Posts Tagged ‘contemporary’
Thursday, September 20th, 2012
See?
“Yerba Buena Family Day is downtown San Francisco’s biggest daylong family block party with free admission to four leading museums including
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,
Contemporary Jewish Museum,
Museum of the African Diaspora, and
Children’s Creativity Museum
plus a huge array of special art activities for kids and free performances on two big stages courtesy of Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.”
See you there!
And here’s the full sked for our Museum of the African Diaspora:
“Yerba Buena Family Day presented by Target
Sunday September 23, 2012
11:00 am – 5:00 pm
FREE ADMISSION
Five of San Francisco’s top cultural destinations including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Museum of the African Diaspora, Children’s Creativity Museum and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival welcome families with a full day of free admission, hands-on art making and special family-friendly performances. It’s an unprecedented opportunity for people of all ages to experience all that downtown San Francisco’s Yerba Buena arts district has to offer.
Here at MoAD we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Music Across the Diaspora from Puerto Rico, Peru and Mexico.
11-5pm | Tour the exhibition Choose Paint! Choose Abstraction!: Celebrating Bay Area Abstract Artists
11-5pm | Experience Music from the Diaspora featuring films from Peru and Mexico in the Celebration Circle
11-5pm | View Henry Louis Gates’ documentary film Black in Latin America in the Wells Fargo Heritage Center
11-1pm | Hear the African Drumming Ensemble for a performance outside of MoAD
12-4pm | Create a Painting with Music in the 3rd Floor Education Center
1-2pm & 4-5pm | Come to a family friendly workshop and performance with Afro Puerto-Rican band Los Pleneros de la 21 in the 2nd floor MoAD Salon
1-3pm | Sidewalk Chalk Art with Jamie Treacy in front of MoAD”
Tags: 2012, admission, bay area, california, CCM, children's creativity museum, contemporary, contemporary jewish museum, day, Family, free, Jewish Museum, jewmu, kids, market, moad, museum, museum of the african diaspora, San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, September 23rd, sfmoma, soma, south, stores, street, sunday, target
Posted in events | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
This isn’t for me, but maybe it’s for you.
Presenting “ZERO1 Biennial, Seeking Silicon Valley”
This’ll take place mostly in the San Hoser area, but they’ll have stuff up here in the 415 as well.
All the deets below and after the jump.
And here’s the highlight of the show:
San Francisco designer known as ISHKY is creating a spectacular public artwork called Pi in the Sky. Sending five synchronized skywriting planes on a two hour journey across the Bay Area – over a pantheon of mathematically inclined institutions: NASA Ames, Livermore Labs, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Google, Facebook, Twitter and Apple – Pi in the Sky will fill the blue expanse with streams of numbers, 3.14159265… The planes, which will be released sometime during the opening weekend of the Biennial when the weather is optimal, will be equipped with dot-matrix skywriting technology that produces numbers nearly a quarter-mile tall.
Look to the Skies for Signs and Wonders
ZERO1 Biennial
Seeking Silicon Valley
September 12 – December 8, 2012
August 2012, San Jose, CA – ZERO1: The Art & Technology Network is pleased to announce schedule highlights for the 2012 ZERO1 Biennial, one of the world’s only Biennials to focus on the convergence of contemporary art and technology, taking place in Silicon Valley, around the Bay Area, and beyond this September 12 to December 8.
Inviting more than 150 artists from over 13 countries, the 2012 ZERO1 Biennial will present works at the forefront of media art – collaborating with local, regional, national and international cultural institutions and iconic Silicon Valley companies to showcase three months of exhibitions, events, and performances – in museums and galleries, in skywriting above San Francisco, in the streets and storefronts of Silicon Valley, on iPads and smartphones, and across the World Wide Web.
The 2012 ZERO1 Biennial theme and the core Biennial exhibition, Seeking Silicon Valley, was inspired by Silicon Valley’s globally renowned reputation as the hub of high-tech entrepreneurial innovation and networked creativity, as much as from the region’s conspicuous lack of publicly accessible features including borders, a defining architecture, a singular culture, and a cohesive sense of place. Biennial artists and the Biennial’s partnering organizations have been charged with articulating the2012 theme Seeking Silicon Valley in all of the showcased performances, exhibitions, events and panels.
