Miami Basel Art Fairs may be gearing up right now, but the San Francisco Bay Area is also revving up for a December of art excitement and commerce.

Creativity Explored in San Francisco and Creative Growth in Oakland host holiday extravaganzas on Friday. Depending on which one of these great annual events you go to you can also catch in SF: Needle & Pens and The SF Center for the Book art fairs; or in the East Bay: The Compound and Oakland Art Murmur festivities. For the musically inclined, you can head to Berkeley Art Museum's L@TE for a concert by the Pacific Mozart Ensemble.

On Saturday, check out the Prisoner Literature Project's Benefit at RPS Collective, which will bring much needed support to this amazing organization that sends books to prisoners.

See you out there!

New on Artcards Review:
- "Featured Artists: Jose Parla & Rey Parla"
- "Board Bitches: Alan Reid at Lisa Cooley"

For those interested in Miami:
- Artcards Miami has daily updated listings of all events.

Tuesday:
+ Lecture: "Richard Misrach Lecture & Book Signing" at SF Camerawork

Wednesday:
+ "21 Grand Benefit Tarot Reading & Holy Mountain screening" at 21 Grand

Thursday:
+ Justin Limoges "Chocolate Fountain" at Unspeakable Projects
+ "Unruly Subjects" at San Francisco Art Institute (Swell Gallery)

Friday:
+ Clare Rojas , Dave Eggers, Gina Tuzzi , Ian Huebert, Jason Jagel , Keegan McHargue, Matt Furie "Stella Luminosa" at Electric Works
+ "2010 Holiday Art Sale" at Creativity Explored
+ "Holiday Fair" at San Francisco Center for the Book
+ "Circus Season" at Creative Growth
+ Barry Underwood , Bert Bergen, Ellen Black, Jessalyn Haggenjos, Scott Greenwalt "Unearth" at Johansson Projects
+ "Art Murmur" at Johansson Projects
+ Performance: "Pacific Mozart Ensemble" L@TE: Friday Nights curated by Sarah Cahill at Berkeley Art Museum

Sunday:
+ Brandon Walls Olsen, Chris Fraser, Hillary Wiedemann, Jacqueline Gordon, Julien Demoulin, Mik Gaspay "(...)" curated by Aaron Harbour, Jackie Im at MacArthur b arthur

Monday:
+ Lecture: "Wangechi Mutu" Taling about her Collage Work at San Francisco Art Institute

Tuesday, November 30

"I live here: SF!" at SOMArts Cultural Center
SOMA: 934 Brannan Street, 5-7pm

+ Lecture: "Richard Misrach Lecture & Book Signing" at SF Camerawork
SOMA: 657 Mission Street, floor 2, Seating is limited, so RSVP at info@sfcamerawork.org or 415.512.2020 x 102., 7pm

Wednesday, December 1

Maria Schoettler "A Year of What's to Grow" at 18 Reasons Gallery
Mission District: 593 Guerrero Street, 6-9pm

Screening: "RADICAL LIGHTS: San Francisco Lines of Sight" at A.T.A.
Mission District: 992 Valencia Street, members: $5 / non-members: $10, 7:30pm

+ "21 Grand Benefit Tarot Reading & Holy Mountain screening" at 21 Grand
Oakland: 416 25th Street, 8-11pm

Blaz Pirnat "Senior Exhibition" at California College for the Arts (CCA) (CCA North/South Gallery)
Oakland: 5241 College Avenue Oakland, CA 94618, 1st floor, 5:30-7:30pm

Thursday, December 2

"Jumbo Year End Group Show" at 111 Minna Gallery
SOMA: 111 Minna Street, 5pm-12am

+ Justin Limoges "Chocolate Fountain" at Unspeakable Projects
SOMA: 735 Tehama Street, floor 1, 6-9pm

Brigitte Carnochan "The Floating World" at Modernbook Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 4, 5:30-7:30pm

Architectural Group Show "Hand Drawings" at George Lawson Gallery: Room for Painting Room for Paper
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, at Market Street, floor 2, 5:30-7:30pm

Bull Miletic "Mise en abyme" at Gallery Paule Anglim
Downtown: 14 Geary Street, floor 2, 5:30-7:30pm

Beverly Mills "From Mayhem to Paris" at Canessa Gallery
Downtown: 708 Montgomery Street, 5-7pm

Joe Enos, Mark Mulroney at Ever Gold
Downtown: 441 O'Farrell Street, 6-9pm

Elizabeth Gibbons, Inge Behrens "Glitter Wasp's World" Tropical Garden at Art People Gallery (Crocker Galleria)
Downtown: 50 Post Street, #41, 4-7pm

