Events

Kintsugi

SPHERE is hosting a Kintsugi Workshops with Kintsugi_LA in San Francisco (date and location below)

While the traditional methods of Kintsugi, using urushi lacquer takes several weeks to complete—as there are long curing times between steps—kintsugi_LA will teach a modified version/technique. This allows you to learn the process/art/technique of kintsugi in ~3 hours.

The $200 workshop fee includes a casual tea ceremony and instruction to craft *a decorative piece. You are encouraged to bring your own broken or chipped piece, however, if you don’t have one, we will provide you with a piece of broken pottery to mend and make new to take home. (**Please let us know in advance if you would like us to provide one for you.) You may also ***purchase a take home Kintsugi kit to continue your newly acquired skill in the art of golden rejoining.

Your host ourSPHERE.life and kintugi_LA are limiting the workshop to ten persons to ensure that each participant gets individual guidance.

Friday, 14 April 5 — 8 PM at The Perish Trust / 728 Divisidero Street / San Francisco, CA 94117

Purchase ticket for SF event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kintsugi-workshop-tickets-593721536097

10% of profits will be gifted to the San Francisco Zen Center

*not recommended for microwave, dishwasher, or food.

**there will be an additional $5.00 fee for providing apiece of broken pottery.

***there is a fee of $60.00 for a take home Kintsugi kit.

Upcoming Event

Point Reyes Ride for Girls

Come join a group cycling ride with a dedication to support of Lotus Outreach International and their 1000 Coffee campaign in honor of the education and empowerment of girls in India and Cambodia. We ask that you consider a monthly commitment to LO’s scholarship fund, or a one-time donation. Thank you.

rsvp: kecm@aol.com

Ride along for Lotus Outreach’s 11^th ride of 2021 on the 11^th of October, 2021 – International Day of the Girl (and Indigenous American’s Day)

This round-trip ride will cycle from Point Reyes Station to Point Reyes Lighthouse (42 miles), on one of the most beautiful roads in Marin County – in my opinion, anywhere for that matter! And, the roads are nicely paved which makes for smooth cycling.

Please meet Katherine Meadowcroft on the grass by Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes Station any time after 10:00AM, we’ll start rolling at 10:30AM.

*Those who would like a longer ride (additional 35 miles round trip), Trifiniti coach, Duane Franks will lead a ride starting from the Fairfax coffee shack, Java Hut, beginning at 8 AM

RSVP kecm@aol.com

Winter Solstice 2019 Nature and Poetry Gathering

Ancient cultures have long marked the Winter Solstice as a sacred turning point in the year, a special day, in which the darkest days come to a close and the sunlight returns. Attune with the Winter Solstice during an afternoon sunset walk on the Marin Trails followed by coming inside for a fireside poetry reading with hot spiced wine and cider.

Where: Location given upon RSVP

When: 4PM – 8PM, Saturday, December 21, 2019

Please bring appropriate footwear for walking on Marin County trails, and a poem to share.

And, Please RSVP here.

(I want to be certain to have enough hot spiced wine and nibbles for everyone.)

This ourSPHERE event is being offered by donation. Please offer what you feel reflects your gratitude and thank you for your generosity in supporting the work of ourSPHERE.

I love the few homely colors of Nature at this season—her strong wholesome browns, her sober and primeval grays, her celestial blue, her vivacious green, her pure, cold, snowy white. ~Henry David Thoreau

I embrace these darker days of rainy weather that commit me to be indoors and hibernate, of sorts, it becomes a time of solitary contemplation, writing, sitting by candle light, and snuggling up with a book and loved ones. ~Katherine Meadowcroft

Past Events

Triggered

October 17 – November 10

The Lye Residence / 2014 Delaware Street, Berkeley, California 94709

Triggered, a group exhibition and related program presented by SPHERE, brings together art and dialogue responding to gun culture in America. Triggered reflects upon and reveals the impact that guns have in our lives through the works of contemporary artworks in a range of media that comment on the history and psychological impact of guns.

Gun culture in America is an important and undeniably urgent issue, that cannot be avoided or ignored. No longer a peripheral issue; it has seeped into the daily political, economic, and social realities of our time. “Trigger” operates in both active and passive senses; either way, triggering is all too pervasive. There is the trigger of a psychosis in the gunmen and the resulting mental and emotional anguish of their victims. The sound of a gun’s triggering mechanism–and, even more so, its firing–triggers fear, terror, anger, grief, and enduring trauma.

