The San Francisco Citizen

What’s this? A San Francisco CultureBus in Golden Gate Park that’s not empty? And one that actually has more than two passengers? That would be an amazing sight, but upon further review you can see it’s just a regular old CB-logo-free MUNI 44 chugging its way to 9th Avenue. My bad.

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Here’s the actual CultureBus seen a few seconds later. Sadly, it’s completely empty. That’s not an uncommon sight these days.

Let’s go back and read a headline from a quarter century ago:

“Culture Bus a Victim of Too Few Riders; Culture Buses Dropped For Lack of Ridership”

Of course the writer from the NYTimes was referring to program back East in New York, not here. But the 1973-1982 N.Y.C. Culture Bus concept seems amazingly similar to San Francisco’s current CultureBus program. Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with the idea, but the Culturebuses spotted on the streets of San Francisco appear to be completely bereft of passengers most of the time.

A few stats on the approximate number of riders counted on CB’s in October and November 2008, with a sample size of about 40 sightings:

Mean: Less than 1, something like .6 passengers

Median: 0

Mode: 0

Range: 0-2

The CultureBuses have produced anger and frustration among the regular MUNI bus-riding public, with confusion arising from Fastpass holders being told that they need to feed the kitty as they board. You’d figure that German tourists would love to get on board, but many of them prefer to wait for the regular MUNI bus to come by.

Over time, things will get better as people begin to understand the system of course. But the whole CultureBus program isn’t sustainable the way things are going. And if you think it’s stressful being a driver on a regular MUNI bus overflowing with passengers, how must it feel for the drivers who trundle around in a big metal box all day by themselves?

How many more birdies will it take to sail this whale?

Couldn’t there be some kind of introductory offer to locals just to get people on board? Would there much of a marginal cost to that? Nope.

Is there any urgency to this situation? Is anybody going:

“I’ve tried A! I’ve tried B! I’ve tried C! I’ve tried D! Tell me what else I can try!”

Simply, the CB has experienced a Failure to Launch. It’s not gaining altitude or picking up speed or whatever. And anyone who starts quoting ridership stats from a once-in-a-blue-moon weekend last September when the California Academy of Sciences had a huge number of patrons (and when the de Young Museum might have had even more) isn’t helping matters.

Godspeed, little bus.

“The State Museums of Berlin and the Legacy of James Simon” exhibition will run at the Legion of Honor museum until January 2009. This show has a little bit of everything:

Egyptian and Near Eastern antiquities, medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque sculptures, Old Master paintings, works on paper including eighteenth and nineteenth-century Japanese woodcuts, art of the Silk Road, and European folk art.

What these things have in common is that they are all on loan from the State Museums of Berlin and they were all originally donated by James Simon.

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Board President Diane “Dede” Wilsey recently took time out from raising half a billion(!) dollars for the UCSF Mission Bay campus to comment about how the James Simon show is “full of gems,” which it is.

This exhibit dovetails nicely with the next Cinema Supper Club Series: Berliner Film Fest, which will show Metropolis, Cabaret, Grand Hotel, Run Lola Run, and Wings of Desire.

See you there!

More details after the jump

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Hey, Bay Area school teachers! Did you notice a smaller-than-normal crowd at your Trader Joe’s last night? Well, the reason for that was this: Presidio Teachers’ Night 2008. 

Hundreds of teachers came to the Presidio yesterday to learn about a whole bunch of programs for their students. Representatives were on hand from lots of local institutions, such as the Asian Art Museum (check out their MATCHA night tonight at 5:00PM - Japanese Tatoo! Live Demos!), the Legion of Honor, the de Young and the California Academy of Sciences.

Teachers, you want to get in on this catered affair next year. Read more below.

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Presidio of San Francisco (September 29, 2008) — Bay Area teachers will move into the spotlight when the Presidio hosts its annual Teachers’ Night this Wednesday, October 1 from 5-7 pm at the Golden Gate Club, 135 Fisher Loop, in the Presidio.

Now in its seventh year, Presidio Teachers’ Night introduces educators to the amazing learning opportunities for students in the Presidio and the Golden Gate National Parks. The park is an outdoor classroom for more than 20,000 Bay Area students and teachers each year. Award-winning, curriculum-based programs stimulate teachers’ professional growth and help K–12 students achieve academically as well as understand and address major environmental and cultural issues in their communities.

The event has grown each year of its existence. Last year 350 teachers attended. More than 500 are expected this year.

“Teachers look forward to this event every year. It’s such an awesome responsibility being a teacher these days,” says Lisa Hillstrom, education specialist for the Presidio Trust. “This event really honors them. It’s great to be able to do something for teachers who are doing so much every day.”

The theme of this year’s event, All Over the Map: Re-imagining Geography, connects teachers and students to the physical and human systems of the earth and how we impact those systems in and around the bay and throughout the world. It includes a special presentation on Geography in the 21ST Century by Bob Dulli, the deputy chairman of the National Geographic Society.

Teachers will have the chance to network with other educators, discover opportunities and resources for learning outside the classroom, and gather educational materials from more than 40 Bay Area organizations. In addition, the Presidio Trust will launch a resource guide for teachers keyed to its new exhibit, War and Dissent: The U.S. in the Philippines 1898-1915, which opens October 22at the Presidio Officers’ Club.

Teachers’ Night is sponsored by the Presidio Trust, the National Park Service, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

Presidio Teachers’ Night 2008, Participating Organizations:
                
Asian Art Museum
Bay Area Orienteering Club
Bay Area Discovery Museum
Bookmaking with Kids
California Academy of Sciences
California Geographic Alliance 
California Science Teachers Association
California Watercolor Association
Crissy Field Center
CyArk 
Exploratorium
Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Headlands Institute
JASON Project 
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
Just Think
KQED Education Network 
Marine Mammal Center
Mission Dolores 
Museum of Children’s Art
National Geographic School Publishing 
National Japanese American Historical Society
National Park Service
Oakland Museum of California
Presidio Dance Theatre
The Presidio Trust
Randall Museum
San Francisco Airport Museums
San Francisco Cable Car Museum
San Francisco Public Library
Shakespeare On Tour
Slide Ranch
The Society of California Pioneers
University of California Berkeley 
U.S. Geological Survey
The Watershed Project
YMCA Presidio & Point Bonita