What: GaNADa, a performance in many media

When: Friday, May 18 & Saturday May 19, 8PM

Where: 934 Brannan St. (between 8th & 9th)

How Much: $15 in advance, $20 at the door, advance tickets recommended

GaNADa, which is part of Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center’s 15th United States of Asian America Festival, is the project by Dohee Lee intertwines the theme of self-discovery with elements of Korean mythology. Through the combined media of dance, live music, animation and installation, Lee takes the audience on the journey of her own self-discovery while exploring the myth of the goddess Mago (as was told in the ancient text the Budoji), connecting the realm of dreams, past and present lives, karma and destiny.

Mago is the creator goddess in ancient Korean mythology, central to the practice of mudang. The legend of Mago outlines this piece, which aims to express the interconnectedness of dreams and reality, past and present lives, karma and destiny, microcosm and macrocosm. Through an exploration of the myth of Mago and my own story, revealing this interconnectedness and its implications in one’s life. The work itself will be a cleansing/purging ritual, an intensely personal journey of birth, self-discovery, confrontation, action, and re-birth, and like all of my work, will embrace spirituality, politics and healing.

The ocean and peaches are two symbols that are threaded throughout the piece. The ocean is the dwelling place of Mago, and is omnipresent in the lives of the residents of Jeju Island, my hometown. Jeju’s strong shamanic tradition is centered on rituals involving the ocean. The ocean is Mother, mystery and life. In Korean folklore, the peach is a symbol of the creation of humanity. Also, my given name Dohee means “bright peach.” Curiosity about the history and meaning of my name was one impetus for this project.

“Ga,” “Na” and “Da” are the first three letters of the Korean written language, much like “ABC” in the Roman alphabet. But unlike the latter, each of the symbols have their own meaning; “Ga” means Go, “Na” means Me, or Myself, “Da” means All, or Everything. So together, this could mean, “Let all of myself go.”

GaNADa will be performed by Dohee Lee, Tatsu Aoki, Adria Otte and Jamaesori (Yeri Shon, Codie Otte). The Future is NOW and GaNADa are supported by the California Arts Council, San Francisco Arts Commission and the Zellerbach Family Foundation. 

What: Feast of Words: A Literary Potluck

When: Tuesday, May 15, 7PM (house opens at 6:30PM)

Where: 934 Brannan St. (Between 8th & 9th)

How Much: $10 in advance, $12 at the door, $5 with a potluck dish, cash bar.

What Else: This month’s theme is is “Back to the Future”

Feast of Words: A Literary Potluck is a monthly dinner party where writers and foodies come together to eat, write, and share. On Tuesday, May 15, following an April nationwide tour with spoken word and performance art collective Sister Spit: The Next Generation, Oakland based writer Cassie J. Sneider reads from her new book Fine, Fine Music.

“Cassie writes hilarious, tough and sweet stories about being a girl, a rocker, a broke person, an east coaster, a feminist, a lover of pop culture, a weirdo. She delivers them in a manner so enchanting – hilarious, tough and sweet – that you can’t tell if you want to be her best friend or if, magically, you already are, “ – Michelle Tea

 

In keeping with the evening’s theme “Back to the Future,” Sneider reads from a collection of coming of age stories inspired by a childhood spent in a town allegedly stuck in the year 1981, Lake Ronkonkoma, Long Island, and a long-standing obsession with classic rock.

Culinary guest Kuukua Dzigbordi Yomekpe, who dreams of one day introducing the whole world to the Ghanaian culture through her cooking, anchors the evening’s potluck. As always, guests can bring a dish, take part in a writing exercise and share the work they’ve created for a chance to win literary and culinary prizes.

ABOUT CASSIE J. SNEIDER
Sneider (pictured above) grew up in the murky depths of Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, a town with a haunted lake, a trailer park, and a record store. She put 240,000 miles on a Toyota Echo doing readings all over the country. Cassie J. Sneider collects 8-tracks and new friends. You can catch her on the Sister Spit 2012 national tour. For more information, please visit cassiejsneider.blogspot.com

ABOUT KUUKUA DZIGBORDI YOMEKPE
Writer, dancer, and culinary artist Yomekpe (pictured below) is taking her love for good food and feeding people beyond her apartment. She prides herself on being able to create Ghanaian dishes by adapting Western ingredients and spices, thereby bridging the gap and helping people enter into and access a foreign culture.

