"Quotation Marks"

There is a new exhibit to see in the Art, Music and Recreation Center!

When:

Saturday, 11/07/15 - Thursday, 1/28/16

Where:

Art, Music & Recreation Center
Main Library
100 Larkin St.
SF, CA 94102

"Quotation Marks"

The members of Plexus Art Group make art that sheds light on social and political issues.  Their goals are multifaceted in that they hope to heighten the value of books, stories and words to the patrons of the library, as well as show that art, inspired by books and quotes, can highlight important social issues, such as literacy.  Art-inspired quotes can stimulate new ideas and creative thinking for all ages.

This show, "Quotation Marks", was approached from two different, but related angles: Each member chose an individual quote and created an artwork inspired by it.  Additionally, using one particular quote as inspiration, "BOOKS ARE A UNIQUELY PORTABLE MAGIC" by Stephen King, each artist picked a specific book about which they made a  12"x12" art piece.  Utilizing a multiplicity of techniques and materials, including thread, fabric, wire, paper, re-purposed objects, photographs, etc, they create two and three-dimensional artwork, reflecting varying interpretations from personal to metaphoric.

The group was formed 7 years ago and all of its members reside in the Bay Area.

Dirty Laundry

Pamela Leith

Vintage tablecloth and napkins, embroidery, metal plates

"Who has the highest incarceration rate?  America."

The Days of Yay are Here!  Wake Me Up When They're Over"  by Jared Kintz

Forever Free  

Juline Beier

Thread, wire, paper, beeswax and found objects

"Once you learn to read, you are forever free."   Frederick Douglass

Books from the San Francisco Public Library you may enjoy:

Adventures in mixed media : collage, stitch, fuse, and journal your way to a more creative life / Jane Davies. 

Art journal art journey : collage and storytelling for honoring your creative process / artist, Nichole Rae.

The art of whimsical lettering / Joanne Sharpe.

An artist once said : an inspiration book / Hannah Rollings.

An artist's book of inspiration : a collection of thoughts on art, artists, and creativity / compiled and edited by Astrid Fitzgerald.

The cloth paper scissors book : techniques and inspiration for creating mixed-media art / [edited by] Barbara Delaney.

Creative lettering and beyond : inspiring tips, techniques, and ideas for hand-lettering your way to beautiful works of art / Gabri Joy Kirkendall, Laura Lavender, Julie Manwaring, Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn.

Journal fodder 365 : daily doses of inspiration for the art addict / by Eric M. Scott and David R. Modler.

Lutradur and the new fibers : creating mixed-media art with spunbonded materials / Wendy Cotterill.

Season of the Witch Playlist - Music from the 60's, 70's and 80's!

The years between 1965 and 1985 were a tumultuous and often dark time in San Francisco history.  In this year's One City One Book selection, Season of the Witch, author David Talbot uses a backdrop of local music to delve deep into the heart of this extraordinary era of social and political unrest.

From Santana and Jefferson Airplane's appearance at the late 1960's Altamont Free Concert where a young African-American male was murdered, to punk rocker Jello Biafra's mayoral bid shortly after the assassinations of both Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone, local music provided an unsentimental soundtrack.

The Art, Music & Recreation Center of the San Francisco Public Library is delighted to display some of our collection's ephemera and book images of the music that is featured in this remarkable publication. Inspired by the author's "playlist", materials culled include everything from rock posters that are on loan from the San Francisco History Center, to newspaper clippings that are stored in our department's vertical files. Images will be on display in the glass display cases on both sides of the Fourth Floor elevator lobby until January 28, 2016.

The hyperlinks below will lead you to our catalog showing the Library's holdings for an artist.

Season of the Witch Playlist: The David Talbot's Best Songs Recorded by San Francisco Bands, 1965-1985


The Ace of Cups - "Circles”

The Beau Brummels -“Just a Little,” “Laugh Laugh, ”“Sometime at Night”

Big Brother and theHolding Company  - “Call on Me,” "Combination of the Two,” “Farewell Song,” “Piece of My Heart”

Creedence ClearwaterRevival  - “As Long as I Can See the Light,” “Fortunate Son,” “Walk on the Water”

The Dead Kennedys  - “Holiday in Cambodia”

The Flamin’ Groovies  - “Shake Some Action,” “Slow Death”

The Grateful Dead  - “Box of Rain,” “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion),” “New Speedway Boogie,” “Ripple,” “Uncle John’s Band”

The Great Society - “Grimly Forming,” “Trieulogy”

The JeffersonAirplane - “It’s No Secret,” “Lather,” “Law Man.” “Somebody to Love,” “Today,” “White Rabbit”

Jorma Kaukonen - “Genesis”

Lee Michaels - “Heighty Hi,” “What Now America”

Moby Grape - “8:05,” “Going Nowhere,” “I Am Not Willing,” “Naked, If I Want To,” “Omaha,” “Sitting by the Window”