For three months throughout the Bay Area the Biennial will feature installations, interactive media, sculptures, online works, videos and performances by artists who are utilizing technology to create contemporary art in original and provocative ways. The lineup of Biennial artists for 2012 include such notable art world figures as Lynn Hershman Leeson, whose new cinematic installationPresent Tense – examining the human effects of global water toxicity and including high definition videos of babies swimming under water – will debut as part of the Biennial’s main exhibition,Seeking Silicon Valley. Partnering with eBay Inc., Jer Thorp, the New York Times’ lauded Data Artist in Residence, and Columbia professor Mark Hansen have been commissioned to create a data-driven work. The public can view the piece – which ties excerpts from classic literature to eBay listings and transactions – as it is projected on the Internet giant’s North Campus entrance starting September 12, 2012 when the Biennial launches.
Like all of the artworks in this uniquely collaborative Biennial – a dynamic network of shows and events involving an established and esteemed group of cultural partners, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Stanford University Institute for Creativity and the Arts,New York’s Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, Russia’s Ural Industrial Biennial, and the South Korean biennial Media City Seoul – the eBay Inc. installation was inspired by the 2012 Biennial theme Seeking Silicon Valley.
“Silicon Valley is an idea as much as a place,” says Biennial Lead Curator and ZERO1’s Director of Programs Jaime Austin. “Renowned globally as a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation, Silicon Valley is notoriously difficult to experience. More than a specific location it is a network of freeways, technologies, companies, and relationships connected in a complex physical and virtual web. Modeling this networked nature, the 2012 ZERO1 Biennial is a network of curators from different countries bringing a global perspective to the Biennial exhibition, a network of contemporary artists sharing and presenting work, as well as a network of Biennial partners presenting exhibitions, events and performances connecting Silicon Valley and beyond.”
(more…)
Tags: 1, 2012, 3.14, apple, art, Art & Technology Network, ARTHERE, artists, Biennial, Biennials, Christopher Haas, contemporary, December 8, Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, facebook, Future Cities Lab, google, ISHKY, Jae Rhim Lee, Jer Thorp, Livermore Labs, Lucas Bambozzi, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Mark Hansen, Maurice Benayoun, Media City Seoul, Michael Najjar, NASA Ames, Nelly Ben Hayoun, pi, Pi in the Sky, pie in the sky, Rebar, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, san hoser, san jose, schedule, Seeking Silicon Valley, September 12, Shu Lea Cheang, silicon valley, Stanford University, Stanford University Institute for Creativity and the Arts, technology, twitter, uc berkeley, Ural Industrial Biennial, zero, ZERO1
Posted in art | No Comments »
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
This is it: 2012 is the year to impress your Valentine’s Day date by attending a showing of the vaunted, world-class San Francisco Ballet for less than what it cost you to see Transformers III: Dark of the Moon at the AMC.
Check it:
“Our gift to you: we’re offering 2-for-1 ballet tickets for Valentine’s Day! Be quick as these WILL sell out!”
So there you go. Type in the secret code and then all the available seats you can see will be marked down – for example Balcony
Center tickets will cost you just $30 a pair.
ZOMG!
Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin in Wheeldon’s Number Nine. © Erik Tomasson
You’re going to be seeing Program 2, which is contemporary ballet so there’s no need to study up on the plot first – just get you ticks and go.
“Join San Francisco Ballet for the return of Wayne McGregor’s stunning Chroma, an award-winning contemporary work proclaimed “ravishing on all fronts” by theSunday Times (UK), set to music compositions by Joby Talbot and arrangements by Jack White III. The evening also features Beaux, a world premiere work by acclaimed choreographer Mark Morris, and an encore presentation of Christopher Wheeldon’s breathtaking Number Nine, featuring a large ensemble of 24 dancers and set to an exhilarating score by Michael Torke.
Read the program notes.
The 2011 world premiere of Number Nine was made possible by Lead Sponsors Shelby and Frederick Gans, David and Kelsey Lamond, and Mr. and Mrs. James N. Sullivan, and by Major Sponsors Rosemary B. Baker, and Jennifer Caldwell and John H. N. Fisher, and by Sponsors Courtney Benoist and Jason M. Fish. The 2012 world premiere of Beaux is made possible by Lead Sponsors Mrs. Suzy Kellems Dominik and The Bernard Osher Foundation.”
