The Creative Work Fund now invites letters of inquiry for projects featuring performing artists or visual artists. Collaborating artists must reside and organizations must be based in the following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, or Stanislaus. This is the first time that San Benito and Santa Clara artists and organizations are eligible to apply. The deadline for letters of inquiry is 5:00 p.m. on November 6, 2009. This Web site offers information for applicants and grantees and will list application workshops that will be offered in September and October.

What’s New? January-March 2010
Mark Your Calendars

Tiny aka Lisa Gray-Garcia with Tony Robles and the Tenderloin Housing Clinic (Literary Arts, 2008)
On Sunday, January 17th, 2 PM, Hotel Voices, a revolutionary play written and performed by residents currently living, struggling, and sometimes even thriving life in Single Room Occupancy Hotels (SRO’s), will be presented at the Jefferson Hotel, 440 Eddy Street in San Francisco. Tickets: $1-$20 (No one turned away for lack of funds.) Limited seating and reservations are required. Call (415) 863-6306 to reserve a seat or buy an advance ticket.

Carol Leigh with The Center for Sex and Culture (Media Arts, 2006)
On Sunday, January 31, media and performance artist Carol Leigh and the Center for Sex and Culture will celebrate the completion of the collaborative Sex Worker Library Media Project. The celebration will take place from 7-9:30 p.m. at the Center for Sex and Culture, 1519 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. For further information, visit http://www.sexworkermedialibrary.org.

Stuart Brotman with Temple Israel of Alameda and with fiscal sponsor KlezCalifornia (Traditional Arts, 2005)
Composer and musician Stuart Brotman along with Cookie Segelstein and Joshua Horowitz of Veretski are presenting the Bay Area premieres of The Klezmer Shul on the following dates:

• Monday, February 8, 2010 at 8 pm at the site of their collaborating organization Temple Israel of Alameda, 3183 Mecartney Road. For information visit info@templeisraelalameda.org) .  Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. 

• Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 8 pm at Netivot Shalom, 1316 University Avenue, Berkeley. A donation of $15 is suggested at the door.

• Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 8 pm at Congregation Etz Chayim, 4161 Alma Street, Palo Alto. The concert will be followed by a Q&A with the musicians at 8:45 and a dance party from 9:45-11 pm. Admission is $20 general and $15 for Etz Chayim Members or teens. For tickets, visit www.klezcalifornia.org and click on “Registration and Tickets.” 

The musicians note, “The Klezmer Shul evokes the emotions of synagogues in pre-war Eastern Europe, combining liturgy with jazz, avant-garde, classical, klezmer, and folk elements to inspire a feeling of prayer—without a single word.”

Rhodessa Jones and The Women’s HIV Program at UCSF (Performing Arts, 2008)
On March, 4-14, The Medea Project: Theatre for Incarcerated Women will premiere Dancing with the Clown of Love, conceived, directed, and performed by Rhodessa Jones in collaboration with The Women’s HIV Program at University of California Medical Center. Performances will be at the Buriel Clay Theater at the African American Art & Culture Complex, 762 Fulton Street, in San Francisco. For information and tickets, call 415-292-1850 or log on to www.culturalodyssey.org/tickets.

Marcus Gardley with The Cutting Ball Theater and The Playwrights Foundation (Performing Arts, 2008)
On March 12-April 11, 2010, Marcus Gardley and his collaborators will premiere …and Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, a poetic journey of forgiveness and redemption, set on the banks of the Mississippi during the final days of the Civil War. Performances will take place at Exit Theater, 277 Taylor Street in San Francisco, where The Cutting Ball Theater is currently in residence.  For exact dates, ticket prices, and reservations, visit http://cuttingball.com/tickets/.

Valerie Soe, Russell Jeung and New Hope Covenant Church (Media Arts, 2006)
The Oak Park Story, a documentary film created through a collaboration between Valerie Soe and New Hope Covenant Church is premiering as part of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival in March. Screenings are at 2 pm on Sunday, March 14, and 7 pm on Monday, March 15. For tickets and a detailed festival announcement, visit the Center for Asian American Media web site at http://www.asianamericanmedia.org. The Oak Park Story recounts the journeys of three families that came to live at the same low-income apartment complex in East Oakland, California. There low-income tenants faced unsanitary conditions that led to the hospitalization of several children. Forty-four families banded together to sue the landlord, winning a landmark $1 million settlement. The film depicts the struggle of a multiethnic community that forged better conditions for its members. Festival tickets go on sale on February 11, 2010.

Ruby Yang and Chinese Performing Arts Foundation (Media Arts,  2003)
Also premiering at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival is A Moment in Time, a film by Ruby Yang examining the story of Chinese performing arts, their relationship to Chinese film, and the public following for both genres in San Francisco. For times and dates of screenings, visit http://www.asianamericanmedia.org after February 8, 2010. Tickets go on sale on February 11.

Pamela Z and Bay Area Video Coalition (Performing Arts, 2008)
On May 20, 2010 Pamela Z will premiere Baggage Allowance, an intermedia performance developed in collaboration with the Bay Area Video Coalition, at Theatre Artaud in San Francisco. The opening will be followed by a two-week run at the theater: For more information, visit http://www.pamelaz.com. On September 23, 2010, Baggage Allowance will have its New York premiere at The Kitchen.