Susan Mogul Film at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival presents DRIVING MEN, a film by iconic feminist filmmaker, Susan Mogul on June 2, 2009 at 7:30 PM at Yerba Buena.

Alice Shaw's Auto(biography) at Gallery 16

In her upcoming Gallery 16 exhibition entitled (Auto)biography, Alice Shaw has employed others, such as a handwriting analyst and a psychic, to tell her information about herself that she may not have been aware of. She has taken what she has learned from these sessions and made artwork in response to this new knowledge.

For this show, Shaw, primarily known as a photographer, has also used painting, printmaking, drawing, and other media to illustrate her responses. Shaw looks at the theory that 'digital photography is more closely akin to painting than traditional photographic techniques because of its malleability.' She also believes that the digital arts has created a 'society of skeptics.' Auto(biography) sets out to satisfy these skeptics, and suggests 'we should not always believe what we see.'

The exhibit runs through July 3rd.

City Arts & Lectures Featuring Patricia Clarkson

Monday June 1st Patricia Clarkson will participate in San Francisco's City Arts & Lectures series in conversation with Graham Leggat.

Clarkson's penchant for substance over stardom has made her more of a familiar face than name. Clarkson studied drama at Fordham University, where she graduated summa cum laude, and earned her MFA at the Yale School of Drama before making her film debut in The Untouchables in 1987.

For more information and to buy tickets visit the City Arts & Lecture web page online.

WATA Member Launches Website for Documentary on Asian Elephant Hospital

WATA member Windy Borman, Creative Director of D.V.A. Productions has launched a website to promote her latest project "The Eyes of Thailand," a documentary focused on raising awareness about the plight of Asian elephants in Thailand who are "endangered, but the remaining elephants are overworked, abused, or disfigured from injuries resulting from Thailand’s rapid industrialization."

Learn more about the plight of the Asian elephant in Thailand and the film by visiting The Eyes of Thailand website.

Commonwealth Club Talk on Healthy Arts Organizations

Michael Kaiser, President of the Kennedy Center, is giving a talk at the Commonwealth Club in downtown SF on Monday, May 11. He'll be discussing how arts organizations can thrive in this economic climate. In case you don't know, the Kennedy Center has proven itself an invaluable resource for small arts organizations across the country in the past few months and the leaders have made themselves available to give advice to anyone who would like it. So even though this is more a policy/business type event than we normally post here - I thought I'd share this rare opportunity to hear from one of our nation's major arts leaders right here in the Bay Area.

Next WATA Meeting May 21 at Koko's Cocktails

The next WATA meeting, and by meeting we mean hanging out over drinks, will be May 21st at 7 pm located at Koko's Cocktails on Geary.

If you haven't been to one of one of our Koko's Cocktail meetings, you're in for a treat. We hope to see you there.

Last Week of Susan York's Porcelain & Graphite Exhibit

Closing May 9th is Susan York's exhibit "Porcelain & Graphite" at the Braunstein/Quay Gallery.

Originally recognized for her stacked sculptures of wafer thin porcelain, in the last several years Susan York has been working with graphite to luminous effect in large wall drawings and distinct works. Influenced by the Constructivist and De Stijl movements, she uses repetition, accumulation and the manifestation of visceral tension as the basis for her work. In describing York’s porcelain work in Art in America, Sarah S. King wrote that her “striking body of work and systematic methods . . . adroitly provoke tensions between space and form.”

Women in Theatre: May Edition

Here are some of the plays opening/playing this month here in the Bay Area written by women playwrights.

Assisted Living by Deirdre O'Connor, Playwrights Foundation, In The Rought staged reading, May 4 - 5

Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl, SF Playhouse, May 9 - June 13

For All the Babies' Fathers by WATA member Molly Rhodes, Brava Theatre, April 30 - May 16

Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck, the Magic Theatre May 23 - June 14

Natasha and the Coat by Deborah Stein, Playwrights Foundation, In The Rough staged reading, May 11 - 12

Wreckage by Caridad Svich, Crowded Fire, May 9 - June 6

You, Nero by Amy Freed, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, May 15 - June 28


I know this list is far from exhaustive, it's a first pass. I'll try to add on more plays as i find them.