See you there!
PROGRAM 2: OPENING NIGHT – Tuesday, February 14 – 8:00PM
Chroma
Choreographer: Wayne McGregor
Composer: Joby Talbot, Jack White III
Conductor: Martin West
Maria Kochetkova, Jaime Garcia Castilla
Frances Chung, Pascal Molat
Yuan Yuan Tan, Taras Domitro
Dana Genshaft, Anthony Spaulding
Isaac Hernandez, Garen Scribner
INTERMISSION
World Premiere
Beaux
Choreographer: Mark Morris
Composer: Bohuslav Martinů
Conductor: Martin West
Harpsichord: Bradley Moore
Jeremy Rucker*, Pascal Molat*, Benjamin Stewart*
Vito Mazzeo*, Ruben Martin Cintas*, Gennadi Nedvigin*
Sean Bennett*, Jaime Garcia Castilla*, Diego Cruz*
INTERMISSION
Number Nine©
Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon
Composer: Michael Torke
Conductor: Charles Barker
Dores Andre, Daniel Deivison-Oliveira
Vanessa Zahorian, Garen Scribner
Sarah Van Patten, Ruben Martin Cintas,
Sofiane Sylve*, Vito Mazzeo*
*Denotes premiere in role
In the event of injury or illness, casting is subject to change
Tags: Anthony Spaulding, Ballet, Beaux, Benjamin Stewart, Bernard Osher, Bernard Osher Foundation, Bohuslav Martinů, Bradley Moore, casting, Charles Barker, Choreographer, choreography, Christopher Wheeldon, civic center, Composer, Conductor, contemporary, Courtney Benoist, Cox Broadcasting, Dana Genshaft, Dance, Daniel Deivison-Oliveira, David Lamond, Diego Cruz, Dores Andre, erik tomasson, Foundation, Frances Chung, Frederick Gans, Garen Scribner, Gennadi Nedvigin, Harpsichord, Helgi Tomasson, iii, Isaac Hernandez, Jack White, Jaime Garcia Castilla, James N. Sullivan, James Sullivan, Jason Fish, Jason M. Fish, Jennifer Caldwell, Jeremy Rucker, Joby Talbot, John Fisher, John H. N. Fisher, Kelsey Lamond, Lead Sponsor, Lead Sponsors, Major, Major Sponsors, Maria Kochetkova, mark morris, Martin West, Michael Torke, Mr. and Mrs. James N. Sullivan, Number Nine, Pascal Molat, premiere, Rosemary B. Baker, Rosemary Baker, Ruben Martin Cintas, san francisco ballet, Sarah Van Patten, Sean Bennett, sf ballet, Shelby and Frederick Gans, Shelby gans, Sofiane Sylve, sponsor, Sponsors, Suzy Dominik, Suzy Kellems Dominik, Taras Domitro, valentine's day, valentines, Vanessa Zahorian, Vito Mazzeo, Wayne McGregor, world, World Premiere, Yuan Yuan Tan
Posted in Ballet | 2 Comments »
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Target’s Arts & Wonder Free Family Event is coming to San Francisco July 16-18, 2010. So that means that the Target stores will pick up any and all admission fees for certain times on certain days.
Repeat: “Certain Times on Certain Days.” Check below.
And, bonus, there’ll be a ton of kids’ activities going on.
Here are the places:
The de Young Museum;
Asian Art Museum;
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA);
The Contemporary Jewish Museum;
The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD);
Zeum: San Francisco’s Children’s Museum; and
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
Does the MoMA in the SoMA still have Michael and Bubbles on display?
You can find out for free come July.
All the deets:
San Francisco’s leading museums are having a free for all and you¹re
invited! It’s one big weekend of fun as the de Young Museum, Asian Art
Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Contemporary Jewish
Museum, the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), Zeum: San Francisco¹s
Children’s Museum and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival take turns welcoming all
ages with free general admission, free hands-on art making activities for
kids and special family-friendly free performances thanks to the generous
support of Target. It’s a marathon of creativity and discovery for all ages
so mark your calendar now. You won’t want to miss the family-friendliest
weekend that San Francisco has to offer!
