Two Art Shows at Oakland's pt.2 Gallery Mesmerize and Delight

I have two recommendations for you that should be super easy to accomplish in one go. That’s because they’re in the same Oakland gallery on Webster Street called pt. 2.The first is a solo show by Kelly Ording called Reading Palms. The second show is another solo, this one from Angela Hennessy, who …

The Tragic History of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Today, 20 miles south of Half Moon Bay, there stands one of the tallest lighthouses in America. It's been there since 1872, has saved countless lives on the California coastline — but it also stands as a monument to a series of tragic shipwrecks.

Rebel Girls: The Dancer Who Helped Start the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast Program

In 1968, Ruth Beckford was known around the Bay Area for her exceptional dance skills. One year later, she had helped launch the Black Panther's Free Breakfast program in Oakland. The program soon became mandatory in all Black Panther chapters nationwide.

Haight Street Exhibit Features Stunning Posters Made by Female Artists

In 1967, Bonnie MacLean started designing and creating posters for The Fillmore in San Francisco. MacLean’s images encompassed elements of art nouveau, psychedelia and hippie culture. A new exhibit at the Haight Street Art Center features MacLean's art alongside more than 200 stunning posters by fe…

SF Symphony Brings Prometheus to Life with Lights and Smells

119 years after his death, the San Francisco Symphony is undertaking one of composer Alexander Scriabin’s most dramatic works — Prometheus, The Poem of Fire. To bring Scriabin’s vision to life, the inside of Davies Symphony Hall will be illuminated with lights of various colors to match the music. …

Audium Residency Brings New Voices to Ultra Surround Sound

Since 2022, Audium has hosted an annual residency for artists to create new pieces for the theater’s ultra-surround sound system. Audium: New Voices III, opening Feb. 8, is the culmination of the latest residency, featuring live performances of new work from three local sound artists: Roco Córdova,…

Don Bugito is Making Tasty Edible Insect Snacks in San Mateo

If you live in the Bay Area, you probably don’t think of crickets and mealworms as snacks. That’s because munching on insects isn’t particularly accessible or socially commonplace for most Californians. But with her snack company, Don Bugito, Monica Martinez is modernizing the Mesoamerican insect d…

‘Chain-Gang All-Stars’ Author Talks Abolition and Sci-Fi at Oakland Arts & Lectures

Author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah will soon come to the Bay Area for the first event of a new speaker series called Oakland Arts & Lectures, which kicks off February 4 at Oakstop.  He’ll be in conversation with Isis Asare of Sistah Scifi, an online bookstore and platform that centers Black and Indige…

Expect Large Crowds for the Castro Theatre's Final Month of Films

The time has come: the Castro Theatre will close in early February for renovations. Over the next year or so, concert promoters Another Planet Entertainment will replace the historic movie palace’s classic raked theatrical seating with flat tiers better suited to standing-room concerts. 

East Oakland's Anime-Loving Rapper, 1100 Himself, Is Up Next

Put plainly: 1100 Himself — the ethereal, laidback lyricist whose drill raps embody East Oakland’s precariousness — is built different. Earlier this year, 1100 dropped 1300 My Cousin, a project that solidified his status as a rising talent whose rhymes conjure futuristic, gangster film noir. And mo…