Arnold Chao, Dean Carpenter, Edward de Leon, Jason Coe, Jeffrey Nemenzo, Lisa Simonson, Nancy Spoelhof, Nidhi Chanani "In the Company of Trees" Seven Bay Area artists consider the tree in this mulit-media art exhibition at Cafe Royale
Downtown: 800 Post Street, 8-11pm

Joshua Meyer "Everything in Between" at Dolby Chadwick Gallery
Downtown: 210 Post Street, floor 2, 5:30-7:30pm

Ivy Jacobsen "Alchemy" at Hang Art
Downtown: 556 Sutter Street, 6-8pm

Alan Forbes, David V. D'Ardrer, Stacie Willougrby "ArchAic Revival" at Space Gallery
Civic Center: 1141 Polk Street, 5:30-7:30pm

+ "Unruly Subjects" at San Francisco Art Institute (Swell Gallery)
Potrero Hill: 2565 Third Street, 7-10pm

"Mobile Phome Photo App Show" at LightRoom Gallery Berkeley: 2263 Fifth Street, 6-8pm

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Friday, December 3

+ Clare Rojas , Dave Eggers, Gina Tuzzi , Ian Huebert, Jason Jagel , Keegan McHargue, Matt Furie "Stella Luminosa" at Electric Works
SOMA: 130 8th Street, 6-8pm

Auction: "Lipstick & Kisses 2010" A Flaming Lotus Girls Extravaganza at SOMArts Cultural Center
SOMA: 934 Brannan Street, 7pm-2am

John Waguespack at The McLoughlin Downtown: 49 Geary Street, Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94108, Second Floor, 5:30-7:30pm

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Hilary Williams, Lemonade Handmade Jewelry, Liam Peters, Lulu Bug Jewelry, Tomoko Maruyama "Best in Show" at Artist-Xchange Gallery
Mission District: 3169 16th St, 7-10pm

CLINT WOODSIDE (Philadelphia PA), Karoline Collins (s.f. Ca), KENNETH HOLLAND (Oakland CA), MERRILEE CHALLIS (Birmingham AL), RICH JACOBS (Oakland CA), TIM KERR (Austin TX) curated by Tim Kerr at Needles & Pens
Mission District: 3253 16th Street, 6-9p:30m

+ "2010 Holiday Art Sale" at Creativity Explored
Mission District: 3245 16th Street, 6-9pm

"Group Show" at City Art Gallery
Mission District: 828 Valencia Street, 7-10pm

+ "Holiday Fair" at San Francisco Center for the Book
Potrero Hill: 300 De Haro Street, free, Fri 6-8pm, Sat 11-4

Art Fair: "Holiday Arts Festival" at Richmond Art Center
Richmond District: 2540 Barrett Avenue, 3pm-7pm, 11am-5pm respectively

"Holiday Party" at Paul Mahder Gallery
Richmond District: 3378 Sacramento Street, 6-9pm

"Fort Mason Printmakers Print Sale" Bldg B, rooms 205-208 at Fort Mason Center
Marina District: Intersection of Marina Boulevard & Buchanan Stre, 5:30-9:30pm

Open Studio: Adele Shiek, Amsi Ruiz, Christopher Su, Fngrs, Francesca Marquez, Jasper Bailey, Jose Aponte "On Point" at Art 94124 Gallery
Hunters Point: 3900-B 3rd Street, Free, 6-9pm

+ "Circus Season" at Creative Growth
Oakland: 355 24th Street , 5:30-9pm

Ani Kasten, Elisa Bongfeldt, Sanjay Vora "Rhythmic Sequences" 18 curated by Lonnie Lee at Vessel Gallery
Oakland: 471 25th Street, floor 1, 6-9pm

Chela Fielding "La Fe" at Mercury 20 Gallery
Oakland: 475 25th Street, at Telegraph Avenue, floor 1, 6-9pm

Alissa Goss, Anne Garvey, Carol Ponsaran, Donna Mendes, Elke Savla, Fatima Camiloza, Jeanne Lorenz, Julianne Sterling, Kelsey Robinson, Kerri Lee Johnson , Kimberly Rowe, Lena Verderano Reynoso, Maritza Kim, Peter Max Lawrence, Ryan McJunkin, Shara Finerman, Sophie Leininger, Takehito Etani, Tallulah Terryll, Thailan When "It’s Better Than a Lump of Coal" holiday gift sale at The Compound Gallery
Oakland: 1167 65th Street, floor 1, 6-10pm

+ Barry Underwood , Bert Bergen, Ellen Black, Jessalyn Haggenjos, Scott Greenwalt "Unearth" at Johansson Projects
Oakland: 2300 Telegraph Avenue, at 23rd Street, Free, 5-9pm

