Mission Mission

Southern Exposure’s annual Monster Drawing Rally, a live drawing event and fundraiser, returns to the Verdi Club tomorrow night, 6-11pm.

An anecdote: The first time I went to a Monster Drawing Rally, I walked into the Verdi Club with the kind of shit-eating grin of someone who’s about to go watch a room full of people draw monsters! What could be better? (Okay, a lot of things, but hey, I like monsters.) As I pushed through the crowd, I began noticing all of the in-progress drawings: trees, birds, geometric patterns, girls… but no monsters. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. I turned to my friend, who happens to be an artist; she replied, “Maybe it’s a very broad interpretation of monster?”

Then it hit us. It was a MONSTER(OUSLY-SIZED) DRAWING-RALLY, not a MONSTER-DRAWING RALLY. Oops.

That said, the Monster Drawing Rally is a pretty incredible event in its own right, monsters or none. Here’s a blurb from the website:

Demystifying a process that usually takes place in the privacy of the studio, the Monster Drawing Rally allows spectators to observe artists in the act of creation in the public domain. In keeping with Southern Exposure’s mission to provide an environment accessible to art and artists, the Monster Drawing Rally sets the stage for extraordinary interaction, providing a unique opportunity to watch a drawing come to life, and to purchase a work of art minutes after its completion.

Read on for more information and a massive list of participating artists.

Remember that time you were lost in the nacht, the moon was full, and everything seemed effin’ awesome? Well, get your corpse over to Warm Leatherette at Submission this Saturday for a joyous incision of fog fueled tunes from below and an early live set from Brooklyn bloodletters, Pop. 1280. Regular djs Riegler, Nihar, and Jason P will be turning out top notch nocturnal lullabies guaranteed hijack your heels.

It’s been way too long since the last Lusty Lady party at the Makeout Room, so if you haven’t made the trek across town to visit, now’s your chance to check out all the fun here in the Mission!  And if you have to remind yourselves why the Lusty Ladies are so rad, please refer to our pal Josh’s piece for the Bold Italic.

RSVP and invite your friends here!

Once a year, usually during a particularly warm stretch of days, five blocks of Fair Oaks Street (between Guerrero and Dolores) transforms into a massive garage sale.

And I can’t think of a better setting in which to get your thrift on — this Saturday promises pleasant temperatures in the mid-70s, and Fair Oaks Street always promises to be one of the loveliest tree-and-flower-lined streets this neighborhood has to offer (as well as being a half-block away from the Ames Alley community gallery).

Plus, you can hunt for that perfect Mother’s Day present you may have forgotten to buy.

Looking for something to do with all those extra acid doses you somehow ended up with last weekend from Dolores Park?  Well, have we got just thing for you!  From the creators:

We’ll be filling a pitch black space with thousands of balloons way above head level. We’re custom building special motion-sensitive LEDS that light up and then fade out to go inside many of the balloons.  Come rediscover the playful side of life as you wade your way through a pitch-black sea of thousands of balloons that respond to your movements with ethereal glows of light.

Part dance party, part existential crisis, and totally FREE!  Check out all the details here!

Since Artist’s Television Access puts the FUN in FUNraiser, you might consider putting the FUND in fundraiser at their art auction tomorrow evening (Friday, 5/4). Seriously, ATA has been a Mission staple for almost 30 years. We need them.

Artist’s Television Access invites you to attend this year’s Art Auction FUNRaiser! More than 50 works will be available, including pieces by Chris Johansen, Martha Colburn, Scott Hewicker, and many more!

Come for the art, stay for the refreshments! Live music by The Beehavers and a post-auction soul dance party!

ATA is at 992 Valencia Street, near 21st.

Tomorrow night at The Women’s Building, our blog-neighbor, Mission Local, is presenting their first ever film festival. All of the short pieces are either about the Mission or made by people who live in the neighborhood.

Sounds like some interesting stuff:

A silent dance film, a story about a romantic puppet who gets dumped by his human girlfriend, a profile of a Mission DJ who works at one of SF’s independent radio stations, a look at the conflict between the Mission’s gangs and much more. After the screening, there will be a Q&A with the filmmakers.

Check it out! Support local film so that us local filmmakers don’t have to move to LA!

Saturday, 4/28 at 7pm at The Women’s Building, 3543 18th Street, $5 suggested donation.

Link.

With the first heatwave of Spring just behind us, it’s time to start thinking about fun stuff to do outside again! And if it happens to be the first Saturday of the month, you can’t go wrong with Hard French, the fabulous daytime dance party on the El Rio patio.

Our pal Katie recently delved into the details of what makes it such a rad party on the Bold Italic:

The name Hard French was born from an offhand comment by Tina Faggotina regarding his desire to French kiss a boy hard. Devon adds, “We call it Hard French because we want people to do it hard, and our crowd really brings it.”

Read the rest here!

Since these guys put the FUN in Funraiser, you may consider putting the FUND in Fundraiser tomorrow (Friday). Seriously, Artists’ Television Access is a neighborhood gem. For almost 30 years they’ve been delivering all kinds of cool stuff to your face holes.

ATA is at 992 Valencia, near 21st.