Infin8 sync is responsible for putting on the BYOA- "Bring Your Own Art" events in the city, and…read morealso will be producing Independent artist week Sept. 7th-13 later this year. The mission behind Infin8 Sync is to unite the independent arts community, so far the events have been held at spots like the Fillmore center, MOAD and The African American Art + Culture complex. So far the mix of featured exhibitioners have ranged from film makers, graf artists, dancers, spoken word artists, MC's, even live tattoo art. I highly recommend checking their events out if you are looking to network with visual and/or sound recording artists. Dope.

Finally made it to the oaktorberfest 2010 in the late afternoon. there was a party going on! the…read moreband was going strong on one stage and the packed crowd was enjoying rock & roll. the other stage seem pretty quiet though i though someone was playing there also. the beer lines were hella long. looked for signs of germanness besides the beer here: -german kuchen (kitchen) which looked empty -root beer garden which had been dismantled -some guy in a german outfit blowing on a horn. -some food stand sold bratwurst. oaktoberfest 2010 must have happened in a blitzkrieg and i missed it. besides this, it just looked like an arts & crafts fair with the usual food and commercial vendors plus namu, senor sisig and local merchants.. flyer notes oaktoberfest as "a non-profit event for commmuntiy development in oakland's dimond district". i just retired to my local drinking hole where i heard it was packed all day. saw they were serving festival attendees a 12 oz version in a plastic cup while "locals" got the 16 oz. glass.

This 3rd year event has gotten hugh! The streets were packed but I got my food, beer and dance in…read moreno problem. German step dancing and turfing half a block apart - I love it! Incredible beers, best price of any festival. Just got an announcement for 2011 -Sat Oct.1 it keeps getting better

The Lindy on Sproul folks put on a free dance every Saturday afternoon (12 to 2ish) and three…read moreFriday nights a semester (9 to midnight). They have a decent portable outdoor sound system, and play a great variety of very danceable music. The crowd is mostly young (a lot of Berkeley students and recent graduates), and pretty friendly; people don't always ask newcomers to dance, but always cheerfully oblige when I do the asking. The only thing I don't like, though unavoidable for an outside dance, is dancing on the pavement, which makes pivots and spins hard for someone who is used to dancing on a wood floor. Overall, though, Lindy on Sproul is a lot of fun, and one of only a few good regular places to swing dance in the East Bay. And it's free! I kind of wish I'd gotten into dancing while I was a student and spent more time on that side of town, but I'm still hoping to make it part of my weekend routine...

Lindy on Sproul is a popular almost-weekly swing dance event in the heart of the Berkeley UC…read morecampus. The dance happens on Fridays and Saturdays. The Friday event is not weekly, consult the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/LindyonSproul/ for the dates. The Saturday event apparently happens "rain or shine". I have attended both, so this review consists of two parts. Attendance is free, so are the lessons. Review for the Saturday event: Dance lessons start at 11:45AM (not precisely) and go on until approximately 12:30PM. Typically (not always!) two lessons are held: one for absolute beginners, one for intermediate dancers (the latter assumes that the regular swingouts are not an issue for the participants). After 12:30PM, the dance party starts. The general dance ends at approximately 2:30PM. The logistics: dance area is asphalt: keep your good shoes at home and be easy on your and your partner's knees. The dance happens on the "Upper Sproul". The shaded area is minimal, so sunscreen is a must on sunny days. This is not the best time for parking in the downtown Berkeley; I try to use the Telegraph-Channing garage (about $6), but expect that better deals might be available. There is no water, so bring your own water bottle. The music came from a single speaker, sufficient for a small group. The crowd is small: about 15-30 dancers, with significant imbalance between leads and follows (I have seen imbalance going both ways, recently there were way too many leads). Coupled with a high socialization element (read: ladies chatting in the shade), this creates an issue for an outsider lead, like me; bringing your own partner is recommended. Most dancers are intermediate to quite advanced, few are absolute beginners. This being Berkeley, there were few female leads and male follows, so be sure to check the preference when inviting a new person for the first time. The fun: like the Lindy in the Park (Golden Gate), this is a very public event, as it happens in the middle of a thoroughfare of the Berkeley campus . Your moves are thus frequently immortalized by multiple people taping the dance on their cell phones. I have also invited the onlookers to dance (with a mixed success). Small size of the group provides an opportunity to dance with few truly outstanding follows. Overall: the four stars are an average between close to five stars for a regular hailing from UCB and at most three stars for an outsider. For the latter, the event is not worth attending if any significant driving time is involved. Review for the Friday event: Dance lessons start at 8PM, dance floor opens at 9PM, pretty much on time. Berkeley is known for endorsing all sorts of questionable things but waging a war on car transportation, so allow 15-20 minutes for parking: the Friday evening in Berkeley is exactly the wrong time for this activity. Note that some of the garages close early and are thus unsuitable. Your best bet is the Telegraph-Channing garage ($4 flat fee) if it is not full. Once parked in this garage, exit toward Durant street, and you will be less than two blocks from the event. The dancing happens outdoors in the Upper Sproul area, literally on the street pavement. The pavement of the dance area consists of somewhat smooth bricks interspersed with bands of stone that provide very good friction - and make the turns hard. I generally preferred to stay on the bricks, which made some of the more complex moves possible. Still, this surface is hard on your shoes - and even harder on your knees. Keep your good shoes at home and limit your pivots. DJ music sound is pretty good for an outdoor venue. On the night I visited three DJs provided a good variety of music. There are two lessons, one for absolute beginners (at the bottom of the stairs in the future dance area), and one for more advanced dancers (at the top of the stairs on an even more atrocious surface). Both lessons are going at a quite slow pace, so dress warm on the cold nights. The crowd of about 100 dancers consists primarily of Berkeley students with a fairly large proportion of the beginners yet included few truly great follows (and, presumably, leads). The ratio of leads and follows is about even; with some leads abstaining from many dances this makes for a slightly more follows actually willing to dance in the beginning. By the end of the dance the situation evens out. Note for the beginner follows: do not sit on the stone steps in a 60-degree night, as you can get quite cold: more than one follow was very obviously freezing by the time I invited them to dance. There is no water provided, so bring your own water bottle.

