In an effort to bring more visibility to Bay Area queer artists, Creative Labor and the Queer Cultural Center are joining with several venues to bring San Francisco and Oakland their first queer open studios.
"There are many queer artists who just want to be artists first and don't consider their queerness as something they want to foreground, and that is fine," Rudy Lemcke, queer open studios organizer, said in a news release. "But there are many artists and art spaces who ... celebrate how queerness shapes their world and how this queerness informs their art practice. This is what queer open studios is about."
The first weekend kicks off Friday, August 11 at 4 p.m. with an art walk through San Francisco. People should meet at the LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street.
There will be an exhibit at the center. Art Saves Lives, featuring 20 artists, will have a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. at 518 Castro Street.
There will be an opening reception for Mexico City artist Felix D'Eon at Strut, the men's health center in the Castro, from 8 to 10 p.m. at 470 Castro Street.
On Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. six queer art spaces will be exhibiting work at the LGBT center.
Exhibits will also be held at Openhouse's Bob Ross LGBT Senior Center, 65 Laguna Street.
In Oakland, the opening party takes place Friday, August 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Qulture Collective, 1714 Franklin Street.
Oakland's open studios will be held Saturday and Sunday, August 19-20 from noon to 5 p.m. at various venues.
For a listing of the artists and venues for both cities, visit http://www.creativelabor.org/qos2017.
Project Open Hand goes mobile
This week, Project Open Hand officially launched its new mobile program, a pop-up vehicle that goes into some of the most vulnerable neighborhoods in San Francisco to provide clients access to services right in their own communities. The agency provides groceries and meals to people living with HIV/AIDS and other medical conditions, as well as seniors.
Agency officials said in a newsletter announcement that people can look for two new vehicles with "Food=Love" signage on the road.
For more information about the agency, visit http://www.openhand.org.
SPCA to host Animal Film Festival
The San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is bringing the Animal Film Festival to the city for the first time Saturday, August 19 from noon to 4 p.m. at its Mission Street campus, 250 Florida Street.
Taking place in the Geraldi Building, the event features award-winning films from all four years of the annual Animal Film Festival that takes place in Grass Valley, California.
The festival is being held in conjunction with the SPCA's NBC Clear the Shelter event, where all adoptions of animal companions are free, said SPCA spokeswoman Jennifer Taylor.
The program includes several films, such as "Love Unleashed," a documentary that explores the deep emotional bond between humans and their beloved senior dogs, and "Sit, Stay, Ride," about dogs that ride in the open air of motorcycle sidecars.
The Animal Film Festival is produced by the nonprofit Center for Animal Protection and Education, based in Grass Valley. Proceeds from the San Francisco showings will benefit CAPE and the SF SPCA.
Tickets are $25 for all sessions or $10 for a single session. Children under 12 are free. For tickets and a complete list of films and times, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/animal-film-festival-on-tour-sf-spca-tickets-35918477132.
South Bay job opportunities
Santa Clara County and the nonprofit Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center in San Jose have each announced separate employment opportunities.
In Santa Clara County, as the Bay Area Reporter recently reported, gay Supervisor Ken Yeager was successful in securing $1 million in new funding to expand services to the LGBT community. Part of that funding request was for a transgender services program manager and applications for that position are now being accepted.
The program manager will serve as a key trainer, mediator, and facilitator for the trans community in the areas of medical care, employment, and mental health services; housing; and criminal justice.
"While the current administration in Washington appears to be committed to turning back the clock for transgender people and the larger LGBT community, here in Santa Clara County we are moving forward," Yeager said in a news release.
He added that the county has also begun providing care to homeless trans youth through a pair of weekly clinics specifically focused on transgender health issues. A third weekly clinic focused on homeless trans adults will begin offering services in the coming months.
For the transgender services program manager position, applications are being accepted by the county's Employee Services Agency through August 30. For information, visit https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/santaclara.
At the DeFrank center, a contract position is available for operations coordinator. According to a Facebook post, the job is 15-30 hours a week. The deadline to apply is August 30. Resumes and cover letters should be sent to [email protected].
AIDS grove has more room in Circle of Friends
The National AIDS Memorial Grove has announced that it has room for 22 more names in its Circle of Friends.
While the grove initially said that last year would be the final year to engrave names in the Circle of Friends, it said in an August 4 email that space remains for additional names. The cost for engraving is $1,000. The deadline to order is August 25.
For more information, visit http://www.aidsmemorial.org/circle-of-friends.