Press

2005 San Francisco Notables

Benefit Event

Celebrities, Community Leaders and Colorful Characters from the City by the Bay Strike a Pose to Benefit Creativity Explored, a Visual Art Center for Adults with Developmental Disabilities

With Special Guest Entertainer, Comedian Will Durst

SAN FRANCISCO…Paparazzi — take note! The place to be on April 28, 2005 from 7:00 to 9:30 pm will be the 111 Minna Gallery where San Francisco’s finest will all be hanging out…on the walls, that is. The inimitable artists of Creativity Explored have created one-of-a-kind portraits of more than 25 notable San Franciscans which will be sold through a silent auction that night to benefit this extraordinary visual arts center for adults with developmental disabilities.

Tickets are $40 per person.

Main event

From Mr. San Francisco Leather to Mayor Newsom, this Wall of Fame includes many of the celebrities, community leaders and colorful characters that give San Francisco and the Bay Area its unique reputation for tolerance, innovation and eccentricity. Participating luminaries include politicos Barbara Boxer, Kamala Harris and Mayor Gavin Newsom; writers Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Anne Lamott, Dave Eggers, Isabel Allende and Armistead Maupin; actor and comedian Robin Williams; Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist; choreographer Joe Goode; musician Jonathan Richman; Jewelle Gomez, poet and activist; former San Francisco Ballet prima ballerina Evelyn Cisneros; cartoonist Phil Frank; the Chronicle’s own Ken Garcia; Herb Caen’s mystery tipster Strange de Jim; Seth Matterosa, San Francisco’s premiere dermatologist; Mark Bittner, Telegraph Hill’s wild parrot activist; Larry Mitchell, founder of Mitchell’s Ice Cream; Eddy Muller, San Francisco’s foremost authority on film noir; filmmaker George Kuchar; impresario Peaches Christ; Mitchells Brothers exotic dancer Kimberly Rio; Ron Loney, lead guitarist for the Flaming Groovies; Donna Sachet, drag’s “Ultimate Empress”; Dodger Allen, Mr. San Francisco Leather; the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the Cowgirls of Novato, a dozen horsewomen who put their 40-year-plus bodies on the line in a ‘grin-and-bare-it’ calendar project to raise money for local charities. Many of the portraits will be autographed by the famous subjects themselves.

Entertainment

As part of the evening’s entertainment, nationally acclaimed comedian Will Durst will entertain the crowd with his thoughts on some of these notables and our beloved city.

Director Amy Taub says this event just makes sense for the organization. “Creativity Explored is a ‘San Francisco Notable’ too,” she says. “We’re about all the wonderful things that make this town tick — art, community, advocacy and diversity. We’re a vital and unique part of the Mission neighborhood and the entire San Francisco community.”

Food and Drink

Several of the city’s hip restaurants will provide the food for this one-of-a-kind event including 2223 Restaurant, Tokyo A Go-Go, Cinque Terra, Kennedy’s Pub Irish House, Panchitas 3 as well as Magnolia Catering. Wine is being donated by the Winery Exchange of Novato and other area wineries.

Afterparty

From 9:30 pm – 1 am, 111 Minna hosts a benefit afterparty with live music provided by Every Move A Picture, a critically-acclaimed dance punk band and Elephone, a San Francisco band whose dark guitar textures and dynamic vocal range have earned them comparisons to Radiohead, Grandaddy and The Cure. The afterparty is included in the cost of the $40 benefit ticket. Tickets to the afterparty can also be purchased separately for $10.

For more information or to order tickets, the public should call (415) 863-2108, or visit www.creativityexplored.org.

Calendar Listing

San Francisco Notables

PORTRAIT AUCTION AND CONCERT to benefit CREATIVITY EXPLORED
Celebrities, Community Leaders and Colorful Characters from the City by the Bay Strike a Pose to Benefit Creativity Explored, a Visual Art Center for Adults with Developmental Disabilities

What

San Francisco Notables – a celebrity portrait auction and concert to benefit Creativity Explored, a visual art center for adults with developmental disabilities

When

Thursday, April 28, 2005. Auction and party from 7:00 -9:30 pm. Afterparty with bands Elephone and Every Move a Picture begins at 9:30 pm

Where

111 Minna Gallery
111 Minna Street, San Francisco

TICKETS: $40 per person for the party and concert. $10 per person for the concert only.

MUST BE 21 OR OLDER.
INFO AND TICKETS: (415) 863-2108

Creativity Explored is a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art.

Press Images

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Press Contacts

Nina Sazevich: (415) 752-2483
Amy Taub: (415) 863-2108

# Posted on March 16, 2005