Her current book project, The Coal Pot, is a blend of coming-of-age and coming-out narratives interspersed with recipes that explore the story of a young African immigrant woman who has chosen a life path unlike that of of her ancestors. For more information, please visit ewurabasempe.wordpress.com

ABOUT THE SOMARTS STUDIO SERIES
The SOMArts (South of Market Arts, Resources, Technology, and Services) Studio Series is an informal assemblage of arts classes and events designed to encourage the production of contemporary work by artists of all ages and skill levels in San Francisco.

What: Taste of Potrero

When: Thursday, May 10, 6–7pm VIP, 7–10pm general admission

Where: 934 Brannan St. San Francisco, CA

How Much:  $75 and up, click here for advance tickets

Taste of Potrero was designed with a focus on local, independent restaurants and bars featuring hand-crafted, bold tastes. This year, more than 15 of the City’s most elite restaurants and bars including the Homestead, Ame, Skool, Tacolicious and Local Mission Eatery will line the walls of SOMArts. All proceeds will benefit Daniel Webster Elementary School. Get your tickets and benefit both the school and your palate.

What: Literasians 2012: Writers Converge on the APIA Literary Continuum

When: Thursday, May 24, 7–9pm

Where: 934 Brannan St. (between 8th & 9th)

How Much: Free admission

The Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center and Kartika Review present Literasians 2012: Writers Converge on the APIA Literary Continuum. As the literary showcase of the 15th Annual Asian American Arts Festival held in San Francisco, the API Cultural Center, Kartika Review, and Zellerbach Foundation come together to present a panel of 4 APIA writers to discuss the state of APIA literature.

Panelists include Sandra Park, author of “You Live In A Small House”(Mutual Publishing 2010); Aimee Phan, author of “The Reeducation of Cherry Truong” (St. Martin Press 2012); Lysley Tenorio, author of “Monstress: Stories” (Ecco 2012); and Andre Yang, one of the editors of “How Do I Begin? A Hmong American Literary Anthology” (Heyday 2011). Kartika Review editor-at-large Christine Lee Zilka will serve as moderator.

Light refreshments will be provided at a reception after the event. Attendees will have the chance to enter a literary raffle, buy books and cool swag that will help raise money for Kartika Review, plus mingle with editors and writers.

For more information, contact sunny@kartikareview.com or visit www.kartikareview.com. Image accompanying this post hosted on Elle Magazine.

What: Intersecting Learning & Creativity, a class for educators

When: Saturday, May 12, 1:30–4pm

Where: 934 Brannan St. (between 8th & 9th)

How Much: $20 advance registration required; click here to register

Join David Bill for a day of learning, exploring, and collaborating. He will introduce principles of creative thinking that can be incorporated into your next project or lesson plan. After each introduction, he will lead the class in putting the principles into practice. This class is meant for educators (or anyone connected to learning) who are wanting to think differently in order to spice up their lessons or projects.

David writes about the converging worlds of education and technology at www.davidbill.org.

The evening’s event is presented at SOMArts through participation in the Affordable Space Program, which provides below-market rental space, production and publicity assistance to nonprofit organizations. For more information visit our rentals page.

What: Best In Show

When: Reception Thursday, May 17, 2012 6–9pm. Gallery hours: May 12-18, 2012, 12–5pm.

Where: 934 Brannan St. (between 8th & 9th)

How Much: Free admission

The Department of Art + Architecture at the University of San Francisco presents Best In Show,  an exhibition of BA thesis projects from students in Design & Fine Arts.

Exhibiting Design Majors: Chris Chappelle, Stephanie Chun, Jacob Ewing, Mike Fior, Nora Frazier, Gianni Gigliotti, Eduardo Herrera, Drew Herron, Antonia Hidalgo, Evan Kikawa, Iris Lerch, Jamie Mcclafferty, Kelsey McLaughlin, Alexa Michael, Wrenn Okada, Alex Orvell, Sarah Ruiz, Kristen Scarpa, Gabrielle Scharaga, Kenya Stabler, Nicolett Sziatinszky, Jana Tom, Matthew Tominaga, Darren Wong

Exhibiting Fine Arts Majors: Emily Bender, Azlynn Cornish,Carrie Edgil, Cormac Fawsitt, Isaac Fine, Michela Giso, Charlotte Goff, Sofia Gonzalez, Kaity Hayashi, Katie Kinsey, Heidi Lavelle, Dustin Manning, Claire Moonie, Kalie Patterson, Lianna Piccetti, Kristin Ross, Quinn Sanders, Isabel Taylor, Madelyne Todd, Jannea Tschirch, Sean Wright

The evening’s event is presented at SOMArts through participation in the Affordable Space Program, which provides below-market rental space, production and publicity assistance to nonprofit organizations. For more information visit our rentals page.

