Yesterday, the first “Love of God” festival took place at the bandshell in Golden Gate Park. No, not “For the love of God!”, which is what some of you may be saying after seeing the only-in-San-Francisco love-in that took place.

Sponsored by Miracle of Love, the non-denominational festival included a variety of performers and activities for children and adults.

Check out the video highlights from of the event, courtesy of K9VidBlog. Our Haight/Ashbury ancestors would have been proud.

I’m SO glad that events like this get to happen in the park and not those long-running, frivolous events like Jimmy’s Old Time Car Picnic. Cough cough. Are you listening, Rec & Park?

Sarah B.

Tomorrow from 10am – 5pm, the 13th annual 2010 Bay Area Yo-Yo Classic competition will be held at the bandshell in the Golden Gate Park concourse.

Stop by to watch some talented spinners put on their best show for a chance to compete in the National Yo-Yo Contest. You’ll be sure to witness lots of tricks like loop the loop, walk the dog, the creeper, and rock the baby.

If you’re in the park tomorrow, stop by to check it out. The kid in the video below impressed me last year. Though watching the action might make you wish you had dedicated a little more time to that yo yo you got in your Christmas stocking as a kid…

Sarah B.

Call it a case of the left hand not talking to the right… Despite plans by organizers to not announce the Outside Lands music festival lineup until June 1, the major acts were leaked in an ad in the latest issue of a top music magazine.

The recent issue of Spin features a full page ad for the 2-day festival, which also included a partial list of confirmed performers. On the list were rock bands Kings of Leon (“Use Somebody”, “Sex on Fire”), Phoenix and My Morning Jacket as the biggest draws.

The Gossip, legendary soul singer Al Green and hip-hop group BlackStar also were also listed as supporting acts for the festival which takes place August 14 and 15 in Golden Gate Park. The event includes over 100 bands performing on several stages in the park.

The full, final lineup will still be announced on June 1 and tickets will also go on sale shortly after. Advance “eager beaver” tickets were available for $115 but quickly sold out.

Sarah B.

[via SF Examiner]

This Saturday marks the opening of Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. The show is comprised of paintings from the Paris museum’s permanent collection, which has been lent out while it undergoes renovations for its 25th anniversary in 2011. The Musée d’Orsay is considered the foremost repository of 19th-century French art.

Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay showcases over 100 paintings by Impressionist masters including Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, and Gustave Courbet. The opening placard in the exhibit sets the stage:

Rivalries among artists, collectors, dealers, and critics animate the art world. This was never truer than in 19th-century Paris, then Europe’s artistic capital. Birth of Impressionism focuses on this contentious artistic community and its varying exhibition strategies. The tumultuous social and political events of the 1860s and 1870s shook the foundations of the state-run Salon, Paris’s preeminent art forum. And competition among individual artists and different stylistic schools, as well as between the art establishment and aspiring newcomers, spurred dynamic tensions in French cultural life. This tension intensified after the Impressionists launched a series of independent exhibitions in 1874.

Yesterday, the de Young held its press event where my cub reporter was on hand to preview the exhibition. Unfortunately Mayor Gavin Newsom was nearly an hour late(!), so the schedule lagged. My reporter had to leave before she could enjoy a curator-led tour of the show, but she came away with plenty of details on the exhibition I can share with you.

Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay includes works by the famous masters who called France their home during the mid to late 19th century and from whose midst arose one of the most original and recognizable of all artistic styles, Impressionism. Known for its groundbreaking style of recognizable brush strokes, emphasis on light and its changing qualities, as well as its depiction of everyday subject matter, Impressionism sparked a dramatic turn toward more naturalistic art. The name of the movement is derived from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, Sunrise (Source: Wikipedia).

The Birth of Impressionism exhibition is full of legendary paintings from artists that have come to define the Impressionist movement. Edgar Degas’ paintings of race horses and ballet dancers demonstrate his masterful depiction of movement, while Monet’s inclusions demonstrate his brilliant exploration of the ever changing quality of light and color. Other Impressionist heavyweights like Pierre Auguste Renoir, Alred Sisley, Édouard Manet and Gustave Courbet are also featured in the show.

Aside from hosting the magnificent exhibition, the de Young had other exciting news to announce yesterday. The museum recently acquired Absinthe Drinkers (Les buveurs d’absinthe), 1881, by the French painter Jean-François Raffaëlli who is also featured in the show (view). Regarded as one of Raffaëlli’s most important paintings, it will temporarily grace the entrance of the Birth of Impressionism exhibition before settling into its permanent home at the Legion of Honor.

If you’ve only ever seen these magnificent artists in books or online, don’t miss this chance to see their work up close. Guy Cogeval, the President of Musée d’Orsay, was on hand for yesterday’s press event. He remarked that the lighting at the de Young galleries brought out features in the paintings that were not easily seen at the Musée, an old Paris railway station that reopened as a fine art museum in 1986.

Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay opens Saturday, May 22 and runs through September 6, 2010. Tickets are required to see the exhibition but museum members are entitled to up to 8 free tickets during the exhibition period. However members must reserve advanced tickets online. If you’re not a member yet, this might be a great time to join (you also get free entry to the Legion of Honor with your membership).

