San Francisco is My Home

27
Mar

The Legion of Honor

Author: kris, Category: Museums

I went to the Legion of Honor today to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibit. I always forget that the Legion is there, wonderful, waiting with hushed halls of art whenever I want it. (And free on the first Tuesday of each month, except for special exhibits.) The exhibit is great — actually, the non-celebrity photos turned out to be way more interesting than the high-gloss snapshots of the rich and famous — but the best part of any visit to the Legion is wandering the normal art afterwards.

I like the gorgeous furniture pieces they have displayed here and there throughout the maze of rooms that house the artworks. I like the grounds, manicured and smattered with statues. I even like the overpriced cafeteria, an important part of any museum visit. And I like leaving the museum and driving the quiet, winding streets back through the ritzy Sea Cliff neighborhood where all the most gorgeous homes are.

I recommend both a visit to this museum and seeing the special exhibit. But be warned: go early! The school field trips start showing up around noon and things get crazy and crowded.

24
Mar

Photo show at the Legion of Honor

Author: kris, Category: Celebrities, Events, Museums

If you need more eye candy in your life, then…you probably don’t live in the Castro. Anyway, the solution for this is a trip to the Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005 exhibit at the Legion of Honor. This show is padded with images of all the loveliest celebrities in famously sexed-up poses; the perfect thing to spice up a dreary work week. Check it out any time between now and May 25.

20
Mar

Exhibits at the Conservatory of Flowers

Author: kris, Category: Golden Gate Park, Kids, Museums, Nature

The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park has two exhibits going on right now. I saw both yesterday (ever your faithful correspondent, I go see pretty floral stuff in the middle of the workday so you don’t have to) and I can say with confidence that they are awesome.

First off is The Butterfly Zone. Now, I am not normally a girl who will cheerfully walk into a room full of giant flying insects, but somehow butterflies are different. I am still a little jumpy when they land on me, but my yen to be surrounded by pretty pretty colors overcomes — just barely — my aversion to things flying at my face. Butterfly Zone is an exhibit all about butterflies, as you might imagine, and includes tons of information on their lives and habits, none of which I paid any attention to. Instead, I sat on one of the benches and watched the many pretty little guys fluttering around the plants and flowers and occasionally coming to check out my shoulder blades and hair. This exhibit is good for kids, but very young kids will want to touch the butterflies, which is bad for them.

This exhibit runs through November 2. You can also check out their Night Safaris, where you get a different butterfly experience. Check the website for details.

Photo by Ron Lewis.

On the other side of the Conservatory (where you’ll find the secret passage to the Lounge), The Art of Penjing resides peacefully among the water plants. This ancient Chinese art consists of creating elaborate miniature landscapes of plants, wood and stone, with a few tiny houses and people in boats thrown in. (Incidentally, do you ever hear anyone talking about a modern Chinese art? Whenever you say “Chinese art,” you feel compelled to throw in an “ancient,” right? Weird.)

I love miniatures. I always have, since I was a little girl. I love elaborate dollhouses filled with sliver-sized spoons and knives no bigger than a freckle. I love books about tiny people or miniatures that come to life (The Indian in the Cupboard, Mistress Masham’s Repose, The Littles). And so I found these carefully constructed landscapes completely enthralling. The care that’s taken to choose the little plants that look like towering trees, the ones that look like pussy willows along the bank, and the tiny tiny blossoms blooming on hillsides — it’s unreal. Plus, there are itty bitty insects in there that were fluttering among the “trees” like birds. It was really enchanting. Top marks from me.

The Art of Penjing runs through April 27. Your Conservatory ticket will get you into both shows as well as the bulk of the Conservatory itself. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for students, $1.50 for kids under 11 and free for kids under 4. Enjoy!

13
Mar

Where we came from, where we’re going

Author: kris, Category: Museums

As a city, we define ourselves by our disasters and our idealism. People date things by the Great Fire and the Loma Prieta earthquake, by the Summer of Love and the time when the Beats held court. No one seems to be dating things by the recent oil spill yet, but I have high hopes we’re not going to just forget about that, all evidence to the contrary.

I’m thinking about this today because I’m reading Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile which is set, surprise, in Egypt.

” ‘If there were only any peace in Egypt I should like it better,’ said Mrs. Allerton. ‘But you can never be alone anywhere — some one is always pestering you for money, or offering you donkeys, or beads, or expeditions to native villages, or duck shooting.’ ”

The book was written in 1937, and accurately describes the experience my fellow had in Egypt in 2004. (Except the duck shooting, I don’t know what that’s about.) In this one aspect, at least (the relationship between Egyptians and tourists), Cairo hasn’t changed, and that’s interesting. Do they define themselves by their unchanging-ness, as we define ourselves by our changes? Then again, perhaps someone who visited our Pier 39 in 1937 would find it familiar today as well. I wonder.