Excellent selection of different artists. It has a lot of mid-century and modern art and pop art…read more The staff was very courteous and helpful and took the time to answer all the questions we had. The location is great but like all Fisherman's Wharf businesses parking is limited. The views from the location is great and right across from Ghirardelli Square. All the modern and technology themed pieces are so interesting. I was so surprised they have regular shows open to the public and you can register to get by invitation only events for the artists.

I've been living next the Chez Feria for years and only recently learned of its existence. This is…read morethe type of under the radar place you've been looking for, but never found.

Art Night SF occurs over three Thursdays, Sept 17th, Oct 1st and Oct 22nd from 5 - 9pm at UN Plaza…read more The event is a collaboration between local galleries, museums, arts nonprofits, city agencies and independent artists with the collective aim of publicly championing the arts in San Francisco. The event brings people together for an outdoor exhibition and with the participation of outspoken leaders of San Francisco's creative community, the goal is to celebrate the impact that cultural contributors are making within the city. There is a performance stage and artists booths at the event as well as some food trucks and a beverage booth. Also, they have table set-up in front of the stage so that you can enjoy your food while watching the performances. If you're in the area, check out Art Night.

"Some Art Is Boring"- T-Shirt Slogan.. ...and I couldn't…read moreagree more. Having that said that, I've never been bored here. All the shows and collections that I've seen at AfterModern have always been SuperCool. Very modern, very edgy, very fringe. And with that, I'm out of lame ass buzzwords to describe the works here. The design is fantastic. It is a two level gallery with an incredibly long and narrow layout . This works well because it gives them one long wall to showcase much larger pieces. The kind of piece where you have to keep stepping back to take it in. Inevitibly, when I'm stepping back I always bump into someone or something. After walking away from said wall, you feel like you are always discovering halls and stairwells and alcoves with new little treasure to peruse. I'm always checking their website to see who they are showcasing next, and so should you!

AfterModern is a cool little Soma gallery. The current exhibit of Aarron White's "Pullstring…read moreYouth" is amazing. The paintings look like a vibrant post-apocalyptic world run by teens. Worth a look.

They held it in the palace of fine arts this year, super spacious! I had a coupon code for 50% off…read moreso $14 (taxes and fees) for unlimited tea tastings with a HUGE variety and a goodie bag of samples was pretty worth it imo. If you look on social media the discount codes can be found easily. I went at 11 am on a Sunday and there weren't many lines, 5 people max at the popular ones and they moved quick. Around 1pm it was a little busier but still nothing crazy like the reviews for the ferry building location. Don't get the VIP tickets, just get there when it opens normally and you should be fine. The VIP lounge was a small dark sad area with a couple more tables. There was a wide variety of teas, like herbal, matcha, spices, traditional, and more!!! They also rinse your cup for you with water before each pouring which was nice. And it felt hassle free, the vendors really just wanted to teach people about tea and there is no pressure to buy anything you can try all of their teas and walk away and not feel awkward. The teas were definitely hit or miss, ended up buying a few from my favorite places. The caffeine content was high... after like 10 tastings my head was feeling loopy haha.

Cramped and stuffy. There is hardly any room to walk around the vendors. The lectures are held in a…read moreseparate building from the Tasting. Would be a lot more efficient if they let you check in to the lectures instead of everyone lines up outside Gallery 308. Long lines waiting for tea. No one moves and even harder to get in to make purchases. Difficult to hear the raffle and person in the mic. Overall it was so-so but not something I would recommend.