Virtual
Saturday 5/1 through Sunday 5/9
Literature: Bay Area Book Festival
From a civil rights activist who wrote what Van Jones called “the book we have been waiting for,” to a Nobel laureate known as “an artist without ego,” there’s something for every reader. $15 to $120. Youth events: free with registration. For more information.
Virtual
Friday 5/7 through Saturday 5/15
Art: California College of the Arts’ 2021 Gala Auction
CCA’s auction features work from 16 artists — many of them alumni or past and present faculty — including Viola Frey, David Maisel, Robert Motherwell, Manuel Neri, Terry St. John, Wayne Thiebaud, and Lava Thomas. On offer are premium private experiences, including a catered dinner by acclaimed San Francisco-based chef Michael Tusk; and a stay at an historic, never-before-rented Sea Ranch home designed by Charles Moore and William Turnbull, Jr. Bidding opens May 7, 9 a.m. For more information.
In-person
Saturday 5/8
Flora: Spring Plant Swap
Share your houseplant hobby with San Francisco’s plant community. How it works: bring a plant, get sticker(s) based on the number and size of plants, bid for other plants using sticker(s), leave with a new plant(s). More plants = more stickers. Hosted by Seed and Soul Club. $15, comes with individually wrapped pie and coffee. Attendance capped at 50. 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. South Park. For more information.
Virtual and In-person
Sunday 5/9
Best wishes to Moms everywhere.
Virtual
Monday 5/10 through Sunday 5/30
Theater: Playground Zoom Fest
Playground offers its second annual ZoomFest, with live-streamed new works. Free. All performances begin at 7 p.m. For more information and to reserve your spot.
In-person
Tuesday 5/11
Flora: San Francisco Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden is one of the world’s most diverse. A unique urban oasis in Golden Gate Park, with 55 acres of landscaped gardens and open spaces, showcasing more than 9,000 different kinds of plants. Free for San Franciscans with proof of residency. For more information.
Virtual and In-person
Thursday 5/13 through Sunday 5/23
Film: CAAMFest
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) presents stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences. Its 39th festival reflects a hybrid of drive-in experiences, live virtual screenings, events and 80+ films on CAAMFest on-demand. $8 to $90. For more information.
Virtual
Saturday 5/15 through Friday 7/2
Art: “Sightlines”
Ben Aronson, one of America’s
most respected and evocative urban landscape painters, synthesizes the gestural energy of emotionally charged abstract expressionist brushwork with the observational precision of contemporary realism. Building from studies created en plein air, Aronson’s specificity and attention to light and shadow, transport viewers to a precise
location and moment in time. Opening reception May 15, 12 p.m., includes a virtual exhibition walk-through via Instagram with Aronson in dialogue with Karen Jenkins-Johnson. Free. Presented by the Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Minnesota Street Project, 1275 Minnesota Street. For more information.
In-person
Wednesday 5/26
Literature: Hamnet
Join the Mission Bay Book Club for an outdoor discussion of Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning novel. Drawing on the author’s fascination with the little-known story behind Shakespeare’s most enigmatic play, Hamnet is a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child. 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Free. Spark Social SF, 601 Mission Bay Boulevard, North, picnic table in the back, by the soccer field. Masks required.
Virtual
Thursday 5/27/21
Music: “Patti Smith: Rock ‘n Roll Poet”
Starting as a poet in New York’s underground in the early-1970s, Patti Smith brought the new wave into the mainstream with her 1975 debut album, Horses. Over the last half of the 1970s, she merged poetry with forceful rock and charismatic live performances. This 2.5 hour mini-course will celebrate her unlikely journey with audio and video clips, some rare, of Smith from the 1970s to the present. $29. 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Presented by Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University. For more information about OLLI’s classes, free lectures, interest groups and how to register.
In-person
Saturday 5/29
Sports: “Fore the Ladies” Introduction to Golf Clinic
For those who’ve never picked up a golf club or have minimal experience with the game, but want to give it a try. Don’t have golf clubs? No problem, sets will be available. $45. Includes beverages and instruction. 2 to 4 p.m. TPC Harding Park, 99 Harding Road. For more information. To register for the event.
