In this week’s Field Notes: a live pipe organ at Legion of Honor, stone legacy in Mill Valley, Recology’s Artist in Residence exhibit, and an Aquatic Park doc. Also: Amy Tan with Christian Cooper, teen film 'The Jar', and Sacramento’s music archive.
Rodin, chandeliers, and a hundred-year-old organ
Every Saturday at 4 p.m., the Legion of Honor fills its Rodin Gallery with the sound of a 100-year-old pipe organ.
Jonathan Dimmick playing the Spreckels Organ at the Legion of Honor, 2002. Photograph by Gary Sexton
Built into the museum itself, its 4,500+ pipes are tucked behind chandeliers and sculptures, designed to resonate through the marble rotunda. The concerts are free with admission, turning a quiet weekend visit into something grander. — Secret San Francisco
Sculpting history in Mill Valley
Mill Valley’s O’Hanlon Center for the Arts pays tribute to its founder, the late sculptor Richard O’Hanlon, with Dialogue with Stone, a display of his monumental stone sculptures, sketches, and archival photos.
Fabrice Florin/Flickr
Alongside it, the Dreams and Visions exhibit explores O’Hanlon’s life, techniques, and inspirations — including geology and astronomy, providing context to his body of work as well as his hillside studio and its surrounding landscape, which O’Hanlon and his wife Ann converted from an old dairy farm in 1942.
The grounds feature outdoor works, some now home to lichens, inviting visitors to wander through both art and history. Runs through August 31, with guided tours available. — Bay Area News Group
From trash to treasure: 35 years of Recology AIR
San Francisco’s Recology Artist-in-Residence program turns the city’s garbage into gallery-ready art. For 35 years, artists have transformed discarded materials — from meat grinders to hair clippings — into striking, unexpected works.
The anniversary show at 1275 Minnesota Street highlights 35 years of creativity, with over 250 artists’ pieces on display. Free to visit through August 30, it’s a uniquely SF experience that makes you look twice at what we throw away. — Recology Artists in Residence
Ship-shaped SF landmark gets its due
The iconic Maritime Museum, formerly known as the Aquatic Park Bathhouse — a 1939 WPA-built bayfront building — has a new spotlight in KQED’s documentary A Balcony on the World.
Premiering August 22, the film traces the bathhouse from public gathering space to WWII Army post to museum, highlighting its murals, glazed-tile sculpture, and restoration projects. Catch it on KQED August 22 at 8 p.m., with re-airings August 23 at 2 a.m. and August 30 at 6 p.m. — SF Examiner
10 peaks, one unforgettable walk
Peak2Peak returns Saturday, September 13, for its 21st year, sending participants on a 10-mile urban adventure through San Francisco’s hidden stairways, quiet streets, and secret viewpoints. Guided groups enjoy coffee, lunch, and snacks along the way, plus a commemorative keepsake at the finish.
Even locals will spot corners of the city they didn’t know existed — just be ready for plenty of hills, stairs, and some serious sightseeing. Tickets are limited and must be purchased in advance. — WalkSF
Amy Tan and Christian Cooper to host delightful nature journaling conference in Palo Alto
Amy Tan, Bay Area born and raised, took NatGeo host Christian Cooper on a birding tour of the region — from Bolinas cliffs to Point Reyes marshes, and of course her own backyard. Along the way, they commiserated over dog owners who ignore leash laws and trample birds’ nesting grounds. Cooper — host of Extraordinary Birder and author of Better Living Through Birding and Urban Owls — knows his birds and the rules they deserve.
On September 14, the pair will share the mic at the 7th Annual Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference at the Foster Museum in Palo Alto, live and online. — Amy Tan
Teens turn summer into a city-wide film set
Seventy-one Bay Area teens spent four weeks making THE JAR, a feature-length chase through Golden Gate Park, Chinatown, and the city’s steep streets. Guided by Joe Talbot (The Last Black Man in San Francisco), they rotated through writing, directing, and cinematography, learning pro-level gear and techniques.
The premiere at the Great Star Theater earlier this month drew a line up Jackson Street, and the Q&A revealed the city’s usual hazards: traffic, curious bystanders, and one very unhelpful passerby. Beyond the polished shots, campers walked away with friendships and creative collaborators that might last a lifetime. — Mission Local
A shed full of music history
In a suburban shed outside Sacramento, Shayne Stacy sits among towers of VHS, cassettes, and reel-to-reels — nearly 20,000 recordings of Bay Area punk, thrash, indie, and metal shows. He started filming local gigs in the ’80s, trading tapes through the mail, and now digitizes rare early footage of Nirvana, Green Day, as well as long-lost basement bands.
Musicians, fans, and former roadies drop off forgotten boxes, and he cleans them up, uploads them online for free, and quietly preserves decades of Northern California music history, one tape at a time. — KQED Arts
North Beach movie mash-up
Every third Wednesday of the month, Films with Friends takes over three venues at the same time in North Beach for a unique and festive night of co-occurring film screenings. This month, live male strippers will be on hand to accompany Savoy Tivoli’s screening of Magic Mike. Alternatively, take a deep dive into Mazatec psychedelic plants at Live Worm’s screening of Salvia Divinorum.
Families should definitely head to Piazza Pellegrini for the 1971 classic, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. — Renegade Cinema
Walnut Creek cafe in the national spotlight
Recently recognized as one of the top new women-owned cafes in the country, Prologue Coffee & Tea quietly thrives inside Walnut Creek’s public library. Vietnamese coffee gets a twist with banana milk, and banh mi sandwiches are crafted from house-made spreads and family recipes.
Owner Thuy Nguyen left banking to open the shop just over a year ago, and locals — plus visitors from across the Bay — are quickly discovering this unexpected gem. — KGO
Top image: Tariq Stone, A Little Bit of This, 2024. Photo by Tariq Stone; Model: Isabel Li; Production Design: Emily Hernandez; Makeup: Niku Radan; Production Assistant: Theo Garvey
Previously: Field Notes: Prelinger Library’s Treasures, SF to Guerneville by Clipper, Historic Lanterns Relit