What: WordPress 101 Workshop

When: Two options to attend: Friday, May 11 or  Friday, June 8,  6–8pm

Where: 934 Brannan St. (between 8th & 9th)

How Much: Free with advance registration

This course taught by Chris Blair is an introduction to WordPress,  a dynamic self publishing web platform that at its most basic level can be used to keep a diary, collect and publish notes and information or share videos and photos with your family and friends. WordPress has the capability though to do almost anything you can think up – run business websites, setup an e-commerce store, fund raise for non-profits or create communities for people to share information all across the globe.

For a more in depth description of the workshop, please click here. For more information about renting a SOMArts classroom to host an event or workshop like this one, please visit SOMArts’ rentals page.

What: Color My World, a solo exhibition by Richard Ceely

When: Opening Reception Friday, May 4, 7–10pm,  show continues Saturday, May 5, 12–5pm

Where: 934 Brannan St. San Francisco, CA 94103

How Much: Free admission

Richard Ceely is a self taught artist living and working in San Francisco. Color My World is his first solo exhibition. Richard did a two man exhibition with Pete Howells in 2005 at Belcher Gallery.  His vibrant watercolor paintings immediately evoke a sense of joy & happiness. Richard’s main goal in life is to have as much fun as humanly possible and continue to create as  much joyful art as possible before his time on the planet is over. Admission is free and open to the public, and all work will be for sale on the evening of the opening and the following day.

The evening’s event is presented at SOMArts through participation in the Affordable Space Program, which provides below-market rental space, production and publicity assistance to nonprofit organizations. For more information visit our rentals page.

What: The News, an evening of queer performance

When: Tuesday May 1, 2012, 7:30–9pm, house opens at 7pm

Where: 934 Brannan St. (between 8th & 9th)

How Much: $5 admission. Advance tickets: http://thenewsperformance.eventbrite.com

The News is the new place to see fresh, queer performance by Bay Area artists. On the first Tuesday of each month The News will spotlight performance pieces, experiments, and works in progress by pre-selected solo artists, groups, or troupes. An informal session for critical feedback follows the performances.

The May edition of The News features performances by Burning Monk Collective (Peter Griggs), Chelsea Kosta, Karl Cronin, Omer Gal, PRjKT13 (bernadette and SALEX), Jai Arun Ravine and creator, curator and host Kolmel WithLove.

Artists interested in performing at The News can find more information here.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:

Burning Monk Collective (Peter Griggs) is a San Francisco transplant originally from Seattle who has been involved in theater since his early childhood. Recent work includes collaborations with Erika Chong Shuch Performance Project (“Muse, Map, Walk”); with Boathouse Productions (“Lost and Found in the Mission,” which won best ensemble at 2008 SF Fringe festival); with Dwayne Calizo at Mama Calizo’s Voice Factory (“The Hazardous Waste Project: Sewing The Seeds of Love, Life, Lust, Lost and the Bomb”); and most recently with EmSpace Dance (“A Hand in Desire,” a dance-theater remix of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire”).

He is founder of the Burning Monk Collective which has produced two of his original works: “Subrosa: Subliminal Joy…the EGO outted,” a tale about politics, shame, and the gay ego, and “Killer Queen,” which premiered at Mama Calizo’s Voice Factory in early 2010. In 2011 another run of “Killer Queen” was produced as a site specific work in SF and in LA, and received a GLAAD nomination for outstanding Los Angeles Theatre. Griggs is also a proud member of the House of Glitter; a multiracial drag collective in SF, and can be seen at local drag shows such as U-PHORIA.