WHAT:
Target Arts & Wonder free admission for all ages with special art
activities and performances for children and families at seven San Francisco
cultural destinations including the de Young, Asian Art Museum, SFMOMA, the
Contemporary Jewish Museum, MoAD, Zeum and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
DATE AND TIME:
Friday, July 16, 2010 de Young Museum free from 5 PM to 8:45 PM
Saturday, July 17, 2010 Asian Art Museum free from 10 AM to 5 PM
Sunday, July 18, 2010 SFMOMA, Contemporary Jewish Museum, MoAD, Zeum and
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival free from 11 AM to 4 PM
WHERE:
de Young Museum 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive (Golden Gate Park)
www.famsf.org <http://www.famsf.org>
Asian Art Museum 200 Larkin Street www.asianart.org
<http://www.asianart.org>
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) — 151 Third Street (between
Mission and Howard) www.sfmoma.org <http://www.sfmoma.org>
Contemporary Jewish Museum — 736 Mission Street (between Third and Fourth)
www.thecjm.org <http://www.thecjm.org>
Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) — 685 Mission Street (at Third)
www.moadsf.org <http://www.moadsf.org>
Zeum: San Francisco¹s Children¹s Museum — 221 Fourth Street (at Howard)
www.zeum.org <http://www.zeum.org>
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Mission Street (between Third and Fourth)
www.ybgf.org <http://www.ybgf.org>
COST:
FREE!
DETAILS:
Below, is a sample of the many activities families and individuals can enjoy
at participating venues in San Francisco with dates and times indicated for
each:
Friday, July 16, 2010; 5 to 8:45 PM
de Young Museum
Turn the Target mascot Bullseye into a work of Andy Warhol-inspired
Pup-Art
Get a lift as you watch a ballet performance celebrating the Impressionist
painter Degas
Saturday, July 17, 2010; 10 AM to 5 PM
Asian Art Museum
Journey from India to Japan as you stroll through the galleries
Take a storytelling tour and learn about gods, goddesses, emperors,
philosophers and more
Sunday, July 18, 2010; 11 AM to 4 PM
Five locations downtown San Francisco:
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)
Go BIG — see for yourself how larger-than-life artworks transform the
ordinary into the EXTRAordinary
Create your own enormous art — make an everyday object into something 10
times its size
Contemporary Jewish Museum
Celebrate the everyday in the whimsical exhibition Maira Kalman: Various
Illuminations (of a Crazy World)
Marvel at the magic of ordinary objects by crafting fabric buttons,
decorating bags and watching Sweet Can Productions make brooms dance and
more
Museum of the African Diaspora
Tour the exhibition African Continuum: Sacred Ceremonies and Rituals
Try your hand at Haitian tooled metal sculpture
Zeum: San Francisco’s Children’s Museum
Sculpt and film your own clay animation
Ride the historic Zeum Carousel
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
Come in costume and get ready to join the conga line as we celebrate the
international spirit of Carnaval with non-stop performances in the Gardens
from 12-3 PM by Mas Makers Massive, SambAsia, Fogo Na Roupa,
Sistas-wit-Style, Tambores de Colombian Soul, Latin All Stars, Chelle! and
Friends, and Mixtiso
*Please note that all de Young exhibitions are free except Birth of
Impressionism. A special timed ticket for $15 adults, $10 children ages 6-17
is required for entry to this exhibition only. Children 5 and under are
free.
*Please note that all Asian Art Museum exhibitions are free except Shanghai.
A ticket for $5 for ages 18 and older is required for entry to this
exhibition only. Youth 17 and under are free.
Background
Target Arts & Wonder is part of the Target commitment to arts and education.
Since 1946, the company has given 5 percent of its income to support
education, the arts, social services and volunteerism. Today, that adds up
to more than $3 million a week. During the third weekend of July, more than
80 institutions in 30 cities across the country will participate in the
Target Arts & Wonder Free Family Event.
Tags: 16, 16-18, 17, 18, arts, Arts & Wonder, asian art museum, bay area, Children's Museum, contemporary, de young museum, event, families, Family, free, Jewish Museum, july, kids, moad, museum of modern art, museum of the african diaspora, omg, parents, San Francisco, sfmoma, stores, target, weekend, wonder, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, Zeum, zomg
Posted in museums | No Comments »
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Get up to speed first.
