Oyster Farm: Photographs of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company
From October 27, 2011 to January 19, 2012, the California Historical Society hosts the exhibit Oyster Farm, featuring the documentary photography of artist Evvy Eisen.Evvy Eisen’s photographs will be accompanied by pieces of ephemera and other materials from the rich collections of the California Historical Society.
When discussing Oyster Farm, Evvy Eisen explains, “I set out to photograph the workers at the Drakes Bay Oyster Company because they are part of our community, though few of us have ever seen them or understand what they do. They stood before my camera, with dignity and patience. Their portraits communicate information specific to these individuals, but also illuminate essential aspects of the universal human condition.”
The Drakes Bay Oyster Company is located on Drakes Estero in the Point Reyes National Seashore in western Marin County. It is also currently the center of a controversy about whether it will be permitted to remain in operation after 2012. Opposing positions have divided the community and have been argued at the state and national levels as well. This exhibit does not deal with the complex issues involved in these disagreements. Rather it focuses on the people who work at the oyster farm, who are silent and stoic in the face of an uncertain future. Their portraits communicate information specific to them but also illuminate essential aspects of the universal human condition and reveal unrecognized facets of daily life at the Drakes Bay Oyster Company. This exhibit creates a place where differences can be set aside, and where the people portrayed can be appreciated in a new light.
Evvy Eisen was born and educated in New York City and has lived and worked in Marin County since 1971. She specializes in environmental portraits and often works on long-term projects, portraying the people involved in socially relevant issues.
Please join us for the Oyster Farm opening reception on November 16 at 5:30 p.m. and meet artist Evvy Eisen. The event is free and open to the public.
Oyster Farm is on view at the California Historical Society from October 27, 2011 through January 19, 2012. For more information about this exhibition visit www.californiahistoricalsociety.org.
Images above appear courtesy of artist Evvy Eisen, from left to right:
At the Eastern Shoreline
The Three Graces
The Oysterman
Upcoming California Historical Society Events
Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics
Book Event with author Steven J. Ross
Free Event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco
RSVP to rsvp@calhist.org or call 415.357.1848, ext. 229.
Author Steven J. Ross will discuss his newly released Hollywood Left and Right:How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics. In Hollywood Left and Right, Steven J. Ross tells a story that has escaped public attention: the emergence of Hollywood as a vital center of political life and the important role that movie stars have played in shaping the course of American politics. Through compelling larger-than-life figures in American cinema, Hollywood Left and Right reveals how the film industry's engagement in politics has been longer, deeper, and more varied than most people would imagine. Hollywood Left and Right challenges the commonly held belief that Hollywood has always been a bastion of liberalism. The real story, as Ross shows in this passionate and entertaining work, is far more complicated. An eminent historian of film, Steven J. Ross isrecipient of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Film Scholars Award and author of the prize-winning book, Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film and the Shaping of Class in America.Hollywood Left and Right will be available for purchase at event. RSVP to 415.357.1848, ext. 229 or email rsvp@calhist.org.
Saturday, September 24, 2011, 12pm - 4:30pm
Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day
Free with Smithsonian Museum Day Coupon
Enjoy our current exhibition A Century of Landscapes: Selections from the California Art Club. The juried exhibition of works from current members is supplemented by historical materials from the California Art Club and pieces of art and other materials on the Club from the rich collections of the California Historical Society.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
History's Anteroom: Photography in San Francisco 1906 - 1909
Free Event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco
The California Historical Society and William Stout Architecture Annex present authors Rodger Birt and Marvin R. Nathan. They will present and discuss the historical context of History's Anteroom, a collection of vintage photographs made in San Francisco, California, during the years 1906-1909. In April 1906 the San Francisco Bay Area fell victim to a powerful earthquake, and in October 1909 the city hosted a "regional rebirth" with a celebration named the Portola Festival. The photographs and illustrations reproduced here - some only rarely shown or seen now for the first time - have been given a close reading and placed within the specific historical context. The result is a journey back into the early history of the twentieth century and its first great urban catastrophe. Book will be available for purchase at event. RSVP to 415.357.1848, ext. 229 or email rsvp@calhist.org.
Saturday, October 1, 2011, 8:00 p.m.
Olé Couture$40 front row (limited seats available), $30 advanced general, $35 at the door
Ticket includes a beverage and tapas. Discount for California Historical Society members.
Purchase online at ticketweb.com and at TheatreFlamenco.org.
Join us on the runway for an evening celebrating Theatre Flamenco's 45th Anniversary and decades of flamenco fashion.
Featuring stunning costumes and photos from the historic Theatre Flamenco archives - see dresses modeled from the 1940s to the present, enjoy Spanish wine and tapas as well as live flamenco entertainment. Silent auction on select costumes.
