African Art
The Art of Contemporary Africa (AOCA)opened at the Minnesota Street Project in February, marking the launch of San Francisco’s first Pan-African contemporary art gallery. AOCA is led by Craig Mark and South African photographer Clint Strydom. It presents established and emerging artists from Africa and the African diaspora. AOCA is the sister gallery to The Melrose Gallery, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Music Stops
Thee Parkside, a dive bar and live music venue that’s hosted generations of punk shows, karaoke nights and late-night patio hangouts will shutter sometime this year, joining nearby Bottom of the Hill in the year the music died in Potrero Hill. The closure follows last year’s sale of the 1600 17th Street building. Malia Spanyol, who has run the bar since 2007, had first rights to buy the property but was outbid by a developer who offered nearly $1.33 million…Gilberths Latin Fusion closed at the end of January in Dogpatch. The owners provided more than two decades of excellent food service in the neighborhood, starting with a small burrito shop on 20th Street.
Grocery Sprouts
The first Sprouts Farmers Market in San Francisco will likely open at 555 Ninth Street by 2028. The grocery chain, known for natural food items and organic produce, is in the permitting process to locate in the block-long, two-level shopping center with a parking garage that houses a Trader Joe’s, Container Store, and several empty suites. Sprouts will likely occupy a space that formerly hosted a Nordstrom Rack.
Honorable Neighbor
Last month K.D. Sullivan, who has lived on Kansas Street for 47 years, was awarded a San Francisco Board of Supervisors Certificate of Honor for “extraordinary resilience, lifelong learning, and more than four decades of leadership in publishing and editorial excellence.” Sullivan recently launched a new business, We Know Publishing, which helps authors develop and promote their books.
Porch Pirate
As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, a box containing Barbara Offenhartz ashes, who died at the age of 89, were stolen from her son, John’s, Potrero Hill porch. Offenhartz lived near Boston. Her remains were shipped by an East Coast funeral home to John’s doorstep but were apparently lifted and then abandoned. Heather MCcray found the package — a black plastic box — on top of an electrical outlet outside the Division Circle Navigation Center, near the corner of South Van Ness Avenue and 13th Street. It was labeled, “This contains the cremated remains of Barbara H. Offenhartz,” with her death date and a number for St. Michael’s Crematory in Boston. The box now sits on a dresser in the Offenhartzes’ living room, surrounded by family photographs. “She was unflappable,” John said of his mother. “It took a lot to get her upset, and she lived for adventure. I can’t help but think she would have said, ‘What a great story.’”