Susan Kare will review her work developing icons over the years at Apple, NeXT, and at Susan Kare Design. This is a talk that includes many illustrations and stories about solving various design problems for clients over the years, from Apple to Pinterest. Although the projects are specific, and often feature icons and symbols, the thought processes and methods are applicable to many situations. Read more...
Presented by the Friends of Calligraphy and the Book Arts & Special Collections Center.
Historian and actor David Giesen takes on the role of Henry George, the world-renowned social theorist and author of Progress and Poverty, in a live Chatauqua performance set in 1890. Addressing the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, of which George had been founding secretary, George reminisces about his San Francisco days during the 1860's and 1870's. Performance followed by a Q&A.
Sponsored by the San Francisco History Center in partnership with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
The Occupation of Alcatraz began in November 1969. Ilka Hartmann visited Alcatraz on two occasions and photographed the occupiers. During that time she was welcomed by the occupiers, and since then has remained friends with several of them throughout her life. The day the Indians were removed from the island, June 11, 1971, she happened to be in San Francisco and was able to document their arrival on the mainland, and at the press conference at the Senator Hotel. She will talk about what it was like, as a freelance photographer, to visit Alcatraz, and to become friends with the occupiers. Read more...
The Lincoln Park Golf Course was once San Francisco’s City Cemetery, a windblown assemblage of fraternal and ethnic burial plots, Chinese temporary internment, and the city's Potter's Field. Historians John Martini and Alex Ryder cover the history and demise of San Francisco's 19th century cemeteries, with special focus on Lincoln Park and recent research and archaeology taking place at the nearly forgotten burial ground.
On the 140th anniversary of Henry George's Progress and Poverty, his land tax and radical reform of land use are worth a critical re-examination. Geographers Francesca Manning and Richard Walker, along with Ted Gwartney of the California chapter of Common Ground USA, untangle what George proposed, what happened as a result of his ideas, and what the future holds.
Co-sponsored by Shaping San Francisco and the San Francisco History Center.
Beyond Exemplars and Ductus: Guiding Beliefs & Finer Distinctions
Nearly four decades of letter-making have provided John Stevens with a comprehensive view of letterforms and design, having worked with letters such as classical letterforms, experimental letterforms, and personally expressive letterforms from the functional to the experimental. This talk is about the letterform from the perspective of insights into form and what is "good form," beyond the "form is function" model; the Universal Line, strategies to expand a letter designer's vision (vs. so much copying), how visual literacy can expand one's possibilites to see beyond "styles," and a few models John has developed for visualizing, ideation and creation with letterforms. Read more...
Presented by the Letterform Archive and Book Arts & Special Collections Center.
San Francisco artist Kaytea Petro will share about her process and other works during the gallery talk near the exhibitionAll That Glitters Is Not Gold. Petro has been using San Francisco Public Library’s photograph archive as source materials for illustrations and sculptures for over ten years. During this time, Petro has created a collection of ink drawings based on the images in the archive, and recently developed a hibiscus ink drawing that is ideal for drawing historic photos.
Henry George's Progress and Poverty 140 Years Later
“This association of poverty with progress is the great enigma of our times.” -Henry George, Progress and Poverty
Who owns the earth? Why is there so much poverty amid so much wealth? Who has the right to profit from nature? This exhibit highlights the life and work of Henry George, the social theorist and economist, who observed this paradox 140 years ago while living and working in San Francisco. His book Progress and Poverty (1879) stirred his generation to question social inequities during the Gilded Age as the pockets of land barons and railroad monopolists fattened off the natural wealth in land. George’s keen analyses offered a simple solution—reinvest the economic value of land back into the society that created it.
Alcatraz Island was occupied in November 1969 by Indians of All Tribes, a group of about one hundred Native American college students and activists from UCLA and the San Francisco Bay Area. Led by Richard Oakes, the occupation was organized to draw attention to the sociopolitical situation of Native Americans and to encourage self-determination. The Federal Government ended the occupation in June 1971.
This small exhibit draws on materials from the Alcatraz Indian Occupation collection, donated to SFPL by Indians of All Tribes in 1972. On view will be correspondence, peititions of support, newsletters, fundraising and legal appeals and other documentation of life on the island during the occupation. Read more...
Original Ink Drawings Inspired by the Photo Archives
San Francisco artist Kaytea Petro has been using San Francisco Public Library’s photograph archive as source materials for illustrations and sculptures for over ten years. During this time, Petro has created a collection of ink drawings based on the images in the archive, and recently developed a hibiscus ink drawing that is ideal for drawing historic photos.
Petro’s illustrations will be on display alongside with the original photographs. Ink drawings and photographs on display include iconic San Francisco landmarks as well as quirky 20th century San Francisco moments.