Sea Lion 20th Anniversary Celebration
Friday, May 21, 2010
11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Welcome Home Sea Lions! After their mysterious disappearance this winter, the famous California Sea Lions have come back to PIER 39! There will be a celebration to honor their return and to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the arrival of the sea lions to the West Marina. The sea lions first began arriving in January of 1990, shortly after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Since that time, they have become PIER 39’s natural attraction, fascinating visitors with their charming antics. Join the celebration and help us welcome the sea lions back! Throughout the celebration, naturalists from The Marine Mammal Center and Aquarium of the Bay will be available to tell you all about California Sea Lions.

The 159th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in San Francisco is a well established event with historic ties to the city. The parade itself is a huge draw for attendees from all different demographics and ethnicity.

The addition of the Festival after the parade provides a great opportunity for attendees to learn more about Irish history and culture while having fun experiencing the event. A full day of activity is planned for the St. Patrick’s Day Festival at Civic Center Plaza and on Grove Street, Polk to Larkin Street.

The colorful festivities surrounding the parade will showcase Irish Culture through live performance and entertainment, arts and crafts exhibitors, food and beverage concessions, children’s rides and inflatables, cultural displays, a petting zoo and pony ride and a number of non-profits booths representing the Irish community.

The Festival will take place, before, during and after the Parade on Saturday. The Parade begins at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at the corner of Second and Market, where more than 5,000 participants from all over the states, will reel about with laughter and revelry all the way to City Hall. Join us for this great San Francisco event, which is the largest St. Patrick’s day event west of the Mississippi.

San Francisco’s 159th Annual
St. Patrick’s Day Festival
Saturday, March 13th, 2010
Civic Center Plaza ~ San Francisco
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Parade Saturday, March 13th at 11:30 AM

sfstpatricksdayparade.com

After six months, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs will be leaving San Francisco. Sadly, the exhibition closes on Sunday, March 28 but the de Young will offer extended viewing hours and a special lecture by noted Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass during the last few weeks.

Extended Viewing Hours
Saturday, March 20, 9 am–9 pm, last ticket at 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 27, 9 am–9 pm, last ticket at 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 28, 9 am–9 pm, last ticket at 7:30 pm

On those days, the Museum Café will remain open until 7 pm. The de Young’s permanent collection will close at the regular time of 5:15 pm and the Museum Tower will close at 5:30 pm. Exhibition tickets are available through www.ticketmaster.com.

March 8 Lecture by Dr. Zahi Hawass
Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egyptologist and raconteur will deliver a lecture, Mysteries of Tutankhamun Revealed, at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House on Monday, March 8 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $15 (general admission) and available through www.ticketmaster.com

Dr. Hawass’ lecture will share information discovered through the two-year examination of the DNA and CT scans of Tutankhamun and 11 other royal mummies in the collection of the Cairo Museum. Among the findings are the details of Tut’s health conditions (cleft palate, clubfoot, malaria, bone disease), his family lineage, paternity of two fetal mummies found in his tomb, and the reassessment of stylistic depictions of Tut in sculpture and artifacts found in his tomb.

Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime exhibit and lecture!

Address:
Golden Gate Park
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
San Francisco, CA 94118

Information:
www.deyoungmuseum.org
415.750.3600

Snow in San Francisco? Not quite, but every year we pretend and the City opens up two wonderful ice rinks during the holiday season. It’s a great way to burn-off those Christmas cookies, celebrate the New Year, or just get the kids out of the house! So grab your earmuffs, mittens and enjoy a day outdoors in beautiful downtown San Francisco.

HOLIDAY ICE RINK AT UNION SQUARE

OPEN: until Monday, January 18, 2010.

HOURS OF OPERATION: 10:00 am-10:00 pm, Sunday-Thursday, 10:00 am-11:30 pm on Friday & Saturday. 90 minute session, start every even hour

Note: Closes at 9:30 p.m. on December 31

HOLIDAY ICE RINK AT THE EMBARCEDERO CENTER

OPEN: through Sunday, January 3, 2010.

LOCATED:  at the Justin Herman Plaza, adjacent to Four Embarcadero Center and across from the historic Ferry Building.

HOURS OF OPERATION: 10:00 am-10:00 pm, Sunday-Thursday, 10:00 am-11:30 pm on Friday & Saturday. 90 minute session, start every even hour

It must be fall if the Blue Angels have returned—Fleet Week is here! Starting Thursday, October 8th—Sunday, October 13th, San Francisco welcomes the men and women of our armed forces including a weekend of family events featuring the Navy Blue Angels (of course), a Parade of Navy ships and other exciting demonstrations.

“One of the purposes of our annual Fleet Week celebration is to remind us of this history and to keep the role of the Navy in the forefront of our consciousness. Of course the story of the Navy, like the story of San Francisco, is the chronicle of individual people, and Fleet Week gives Northern Californians the opportunity to express their gratitude to those individuals currently serving in the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard.”

Fleet Week activities include:
Thursday: Blue Angels practice from noon-5 p.m.

Friday: Air show practice from 1-3 p.m.; Blue Angels practice from 3-4 p.m.

Saturday: Parade of ships, opening ceremony, 11:30a.m.-12:30 p.m.; air show from 12:30 -3 p.m.; Blue Angels from 3-4 p.m.; “Navy in Space” exhibit at Fort Mason, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Sunday: Ship tours from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Piers 27 and 30/32; air show from 12:30-3 p.m.; Blue Angels from 3-4 p.m.; Italian Heritage Day Parade from 12:30-3:30 p.m. from Fisherman’s Wharf to North Beach; “Navy in Space” exhibit at Fort Mason, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Blue Angels autographs at Pier 39, 7:15-7:45 p.m.; “80s Dance Party” concert at Pier 39, 7:45-10 p.m.