Now, here are the debut menus for Baker & Banker. Click to expand:
The neighbors, like Ashley H., seemed pleased, anyway:
“I live right around the block from Baker & Banker, and when I saw that a new restaurant was opening I was so excited to try it out, so I went for opening night, and it was great!
The inside decor is pretty nice and simple with low lighting and mirrors on the walls. To start I had a salad with goat cheese, pomegranate, persimmon, and I think pear, which was super delicious. It was a nice light way to start out the meal. For my main course, I had the scallop dish with brussel sprout leaves and sun choke puree, and it was superb! For desert I had the cheese cake apple crisp, and as a cheesecake expert, it was a great mixture of a traditional cheesecake with apple in the middle – I totally recommend it!
For me this place is a really cute neighborhood restaurant, and I definitely plan on going back. I also think it’s definitely worth a trip even if you aren’t in the neighborhood – it’s great!”
Tags: +3, 1, 1701 octavia, 2, 2009, 4, American, baker, Baker & Banker, baker and banker, banker, bar, bus, bush, Collin Casey, contemporary, Cuisine, december, Designer, director, home, japantown, jeff banker, lori baker, market-driven, meetinghouse, menu, menus, michael brennan, Muni, New American, nimby, nimbys, octavia, open table, opening, pac heights, pacific heights, pine, quince, reservations, restaurant, San Francisco, wine, yelp
Posted in food and drink | Comments Off
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Combining our twin obsessions of food and money, it’s Baker & Banker! And they’re all set to serve up steak, cast-iron potatoes and more starting this week (probably tomorrow, December 1, 2009) at 1701 Octavia betwixt Bush and Pine.
Will our Quince replacement get along well with its NIMBY-ish neighbors in this residential hood? We Can Only Hope.
As it looked a few weeks back:
Eater SF has the deets:
“As you’ll recall, Jeff Banker (of Home fame) and his wife Lori Baker are opening a new American, “welcoming neighborhood restaurant” there, and lo and behold, it’s coming along quite nicely. Notable designer Michael Brennan has spruced up the cozy interior with some dark leather banquettes and a dark wood bar…”
Why don’t you drop by sometime and see the results of the efforts of this cute couple? It’s already(!) rated five stars on Yelp, so that’s a good(?) sign.
The aforementioned Baker and Banker:
More details, after the jump.
Bon courage, B&B!
(more…)
Tags: +3, 1, 1701 octavia, 2, 2009, 4, American, baker, Baker & Banker, baker and banker, banker, bar, bus, bush, Collin Casey, contemporary, Cuisine, december, Designer, director, home, japantown, jeff banker, lori baker, market-driven, meetinghouse, michael brennan, Muni, New American, nimby, nimbys, octavia, open table, opening, pac heights, pacific heights, pine, quince, reservations, restaurant, San Francisco, wine, yelp
Posted in food and drink | Comments Off
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Boy, it was touch and go for a few years there, but news comes today that our beloved NIMBYs have managed to preserve the Great Northern Parking Lot of San Francisco.
See it? 700 spaces, free of charge. It’s historic, you know. When the U.S. Army wasn’t out there killing a million or so Filipinos it managed to create the GNPLoSF. Therefore, these parking spaces are sacrosanct:
Now that that pesky modern art has been gotten rid of, a question remains over what to do with the upper end of the Main Post. You know the Burger King corporation had an outlet that served as an Army Mess on the Presidio for so many years, it would be only fitting to give it the right of first refusal to get a chance to replace the famous itty bitty bowling alley that’s up there now.
An artist’s conception, avec just one installation of evil modern art thrown in to see if the NIMBYs can tolerate it.
You see, that old, historic Presidio BK was a place “where a simple guy serving his country could get an inexpensive meal with a stunning view.” Wouldn’t it be nice to honor those memories with the biggest Burger King in the world? Put it right where the museum was supposed to go.
Either that, or a Jollibee. Your choice.
