ALBANY
San Francisco Opera is taking their performance art form out of the opera house and into a shipping-container-turned-stage on Albany’s Solano Avenue.
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At 1 p.m. June 27, audiences can enjoy a one-hour version of Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera “La Bohème” performed live in Italian with English narration and keyboard accompaniment.
Support Albany businesses and grab your lunch from one of the fabulous restaurants nearby and enjoy this free lunchtime performance of “Bohème Out of the Box,” which will bring powerful emotions and soaring arias in a relaxed, intimate environment.
Families with young children are invited to participate in a free First Act Workshop 45 minutes before showtime at all performances. Explore Puccini’s “La Bohème,” and get to know the passionate artists in the story.
Attendees can also bring along a favorite stuffed-animal friend and dance to “Musetta’s Waltz,” one of the most famous melodies in all of opera. For more details online, visit sfopera.com/seasons/opera-out-of-the-box.
— city of Albany
RICHMOND
Art center’s opening reception June 29 for two exhibitions
Artists living and working in Richmond, as well as incarcerated artists, will present their work at Richmond Art Center in two new exhibitions opening this summer
In the main gallery, San Quentin Prison Arts Project and Philadelphia Mural Arts will present “The View from Here,” an exhibition featuring artwork by incarcerated artists from San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and Philadelphia’s State Correctional Institution Phoenix who participated in a creative exchange over the past year.
The theme — “The View from Here” — emerged from the artists’ communications, exploring life inside prison and the realms where their minds wander beyond its gates.
A panel discussion and paint day featuring alumni and facilitators from both prison arts programs will be held on July 13 starting at 11 a.m. After a panel discussion, former program participant Eddie Ramirez will showcase his mural painting technique, and community members are invited to join in the process.
Also opening at Richmond Art Center this summer is the Richmond Open Studios Preview Exhibition. In its second year, this event will bring together nearly 50 artists in Richmond who are opening their studios to the public during the weekend of Aug. 17-18.
The Preview Exhibition offers visitors an advance showing of work by participating artists, letting them plan their self-guided tours throughout different Richmond neighborhoods in August. Richmond artists are also being hosted at ar.ti.fact Gallery, NIAD Art Center and Richmond Art Center.
An Opening Reception for “The View from Here” and the Preview Exhibition will be held from 1 o 3 p.m. June 29, and all are welcome to attend. The Richmond Art Center is at 2540 Barrett Avenue in Richmond, admission is free and gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Visit richmondartcenter.org online for more details.
— Richmond Art Center
BERKELEY
Ordinance, emission tax qualify for Nov. 5 ballot, group says
Berkeley’s city clerk confirmed May 29 that the Fossil Free Berkeley Tax and Healthy Berkeley Buildings Ordinance qualify for the Nov. 5 ballot.
The measures are likely the first of their kind nationwide and are endorsed by Fossil Free Berkeley, a coalition of labor, physicians, affordable housing developers, environmentalists, architects, tenants’ advocates and faith/civil rights leaders.
The more than 9,000 signatures collected were submitted the same week that Berkeley resolved fossil fuel industry-backed litigation against its groundbreaking methane gas infrastructure ban. As part of that case, a judge noted “local governments are likely free to impose carbon taxes designed to discourage such [gas] consumption.”
The Fossil Free Berkeley Special Tax on emissions from the property owners of buildings 15,000 square feet and larger would create a $23 million-per-year Just Transition Fund to pay for green-energy upgrades for homeowners, renters, restaurants and other businesses: all-electric appliances, solar, battery storage, panel upgrades, wiring, EV charging and insulation.
Methane, which leaks and is a potent greenhouse gas, heats the planet 80 times more than carbon dioxide over 20 years. When burned, it can cause asthma, cancer and other health issues. City data suggests that about 500 Berkeley buildings greater than 15,000 square feet are causing nearly a quarter of the city’s climate emissions from methane gas.
The proceeds over 25 years could cut in half the City’s estimated cost to electrify all low-rise residential buildings. Funds would be made available to all Berkeley residents, with a priority for neighborhoods with a history of environmental racism and disproportionate pollution. Building upon a recent city pilot program, work funded by the measure would be prioritized for organized labor, part of a historic “blue-green alliance” between unions and environmentalists. The measure would also expand the city’s climate department.
The Fossil Free Berkeley coalition also submitted signatures for a separate Healthy Berkeley Buildings measure requiring upgrades of municipal buildings with state-of-the-art ventilation to ensure climate resilience and protect the health of community and workers in city senior centers, libraries, and other facilities.
East Bay air is heavily polluted by refinery emissions, wildfire smoke, freeways, trains and the nearby port and airport. The measure would help prevent the spread of COVID-19, influenza and other airborne diseases.
Berkeley has received $67 million in federal funds earmarked for ventilation but has yet to upgrade its city buildings. In July, the City Council will have an opportunity to pass the measure outright and avoid needing it to go on the ballot.
Berkeley’s charter requires the council to vote to either place nontax measures on the ballot or adopt them verbatim. For more information, visit fossilfreeberkeley.org online.
— Fossil Free Berkeley
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