was kind enough to send along the entire song, “Golden Gate” for all of us to hear:

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Here are the choice lyrics:

Lived in “Sunset”, in the “Richmond” too.
Guess I ain’t that cool

Summer’s late here. It hardly holds
We ain’t got but three long seasons, that’s “windy,” “wet” and “cold”

Read the full lyrics here

March was born in San Francisco at Kaiser Hospital on Geary, lived and grew up in San Francisco and around the Bay Area, then played at SF clubs for ten years before moving to Sacramento where he now resides.

March also has other songs that make reference to the city, including one titled “San Francisco” (

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) and another called “High on a Mountain” which makes reference to the South San Francisco sign near 101.

You can listen to and purchase March’s songs on his MySpace page; full albums are available at his online store. Better yet, go see him live this this Sunday, October 4th at the Glen Park Station Bar at 9pm (he’ll also be there on November 22).

Oh and for the record, Richard, living in the Richmond IS cool. Who’s with me!?

Sarah B.

This Saturday from 10am to 1pm, the Richmond District Neighborhood Center will host a Multicultural Children’s Art Program Open House to kick off registration for their Fall classes. The theme for their next session is “The Arts of Egypt.”

MCAP will be offering ten, one-day workshops this Fall ranging from “Pyramid Sculpture” to “Reed Boats and Mummies” to “Egyptian Mask Making”. Workshops are designed for kids age 6-12 years and class size is limited to 15. There is a $10 suggested donation per class.

Stop by the open house on Saturday to sign up for Fall Art Workshops while you meet the artists, view past art projects, and enjoy live performances.

And while we’re talking about the RDNC… Executive Director Patricia Kaussen recently received a Community Service Award from the Geary Merchants Association. Congrats!

The RDNC is also looking for a new Employment Programs Coordinator whose job is to “provide support throughout the employment of youth (including pre and post) through referrals, job readiness workshops, and one-on-one support”.

The Richmond District Neighborhood Center is located at 741 30th Avenue.

Sarah B.

If you haven’t yet visited the Park Life store and gallery, Saturday’s sidewalk sale is a good excuse. The store is known for their excellent inventory of art and design books, zines, photography books and other general interest titles.

At the sale, selected titles will be 70-80% off. Sale begins at 10am. Park Life is located at 220 Clement Street near 3rd Avenue.

Sarah B.

Photo by Flickr member Steve Rhodes

About a month ago, Richmond District artist Jay Mercado held an open studio of his donut work. Yes, you read that right, donuts. The paintings are absolutely delightful.

He published some pics on his blog of “donut art fans” who I presume dropped by the studio that day. The pic below made me do a double take. Can I get one of those to go?

Sarah B.

Photo by Jay Mercado

Leslie, the owner of Frankenart Mart gallery at 515 Balboa, recently debuted the 38 Geary bus sculpture that she built for Supervisor Eric Mar.

Not only does the piece pay homage to one of our most beloved and maligned bus lines, it’s even made from neighborhood materials: “Ocean beach sand, Golden Gate park parts, and Richmond haunts”.

The bus looks like the real thing! Colorful billboards on the site, square vents along the top, twigs that make up the accordion mid-section.

All that’s missing are people boarding through the back without paying and a legion of cars stuck behind it as often happens on Geary.

Bravo to Leslie for a great sculpture! It’s bound to be the talk of City Hall when it makes its way down there. All aboard!

See more photos of the 38 Muni masterpiece here or stop by the gallery to see it in person on Thursday or Friday from 4pm to 9pm, or Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 8pm.

Sarah B.

While on a walk this past Saturday, I came upon a small boutique/gallery called Modern Relics on Cabrillo Street near 8th Avenue.

Owner and designer Alix Blüh opened Modern Relics over a year ago. When I walked in, she popped her head over the loft balcony to say hello, while holding back her enthusiastic small dog, Jack, who was ready to investigate their latest visitor.