Tags: 2009, 22, 22nd, 6:30, 7th, analysis, Anthony, april, april 22, april 22nd, art, association, Bechtle, benz, Berkeley, bmw, board, california, camp, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, Craig Middleton, Crissy Field, Curtis F. Feeny, Curtis Feeny, David Bancroft, David Grubb, David R. Grubb, directors, don, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, dyads, eir, eis, environmental, Executive Director, Family, Film Society, fisher, gap, Golden Gate Bridge, heights, hotel, impact, J. Michael Shepherd, landmark, lodge, Lori Brook, Main Post, marina, Mercedes, Michael Shepherd, military, modern-art museum, museum, nancy, Nancy Conner, Nancy Hellman, Nancy Hellman Bechtle, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, nimbies, nimby, pacific, palace of fine arts, PM, porsche, presidio, Presidio Historical Association, report, Robert Burke, San Francisco, T. Robert Burke, texan, the gap, theater, theatre, tony, transportation, trust, Veerkamp, walking tour, William Wilson, workshop
Posted in museums | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
This recent post here regarding the Presidio inspired a correspondent to take pen to paper (so to speak) and leave a comment. Below are the words of “PresidioPal” along with some queries. (Surprisingly, he’s not a NIMBY.) Anyway, enjoy.
The mighty, historic Great Parking Lot of the Presidio is jeopardized by the Main Post Plan. The Presidio Trust just might unpave this paradise and put up a…lawn. Heaven forfend. What happened was the Army put it in and then left. Are we bound to have it forever?
Says PP:
“If we are talking about the “decay” of the historic character of the Presidio, which is a rare national historic landmarks district chosen for the layer upon layer of American history visible on Main Post…”
What does that mean to people – landmark status? Why should people care about this? The historic character of the South was Jim Crow laws (not that we didn’t have James Crow laws outside the South, but that’s another story) - would the “historic character” argument be useful for maintaining segregation? Would you like to turn the Presidio itself into a museum, where nothing ever changes? Isn’t it an underpopulated Land of Wind and Ghosts now?
“…the Fisher art museum…”
Isn’t the name of the proposed museum Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio (CAMP). Isn’t it specifically not called The Fisher? Isn’t that one of its selling points? Isn’t it going to have like a “b” as in boy billion dollars of art in it or something, that’s not otherwise available for public view?
”…a hotel…”
Or lodge, some people are calling it a lodge, in keeping with the whole “park” theme of the Presidio. What’s wrong with a lodge in a park?
“and a modern movie house”
Or “modernized,” I’ll give you that. Didn’t it used to seat something like 1000 GIs back in the day? Do you think your millionaire NIMBY allies would like to have all those blue-collar types back in the Presidio in “their neighborhood” near the houses they inherited from their parents fair and square? Isn’t it true that the Presidio Theatre seats zero people today and that’s the way the owners of competing theatres in San Francisco like it? Isn’t it true theater owners kicked in money to oppose the Main Post Plan because they don’t want competition? Is that a good reason to oppose opening up a small three-screener that would seat far fewer people than the 1000 it was built for back in the day?
“…ADD to the “decay” by introducing non-historic elements that detract from the historic site itself…”
Does the non-historic TransAmerica pyramid detract from historic San Francisco? Should nothing ever change in town? Did a collection of histrionic societies, millionaire NIMBYs and movie theatre owners object to the Louvre Pyramid in Cour Napolean? Probably, but isn’t the pyramid a good thing, despite its “non-historic” status?
“If you take “decay” to mean delaying needed repairs to historic structures, the new buildings have nothing to do with that.”
You and your NIMBY allies are fighting for the status quo, whether you realize it or not. Congress, in its wisdom, could have put your organization in charge of the entire Presidio. It didn’t though, right? Do you acknowledge that? Why should anybody pay attention to your unfunded mandates? Your half-baked if-we-had-some-ham-we-could-have-a-ham-sandwich, if-we-also-had-some-bread-but-only-if-five-million-dollars-fell-from-the-sky alternative plans? Back in the 1990s, Congress did something quite unique with the Presidio. Of course, it could have sold off a lot of land to condo developers. Would you prefer that?
“Let’s get it straight, the proposal is for three major new structures in a national historic landmark.”
Is that really an argument? Shouldn’t you go further and explain why people should care about national historic landmark status? And actually, it’s more than three structures, but I get what you mean. Is the 700-car parking lot historic? Was the Burger King historic? Should we bring it back to honor the military?
“Why not a contemporary museum on Alamo Square?”
The reason why is that millionaire NIMBYs and the Planning Commission would tear that one apart. That’s the short answer.