We often hear that the effort to change gun laws and policies in the interest of a safer America is a marathon not a sprint. But a sprint is exactly what we need at this time! Consider it a relay where each of us is called upon to take the baton and sprint. Together we can unite to make change happen–faster than bullets take lives. We need to start sprinting, while also understanding that gun control is a complex and controversial topic.

SPHERE’s intention to host Triggered in a private home relates to the grim statistics that the majority of gun deaths take place in the home, whether by accident, homicide, or suicide. The Brady Campaign (in alliance with the AdCouncil of America) launched the “End Family Fire” initiative in 2018 to raise awareness to the many deaths per day that are caused by guns in the home. Some mass shooters have shot and killed family at home before enacting a massacre elsewhere in the community. For these reasons, SPHERE presents Triggered in a domestic setting so that the impact of the artworks may resonate more deeply.

The artists featured in Triggered share unique perspectives that reflect and respond to the current state of guns in our society in a variety of ways.

Karen Barbour
Robert Beck/Buck
Cathy Colman
Jessica Fenlon
Mitchell Gaudet
Andrew Ellis Johnson
Laura Karetzky
Cara E Levine
Jennifer Nagle Myers
Kaytea Petro
Adrian Piper
Michele Pred
Colette Robbins
Laura Sanders
Susanne Slavick
Sarah Stengle

October 17, 2019 Pre-opening wine & hors d’oeuvre reception, 5:00PM – 6:00PM, meet with the artists and join a discussion with Susanne Slavick, artist and Andrew W Mellon Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, and curator of Unloaded. This gathering is an opportunity to talk about the exhibition with a small group and to learn more about the social, material, and aesthetic dimensions of the artist’s work.

October 24, 2019 Dinner and Dialogue, 6:00PM – 9:30PM Readings from Bullets into Bells: Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence with Dean Rader editor and poet, joined in conversation by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz historian and acclaimed author of Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, and Hannah Shearer, Giffords Law Center staff attorney and Second Amendment specialist

November 8, 2019 Closing weekend This Is Not a Gun creative art workshop with Cara Levine and Angela Hennesey 4:00PM – 6:00PM. Followed by an autumn dinner for Brady with Erica Rice, Brady’s Oakland Crime Gun Project Manager and Jessica Gerber, Brady Community Donor Engagement 6:30PM – 9:00PM.

A percentage of sales from the exhibition will support nonprofit initiatives and organizations that address gun violence, gun control, and gun laws, including, The Brady Campaign and Giffords Law Center.

Read here to learn more about the exhibition and artists.

The Movie That Played a Star Role in My Life | July 25th, 2018

Mingling beginning at 6:30pm | Dinner at 7:30pm

our SPHERE invites you to join in a conversation about cinema. Before taking seat for dinner, your evening will have a brief presentation from our conversation engagers (Scilla Andreen and Ana Blanco, moderated by Katherine Meadowcroft, SPHERE founder) to whet your appetite for a deeper conversation at the table while savouring a delicious feast prepared by Hanif Sadir. Come prepared to share your unique and insightful experience with film.

Scilla Andreen: CEO & co-founder of IndieFlix and Executive Producer, Angst IndieFlix: Content With Purpose, is a streaming media site that provides movies, documentaries, shorts, and TV that start of conversation

Ana Blanco: Executive Director of the International Ocean Film FestivalA leading venue in the U.S. showcasing films related to the health and protection of our oceans. This film festival is held in San Francisco, California over a four-day weekend, featuring more than 50 films

Click HERE to get the list of movies that played starring roles.

Why Art Matters and How Does Art Matter | May 1, 2018

Whether you believe art matters or you don’t your perspective matters.

During a delicious dinner prepared by chef Hanif Sadir, SPHERE conversation engagers (Bridget Watson Payne and Ramekon O’Arwisters, moderated by Katherine Meadowcroft) and guests shared an insightful and open conversation about art in the everyday and in community, and art as access to healing and activism.

Bridget Watson Payne: Writer, editor, and author of How Art Can Make You Happy

Ramekon O’Arwisters: A social practice artist, founder of Crochet Jam a collaborative art project and former art curator at SFO airport

Katherine Meadowcroft: Blogger, writer, and founder of Our SPHERE

Here you can read more about SPHERE inspired art