Blüh spent several months getting the store and upstairs workroom ready for opening. And it shows throughout the look and feel of the gallery which features old fashioned, intricate displays that mesh intriguing objects with lovely, handcrafted jewelry.

Blüh makes all the pieces herself with help from her assistant, Soojo “Suga” Rocereto, who also has her own pieces on display. Blüh’s jewelry is delicate with a touch of vintage, though she does not repurpose any old jewelry; everything is original.

Blüh’s influences from the natural world are evident through the gallery as well, which features walls covered in recycled fence timbers, small birds’ nests tucked into displays, and decorative objects of deer and birds.

“I have always been so moved by the stories found in nature, in time worn objects, in mourning jewelry and religious reliquaries…I want to create heirloom pieces that are not about fad and fashion but art and timelessness” Blüh said in a profile on a New York blog earlier this summer.

The profile mentions that Blüh was formally trained as a painter at the University of Massachusetts and at Oxford, where she developed her passion for collecting and dealing in antiques in London flea markets.

I recommend stopping by Modern Relics to find a gift, a unique piece for your own collection, or just to lose yourself for a little while in a space filled with objects that evoke an earlier time.

Modern Relics is located at 771 Cabrillo near 8th Avenue, and is open Thursday through Saturday from 12noon to 7pm.

Sarah B.

Congratulations goes out to the Community Music Center in San Francisco which has a branch at the Richmond District Neighborhood Center on 30th Avenue.

The CMC was recently awarded a $300,000 performing arts grant from the Hewlett Foundation. From the press release:

Award highlights include a $300,000 grant to the Community Music Center in San Francisco, which serves 15,500 audience members annually through more than 260 free and low-cost concerts.

The Center offers a comprehensive teaching, ensemble, and performance program from its main location in the Mission district and its Richmond district branch, after-school programs for at-risk youth, and extension programs throughout the city.

Students make music in a variety of traditions, including western classical, jazz, blues, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and Chinese. Tuition assistance on a sliding scale goes to 60 percent of the Center’s nearly 2,300 students, from pre-kindergarten to retirees.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has been making grants since 1967 to help solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. The Foundation concentrates its resources on activities in education, the environment, global development, performing arts, philanthropy, and population, and makes grants to support disadvantaged communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sarah B.

Artist Maya Lin is best known for her moving Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C., which she created when she was just 21 years old. When the Academy of Sciences opened last year, one of her sculptures, “Where the Land Meets the Sea”, also debuted with it.

“Where the land Meets the Sea” takes the form of a drawing in space based upon the topology of the San Francisco Bay in the vicinity of the Golden Gate Bridge and Angel Island by using science and technology in the artwork. Lin’s work aims to inspire viewers to pay closer attention to the natural world.

This Thursday night as part of the Academy’s Nightlife program, Lin will speak and unveil her latest work, “What is Missing?”. The piece will live as a permanent installation in the Academy’s East Gardens, dedicated to raising awareness about the crisis surrounding biodiversity and habitat loss.

“What is Missing?” will be Lin’s last memorial piece, and its multimedia design focuses attention on species and places that have gone extinct or will most likely disappear within our lifetime. The piece was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission and Thursday’s unveiling coincides with the one-year anniversary of the Academy’s new building.

At 7:00 pm, Lin will give a talk on the evolution of the piece and the environmental messages conveyed in it. Passes will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

NightLife is for 21+ and runs from 6pm to 10pm on Thursday nights. Tickets are $12 ($10 for Academy members) and last entry is at 9:00 pm. the entire science museum is open, plus food, drinks and live music are on hand. More on this week’s NightLife

Sarah B.

Maya Lin’s sculpture “Where the Land Meets the Sea” in the rear of the picture. The shape of the terrain is based on data supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey, among others, and represents a 1:700 scale with a vertical exaggeration of 5 times above sea level and 10 times below. Sea level is 18 feet above the terrace and is marked on the adjacent columns.