If I had any advice for the Main Post, it would be this – lively up yourself, mon! This may or may not happen, depending upon the lawyers, the judges and the juries associated with the forthcoming lawsuits.
We’ll see.
Tags: 2009, art, board, camp, chronicle, comment period, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, David Grubb, directors, Disney, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, eir, eis, gavin newsom, hotel, june 1, landmark, lodge, Main Post, Mayor, military, modern-art museum, museum, museum nimbies, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, pelosi, presidio, presidio pal, presidiopal, San Francisco, socketsite, theater, theatre, trust, whit hall
Posted in parks | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
The Presidio Trust has just announced a last call for comments about ending the arrested decay of the Presidio Main Post – so finish up your drinks and get your comments in by June 1, 2009.
END OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
June 1, 2009 is the end of public comment period for several key documents related to the Main Post planning process. Three draft documents have been circulating for public comment since February 27, 2009:
1. Revised Draft Main Post Update
2. Draft Supplement to the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Preferred Alternative
3. Revised Draft Finding of Effect
The Revised Draft Main Post Update reflects the land uses and improvements the Presidio Trust intends to pursue to re-establish the Main Post as the heart of the park. Through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, the Trust identified a “preferred alternative” that is detailed in the Revised Update and analyzed in the Draft Supplement to the SEIS. The Revised Update is also analyzed as the “undertaking” in the Revised Draft Finding of Effect; prepared under the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) as part of the assessment phase of the Section 106 consultation.
In June 2008, the Trust released an earlier draft of the Main Post Update and a Draft SEIS which analyzed a range of alternatives. An earlier Draft Finding of Effect was released in August 2008, which analyzed the effects on historic resources of all the alternatives that were presented in the Draft SEIS. All documents can be found on the Trust’s website: www.presidio.gov.
Comments will be accepted on all documents, both current and past drafts. Commentators are free to organize their comments in any way they choose. They may comment separately on the different documents, or address all documents at one time. Commentators are also welcome to address specific issues or comment on specific proposals. The Trust will consider and respond to comments on all of the drafts when developing the final documents.
NEXT STEPS
NHPA Section 106 Consultation: Finalizing the Finding of Effect and Resolving Adverse Effects
A Final Finding of Effect will be issued early this summer, formally completing the assessment phase of the Section 106 consultation under the NHPA. The Historic Resources section of the Final SEIS will be consistent with the Final Finding of Effect. The Final Finding of Effect will be available on the Trust’s website and will be sent to all consulting parties.
The next phase of the Section 106 consultation process is the resolution phase during which consulting parties identify ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the effects presented in the Finding of Effect. The resolution phase results in an agreement document that establishes parameters for how projects can proceed. A schedule for the remainder of the Section 106 consultation will be issued to all consulting parties early in June.
NEPA: Finalizing the SEIS and Main Post Update
Over the course of the summer, the Trust will finalize the environmental review, issuing a Final SEIS and Final Main Post Update sometime in the fall. The Final SEIS includes a response to all comments. A notice of availablity will be issued once the final documents are released. The final documents will also be available on the Trust’s website. After the final environmental documents are issued, a 30-day no action period ensues.
Record of Decision
The Trust will issue a Record of Decision (ROD) only after both the NEPA and NHPA processes are completed. The ROD memorializes the decision made by the Presidio Trust Board of Directors and clearly articulates the actions that the Trust will pursue in the Main Post and the reasoning behind the Trust’s decision. Once the ROD is adopted, the Final Main Post Update will amend the Presidio Trust Management Plan for the Main Post District.
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Monday, May 11th, 2009
Your Presidio Trust has just announced another two Open House sessions concerning the Main Post. Make note of the location at Building 105, that Brokedown Palace (but I can assure you that parts of it are excellent). It’s sandwiched between Lincoln (no, not THAT Lincoln), Taylor (no, not THAT Taylor) and Montgomery (no, not THAT Montgomery). Just pop open the Google Map here. See? It’s right near where the Google Maps car got busted (or not, if you believe a certain U.S. Park Police Sargeant, who, really, oughta know).
