June 2024 ~ Presentations, Exhibitions and Collections
Summer is Coming
Hella Basu. Sumer is icumen in (silkscreen print, circa 1979)
German calligrapher, designer, and teacher Hella Basu was born in Kassel, Germany in 1924. She studied graphic design there, and after World War II with the town destroyed and the college left without equipment, Hella found a way to continue her studies. In 1950, she emigrated to England where she taught graphic design at Leicester College of Art and later at Hull College. Richard Harrison became acquainted with Hella's striking calligraphy, purchasing original pieces as well as silkscreened prints. In the 1970s, Hella was invited to the United States to teach calligraphy up and down the West Coast. She arrived in San Francisco through the auspices of the Friends of Calligraphy. A wonderful document of Hella's visit may be found in the Harrison Collection: a sign for a reception held at the studio of Georgianna Greenwood, written out by Georgianna.
Artists and cultural workers Idris Ackamoor, Marie Acosta and Pam Peniston present the roots of cultural equity in San Francisco and discuss how the SF arts scene has influenced funding and practice across the nation. Hosted by grant writer Jeff Jones, along with artist/activist Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens.
Learn how San Francisco's BIPOC and Queer artists, activists and their allies changed the narrative from exclusion to empowerment. Hear untold stories of how underdog visionaries transformed the climate for arts funding during the 60s through the 90s fighting for Cultural Equity in the arts and find out about the trailblazers who challenged racist, classist and homophobic funding structures, pushing the San Francisco Arts Commission to establish Cultural Equity Grants. Discover how radical artists secured increased funding for diverse artistic expressions like dance, theater, art installations and parades, along with venues such as Theater Rhino, African American Art and Cultural Center and SoMarts.
This event, co-sponsored by the San Francisco Public Library and funded by an Individual Artist Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission, and a Major Project grant from the Arts Research Institute at UC Santa Cruz.
This four-part series celebrates San Francisco's important role in the movies. These lively clip-filled programs are engaging, entertaining and educational. Beginning with a general overview of the Bay Area in films and television, narrowing the focus to representations of the 1906 earthquake, before traversing the Golden Gate Bridge, and finally landing on Alcatraz.
Step into the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, where devastation met resilience in one of history's greatest tales of rebuilding.
Walk with us and learn about the heroes who struggled valiantly against the fires -- many whose efforts were in vain. How the city's vulnerable geologic location contributed to the most significant disaster in the US at the time -- and how the city heroically rebuild itself by 1910. See the buildings that somehow survived the whirling inferno, from grand hotels and downtown landmarks to a legendary whisky distillery. Explore a magnificent tale of turning unimaginable loss into an unparalleled opportunity for reinvention.
Meet between the 525 building and 555 building on the south side of Market Street.
Space Limited. Reservations required: (415) 557-4411 or anissa.malady@sfpl.org.
Saturday, June 15th, 2024: 10:00am
SF City Guides Meeting Spot
525 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94105
sfplcpp@sfpl.org
Activity: Chinatown Museums Tour
Led by an experienced guide, explore hidden treasures in Chinatown such as the Chinese Traditional Herbal Exhibition Hall, the Chinese Railroad Workers History Center, and the Zodiac Wall. Activities will include making Chinese herb sachets and sampling traditional Chinese herbal tea.
Meeting point: In front of the Chinatown Branch Library, 1135 Powell Street (at Jackson St.).
Space is limited. For more information, please call: 415-557-4431
Opening reception for the exhibition Square and Circle Club: Preserving a 100-Year Legacy. The reception will feature a gallery talk.
As the nation's oldest Chinese/Asian women's service organization, the Square and Circle Club is dedicated to promoting and fostering philanthropic projects and community service. Using library archives and the Club's own collection, we celebrate their centennial with the exhibit "Square and Circle Club: Preserving a 100-Year Legacy". Viewers can expect to see posters, flyers, photographs, historic memorabilia, and more highlighting the club's activities.
Saturday, June 22nd, 2024: 2:00pm
San Francisco History Center exhibit Space - 6th Floor
Advertising sign printed by Tsukiji Type Foundry of Tokyo for F. W. Macondray, probably in the 1870s. Tsukiji Type Foundry was established by esteemed master Mitogi Shōzō in the 1860s; considered the father of modern typography in Japan.
F. W. Macondray was a San Francisco tea merchant and proprietor of the largest tea importer in the United States at that time. Macondray Lane is named for him.
Ralph Chessé was born in 1900, the literal beginning of the 20th century, in New Orleans. He died at 91, just shy of a full hundred, and the turn of the millennium. The bulk of his life was spent in the San Francisco Bay Area, and his artistic endeavors -- painting, sculpture and notably, marionette production and performance -- reflected numerous touchstones of the Bay Area's cultural and social life, from WPA, theater, television and rock and roll.
At every turn, his life was fueled by creative endeavors, exploring different styles of art, as well as theatrical pursuits. He has a notable mural in Coit Tower and worked for the rights of artists. His expressive, exquisitely carved puppets enacted everything from Shakespeare's tragedies to the animal kingdom educator Brother Buzz, the main character of a beloved children's show that ran from 1953-1969 on mainstream television and was syndicated nationally. At every turn, Chessé's life and work continue to offer a
The Hand Bookbinders of California is pleased to present HBC52, their 52nd annual members' exhibition of fine bindings, artist books and boxes at the Skylight Gallery of the San Francisco Public Library from June 1 - August 18, 2024.
Founded in 1972 by a dozen amateur and professional bookbinders the organization now has over 150 members and embraces all aspects of book arts. The 52nd annual members' exhibition showcases the wide-ranging talents of members from historical models to original content, with books bound in wood, paper and leather.
For 52 years the Hand Bookbinders of California has sought to maintain the Bay Area tradition of fine binding, promote the public appreciation of fine books made by hand and encourage the exchange of ideas and techniques related to book arts.
Opening reception Sunday, June 9, 2 - 4p.m.
Gallery Walk Through Sunday, July 21, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
The Rick Jasany Papers contain photographs, slides, and magazines, that document the work of Rick Jasany. His subjects included daily life in San Francisco and street life in the gay community in the 1970s and 1980s.
San Francisco
History Center,
Book Arts &
Special Collections 100 Larkin St. San Francisco, CA 94102 415-557-4400sfpl.org/bookarts