Public Programs Calendar

Please join us for the 'Chef's of the Diaspora' series and the national launch of , Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine by Bryant Terry.

Following a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception hosted by Weyland Southon of Hardknock Radio, Chef Terry will lead a conversation about food politics then sign copies of his new book.

The reception will feature:

*Live music by Renee Wilson (vocals) and Kev Choice (keys)

*Wine provided by Mouton Noir Wines

*Water provided by Metromint

*Dishes from Vegan Soul Kitchen catered by Back to Earth Organic Catering

Chef Terry will also be unveiling a set of food justice posters co-created by artist Favianna Rodriguez.

There will be gifts and giveaways. So join us for a night of food, music, art, and culture.

GENERAL ADMISSION $10

Vegan Soul Kitchen available for purchase at the museum store.

**And please join us at PST (at 330 Ritch in SF) for the official after party.**

Commercial products are coded carriers of social and political attitudes in my art. Oreos join watermelon seeds, bananas, puzzle pieces, boxing gloves, and women's handbags as the physical stand-ins for racial, sexual, and political prejudice. Ramekon engages ordinary objects of consumption to reveal their deeply rooted symbolism, an activity that offers personal and social catharsis.

Ramekon O'Arwisters is the former gallery director and curator of the Richmond Art Center. He has served as gallery manager and artist-in-residence at the San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society at Fort Mason. In 2003, he attended the Djerassi Artist Residence Program in Woodside, CA. He has lectured at the California College of Arts in Oakland, California, Sonoma State University, Sacramento State University, The Harvey Milk Institute in San Francisco, Duke University, and the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson Vermont. O'Arwisters received grants from the San Francisco Foundation, Grants to Individual Artists, and Artadia, New York. In 2007, San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Equity Program funded American Cuisine at the Luggage Store. Presently, he is an artist and curator in the San Francisco Bay Area. His work can be viewed at www.flickr.com/photos/ramekon, www.youtube.com/user/ramekon, and www.artadia.org.

During the MoAD Lunchtime artist talk, he will discuss his sculpture, the strategies behind the making of the work, and how to abstract one’s experience to create conceptual art.

Join us for the national launch of Like Loving Backward: Stories, the new book of fiction by Cheo Tyehimba, award-winning writer and author.

Following a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception, Tyehimba will read from his book, which is a collection of supernatural stories about how black men learn to love,followed by a panel discussion on new models of black manhood and love

moderated by Davey D. Book-signing to follow.

GENERAL ADMISSION $10

Jamie Lloyd, Ghana Youth Photo Project Director, discusses her work in Africa.

Jamie Lloyd has been a volunteer mentor with First Exposures, a unique photography based mentoring program for at-risk youth in the Bay Area, since January 2005. Prior to working with FX she was a photojournalist with the Daily Graphic Newspaper in Ghana, West Africa. After being a part of the First Exposures team and witnessing the success of the program she decided to use FX as a model to run the Ghana Youth Photo Project, a similar program in the impoverished neighborhood of Nima in Ghana's capital city, Accra. In 2008 she took 5 youth photographers from First Exposures to Ghana for a three week photographic and cultural exchange.

If you want more of Chef Bryant Terry join us as he discusses his new book Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine, his work with the Southern Organic Kitchen Project and, The Black and Green Fund.

Terry will be available to sign books after the talk.

Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman, and written by Jordan Roberts (March of the Penguins), Where the Water Meets the Sky tells the inspiring story of 23 women from a remote region of northern Zambia who are trained in filmmaking. In one of the poorest areas of the country, where women rarely have a chance to speak out, this courageous group produces a film about an issue that no one will discuss: the plight of young women orphaned by AIDS. Inspired by the strength of Penelop, a young woman who agrees to share her story on camera, the group becomes a force for change, showing how a single story can unite an entire community.

The film will be introduced and followed by a Q & A with Kimberley Sevcik CAMFED Information & Media Relations Manager.

Free with Museum Admission

Spend an evening at MoAD in support of youth poetry as we partner with Youth Speaks. Free admission.

About the Youth Poetry Slam:

Over 500 poets from across the Bay Area participate in the annual celebration of youth voice, literacy, and lyricism.

The Slam begins with preliminary rounds in San Francisco and the East Bay March 12-21.

Grand Slam Finals at the San Francisco Opera House Saturday, April 11.

Join us in our final Family Day programming for our exhibition, Decoding Identity: I Do it For My People. Come to the 3rd Floor Education Center to learn about cyanotypes, an early photographic process, and create a one-of-a-kind self-portrait artwork related to your identity.

Free with Museum Admission

Discussion and book signing with author Len Lyons.

This collection of stories shares the difficulties and triumphs of Ethiopian Jews adjusting to life in Israel in one of the largest mass immigration movements of the 1980’s. This is a personal exploration of what has been, until now, a very political conversation about a contemporary African diaspora.

Discussion followed by book signing.

Free with Admission!