Chelsea Kosta was formally training as a Fine Artist at Loyola Marymount University. She explored a variety of media, ranging from drawing to installation and finally performance art. As a performance artist, Chelsea views her environment as a material to be physically manipulated with one powerfully simple act of humility, using creativity to exemplifying the value of selflessness. Kosta now lives and works in the fashion industry in San Francisco.

Karl Cronin is a neo-classical pop singer and composer. Trained in classical cello and contemporary dance, Cronin’s body of work spans string quartets to pop music, and is rooted in his research of the relationship between movement and music. Cronin received a BA in Music from Boston College, which is where he co-produced his first opera, “Dido and Aeneas.” He has studied composition with Thomas Oboe Lee, contemporary performance with Deborah Hay, JoAnna Mendl Shaw, Jennifer Monson, and the fine folks at Movement Research in NYC and currently studies composition in San Francisco with Randy Craig.

He is currently working on his debut album, “The Wild Men,” with the incubation support of THEOFFCENTER and Intersection for the Arts’ Incubator Program. He has performed his work at the San Francisco Art Institute (CA), the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art (MA),  Jay Etkin Gallery (NM), Rainbow Starlight Lounge (NM), Dance Mission Theater (CA), and at the San Francisco Art Institute (CA).

Omer Gal was born in Israel, moved to California at age 6 then back to Israel at age 14, spent a year in NY at age 21 and a year after that traveling in India. Now he is back in San Francisco California working toward an MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute. His undergraduate degree in which he majored in animation was completed in 2009 at of Minshar for Art school in Tel Aviv, Israel.  He has exhibited his artwork at the Tmuna and Zimmer galleries (Tel Aviv),  FlagStop (Los Angeles), Queens Nails Projects, Diego Rivera, Swell and Root division galleries (San Francisco) and PSU gallery (Portland).  Currently, he is working on his graduate thesis show, which involves film, mixed media installation and performance.

PRjKT13 is a San Francisco original Electronic Dance Duo featuring local rock n’ roller bernadette and seasoned DJ veteran SALEX (Stephanie Alexis).

bernadette is a singer-songwriter and has fronted her own original band for the last six years. She has toured in the states and played Europe and is an endorsed Gibson guitar artist. She is also an interdisciplinary artist and is the visionary and founder of The Box Factory, a local arts, culture and community space.

SALEX is a classically and jazz trained musician turned drum & bass DJ/producer. She is a Bay Area native that hosts 2 weekly radio shows: Late Night Eargasm on Mutiny Radio SF and Bass Kiss on Binge Radio UK.

PRjKT13 came about when the two women discussed joining forces after a few years of interviews, collaborative projects and community events together. bernadette was interested in trying her hand in a new genre of music bringing lyrics and melodies to SALEX, then the two sat with laptop, midi keyboard, guitar and a mic and the project immediately exploded into an organic, musical conversation and sound explosion. More information:PRjKT13.com.

Jai Arun Ravine is a text-based artist working in film/video, movement and performance. Most recently they are the author of a book of experimental poetics, “AND THEN ENTWINE” (Tinfish Press, 2011); the creator of a film project on Thai and Thai American trans-masculinities, “TOM/TRANS/THAI” (2011), which was installed at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (Bangkok, Thailand) and the Sabina Lee Gallery (Los Angeles); and the creator of a multi-media performance on identity tourism, “THE PACKAGE TOUR” (2011), which was staged at Subterranean Arthouse (Berkeley) and the African American Art & Culture Complex (San Francisco). A recipient of fellowships from ComPeung, Djerassi and Kundiman, Jai is also a staff writer for Lantern Review. For more information on projects, events and publications, please visit:http://jaiarunravine.wordpress.com/.

Kolmel Withlove is the creator and the host of The News. Kolmel, curates, builds cameras and costumes, collaborates with other artists, makes films, and performs. Her films have screened in a variety of settings including: Frameline Film Festival, MIX Mexico, Seattle Center of Contemporary Art, RAID Projects and in the upcoming book and DVD “Strange Attractors.”

Kolmel has performed in venues including Yerba Buena Center for The Arts, SOMArts Cultural Center, Highways Performance Space, The Velaslavasay Panorama Theatre, The Garage, various galleries, a few living rooms, two very nice leather bars, and a piano lounge. More information:www.kolmelwithlove.com.