Monday: Ship tours from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

At the new Walt Disney Family Museum, opening in San Francisco on October 1, the storyteller becomes the story—with every exhibit detailing and revealing the historic steps in Walt Disney’s magical world.

Housed in three buildings at the 1,491-acre Presidio national park, the museum is filled with animation cels, awards, film gear, family mementos and video and audio displays about Walt Disney—the man, not the company, as the museum’s founders stress.

Visitors can listen to Walt himself (caught on tape by his daughter Diane in the 1950s) and family members and colleagues talking about Disney and his studio’s history. More than 200 monitors throughout the museum play video clips of both Disney and his animated and live-action movies.

The roomy 114-seat screening room will be playing classic Disney movies and is included with your admittance. “Fantasia” plays from Oct. 1 to 19.

The Disney family had thought of locating the museum in Kansas City or Los Angeles, a city more associated with Walt Disney than San Francisco. In the end, the Presidio won because it had the best available building and the collection was already stored nearby. Also, the Bay Area, home to studios such as Pixar and Lucasfilm Ltd., has become an animation hub.

Hours:
Wednesday—Monday, 10am—6pm.

Tickets:
adult: $20:00
seniors (over 65): $15:00
students with valid I.D.: $15:00
children ages 6-17: $12.50
under age 6 free with adult admission
Get tickets online. Groups of guests are allowed inside in 15-minute intervals, so it’s possible for the museum to sell out during the time you want to go – or at least force a long wait.

Location:
104 Montgomery Street
The Presidio of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA 94129

Murals are like peeking into someone’s front window and getting a glimpse of their life: a community remembering it’s past or documenting a political struggle or just bringing beauty to a desolate alley. And the incredible public works of art throughout San Francisco are no exception.

Here are few ideas to get you started….remember, there are reportedly over 600 murals in the City!

Diego Rivera Murals
The most famous of the San Francisco murals is located at The Art Institute of San Francisco, 800 Chestnut Street, open 8am to 9pm daily. “The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City” (1931) is one of 4 murals in the Bay Area painted by Mexican artist Diego Rivera.

Another commissioned mural (in 1940) is the “Pan-American Unity Mural” depicting the marriage of North and South American artistic expression. This notable mural is displayed at its permanent located in the Diego Rivera Theater at San Francisco City College, Ocean Avenue campus.

The Women’s Building Mural
3543 18th Street
This amazing mural was painted in 1994 by Juana Alicia, Miranda Bergman, Edythe Boone, Susan Kelk Cervantes, Meera Desai, Yvonne Littleton and Irene Perez, and many helpers. Covering two exterior walls, “Maestrapeace” is as educational as it is inspirational and serves as a visual testament to the courageous contributions of women through time and around the world. It wraps around the entire building depicting famous women such as Audre Lorde, Georgia O’Keefe, and Rigoberta Menchu. In addition, female icons such as Quan Yin, Yemeyah, and Coyoxauqui lend a timeless and spiritual element to the design.

Coit Tower Murals
Telegraph Hill Blvd.
Public Works Art Project (PWAP, part of the New Deal during the Great Depression) murals, now protected as a historical treasure, can be viewed daily inside the first floor of Coit Tower. These Diego Rivera-inspired murals, many depicting the struggles of working class Americans, were completed in 1933-34. Most murals are done in fresco; the exceptions are one mural done in egg tempera (upstairs, in the last decorated room) and the works done in the elevator foyer, which are oil on canvas. While most of the murals have been restored, a small segment (the spiral stairway exit to the observation platform) was not restored but durably painted over with epoxy surfacing. San Francisco City Guides, a free walking tour of Coit Tower every Saturday at 11:00 AM, gives visitors access to the spiral stairway and second floor murals.

Balmy Alley
Between 24th & 25th St. (south of Folsom Street)
Running straight into a park in a balmy section of San Francisco, this highly political and sometimes whimsical alley started in 1971 and fills the newly cobble-stoned street with Latino and South American murals portraying images of political strife, artistic movements and cultural heroes. Precita Eyes Mural Arts runs walking tours daily throughout the year.

Clarion Alley
One block over from 17th Street between Valencia & Mission
Directly inspired by the mural cluster in Balmy Alley but instead of choosing a single theme focusing on the two goals of social inclusiveness and aesthetic variety. As a result CAMP (Clarion Alley Mural Project) has produced more than 100 murals on and around Clarion Alley by Latino, Caucasian, African-American, Native American, Asian, Indian, Queer and disabled artists of all ages and all levels of experience, with an emphasis on emerging artists and new styles.

Market Street Railway Mural
300 Church Street @ 15th Street in the Castro District
This mural is 12′ high x 38′ wide and the view…..is like taking a walk in the sky and looking at time travel on Market Street from the 1920s to the future. You will appreciate the artist’s sense of humor in many of the details. The artist is Mona Caron, a Swiss-born illustrator. She describes the mural as “a 180-degree bird’s eye view of San Francisco’s Market Street through time”.

This is the perfect chance to catch the newest David Mamet comedy or see the legendary Olympia Dukakis perform or to finally experience live theater, as The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) extends its brand-new 10UP sale program following the huge success for the season opener, Brief Encounter.

$10 second balcony tickets are available to the first 10 performances along with happy hour discounts on drinks for the whole 2009-10 season (excluding
A Christmas Carol). Along with the discounted ticket price, for those 10 performances A.C.T.’s beautiful Sky Bar will open one hour before curtain with happy hour drink discounts on signature cocktails, beer, and wine, making A.C.T. the most affordable and fun entertainment option in the Bay Area.

For more information and to purchase 10UP tickets, visit act-sf.org/10up.