San Francisco - Alison Bing [79]
MISSION DOLORES PARK Map
Dolores St, btwn 18th & 20th Sts; 14, 22, 33, 49, J; 16th St Mission;
The site of quasi-professional Castro tanning contests, free performances by the San Francisco Mime Troupe (see the boxed text), a small kids’ playground, free movies on summer nights and a Hunky Jesus Contest every Easter, this sloping park is also beloved for its year-round political protests and other favorite local sports. Flat patches are generally reserved for soccer games, candlelight vigils and ultimate Frisbee, and the tennis courts and basketball hoops are open to all.
BALMY ALLEY Map
btwn 24th & 25th Sts; 9, 27, 33, 48; 24th St Mission
Inspired by local Diego Rivera and WPA murals, and outraged by US foreign policy in Central America, Mission activist artists set out in the 1970s to transform the political landscape, one mural-covered garage door at a time. Balmy Alley became a site for inquiring minds, with historic early works by muralist groups such as the Mujeres Muralistas (Women Muralists) and Placa (meaning ‘mark-making’) transforming fences and garages into artistic statements.
Today, Precita Eyes restores these murals, commissions new ones by rising San Francisco artists and leads muralist-led tours that cover 75 Mission murals within an eight-block radius of Balmy Alley. On November 1, the annual Mission parade Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead; ) begins here.
826 VALENCIA Map
415-642-5905; www.826valencia.com; 826 Valencia St; noon-6pm; 14, 26, 33, 49;
‘No buccaneers! No geriatrics!’ warns the sign above the vat of sand where kids gleefully rummage for buried pirates’ booty. The treasures are theirs for the taking, if they offer barter for it at the front counter – a song, perhaps, or a knock-knock joke.
This eccentric nonprofit Pirate Supply Store selling eye patches, scoops from an actual tub o’ lard, and McSweeney’s literary magazines is the front for a nonprofit offering free writing workshops and tutoring for youth, plus the occasional adult program on starting a magazine and scripting video games (check website for listings). Step behind the velvet curtain into the Fish Theater, where a bug-eyed puffer fish is immersed in Method acting. The ichthyoid antics may not be quite up to Sean Penn standards, but as the sign says, ‘Please don’t judge the fish.’
CLARION ALLEY Map
btwn 17th & 18th Sts, off Valencia St; 14, 22, 26, 33, 49; 16th St Mission
Trial by fire is nothing compared to Clarion Alley’s street-art test: unless a piece is truly inspired, it’s going to get peed on or painted over. Very few pieces survive for years – Andrew Schoultz’s mural of gentrifying elephants displacing scraggly birds, a silhouette of kung-fu-fighting female anarchists that makes Charlie’s Angels look like chumps, and a trompe l’oeil escalator. Incontinent art critics seem to have taken over the east end of the alley – pee-eew! – so the less aromatic, more intricate murals are on the west.
CREATIVITY EXPLORED Map
415-863-2108; www.creativityexplored.org; 3245 16th St; donations welcome; 10am-3pm Mon-Fri, until 7pm Thu, 1-6pm Sat; 14, 22, 33, 49, J; 16th St Mission
Brave new worlds are captured in celebrated artworks that have appeared in museum retrospectives, major collections, even on Marc Jacobs clutches (Click here) – all by local developmentally disabled artists. Intriguing themed shows reveal fresh perspectives on themes ranging from jazz to alien life forms, and openings are joyous celebrations with the artists and their families.
CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS Map
1-800-447-1278; www.cca.edu; 1111 8th St at 16th St; admission free; gallery 11am-7pm Tue & Thu, to 6pm Wed, Fri & Sat; 19, 22, 33
A generous endowment and big-name curators allow the Wattis Institute to take on ambitious, sweeping shows like ‘Americana: 50 States, 50 Months, 50 Exhibitions,’ which runs through 2012 in a high-concept road trip from