Catching up with Block Report, my new weekly feature for the San Francisco Chronicle: Coit Tower and environs, S.F.

http://www.sfgate.com/outdoors/article/Here-s-where-to-get-the-best-S-F-view-6453304.php

All content and photographs by Stephanie Wright Hession. If you share, include a link to my blog.

Washington Square Park in nearby North Beach

Mama's-A great breakfast spot. 

3-D video mapping display, “Dia de los Muertos” by artist Bart Kresa through November 24 at the San Mateo County History Museum

A new and wonderful 3-D video projection display,“Dia de los Muertos,” by light show artist Bart Kresa will turn the front of the San Mateo County History Museum into an amazing visual space for celebrating  the Day of the Dead and Halloween.

Free and open to the public, it's part of the Magic Lantern 3-D series presented by the nonprofit Redwood City Improvement Association. the 15 minute show takes place at 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on the following Tuesdays:

October 6, 20 and 27
November 3, 10, 17 and 24 

San Mateo County History Museum, 2200 Broadway, Redwood City. (650) 299-0104, www.visitRWC.org, www.historysmc.org

The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus host gala fundraiser "Crescendo Turns 10!" on Sunday October 11

The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus opens its 38^th season with “Crescendo Turns 10!” the organization’s annual fundraiser gala, noon-3 p.m., Sunday, October 11.

Held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, the soiree includes an open bar reception, superb fare by executive chef Luis Lujan and his culinary team at the Ritz-Carlton as well as live and silent auctions. Performances include two medleys by Cher impersonator Chad Michaels and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus vocal ensembles: The Lollipop Guild, The HomoPhonics, SWAG and Vocal Minority.

The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus will also present the Human Rights Champion award to Congresswoman and house democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

Tickets: $150-$200 per person. www.sfgmc.org/events

Ritz-Carlton hotel, 600 Stockton St., S.F.

Chad Michaels. Photo by Jose Guzman. Courtesy of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus.

Catching up with my San Francisco Chronicle Block Report: California Academy of Sciences, S.F.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/California-Academy-of-Sciences-your-local-rain-6493586.php?cmpid=gsa-sfgate-result

All content and photographs by Stephanie Wright Hession. If you share, include a link to my blog.

Catching up with my San Francisco Chronicle Block Report: The Murals of Balmy Alley, The Mission, S.F.

Explore some of the murals of The Mission District with me:



http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/24th-Street-is-the-only-place-to-see-murals-like-6410544.php

All content and photographs by Stephanie Wright Hession. If you share, include a link to my blog.

“Free to Be,” group exhibition at the 1AM Gallery, S.F.

A group exhibition in which artists Bask, Nate1, Christopher de Leon, Joshua Lawyer, Jet Martinez, Askew, Sam Rodriguez, VyalOne, Mark Bode, Mike Tyau, Nuria Mora, J.S. Weis and Steven Lopez interpret and express what they personally value, ranging from freedom to strength to joy and integrity, through paintings. First Amendment Gallery, 1000 Howard St., S.F. (415) 523-8282, www.1AMGallery.com.

"Beauty and Resistance" by Jet Martinez. Image courtesy of the First Amendment Gallery.

“Fight or Flight,” by J.S. Weis. Image courtesy of the First Amendment Gallery.

"Old Skool VS New Skool Bay Bridge" by NATE1. Image courtesy of the First Amendment Gallery.

"Freedom to Speak" by Sam Rodriguez. Image courtesy of the First Amendment Gallery.

"Hoodoo Affair" by Steven Lopez. Image courtesy of the First Amendment Gallery.

“I am Kikaida,” by Mike “BAM” Tyau. Image courtesy of the First Amendment Gallery.

Meyerovich Gallery presents works by Donald Baecher, Alex Katz, Donald Sultan and Bernar Venet through July 31

The  Meyerovich Gallery presents “Donald Baecher: The Rose Portfolio,” and “New Works on Paper by Alex Katz, Donald Sultan and Bernar Venet.” Through July 31. Meyerovich Gallery, 251 Post St., Suite 400, S.F. (415) 421-7171, www.meyerovich.com

“Red Rose,” (2015), from “The Rose Portfolio,” by Donald Baechler. Image courtesy of the Meyerovich Gallery.

“Christine,” (2013) by Alex Katz. Image courtesy of the Meyerovich Gallery.

“Big Poppies, Sept 10, 2014 (Blue)” (2014), by Donald Sultan. Image courtesy of the Meyerovich Gallery.

The 78th annual Stern Grove Festival free summer concerts include tUnE-yArDs and DakhaBrakha, Sunday, July 19 and the San Francisco Ballet July 2

2 p.m., Sunday, July 19

Singer Merrill Garbus performs tUnE-yArDs, her musical project with Nate Brenner on the electric bass. Experimental in nature, it utilizes looping techniques and unusual percussion.

