SF Agenda: Design and Arts Events in the Bay Area
Author:Dara KerrStart your week off on a creative foot with our round up of artsy events happening in the Bay!
This year’s Architecture and the City Festival wraps up with the ever-popular home tours. Hosted by American Institute of Architect’s San Francisco Chapter and the Center for Architecture + Design, the home tours lead onlookers through some of the most exciting houses, lofts, and buildings in San Francisco and Marin. The tours are meant to showcase a wide variety of architectural styles, neighborhoods, and residences — from haute modern apartments to a Tenderloin community building for formerly homeless residents. Home tours are on September 28 and 29, various locations.

“Platte Occasional Tables” by Alice Tacheny Design. Photo courtesy of Alice Tacheny Design.
Furniture designer Alice Tacheny is showcasing her latest stunning modern woodwork at Larkspur’s Erica Tanov Marin shop. Tacheny’s individually crafted pieces of furniture are sleek, clean, and feature the beauty of the wood. She typically uses domestic hardwoods, like American walnut and rift white oak, and joinery that adds a subtle artistic touch. Along with furniture, Erica Tanov Marin is also exhibiting Tacheny’s brass, leather, and concrete home accessories. Opening reception is September 27 from 6pm to 9pm, 2415 Larkspur Landing.

Photo courtesy of The Rockridge Kitchen Tour.
Need help coming up with ideas to design and decorate your kitchen? Maybe going on the Rockridge Kitchen Tour will help. This month, Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood is hosting its tenth biennial kitchen tour. Nine renovated kitchens will be on view for this self-guided tour, ranging from classic Craftsman styles to highly modern projects to an amalgam of both traditional and contemporary design. Tour is on September 29 from 12:30pm to 5:30pm, various locations.

“Cavity Mechanism #12” by Dan Grayber (left), “Bodega Bag” by Steuart Pittman (right). Photos courtesy of Johansson Projects.
Oakland’s Johansson Projects is hosting a new two-artist exhibit dubbed Formalities that takes a closer look at how machines shape our daily life. One of the artists, Dan Grayber, creates detailed mechanical objects and puts them in jars, boxes, or on the corner of the wall. These machines are meant only to sustain themselves and perform no other duties. While Grayber’s artworks are complex, Steuart Pittman’s layered paintings are strikingly simple. Pittman creates bold geometric forms that represent everyday objects, such as a grocery bag, congregation of people, and renditions of an hourglass. Runs from September 26 to November 14, opening reception is October 4 from 5pm to 8pm, 2300 Telegraph Avenue.