The Mojo Men - “Sit Down, I Think I Love You”

Romeo Void - “Never Say Never”

Santana - “Samba Pa Ti”

Skip Spence - “Diana”

Tracy Nelson and Mother Earth - “Down So Low,” “Seven Bridges Road”

Translator - “Everywhere That I’m Not”

The Vejtables - “I Still Love You”

The Youngbloods - “Darkness, Darkness,” “Get Together”

Aurora Mandolin Orchestra, November 8, 2015 concert

The Aurora Mandolin Orchestra will perform for the 8^th consecutive year in the Koret Auditorium on Sunday, November 8^th, from 2-4pm. The Orchestra is composed of both professional and amateur musicians playing mandolin, mandola, Mandocello, guitar, string bass, accordion, flute and percussion. Their wide ranging repertoire includes semi-classical pieces from Spain, Italy and Russia and popular and contemporary tunes. The soprano, Susanna Uher Jimenez will also join them for several songs.

All Library programs are free and open to the public.  This program is supported by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

The World of Film and Opera - La Bohème

According to one view, La Boheme may be the world’s most famous opera. San Francisco Public Library’s Art&Music&Recreation Department is pleased to continue its partnership with the Merola Opera Program and screen La Boheme on November 15, 2015, as part of Merola Goes to theMovies series. 

Based on a novel, the opera was composed by Giacomo Puccini as it opened in Turin in February 1, 1896. The popularity of La Boheme eclipsed Puccini’s earlier operatic works.

                                                         

The Romanian-born Austrian Director Robert Dornhelm directed the opera for the film version on the composer’s 150th birth anniversary. Often referred to as the golden couple of the opera, Rolando Villazon and Anna Netrebko play the protagonists, Rodolfo and Mimi, of La Boheme.

The opera opens with a poet (Rodolfo), a musician, a painter, and philosopher sharing a tiny hole in Paris’ Latin Quarter. The young Mimi, the neighbor, suffers from tuberculosis. Rodolfo and Mimi fall in love before things get complicated, with tragedy at the end. 

San Francisco Public Library carries in its collection several books, not to mention DVDs and CDS,  with regards to the opera La Boheme which will interest readers should they want to learn more about the world of opera, the legendary composer Puccini, and the world of La Boheme.

We suggest the following titles:

Letters of Giacomo Puccini: Mainly Connected with the Composition and Production of his Operas (Harrap, 1974).

Losing the Plot in Opera: Myths and Secrets of the World's Great Operas by Brian Castles-Onion (Metro, 2009).

Puccini: His Life and Works by Julian Budden (Oxford University Press, 2002).

Puccini Without Excuses: A Refreshing Reassessment of the World's Most popular Composer by William Berger (Vintage Books, 2005).

The Romantic World of Puccini: A New Critical Appraisal of the Operas by Iris J. Arnesen (McFarland & Co., 2009).

10 Operatic Masterpieces, designed by Merle Armitage; text by Olin Downes (Broadcast Music; G. Ricordi; Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952).

Beautiful Chaos: A Life in the Theater

A book reading and signing with Carey Perloff, the artistic director of the American Conservatory Theater

"With more than 20 years at the helm of a cultural legacy, Perloff's personal and professional journey, her life as a woman, a wife and mother, a playwright, director, producer, arts advocate, and citizen in a city erupting with enormous change is a compelling, entertaining story for anyone interested in how theater gets made, and its role in our future"-- provided by publisher, City Lights

Come hear the A.C.T.'s artistic director, Carey Perloff, read excerpts from her new book Beautiful Chaos: a life in the theater.  There will be a Q&A session and book signing after the reading. Books will be available for purchase through Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

Tuesday, October 20th, 2015, 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Latino Hispanic Community Meeting Room

Main Library - Lower Level

All programs at the Library are free. Supported by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

know your SFPL call numbers - 795 "Games of Chance"

image source: Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards, by William Andrew Chatto (J. R. Smith, 1848).

Within the broader subject of recreation there is a specific Dewey Decimal number for games of chance.  These include dice games, wheel games, counter games, and card games.

Here is a fine breakdown of the call number 795.

795 - Gambling -- this number also includes casino gambling (some older books on other games of chance were classed here before the call number was broken down into decimal divisions); includes works focused on betting systems and odds (795.01).

795.1 - Games with dice -- including craps (795.12), and backgammon (795.15).  Although board games frequently employ dice, they are usually given a indoor games of skill - 794 - call number.

795.2 - Wheel and top games -- including pinball, roulette (795.23), and slot machines (795.27).

795.3 - Games dependent on drawing numbers or counters - including bingo, dominoes and pai gow (795.32), mah jong (795.34), and lotteries (795.38).

795.4 - Card games -- there are books that are vast compendiums of card games as well as numbers for specific games including poker (795.412), contract bridge (795.415), blackjack (795.423), and solitaire (795.43).  Card tricks were formerly found in 795.43, but are now located with magic books (795.85).