The quartet DakhaBrakha also performs that day. Originally from Kiev, Ukraine, the world music group powerful vocals are accompanied by Arabic, African, Australian, Indian and Russian instrumentation.

www.tune-yards.com, www.dakhabrakha.com.ua/eng/BAND.

2 p.m., Sunday, July 26

Under the artistic direction of Helgi Tomasson, the San Francisco Ballet performs works from its current repertory. These include “Rush,” by composer Bohuslav Martinu with choreography by Christopher Wheeldon and “Lambarena” by composer Johan Sebastian Bach, traditional African music arranged by Pierre Akendengue and Hughes de Courson and choreography by Val Caniparoli. www.sfballet.org.

All concerts begin at 2 p.m. Sigmund Stern Grove, 19^th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, S.F. (415) 252-6252, www.sterngrove.org.

Jenifer Kent’s solo exhibition, “Hyperspace” at the Dolby Chadwick Gallery through August 29

For her solo exhibition, “Hyperspace,” at the Dolby Chadwick Gallery, Jenifer Kent marries Conceptualism, Expressionism and Minimalism through a series of drawings. Using black ink on white clayboard, she creates intricate, highly detailed works evocative of master etchings and scientific drawings.

"Interval Series: Plate 4," (2015), ink on clayboard, by Jenifer Kent. Image courtesy of the Dolby Chadwick Gallery.

"Array," (2014), ink on clayboard, by Jenifer Kent. Image courtesy of the Dolby Chadwick Gallery.

Dolby Chadwick Gallery, Shreve Building, 210 Post St., S.F. (415) 956-3560, www.dolbychadwickgallery.com.

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"Richard Misrach: Being(s) 1975-2015," through May 30 at the Fraenkel Gallery, S.F.

By Stephanie Wright Hession

When Richard Misrach arrived from Southern California onto the UC Berkeley campus, as an undergraduate mathematics student, he found himself in the tumultuous atmosphere of 1967 Berkeley amidst anti-war protests, class shut downs and teach-ins. He also discovered the ASUC Art Studio.

“…I went there to learn how to throw pots, but I quickly became interested in photography,” Misrach says. “At the same time, things were heating up on campus with the People's Park riots and tear gassings.  I picked up the camera to photograph the world exploding around me.”

This foray into photography would not only have a profound effect on his life but also establish a powerful, socially conscious character to Misrach’s photography and a subsequent, concurrent theme—the contemplation of people, industry and society’s influences upon the landscape and the negative impact on the environment that ensues.

“Night Fishing, Near Bonnet Carré Spillway, Louisiana,” (1998), by Richard Misrach. Photo courtesy of the Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

“I wasn't a particularly politically engaged person before entering Berkeley, but it was impossible not to have one's value systems challenged during this period,” he says. “My initial interest in photography was the great f64 landscape tradition of the West Coast (Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Wynn Bullock, etc.), but soon my interest in the aesthetics of photography melded with my political awakening and I began looking at the work of people like Dorothea Lange and Bruce Davidson.  My work has been trying to reconcile the two poles ever since.”

An internationally acclaimed landscape artist, Misrach’s spends much of his time working in solitude in the deserts of the Southwest for his ongoing series, “Desert Cantos,” initially with an 8”X10” Deardorff camera and now with a medium format, digital Hasselblad and his iPhone.

 “Self-Portrait at Night, White Sands, New Mexico,” (1976/2014), by Richard Misrach. Photo courtesy of the Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

“It's so hard to explain, but photography and working in the landscape (primarily the desert, but also in Hawaii and Louisiana) is hugely rewarding. For over forty years, it has proven intellectually and emotionally engaging and challenging. And physically, I love being in the desert. I find the heat sensual and have a self-awareness of myself on the planet in a way I don't feel anywhere else,” he says. “The silence is magnificent. Moreover, I've always thought of the desert landscape as a place where culture-civilization stands out in relief.  I think my ongoing “Desert Cantos” project (1979-present) has been driven by this idea. Whether it's military testing, environmental degradation or government policy, the desert is one of the places where civilization and nature collide.”

While his new exhibition, “Richard Misrach: Being(s) 1975-2015,” at the Fraenkel Gallery focuses upon landscapes, each of the approximately 20 works feature human figures.

“Untitled (9485 #FC),” (2008), by Richard Misrach. Photo courtesy of the Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

“If you asked most people, who are involved in any way, they would say that Richard Misrach is a landscape photographer,” says Frish Brandt, executive director of the Fraenkel Gallery, “but this show points out that his landscape photography has always been about how we live in the land and the human element in the land, so whether there’s people or not, there’s always been the essence of humankind.”

“Untitled (November 10, 2012, 3:08 p.m.),” (2012), by Richard Misrach. Photo courtesy of the Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Info:

“Richard Misrach: Being(s) 1975-2015” through May 30. (Book signing with Misrach for his book “The Mysterious Opacity of Other Beings”: 2 p.m. May 9.) 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. Fraenkel Gallery, 49 Geary St., S.F. (415) 981-2661. www.fraenkelgallery.com