It is because I wonder that I plan to visit the San Francisco History Center. It’s full of old photos and documents dealing with our past, and, well, I’m curious. If you, too, are curious as to what, if any, progress we’ve made as a city, you should check this out. It’s located in the Main Library, but the hours of the photo collection are kind of weird, so check before you go.

25
Jan

Life in the Rain

Author: kris, Category: Museums

It’s going to keep on raining all next week. Maybe forever. However, we cannot let the rain force us to hide in our houses — well, YOU can’t. I completely can; I work from home, after all. But for everyone else, life must go on. In keeping with this philosophy, I will from time to time present Stuff You Can Do While It Is Raining.

Here is one such stuff: visit the Randall Museum. You can see live animals, learn about natural history, find out about earthquakes, take classes, play in a treehouse (if you are a toddler), and right now the whole lobby has been converted into a giant labyrinth.

I also have an anecdote about this. My lovely British friend was here on a long visit last year, and looking for some museum work to plump up her resume and put her art history degree to work. She applied for and was granted an internship at the Randall, and was very excited — until her first day, when she discovered part of her job would consist of holding the tarantula. She eventually wound up working at the De Young.

At any rate, the Randall is open 10 - 5, Tuesday through Saturday, and admission is free. You don’t have to hold the tarantula unless you work there.

14
Jan

Science: not just for the nerds anymore

Author: kris, Category: Museums

I almost went to the Exploratorium yesterday. This would probably be a better post if I’d actually gone, but we ran out of time. No science for us. Still, I was reminded that it exists and I thought I’d do the same for you.

The Exploratorium is a great big warehouse full of hands-on stuff that they tell me has some relation to science. All I hear is blah blah blah giant bubbles. The science is not strong with me, but even I love a room full of fun science experiments. Freeze your shadow in the shadow box or holler down the length of the echo tube. Or just run around like a crazy kid, too excitable to sit still at any one experiment.

Added bonus: you get to wander through the Palace of Fine Arts, home of a scene from So I Married an Axe Murderer, my after-prom party 11 years ago, and, of course, fine art.

28
Nov

A day in the Park

Author: kris, Category: Landmarks, Museums, Nature

Today is one of those perfect days when all the city’s microclimates agree with one another and it is sunny everywhere. My dad and I had lunch at the cafe attached to the De Young Museum, which has a nice outdoor patio facing a small lawn dotted with sculptures and toddlers running circles around their parents. (Lest you get a screeching, Disneyland vibe from it, let me clarify that there were only a few kids, all adorable and none screaming, and the general vibe is very calm.) The food is way better than what you’d find at an average museum cafeteria, and you can buy beer, wine and champagne along with standard sodas and hot drinks.

Afterwards, stroll across the street and wander through the Botanical Gardens, which are full of Zen-ish little nooks and crannies decorated with benches and brooks.

12
Nov

Da Vinci at the Metreon

Author: kris, Category: Museums

If you like art but not museums, you might check out the Da Vinci exhibit that’s currently showing at the Metreon downtown.

I myself do like museums, some of them, but I find the standing and the slow shuffle and the crowds can be mighty wearying, to say nothing of walking through rooms full of art you don’t understand before you reach some art that moves you. Ok, I am a Philistine.

Still, the Metreon is not really synonymous with culture or quality control. I actually refuse to see movies there because they show so many commercials beforehand, and while it was owned by Sony there were something like two boring floors devoted to Sony products — not in a cool way, you understand, but in a desultory, static, couple-of-cases-holding-robot-toys way.

This exhibit promises to be “interactive and experiential,” which probably means Da Vinci’s works will be “re-imagined” into short videos and hands-on stuff for the kids. Still, it might not be the worst way to introduce your child to fine art, especially if you can’t afford the plane fare to France.

28
Sep

Drive it again for the first time

Author: kris, Category: Landmarks, Museums

In a globally warming world, it’s getting harder to enthuse over the rounded, gleaming, gas-guzzling lines of classic cars. But the Academy of Art’s classic car museum has a cure for that. Students at the Academy study the gorgeous, classic designs, and apply what they’ve learned to new designs for eco-friendly autos.

Whether you’re green with environmental do-gooding, or just green with envy, the Classic Car Museum is worth a visit.