Events and Activities 2-10-2022

Written by Theresa-Marie Wilson

Theresa-Maria Wilson has been a journalist covering the North Coast and South County area for over 20 years. She is also the founder of Cat Noir CC and is currently working on a novel.

February 10, 2022

Art Center Morro Bay, 835 Main St, Morro Bay, presents Earth and Fire. This exhibition will reflect how we view our own fundamental beginnings, born of primitive elements and how these origins resonate within ourselves. 

This exhibit celebrates artistic expression in all media to include textile, sculpture, encaustic, mixed media, oil, watercolor, acrylic and photography.

Earth and Fire is on display in the main gallery concurrent with Aquarius, which will be on display in the Virginia Russel gallery upstairs from February 24 through April 4. This event is free and open to the public. Art Center Morro Bay is open daily from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. A reception takes place February 27 from 2-4 p.m. For more information, 805-772-2504 or www.artcentermorrobay.org.

World-renowned guitarist Pat Kelley will perform with the Cal Poly Jazz Ensembles and Cuesta Jazz Ensemble for the Cal Poly Winter Jazz Concert at 7:30 Friday, Feb. 18, in Miossi Hall of the Performing Arts Center.

Kelley, who recently relocated to the Central Coast, has enjoyed a successful career in Los Angeles as a studio and touring musician, recording artist, composer, producer, arranger, vocalist, recording engineer and educator. 

After earning his degree in music composition from the University of Tulsa, Kelley moved in the 1970s to Southern California, where he recorded and toured with George Benson, Natalie Cole, Chick Corea, Dave Brubeck, Burt Bacharach, Jose Feliciano, and many others, including numerous symphony orchestras. While recording hundreds of commercial jingles, records, films, and television shows, Kelley also worked for several years as the guitarist in house bands for the Merv Griffin, Pat Sajak, and Carol Burnett television shows. He has also written more than one 150 compositions that have been recorded for CDs, film, television and music libraries. In 2003, Kelley was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.

Three big band charts will have their world premiere by the Cal Poly ensembles: “The Way Home” by Cal Poly Director of Jazz Studies Arthur White, “The Bright Side” by music major Wyatt Willard, and “Cite’ Soleli” by materials engineering major Bryce Yuen. Works composed by Thad Jones, Charles Mingus, and Esperanza Spalding will also be performed.

The Cuesta Jazz Ensemble, directed by Ron McCarley, will also perform a set of music.

Tickets are $15 and $20 for the public, and $10 for students and Jazz Federation members. Event parking is sponsored by the PAC. Tickets are available at the Cal Poly Ticket Office between noon and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. To order by phone, call 805-SLO-4TIX (805-756-4849). For more information, call the Music Department at 805-756-2406 or visit its calendar website.

• • •

The next Los Osos Valley Garden Club virtual program and meeting is “What to do with Household Waste?” It takes place via Zoom on Saturday, Feb. 19 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Are you uncertain about what exactly goes in the green waste bin, the recycling bin? You’re not alone. A representative from SLO County Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMAA) will present a program to help clarify these questions. Also, learn about the local high tech Anaerobic Digester that converts green waste and food waste into compost and electricity. A question/discussion period will follow. This program is open to the public. All are welcome. The link is https://bit.ly/3APsqUx.

Meeting ID: 858 7926 9085 – Passcode: LOVGC

The Mother Corn Shuckers and Surfeza will perform a free show at The Siren on Feb. 18 at 900 Main Street in Morro Bay. The fun starts at 8 p.m. Arrive early.

•••

Join the SLO Botanical Garden’s free admission day on Saturday, February 12 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The normal admission cost of $10 for adults and children over 12, and $8 for seniors, students, and military will be waived. This is a great opportunity to spend time outdoors and learn about native plants. There will be a botanical art activity outside of the Education Center. Paper and basic drawing supplies will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own. The garden is located at 3450 Dairy Creek Road in San Luis Obispo, inside El Chorro Regional Park. If you can’t make it out on the 12th, join them for the next free day on Saturday, March 26, which coincides with their Art in the Garden Show and Annual Spring Plant Sale events. Questions? Contact dara@slobg.org or call 805-541-1400 x 302.

•••

The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble and Chookasian Armenian Folk Ensemble will perform a program of music and dance from the Eastern Mediterranean and larger region at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, in the Performing Arts Center on campus.

The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble, which is a combined orchestra and choir with vocal and instrumental soloists, will be joined for the second time by the internationally acclaimed Chookasian Armenian Folk Ensemble. 

Continuing a longstanding collaboration, San Luis Obispo dance director Jenna Mitchell will lead a dance troupe in original choreography to complement the ensemble of instrumentalists and singers. Cal Poly music Professor Ken Habib, a composer, performer, conductor, and ethnomusicologist, directs the event.

