San Francisco Offers Exclusive Online Entertainment at Home

One of the challenges of the California “Shelter in Place” order is staying entertained at home.  San Francisco started their shelter in place order on March 17, 2020 and has now extended it to the end of May.  So how are we to stay entertained?  This is the eternal question right now 🙂

Thanks to the use of technology, arts and culture lovers anywhere can now experience some of San Francisco’s most exclusive performances, conversations and collections that were previously only available in a brick-and-mortar setting.  Here’s a few entertainment options from San Francisco that everyone planet-wide can enjoy.

Letterform Archive

Now everyone can give their communications the classic look of the ages with the digitization of the nonprofit Letterform Archive and its unparalleled collection of typographical artifacts.

Normally, Letterform Archive, located in San Francisco’s creative Dogpatch neighborhood, is strictly a “brick and mortar” collection where artists, scholars, and the font-loving public come in and learn from – and touch – a collection ranging from a 4,000-year-old cuneiform clay tablet to a page from a Gutenberg Bible to style manuals from Apple Computer. From a fifteenth-century handmade Rothschild Book of Hours to psychedelic ’60s posters and the early pixelated digital type designs of the 1980s, it is an absolutely unique collection.

For the last four years, Founder and Executive Director Rob Saunders and his team of librarians, curators, developers, and designers have been working to make this world-class digital trove of typographical artifacts available – free of charge – to everyone.   The Archive’s online repository of digitized materials related to lettering, typography, calligraphy, and graphic design spans thousands of years of history.

Programs form the Commonwealth Club of California

Commonwealth Club of California

The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum. They present nearly 500 events each year on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy to more than 25,000 members and the public. Though they have temporarily suspended or rescheduled live, in-person events, the Commonwealth Club is going full-speed ahead with live online programs.

International Ocean Film Festival

Since its launch in 2004, the International Ocean Film Festival has attracted thousands of spectators of all ages from around the world, including film enthusiasts, water sports fans, educators, and environmental supporters. The pandemic caused the festival originally planned for March 12-15 to be postponed.  To bring the ocean to everyone and keep the love of the sea alive, the organizers have created the IOFF Home Edition, a personally curated a list of highlights and award-winning International Ocean Film Festival films to enjoy anywhere.

The Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco

Museum of Craft and Design

The Museum of Craft and Design (MCD) aims to continually question the conventional notion of art while making creativity accessible to everyone. In lieu of regularly scheduled workshops and events, MCD is launchingMCD@Home, partnering with artists and community collaborators to create new content for at-home projects based on the themes, concepts, and materials found within the museum’s signature programs and exhibitions.  Projects include “Newspaper Architecture,” “DIY Spirograph,” “Frida Kahlo Self Portraits” and others.  MCD also offers virtual exhibition posts with exhibition images, curator quotes, and behind the scene anecdotes.

San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus

San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus

The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC) has launched SFGMC TV, a free online platform showcasing exciting performances, dynamic interviews, singer spotlights, and more.  SFGMC TV debuts with a video of “Truly Brave,” dedicated to first responders and medical professionals working to fight the COVID-19 pandemic around the globe. This performance marks the first-ever virtually recorded piece in SFGMC history and features more than 150 members of the chorus.

SFGMC TV features four main channels: Behind the Curtain, In Concert, Out in the Community, and Inside the Chorus. Behind the Curtain is a continuation of the popular series previously held at the National LGBTQ Center for the Arts. The In Concert channel will offer a wide range of performances and concert footage; Out in the Community will feature educational content such as instructional videos from Artistic Director Dr. Timothy Seelig and curriculum from the RHYTHM (Reaching Youth Through Music) program; and Inside the Chorus features a behind-the-scenes look into the Chorus and its members.

SFJazz is now available online

SFJAZZ

The SFJAZZ “Fridays at Five” pre-recorded concerts connect audiences to performances recorded at the SFJAZZ Center.  This new weekly series features exclusive footage from some of the most memorable concerts from the past few years.  Digital memberships of just $5 per month and the virtual tip jar directly support SFJAZZ and the artists featured in these concerts from the SFJAZZ Center.

The beautiful San Francisco Opera Center

San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera and its resident artists, the Adler Fellows, are teaming up to use music to help fight the pain and isolation caused by the coronavirus. Tune in every day on Instagram to hear “Odes to Joy,” a daily video series sharing uplifting songs performed especially by Adler Fellows.

Inspired to post your own Ode to Joy? Join the San Francisco Opera community in broadcasting a message of hope across the world with the hashtag #odestojoy. With each song, include a dedication to a person or group of people you care about. It could be a loved one in your home, a relative living far away, or even a doctor or a nurse serving on the front line. #odestojoy #OperaisON

San Francisco Opera also offers Spotify playlists from some of the most beloved San Francisco Opera personalities. Want to know what conductor Eun Sun Kim is listening to, in the lead-up to taking the helm as San Francisco Opera’s next music director? Or what about Tad and Dianne Taube General Director Matthew Shilvock, Managing Director of our Artistic department Gregory Henkel, and our music librarian Michael Bragg?  Follow San Francisco Opera on Spotify to listen in.

Theatre Bay Area

Theatre Bay Area’s “Retaking the Stage” exists to promote work being done by Bay Area and national theatremakers and other performing arts workers during the COVID-19 crisis.  It’s a regional directory of local and global live stream and recorded performances and local online classes.  Bay Area theater companies include American Conservatory Theater (ACT-SF), Berkeley Repertory Theatre,  Theatre Rhinoceros, 42nd Street Moon, Marin Theatre Company and many others.

The Walt Disney Family Museum

Walt Disney Family Museum

The Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM) ( located at the Presidio) has launched the Happily Ever After Hours virtual series with Disney luminaries, including animators, artists, directors, and Imagineers, who will discuss their careers and connections to Walt’s story. Hosted via Zoom webinar, audience members can submit questions to our special guests in advance and watch them answered live. Featured guests include Muppeteer Dave Goelz and Composer Fabrizio Mancinelli.

The WDFM also offers a new series of virtual classes taught by a live instructor. Students can interact directly with the teacher to ask questions and receive personalized guidance throughout the class, all enjoyed from the comfort of home.  There are different sessions for students in grades 6-12 and adults.  The calendar of upcoming virtual events includes topics such as Character Design and Designing Comics.

Whether you are in San Francisco, or elsewhere sitting out the COVID-19 crisis, these entertainment options can help you pass the time as we all “shelter in place.”  So skip the ticket lines and the crowds, and enjoy the some of the  BEST museums and music in the world from your home!