Proceeds benefit Theatre Flamenco - since 1966, the oldest flamenco company in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011, 6:00 p.m.California Women and Politics: From the Gold Rush to the Great Depression
Book Event with editors Robert Cherny and Mary Ann Irwin and contributor Susan Englander
Free Event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco
Robert Cherny, Mary Ann Irwin, and Susan Englander discuss their book, California Women and Politics: From the Gold Rush to the Great Depression. In 1911, as progressivism moved toward its zenith, California granted women the right to vote. However, women’s political involvement in California’s public life did not begin with suffrage, nor did it end there. Across the state, women had been deeply involved in politics long before suffrage, and—although their tactics and objectives changed—they remained deeply involved thereafter. The contributors consider not only white middle-class women’s organizing but also the politics of working-class women and women of color, emphasizing that there was not one monolithic “women’s agenda,” but rather a multiplicity of women’s voices demanding recognition for a variety of causes. Book will be available for purchase at event. RSVP to 415.357.1848, ext. 229 or rsvp@calhist.org.
Saturday, October 15, 2011, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Century of Landscapes Closing Reception & Yerba Buena Gallery Walk
Free Event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco and the surrounding neighborhood
Meet some of the artists and enjoy the closing reception for A Century of Landscapes: Selections from the California Art Club. You may also take a walk around our gallery's Yerba Buena neighborhood and visit the many participating galleries during the Fall Yerba Buena Gallery Walk. The Gallery Walk will feature free admission and refreshments, along with ample opportunities to experience art. The participating galleries offer a diverse look at contemporary, emerging, and established artisits working in a variety of mediums.
Monday, October 17, 2011, 6:00 p.m.Women and the Everyday City: Public Space in San Francisco, 1890-1915
Book event with author Jessica Ellen SewellFree Event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco
In Women and the Everyday City, Jessica Ellen Sewell explores the lives of women in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. A period of transformation of both gender roles and American cities, she shows how changes in the city affected women's ability to negotiate shifting gender norms as well as how women's increasing use of the city played a critical role in the campaign for women's suffrage. Focusing on women's everyday use of streetcars, shops, restaurants, and theaters, Sewell reveals the impact of women on these public places–what women did there, which women went there, and how these places were changed in response to women's presence. Using the diaries of three women in San Francisco–Annie Haskell, Ella Lees Leigh, and Mary Eugenia Pierce, who wrote extensively on their everyday experiences–Sewell studies their accounts of day trips to the city and combines them with memoirs, newspapers, maps, photographs, and her own observations of the buildings that exist today to build a sense of life in San Francisco at this pivotal point in history. Book will be available for purchase at event. RSVP to 415.357.1848, ext. 229 or rsvp@calhist.org.
Saturday, October 22, 2011, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.The 6th-Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar
Look for the California Historical Society at the LA History Bazaar at USC. Learn about our Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Collection and the Title Insurance and Trust Company (TICOR) Collection as well as ongoing California Historical Society projects and our archives.
Los Angeles history comes alive at the 6th-annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar. Organized by L.A. as Subject and presented by the USC Libraries, the annual event celebrates the diversity of Southern California’s history. For scholarly researchers, journalists, history buffs, and those simply interested in exploring the stories of Los Angeles, discovery awaits everyone at the Archives Bazaar. This event is free and open to the public.
The Archives Bazaar draws its strength from the breadth and variety of its participants’ collections. Large institutions such as the Autry National Center of the American West and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will be represented at the bazaar along with smaller organizations and private collections whose materials fill the gaps left in the city’s official history. Other participating organizations include the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, the California African American Museum, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, and the Japanese American National Museum. In all, more than 70 archives are expected to be represented.
Thursday, November 3, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
The Manzanar Fishing Club
Film Preview and Discussion
Free Event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco
Join us for a special preview of the film, The Manzanar Fishing Club. The Manzanar Fishing Club is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the WWII internment of Japanese Americans from a unique perspective: through the eyes of those who defied the armed guards, barbed wire and searchlights to fish for trout in the surrounding waters of the Eastern Sierra. By emphasizing the evacuees' personal stories this film goes beyond the confinement itself, and instead shows how a courageous few were able to take back a bit of dignity and freedom through the simple act of fishing. After a screening of the first chapter of the film, a panel discussion will follow. Screenwriter/producer Richard Imamura will be joined by Mas Okui, an internee fisherman whose experiences are discussed in the film, and local historian and author Stan Yogi. Please RSVP to 415.357.1848, ext. 229 or rsvp@calhist.org.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.Oyster Farm Opening Reception
Free Event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco
Join artist Evvy Eisen at the California Historical Society for a reception celebrating the new exhibit, Oyster Farm. Drinks and hors d'oeuvres will be served. RSVP to 415.357.1848, ext. 229 or rsvp@calhist.org.
Thursday, November 17, 2011, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The Renaissance of Traditional Chinese Culture and its Impact in California
Panel Discussion
Free Event at the California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco
About twenty years ago, a renaissance of classical Chinese culture started in China, reconnecting its citizens with its lost traditional culture, but few outside of China recognized it. Now, manifestations of that renaissance - classical art performances by Shen Yun – are observed around the world. This evening, our discussion introduces the revival of traditional Chinese culture today, the artistry of Shen Yun and its impact on California. Their will be a brief performance by Mei Yuan, music teacher at Fei Tian Academy of The Arts California and former Erhu (Chinese Violin) soloist with Shen Yun Performing Arts from New York. Alicia Zhao from New Tang Dynasty Television will moderate the discussion. Drinks and hors d'oeuvres will be served. RSVP to 415.357.1848, ext. 229 or rsvp@calhist.org.
