Author: andres@davidperry.com

Revolutionary Island: Tales of Cuban History and Culture

The Sarah and Darius Anderson Collection

January 19–March 24, 2013

www.svma.org

26 November 2012 – Sonoma, CA: “Nothing in Cuba is what it appears,” says Darius Anderson and he should know from his 25 plus years traveling to that fascinating island. From January 19-March 24, 2013, Anderson’s passion for Cuba will be reflected in a new exhibit coming to the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art(www.svma.org). Revolutionary Island: Tales of Cuban History and Culture The Sarah and Darius Anderson Collection.

“A culture is expressed through its art,” said Kate Eilertsen, Executive Director of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art. “The works in this exhibition provide a profound and realistic assessment of revolutionary to present-day Cuba. Some of the works are powerfully moving, like a series of near life-sized paintings of everyday Cuban people doing everyday things, but all under water. The impact comes when you find that every one of these people of all ages—men, women, even children—have died attempting to cross over by sea to Florida. This personalizes an ongoing tragedy still relevant today.”

The Sarah and Darius Anderson Collection demonstrates that passion with objects as diverse as paintings, sculpture, humidors and more. Through this dynamic and diverse collection viewers will see not only art work illustrating the desire to express non-conformity, or even a sly, knowing wink to the savvy viewer, but also the passion for baseball, love of tobacco and a collection of historic documents that will illustrate the stories that make up the culture and history of this island of revolution.

“Just the word Cuba evokes a passion within me that draws me back every time,” said Darius Anderson. “At the young age of fourteen my family introduced me to the adventures of Sonoma’s greatest son, Jack London. His love and interest fueled my obsession in all things Cuba. At age sixteen I learned that Jack traveled to Cuba on his honeymoon — I told myself that one day, I too would visit that exotic place. This is the land Christopher first landed in the new world. It’s history includes stories of great riches, heart-breaking poverty, battling ideologies, respect and love of the arts. Most importantly it is a history that is steeped in sugar, rum, tobacco and baseball — all my favorite vices.”

According to famous Cuban artist Ibrahim Miranda, “Our insular condition has been a decisive factor in our culture, influencing our myths, fantasies and our national psyche. The sensation of being isolated, separated from everyone, floating in the middle of the sea, has been a strong stimulus to the imagination of Cuban artists.”

This exhibition will feature Cuban artists: Rene Francisco, Esterio Segura, Ruben Alpizar, Carlos Valera (musician) and many more.

With more than 1,000 members, the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art (SVMA) is the largest visual arts organization in the San Francisco North Bay region. It was incorporated in 1998 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to promote the creation, exhibition, and collection of fine arts, to provide a venue for art exhibition in Sonoma, and to offer educational opportunities for people of all ages. It occupies an 8,000-square-foot space at 551 Broadway, just one-half block south of the historic Sonoma Plaza. The Museum purchased the building in early 2001, and completed extensive renovations in March 2004.

A special members’ preview will be held Friday, January 18 at 5pm. Special programs and events will be held throughout the exhibition. The exhibition will open to the public Saturday, January 19, 2013. Museum hours are Wednesday–Sunday from 11am to 5pm. More information about the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is available at www.svma.org or by calling (707) 939-7862.

The Move: Independent Living Resource Center launches new website and capital campaign

www.ilrcsf.org

12 November 2012 – San Francisco, CA: The Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco (ILRCSF) has today unveiled a new website (www.ilrcsf.org) and launched a capital campaign to raise funds for a planned move to a fully accessible, ground-floor space in the heart of the City’s SOMA district.

ILRCSF is San Francisco’s only cross-disability organization operating under the Independent Living philosophy; a movement, which asserts that people with disabilities are the best experts on their needs. ILRCSF holds that people with disabilities must organize themselves for political power, and that taking the initiative to design and promote better solutions for their inclusion is the best way to achieve full access. Since 1976, ILRCSF – staffed almost entirely by people with disabilities – has offered support, advocacy, and information regarding the rights of people with disabilities to individuals, educational institutions, and the small business community.

“The San Francisco Independent Living Resource Center has never wavered in its commitment and resolve to make our community accessible for all,” says Anne Hinton, Executive Director of the Department of Aging and Adult Services for the City and County of San Francisco.


Programs at ILRCSF include everything from peer counseling and help with assistive technologies, to economic empowerment workshops and accessible housing advocacy. In recent years, the agency has expanded outreach to include a program geared towards youth empowerment and has now become home to a number of peer support groups including a Veterans’ Art Guild, in which military veterans living with service-related disabilities work on creative projects ranging from photography and sculpture to creative writing.