+ "Art Murmur" at Johansson Projects
Oakland: 2300 Telegraph Avenue, at 23rd Street, Free, 5-8pm

Carol Inez Charney "Recent Work" curated by Danielle Fox at Slate Gallery
Oakland: 4770 Telegraph Avenue, at 48th Street, 6-9pm

+ Performance: "Pacific Mozart Ensemble" L@TE: Friday Nights curated by Sarah Cahill at Berkeley Art Museum
Berkeley: 2626 Bancroft Way, at College Avenue, 5-9pm

Saturday, December 4

Jenifer Peake Kolkhorst "Works on Paper" curated by Misho at Misho Gallery SOMA: 680 8th street, Suite 230, 1-4pm

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"Dollhouse" curated by Jack Fisher at Arc Studios & Gallery
SOMA: 1246 Folsom Street, 7-10pm

Aaron Hodges, Anderson Lewis, Bradley Platz, Christine Benjamin, Daniel J. Valadez, Double Parlour, Helen Wilson, Hilary Williams, Jaxon Northon, Justin Loney, Kim Larson, Kurtis Rykovich, Leilani Bustamante, Natasha Dikareva, Ryan Gannon, Sakuna Daring, Sheri DeBow, Slug, Squirrel, Steve Javiel, Tanem Davidson "SF Local Group Show" at Modern Eden
North Beach: 403 Francisco st, san francisco ca, 1st floor, 7-10pm

"Empowering Transcendence" Female Form and Flow at New Timezone Gallery
North Beach: Leavenworth, San Francisco, CA 94109 , First Floor, 7-9pm

Peter Forakis "Slots & Strides" Exploration of the Cube at Togonon Gallery
Downtown: 77 Geary Street, Gallery closed Dec 24-Jan 3, 3-5pm

Takeshi Shikama "Silent Respiration of Forests & Evanescence--Lotus " at Corden Potts Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 2, Free, 2-5pm

"Speak, Memory" at Meridian Gallery
Downtown: 535 Powell Street, 6-9pm

Allison Reimond, Ayami Kawashia, Irma Rivera, Juri Ueda, May Ann Licudine, Megan Kimber, Raquel Aparicio, Veronica Hebard "Sailing Through Shadows" Last Show for the SF location! at Gallery 1988
Downtown: 1173 Sutter Street, 7-10pm

"AR devcamp" at Gray Area Foundation for the Arts
Downtown: 55 Taylor Street, 9am-5pm

"Something from nothing" group show at INCLINE
Mission District: 766 Valencia Street, floor 1, 4-8pm

"Chillin’ Productions Holiday Show!" at Secession Art & Design
Castro: 3361 Mission Street, $10, 21+, 8pm-2am

"2010 Holiday Art Sale" at Public Glass
Hunters Point: 1750 Armstrong Street, 10am-4pm

Artist Talk: Chela Fielding "La Fe" at Mercury 20 Gallery
Oakland: 475 25th Street, at Telegraph Avenue, floor 1, 2pm

Sunday, December 5

"SF Bicycle Coalition's annual event for local bike enthusiasts" at SOMArts Cultural Center
SOMA: 934 Brannan Street, $15-$40, 6-10:30pm

"7th Anniversary Party" at Studio Gallery
Downtown: 1815 Polk Street, 2-6pm

"Holiday Capsule" at Secession Art & Design
Castro: 3361 Mission Street, 1-8pm

"2010 Holiday Art Sale" at Public Glass
Hunters Point: 1750 Armstrong Street, 10am-4pm

Elizabeth Bernstein, Erik Parra, Jenna North, Kija Lucas, Lexi Babayan, Nicholas Bohac "Small Works, Important Presence" at WE artspace
Oakland: 768 40th Street, 2-5pm

+ Brandon Walls Olsen, Chris Fraser, Hillary Wiedemann, Jacqueline Gordon, Julien Demoulin, Mik Gaspay "(...)" curated by Aaron Harbour, Jackie Im at MacArthur b arthur
Oakland: 4030 Martain Luther King Jr Way, floor 1, 1-6pm

Monday, December 6

+ Lecture: "Wangechi Mutu" Taling about her Collage Work at San Francisco Art Institute
Russian Hill: 800 Chesnut Street, Lecture Hall, 7:30pm

Artcards San Francisco is a weekly email publication led by editor Emma Spertus. Email event submissions to sfinfo@artcards.cc or use our submission form. New: you can now add an image to your listing by using the submission form.

+ = Editor's pick
? = Opening not confirmed - check site for updates.