| Subject | Date | Category | Presenter | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art Tour of Florence | Sat Sep 14 | Slide Show | Ken Collins | Without question, Florence ranks right at the top of the list of one of the great art cities of the world. This is especially noteworthy as its period of greatness - late Middle Ages through the late Renaissance - was relatively brief, just under 400 years. This contrasts with Rome, where virtually all periods of Western art and architecture are represented. But the period covered, 1250 - 1600 C.E. is filled with such a density of dazzling work as to be postiviely overwhelming. This program is based on a 2 1/2 week stay in Florence in November 2023, which was enough time - barely - to re-visit the best of the best of art during one of Europe 's most accomplished periods. As an aside, November can be an excellent time to be in Florence - the days are cool but comfortable still, trees remain green and many flowers continue to be in bloom. The summer and early fall crowds have dropped off a bit, and restaurants are all open, having gotten past their summer closures. Retail establishments are art statements of their very own. And with a few exceptions, one can walk everywhere and enjoy the urban fabric up clo |
| Postcards from Indian Country, USA | Fri Sep 20 | Slide Show | Tressa Berman | — A reading and slideshow by Tressa Berman, Ph.D. — (Rescheduled from 9/6/24) The collection, Postcards from Indian Country, USA is a mixed genre series of poems and prose set alongside photographs taken over the last decades of oil extraction and cultural resilience in Native communities across the northern Plains. The poetic “snapshots” mark the places where the author has lived and worked as an anthropologist, curator, friend and community member for more than forty years. The artistic studies in “prose portraits” invoke memories and self-reflections that are part travelogue, part auto-ethnography. |
| Strasbourg and the Upper Rhine Valley | Sat Sep 21 | Slide Show | Philippe Holtzweiler | The presentation will cover Strasbourg and the Upper Rhine Valley (which includes the part of the Black Forest along that particular stretch of the Rhine as well as the Basel area in Northern Switzerland). The slideshow will mostly (but not exclusively) center the Holiday Season, which is very big in Alsace and the Upper Rhine Valley and quite magical and festive, with among others, some of the most beautiful Christmas markets anywhere. |
| AVAILABLE | Sat Sep 28 | AVAILABLE | ||
| AVAILABLE | Sat Oct 05 | AVAILABLE | ||
| Ancient Rock Art Stories | Sat Oct 12 | Slide Show | Harland Soper | Ancient Rock Art Stories: Tales written in a symbolic language about families, cultures, the Universe and Nature. With our collective imaginations in hand, we 'll journey together through the canyons and high desert landscapes of New Mexico to learn about the ancient cultures of our ancestors who left their stories behind in their rock art. These petroglyph etchings will reveal their lives within nature. We 'll learn their stories from the perspective of our current day native American neighbors and our neighbors on other continents across our shared world. Were they no different than us? Asking the same questions ... Who am I? Where did I come from? What does this world around me mean? Join me on this journey and don 't forget to bring your imagination. |
| AVAILABLE | Sat Oct 26 | AVAILABLE | ||
| AVAILABLE | Sat Nov 02 | AVAILABLE | ||
| Camino de Santiago for everyone | Sat Nov 09 | Slide Show | Tom Alesi | |
| OLD SF Assoc Bookclub | Fri Nov 15 | Book Group | Adam Johnson | |
| Panama: Birds and exotic creatures | Sat Nov 16 | Slide Show | Ken Collins | Like Costa Rica to its west and Colombia to its east, Panama is a country of extraordinary animal and plant diversity. With a variety of terrains - from the steamy Darien Isthmus to Caribbean and Pacific Islands to the Western Highlands, its bird life is absolutely stunning. One advantage it has over Costa Rica is that it has not drawn the tourist crowds to the same degree as the former. The country has a well-developed infrastructure and is capable of providing a very comfortable experience for visitors. This program will provide a glimpse of the rich natural life of Panama, based on a visit in February-March of this year, which included two guided birding trips, one private and one with a small group. With the combined use of a spotting scope and an iPhone, one can obtain stunning close-up images of the colorful life of this fascinating country. |
| AVAILABLE | Sat Nov 23 | AVAILABLE | ||
| AVAILABLE | Sat Nov 30 | AVAILABLE | ||
| AVAILABLE | Sat Dec 07 | AVAILABLE | ||
| AVAILABLE | Sat Dec 14 | AVAILABLE | ||
| AVAILABLE | Sat Dec 21 | AVAILABLE |
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Art Tour of Florence
Ken Collins Saturday Sept 14, 2024
Without question, Florence ranks right at the top of the list of one of the great art cities of the world. This is especially noteworthy as its period of greatness - late Middle Ages through the late Renaissance - was relatively brief, just under 400 years. This contrasts with Rome, where virtually all periods of Western art and architecture are represented. But the period covered, 1250 - 1600 C.E. is filled with such a density of dazzling work as to be postiviely overwhelming. This program is based on a 2 1/2 week stay in Florence in November 2023, which was enough time - barely - to re-visit the best of the best of art during one of Europe 's most accomplished periods
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