Just get to the Building 104 Mouse House and then go downhill a skosh. There’s probably not going to be a program or anything – just drop by and yickety yack a bit…
Main Post Open House with Presidio Trust Staff
Monday, May 18, 9 to 11 am
&
Wednesday, May 20, 6 to 8 pm
Main Post Information Center, 105 Montgomery Street
There’s always room for one more:
“Please join us for informal “open house” sessions at which Presidio Trust staff members will be available to respond to questions about proposed projects for the Main Post as well as questions about historic resources, transportation and parking, visitor use , and environmental sustainability. The public comment period for Main Post planning ends on June 1, 2009. Comments may be emailed to mainpost@presidiotrust.gov.”
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The Pros and Cons of Progress at the Presidio Main Post – A Kind of Dialogue
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009This recent post here regarding the Presidio inspired a correspondent to take pen to paper (so to speak) and leave a comment. Below are the words of “PresidioPal” along with some queries. (Surprisingly, he’s not a NIMBY.) Anyway, enjoy.
The mighty, historic Great Parking Lot of the Presidio is jeopardized by the Main Post Plan. The Presidio Trust just might unpave this paradise and put up a…lawn. Heaven forfend. What happened was the Army put it in and then left. Are we bound to have it forever?
Says PP:
“If we are talking about the “decay” of the historic character of the Presidio, which is a rare national historic landmarks district chosen for the layer upon layer of American history visible on Main Post…”
What does that mean to people – landmark status? Why should people care about this? The historic character of the South was Jim Crow laws (not that we didn’t have James Crow laws outside the South, but that’s another story) - would the “historic character” argument be useful for maintaining segregation? Would you like to turn the Presidio itself into a museum, where nothing ever changes? Isn’t it an underpopulated Land of Wind and Ghosts now?
“…the Fisher art museum…”
Isn’t the name of the proposed museum Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio (CAMP). Isn’t it specifically not called The Fisher? Isn’t that one of its selling points? Isn’t it going to have like a “b” as in boy billion dollars of art in it or something, that’s not otherwise available for public view?
”…a hotel…”
Or lodge, some people are calling it a lodge, in keeping with the whole “park” theme of the Presidio. What’s wrong with a lodge in a park?
“and a modern movie house”
Or “modernized,” I’ll give you that. Didn’t it used to seat something like 1000 GIs back in the day? Do you think your millionaire NIMBY allies would like to have all those blue-collar types back in the Presidio in “their neighborhood” near the houses they inherited from their parents fair and square? Isn’t it true that the Presidio Theatre seats zero people today and that’s the way the owners of competing theatres in San Francisco like it? Isn’t it true theater owners kicked in money to oppose the Main Post Plan because they don’t want competition? Is that a good reason to oppose opening up a small three-screener that would seat far fewer people than the 1000 it was built for back in the day?
“…ADD to the “decay” by introducing non-historic elements that detract from the historic site itself…”
Does the non-historic TransAmerica pyramid detract from historic San Francisco? Should nothing ever change in town? Did a collection of histrionic societies, millionaire NIMBYs and movie theatre owners object to the Louvre Pyramid in Cour Napolean? Probably, but isn’t the pyramid a good thing, despite its “non-historic” status?
“If you take “decay” to mean delaying needed repairs to historic structures, the new buildings have nothing to do with that.”
You and your NIMBY allies are fighting for the status quo, whether you realize it or not. Congress, in its wisdom, could have put your organization in charge of the entire Presidio. It didn’t though, right? Do you acknowledge that? Why should anybody pay attention to your unfunded mandates? Your half-baked if-we-had-some-ham-we-could-have-a-ham-sandwich, if-we-also-had-some-bread-but-only-if-five-million-dollars-fell-from-the-sky alternative plans? Back in the 1990s, Congress did something quite unique with the Presidio. Of course, it could have sold off a lot of land to condo developers. Would you prefer that?
“Let’s get it straight, the proposal is for three major new structures in a national historic landmark.”
Is that really an argument? Shouldn’t you go further and explain why people should care about national historic landmark status? And actually, it’s more than three structures, but I get what you mean. Is the 700-car parking lot historic? Was the Burger King historic? Should we bring it back to honor the military?
“Why not a contemporary museum on Alamo Square?”
The reason why is that millionaire NIMBYs and the Planning Commission would tear that one apart. That’s the short answer.
If I had any advice for the Main Post, it would be this – lively up yourself, mon! This may or may not happen, depending upon the lawyers, the judges and the juries associated with the forthcoming lawsuits.
We’ll see.
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