“Our primary focus has always been to make the greater community a more accessible, livable place for people with disabilities,” explains ILRCSF Executive Director Jessie Lorenz. “It is becoming increasingly clear that the best way to achieve that end is to foster opportunities for people with disabilities to connect with one another, to develop community, and to become engaged advocates.”

Their new website at www.ilrcsf.org has been designed to increase community participation and engagement, and the campaign to fund their move to a fully accessible location are the most recent steps ILRCSF has taken to meet the growing needs of the consumers they serve.

“This is an exciting time for us. We’re about to embark on an journey that revolves around a large, state-of-the -art, purpose-built, ground floor level, fully accessible Independent Living Center in an area where people live, work, and raise families,” said ILRCSF Board President Arnie Lerner. “By welcoming people of all abilities into a space designed with their needs in mind, and with plenty of room to grow, we are taking the first steps towards becoming an incubator and community center where the Independent Living Movement can build the next generation of leaders who will be empowered and engaged citizens who are fully integrated in their communities.”

For more information visit www.ilrcsf.org

Martha Wash to Headline AEF 30th Anniversary Dinner

December 1 Event to be Held in the National AIDS Memorial Grove

Levi Strauss & Co. and Wells Fargo to Cover All Event Costs

Contact: Mike Smith
Executive Director
415-558-6999×7
mikesmith@aef-sf.org

www.aef-sf.org

San Francisco, November 5, 2012 — The culminating event of AEF’s year-long 30th Anniversary Campaign will be a dinner on Saturday evening, December 1 (World AIDS Day) in a 7,600 sq. ft. clear tent in the National AIDS Memorial Grove featuring entertainment by Martha Wash and underwritten by presenting sponsors Wells Fargo and Levi Strauss & Co.

Martha Wash has agreed to provide the entertainment for the evening under the stars. Ms. Wash began her singing career as one of the “Two Tons of Fun” who sang backup for Sylvester in the late 70s and early 80s. She went on to record several huge dance anthems, including “It’s Raining Men” and “Everybody, Everybody.” Martha and Sylvester performed at several of the earliest AIDS fundraising events in the Castro. When Sylvester died of AIDS in 1988, he bequeathed his future recording royalties to AEF. AEF will honor him posthumously with a Lifetime Achievement Award to be shared with Ms. Wash and accepted by her.

In April, the board of directors of the National AIDS Memorial Grove voted to offer its site to AIDS Emergency Fund for AEF’s December 1 event. The Grove’s annual event “Light in the Grove” is scheduled for Friday evening November 30. Because the tent for that event will remain in place throughout the World AIDS Day weekend, the Grove has offered its use to AEF without charge. AEF and the Grove will be sharing the same sound, light, and event rental contractors which will substantially reduce costs to both agencies.

Levi Strauss & Co. and Wells Fargo have agreed to share top billing as co-presenting sponsors, a move that brings more than $60,000 to AEF – more than enough to cover all production and catering costs of the seated dinner for 350 guests. Along with other corporate sponsors and a long list of individual patrons at $1,000 a plate, AEF has already garnered more than $200,000 in ticket sales. Approximately 100 tickets at $300 each remain unsold and are on sale now at www.aef-sf.org.

AEF’s 30th Anniversary campaign began in January with a $30,000 challenge grant from the Bob Ross Foundation, matching donations from new donors in 2012. AEF then announced thirty “Parties with a Purpose” throughout the year, designed to raise $3,000 each and to reach out to potential new donors. A $15,000 matching grant from James C. Hormel and Michael Nguyen in July challenged individuals to become new major donors to AEF at $1,000 or more. AEF has achieved the fundraising targets set by both these challenge grants. By the night of the 30th Anniversary Dinner on December 1, AEF hopes to be able to announce the full amount of additional revenue raised by its 30th Anniversary campaign.

ABOUT AEF:

Since the beginning of the epidemic in 1982, AIDS Emergency Fund has been responding compassionately to the HIV/AIDS crisis by providing immediate, short-term financial assistance.

Over the course of thirty years, AEF has helped tens of thousands of people facing financial hardship while battling HIV/AIDS. The agency has provided more than $30,000,000 to stabilize the living situations and improve the quality of life for San Franciscans with HIV/AIDS who are unable to work – allowing them to live with dignity and remain engaged in the community.