The concert features contemporary works and traditional genres, such as the muwashshah, a genre of poetry and song that has traveled throughout Arab society from its origins in the artistic milieu of 10th-century Andalusia. The program also features selections from the shared traditions of the Ottoman era, including pieces having 10- and 11-beat metric modes. Improvisation, vital to music across West Asia North Africa, will also figure prominently in the program.

Tickets are $15 and 20 for the public and $10 for students. Event parking is sponsored by the Performing Arts Center. Tickets are sold at the Cal Poly Ticket Office between noon and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. To order by phone, call 805-SLO-4TIX (805-756-4849). For more information, visit the Music Department’s calendar website, email music@calpoly.edu or call 805-756-2406.

Author, podcaster, and journalist, Mark Oppenheimer, to keynote San Luis Obispo’s Jewish Festival of Learning in response to local anti-semitism.  The Jewish Community Center-Federation of San Luis Obispo, along with San Luis Obispo Hillel and Alpha Epsilon Pi, will host the Festival at Cal Poly from Thursday, February 24 – Saturday, February 26, 2022, for a three-day conference that brings its audience on a journey from the “Axis of Hate to the Nexus of Love.”  Details and registration information can be found on the program website at: https://www.jewishfestivaloflearningslo.com/ 

Oppenheimer will discuss his book, Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood. The talk will take San Luis Obispo from the traumatic hate that was experienced to a nexus of love a community can flourish in. Following the Thursday talk, Friday is a full day of panels and discussions from local students and Jewish professionals, covering topics of Antisemitism on campus, Anti-Zionism, and the best way communities can respond to acts of hate. Friday evening will celebrate LOVE for all in a communal celebration on Shabbat, after hearing from Phil Koek, a second generation Holocaust survivor who shares the story of his father, Joe, and aunts, Eva and Henny, on their recollections during the Shoah.

The final day of the conference will occur in conjunction with Cal Poly’s Change the Status Quo. The afternoon will include options for outdoor recreation, Torah study, and a tour of the History Center of SLO County’s local Jewish history exhibit, L’dor Vador. The day will culminate with a community gathering to mark the end of Shabbat with a candle-lighting, songs, and celebration at the Hillel of San Luis Obispo’s Makom space at the JCC-Federation of SLO property.

Enjoy a Valentine’s Wine Dinner at Oceanpoint Ranch, Cambria on Sunday, February 13 6 p.m. Sip on a variety of Winemaker Chuck’s newest wines paired perfectly with a unique Indian-food themed menu created by Chef Samantha Eitel. This intimate dinner is in held in the Canteen at Oceanpoint Ranch. Separate parties will not be seated together. It includes four courses + wine and is $120 per person. Purchase tickets at bit.ly/3AQk0wd.

Cal Poly’s College of Liberal Arts hosts the sixth annual Social Justice Teach In on Feb. 17, featuring more than 40 virtual and in-person talks and workshops centered around social justice and equity. Presenters include students, staff, faculty and community leaders, representing the diverse voices needed to foster diversity of thought and create a just society for all.

Attendees can register for sessions across a wide range of topics. Four are focused on specific topics to help attendees identify sessions that best match their interests: “Equity-Minded Education,” “Self-Care and Community Well-Being,” “Art and Creative Efforts,” and “DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and STEM.” 

The Teach In will culminate in a keynote session from Christine Wong Yap titled “How I Keep Looking Up: Art and the Social Practice of Belonging and Resilience” from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wong Yap is a visual artist and social practitioner working in community engagement, drawing, printmaking, publishing and public art. She partners with organizations to conduct participatory research projects to explore dimensions of psychological well-being such as belonging, resilience, interdependence and collaboration.

These events will comply with all mandatory requirements and mitigation measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about the sessions and register: https://cla.calpoly.edu/teach-in.

The Morro Coast Audubon February Community Program takes place on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. Bill Toone presents “The Decline and Not So Certain Recovery of the California Condor: a Tale of Three Heroes.” 

This program is a summary of the political and biological drama of the early years of the recovery program, from late ‘70’s up until the first releases of the California condor back into the wild. The story is told through Bill’s eyes and experiences, but it is a tale of three personal and professional heroes who he believes have made it possible for these majestic birds once again to fly in our skies.

Bill Toone is an internationally recognized conservation biologist. He helped to develop some of the techniques that led to the highly publicized and groundbreaking recovery of the California condor. This work created an international reputation that led to in-situ conservation work in 30 countries over the last 4 decades.  

Join Zoom Meeting (meeting link):

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85003063314

Meeting ID: 850 0306 3314

Send your event listing at least three weeks in advance to Editor@EsteroBayNews.com. Make sure to include the who, what, why, where and when of the event and contact information. Please, type out in paragraph form rather than attaching flyers.

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