Events that have not been canceled. Cancellations are ongoing, so please check individual events for updates.

 

 

 

 

 

ART

 

The Moraga Art Gallery announces a new art exhibit, “Spaces, Inside and Out” which runs through Dec. 24. The gallery is open Friday through Sunday, noon to 3 p.m. and is currently open Thursday through Sunday, noon to 3 p.m. For information, visit the Moraga Art Gallery website: https://moragaartgallery.com.

 

Lamorinda Arts Alliance announces the exhibit “Tiny but Mighty: Honoring RBG” at the Main Street Arts Gallery in Martinez, showcasing the artwork of 26 Lamorinda Arts Alliance member artists. The work includes mixed media, collage, photography, monotype, oil and cold wax medium, and paintings in watercolor, oil and acrylic. Lamorinda Art Alliance member artist Ruth Stanton curated this exhibit of abstract and representational 2D artwork that is bold and powerful just like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Pat Calabro, a Pacheco resident, is our featured artist.  Her abstract digital acrylic collages are bold and full of intensity - so much intensity that she finds she must tone down areas to make places for the eye to rest.  Calabro exhibits her artwork throughout the Bay Area and as far away as in Ghent, Belgium.  A reception is tentatively scheduled from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, pending Contra Costa County COVID-19 regulations. The show will also be available online starting January 8 on the gallery website: https://www.mainstreetarts.net. The Main Street Arts Gallery is located at 613 Main Street in Martinez, and is open Friday through Saturday noon to 4 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 

MUSIC

 

After a semester of successful online rehearsals, boys with unchanged voices are now being considered for the San Francisco Boys Chorus.   Auditions will take place online in the coming weeks. Sign up at www.sfbc.org/auditions.  Until further notice rehearsal locations in San Francisco, San Rafael, San Mateo and Oakland are closed, but training continues for boys ages 5 to 12 online. For more information visit www.sfbc.org/auditions or call (415) 861-7464.

 

Acalanes HS Instrumental Virtual Winter Concert Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. Enjoy the amazing musical talents of the Acalanes Instrumental Bands this month! Instrumental Music Director Ms. Lauren Gibson will be showcasing performances by each ensemble (Jazz Ensemble, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Orchestra) as well as chamber music. Best of all, you can hear all this beautiful music safely from the comfort of your home via Zoom video conference.  (https://auhsdschools.zoom.us/j

/88034652625) This concert is free to the public but donations are always welcomed! Look for more details on http://acalanesinstrumental

music.com or http://ahsperformingarts.org.

 

LITERATURE

 

January 2021 events at Orinda Books: Tues. Jan. 5, 4 p.m. Pat’s Book Club will meet via Zoom to discuss “Rules for Visiting” by Jessica Frances Kane. All are welcome. The book is available at Orinda Books. To attend, phone (925-254-7606) or email Orinda Books (info@orindabooks.com) giving your email address. You will receive a link to the Jan. 5 event.  Orinda Books 276 Village Square, Orinda, 925-254-7606, www.orindabooks.com.

 

The Stanford Women’s Club of the East Bay presents the 46th Annual Books on Review program, virtually this year, featuring four Stanford authors speaking about their books.  Join us via Zoom on Thursday, Jan. 28, 10 a.m. to noon. Free, or make a donation to the club’s scholarship fund for East Bay Stanford women students. Featuring: Alka Joshi, T’he Henna Artist,” Frances Dinkelspiel, “Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession, and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California,” Daniel Mason, “A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth, “Angie Kim, “Miracle Creek.” Register online at http://alumni.stanford.

edu/goto/bor2021.  You will need to create a username and password.  You do not need a Stanford affiliation.  A link to the Zoom webinar will be sent before the event.

 

OTHER

 

Community Concern for Cats’ Holiday Giving Tree Fundraiser is continuing through Dec. 31.  This end-of-the-year event will raise funds for its Cat Hospital where it provides spay/neuter services and medical attention for your neighborhood’s homeless and abandoned cats and kittens. To show your compassion, please donate online at communityconernforcats.org, their Facebook page or go to their thrift shop, Rescued Treasures, 1270 Newell  Ave., Walnut Creek, and purchase an ornament from their countertop tree, and have in hung on their Giving Tree in the window with gratitude.  This 34-year-old-cat rescue organization has spayed/ neutered and given medical attention to over 3,000 cats this year.  It has found loving homes for 645 cats in 11 months. 

 

Christmas Eve Community Event. Dec. 24, 3:45 p.m. Our Saviors Lutheran Church and Creekside Commons host an outdoor, drive-in, Christmas celebration for the whole household or your COVID bubble. Bundle up the kids, fill a thermos full of hot cocoa, pick up some battery-powered tea lights, and grab a parking space at 1035 Carol Lane Entry B in Lafayette.  Tune your radio to 99.9 FM for a carol sing with local Singer/Songwriter Laura Zucker, and ground your holidays in the spirit of Christmas with Pastor Dan.  A pdf of the song sheets are available for download at www.oslc.net.

 

 

GARDEN

 

The Montelindo Garden Club January meeting begins Friday Jan. 15 at 10 a.m. on Zoom. Everyone is welcome. Presentation: Inviting pollinators in; Speaker: Janet Sluis. Janet Sluis is a well-known horticulturist specializing in organic, low water, regionally appropriate, easy-care plants. She is the Sunset Western Garden Collection’s curator and plant expert. Sluis will speak about what people can do to address declining bird and insect populations by selecting appropriate plants and trees, including those that will provide year-round habitat and food sources. To request a Zoom link to attend this meeting, email: montelindogarden@aol.com

 

The Orinda Garden Club, along with several other Bay Area garden clubs, together are sponsoring a free, virtual symposium: Bay Visions 2021: “The Power of Plants Will Protect the Bay.” Please join us for this discussion on Jan. 13, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., for an inspiring look at adaption, regeneration, and the powerful role plants play in mitigating the challenges facing San Francisco Bay. Speakers include Karina Nielsen, Professor and Director, Estuary & Ocean Science Center, San Francisco State University; Dr. Katharyn Boyer, biology professor at San Francisco State University’s Estuary & Ocean Science Center; and Josie Iselin, author of The Curious World of Seaweed. Register (for free) here: www.eventbrite.com/e/bay-visions- tickets-127648342629

 

We invite you to join our zoom meeting of the Walnut Creek Garden Club on January 11.  Our business meeting starts at 10 a.m., and our speaker presentation will begin at approximately 10:30 a.m. We are pleased to announce that Brian Kemble, Curator at Ruth Bancroft Gardens since 1980, will showcase the iconic plants of the Ruth Bancroft Gardens.  Mr. Kemble is highly regarded in the horticultural world and is a prolific writer and lecturer on drought tolerant plants.  His column “On the Dry Side” has appeared in several local newspapers. To join us, please contact our Co-President, Maureen Little at mslittle44@gmail.com for your zoom invitation.