Thoreau
Center Events
Pizza & Politics:
Electoral Guerrilla
Theater: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements
Friday, April
7, 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Pacific Room
Join us for Professor
Larry Bogad's lively and engaging presentation on the
underappreciated yet wildly entertaining and effective uses of
Electoral Guerilla Theater.
Electoral Guerilla Theater explores the recent phenomenon of the
satirical election campaign, and questions:
- what is the purpose of such public political performances?
- what theatrical devices and aesthetic sensibilities do
electoral guerrillas draw on to enhance their satire?
- how do electoral guerrillas create their public personas and
platforms, and which audiences are they playing to and/or against?
- how do parodies and the "respectable" political performances
that they mock interact, and how can this tactic backfire?
Drawing on extensive archival and ethnographic research,
Larry examines satirical campaigns around the world, placing his
analysis in national, cultural, political and legal contexts.
Larry is professor of Performance Studies at U.C. Davis. He has
been a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Arts in Society at
Carnegie Mellon and has taught at the University of Birmingham in
England. Larry has an M.A. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University in
Performance Studies and a B.A. in history from the University of
Pennsylvania.
The Seed Gallery:
Animal Insurrection,
by artist/activist Michelle Waters
Opening Reception: Friday,
April 7, 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Exhibit runs from April 7 through May
31
The Seed Gallery is pleased to exhibit Animal
Insurrection, by artist/activist Michelle Waters.
Grizzly bears with jackhammers "restoring" a freeway, a mountain
lion with an acetylene torch decommissioning a bulldozer, arctic
wildlife laying waste to a Hummer dealership and animal tearing down
billboards for housing developments are some of the characters who
populate Waters' paintings. This body of work is influenced by
Waters' twenty years as an environmental activist, the nightmarish
imagery of Hieronymous Bosch and the writings of Edward Abbey.
ELDERGIVERS' Art Exhibition:
Art with
Elders, connecting the generations
April 17 Through May 19
Thoreau Center Western corridor
The images of art
appeal to us.
The images of aging do not.
Though aging is a natural aspect of the human condition, more
often than not North Americans feel disdain for the aging
population. We tend to look the other way when people insist on
growing old. Ours is a youth-focused (or youth-obsessed) culture
where we marginalize adults as they grow older. According to
ELDERGIVERS more than 60 percent of nursing home residents never
have a visitor.
Art With Elders (AWE) places professional artists in nursing
homes and other long-term care facilities who, in turn, teach
residents how to paint in weekly 2-hour classes. While learning to
paint in classes that provide individual instruction, residents
socialize with their peers and form friendships that might not occur
otherwise. AWE's professional artists are skilled at working with
residents to compensate for the various forms of chronic illness,
including stroke, depression and dementia.
Each year, ELDERGIVERS selects work from AWE classes and gathers
it into an Annual Exhibit which features the artwork of up to 90
artists.
Film Screening:
One, independent
filmmakers ask several well-known religious leaders "what is the
meaning of life?"
Wednesday, April 12, 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Pacific Room
The universe comes to the rescue when a
group of friends decide to step outside the lines of everyday
existence. Armed with only a digital video camera, a list of
questions and a dream, these suburban dads set out to become
independent filmmakers in search of "the meaning of life." Over the
next two years, the unlikely crew traveled the country asking life's
ultimate questions to Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, the homeless,
Sufis, Muslims, street kids, Jews, Taoists, Native Americans,
atheists, philosophers, social architects, prostitutes, mystics,
monks, moms, medicine-men, teenagers, working people, and more,
capturing wisdom from those in remote monasteries to those in urban
alleyways. Miraculously, they were joined in their quest by many of
the world's greatest spiritual leaders, authors, icons, and masters
of our time, including Robert Thurman, Thich Nhat Hanh, Riane
Eisler, Ram Dass, Deepak Chopra, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Father Thomas
Keating, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, and Wayne Teasdale, with commentary
from his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Created and directed by Ward Powers and Circle of Bliss
Productions.
Please visit www.onethemovie.org for more information.
NEWS
ITEMS AND UPDATES
The Habitat Next Door:
An Earth Day Planting-a
volunteer event for Tides Network and Thoreau Center Community
Friday, April 21st, 1:00pm to 4:00pm
Upstream from
Crissy Field marsh, a creek is being reborn...
You are cordially invited and highly encouraged to participate in
the transformation of the former Fill Site 6A, which runs along
Lincoln Boulevard and Girard Road. This area is part of the
Presidio's Tennessee Hollow watershed, which feeds into the Bay.
This winter 30,000 plants have been planted in newly cleaned Fill
Site 6A. Still, a few more areas by the creek need planting.
For those who can spare an hour, please come by Fill Site 6A at
1:00p, 2:00p or 3:00p. Gloves, tools and other gear will be provided
along with a presentation about the project that is transforming a
wasteland to wetland over the next few years.
To participate in this event, R.S.V.P. to Damien Raffa at draffa@presidiotrust.gov
or call 415.561.4449 or Bruce DeMartini at bruce@thoreau.org.
ArtSeed Dance-A-Thon and Movement Education
Project
| When: |
April 29th 10:00am - midnight |
| |
| Why: |
To move your body, build community, and raise money for a
good cause |
| |
| Where: |
Presidio Dance Theater, San Francisco, CA
1158 Gorgas
St. at Marshall Rd., Presidio of San Francisco |
| |
| How to Register: |
Register yourself as a dancer by sending an email with
"Register Me" as the subject line to dance@artseed.org with
your 1) Name 2) Mailing address 3) Telephone number and 4)
Email address |
| |
| For More Info: |
Check out www.ArtSeed.org
or email dance@artseed.org. Please
RSVP with dance@artseed.org. |
|