Edgar Degas | The Dancing Lesson (1873-1876) Courtesy of edgar-degas.org

Birth of Impressionism will be followed in the fall by the second touring exhibition from the great museum, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, and Beyond: Post–Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay. It will run from September 25, 2010 through January 18, 2011. One or the other exhibitions will also make stops in Nashville, Tennessee and Madrid, Spain. However the de Young is the only museum in the world to host both exhibitions.

Are you excited for this exhibition? I am and I have already secured my free member tickets for next weekend. I’ll be taking my art history teacher from high school with me; sort of my own personal audio tour.

If you make it out to the exhibition, please leave your thoughts in the comments. Enjoy the show!

Sarah B.

This Saturday, join the California Bluegrass Association for a “Pickin’ Party” in Golden Gate Park.

From 12noon until 6pm, they’ll be at the Dahlias picnic area next to the Conservatory of Flowers (map) enjoying some bluegrass music and outdoor grilling.

“Bring your instruments, friends, and family. Bring a side dish or something to throw on the grill along with something to drink. We’ll bring plates, cups, utensils, and condiments.”

CBA’s pickin’ party in the park is a warm up for many of the association’s musicians as they ready themselves for the summer season of bluegrass festivals, like the June event in Grass Valley, CA.

The California Bluegrass Association (CBA) is a California Non-Profit Corporation which was founded in 1975 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The CBA is dedicated to the furtherance of Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Gospel Music in California.

Sarah B.

[via FunCheapSF]

The Examiner reports today that dog owners who frequent the fenced off dog run in Golden Gate Park are frustrated by the lack of access during large events.

The popular 1.5 acre dog run is located just inside Golden Gate Park near Fulton and 38th Avenue.

A petition is circulating that asks for consideration for owners who are often the last to know about planned closures of the dog park. When large festivals like Outside Lands and the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival roll into town, they often close off auto access at 39th Avenue, preventing owners from easily reaching the dog park. Other times, the entire dog park may be closed off with cyclone fencing.

The Examiner says about 75 people have signed the petition which calls for daily access to the dog park and advance notice to residents and dog owners if the area needs to be closed. “We request a copy of the San Francisco Master Calendar of Events resulting in all closures, north-south and east-west, specifying dates and times.”

Many professional dog walkers also use the space. One reviewer on dogster.com warns, “Caution – Can become dangerously crowded during the week, when all the pro dog walkers bring their dogs here.”

Do you take your dog to this park? If so, have you been frustrated by the closures? Let us know in the comments.

Sarah B.

Photo by AGrinberg

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the craziest running race of the year, The Bay to Breakers, hits the Richmond District on Sunday. The last half of the race will wind its way through Golden Gate Park’s JFK Drive to the finish line on the Great Highway at Ocean Beach (see course map).

If you’re planning to cross the park via car on Sunday, keep in mind that the only thoroughfare that will be open all day is 19th Avenue / Park Presidio.

Routes in the park that will be closed:

John F. Kennedy Dr. | Closed between Stanyan & Transverse: 5am – 6pm
John F. Kennedy Dr. | Closed between Transverse & Great Highway: 5am – 3pm
Great Highway | Closed between Fulton & Sloat: 12am – 3pm
Lincoln Way | Closed between Great Highway & 32nd Avenue: 5am – 3pm
Martin Luther King Dr. | Closed between Great Highway & Transverse: 5am – 3pm
see course map

If you’re a fan of the wild floats that enter the race, note that official entries will be starting at Civic Center this year and ending near the Conservatory of Flowers. So if you want to watch them, be sure to position yourself accordingly.

Another big change this year is the location of the post-race celebration (“Footstock”). Normally it’s held at the Polo Fields but organizers have moved it to MLK Drive where racers usually engage in the post-race, cooldown walk. The two booze booths, Anheuser-Busch Beer Garden and Barefoot Wine Bar, will only be serving from 9:30am – 1pm.

Good luck to all the runners! I look forward to the crazy photos and stories.

Sarah B.

Last week, we got the first signs of life from the upcoming 2010 Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park, scheduled for August 14 – 15.

Event mascot “Ranger Dave” has started tweeting out hints about the lineup of bands for the music festival though the hints are a little too cryptic for me (or maybe I’m too lazy to do the research, LOL). I’ve included a few below – leave a comment if you solve one.

Eager Beaver tickets were on sale for a brief time but they sold out. So if you’re planning to get tickets, you’ll have to wait until June 1 when the lineup and ticket details are officially announced.

The festival has an expanded tagline this year: “Music. Food. Wine. Art.” That means that this year you’ll be able to sip fine wine and munch on gourmet food from local restaurants as you head toward the port-a-potties and navigate through sweaty concertgoers.

Richmond District eateries that will be part of the festival food selection include Gordo’s Taqueria, Namu (korean tacos!), and It’s It ice cream (which originated at Playland!).

Another conspicuous addition to the event this year – the tagline “Benefiting SF Rec & Park”. It’s sitting right above the logo on their homepage. Whose brilliant idea was that? Yes Rec & Park makes a good chunk of change on the show ($1.7 million last year), but it’s silly to position the concert as some sort of charity event for the always-low-on-budget department.

Sarah B.