A lot of events this week in a diverse range of locations across the San Francisco Bay Area, especially on Friday. You can check out the Last Saturday Art Walk of the SOMA galleries or the tucked-away show at Oakland's Cricket Engine Gallery. If you like performance, this is your week! See you out there.

Thursday:
+ Benefit: "THE YALE SALE" at 111 Minna Gallery
+ Performance: Nick Cave "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
+ "Trash into Treasure" Finalists of the Adventure Ecology and Sculpt the Future Foundation’s Smart Art contest at Fouladi Projects
+ Screening: "The Free Form Film Series" Culture Crash at A.T.A.

Friday:
+ "Becoming - Michelle Sank" Side Gallery: Out of Site Retrospective at RayKo Photo Center (Liberty Park)
+ Andrew Mills "Beneath the Lightning and the Moon" at 31 Rausch Gallery
+ Screening: "Animation Shorts From Wholphin" and a musical performance by Ash Reiter at A.T.A.
+ Closing reception: "Z-axis" at Lobot Gallery
+ "Heavy Hitters" at Cricket Engine Project Space
+ Performance: Eliza Fernand, Sarina Eastman "Unruffled Bloom" at Abco Artspace

Saturday:
+ Performance: Nick Cave "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
+ "Experience Project Survival" A Public Art Project in San Francisco’s Historic Warfield Building at Luggage Store Gallery (Warfield Building)
+ Closing reception: "YOU WOULDN'T KNOW CONTEMPORARY ART IF IT SLAPPED US IN THE FACE" at Hatch Gallery

Sunday:
+ Performance: Nick Cave "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
+ Performance: Eliza Fernand, Sarina Eastman "Unruffled Bloom" at Abco Artspace

Monday:
+ Ira Hawkins , Sam Slater "RELEASE" at Forthrite

Tuesday, May 26

Ian Momsen "Before the Concrete Set" at A.T.A.
Mission District: 992 Valencia Street, 6-10pm

Wednesday, May 27

Barbara Kronlins, Deborah Bell, Mary Ijichi at Andrea Schwartz Gallery
SOMA: 525 2nd Street, 5:30-7:30pm

Thursday, May 28

+ Benefit: "THE YALE SALE" at 111 Minna Gallery
SOMA: 111 Minna Street, 6pm-Late

"THIS TIME IT'S XPLO!" at 111 Minna Gallery
SOMA: 111 Minna Street, $10, 5pm-2am

+ Performance: Nick Cave "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
SOMA: 701 Misssion Street, at Third Street, FREE w/ Gallery Admission, 7pm

Marie Thibeault , Stephen Westfall at George Lawson Gallery: Room for Painting Room for Paper
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, at Market Street, floor 2, 5:30-7:30pm

+ "Trash into Treasure" Finalists of the Adventure Ecology and Sculpt the Future Foundation’s Smart Art contest at Fouladi Projects
Mission District: 1 Otis Street, Upstairs from Enterprise car rental, floor 2, 6-9pm

+ Screening: "The Free Form Film Series" Culture Crash at A.T.A.
Mission District: 992 Valencia Street, $6, 8pm

"Sanctuary City/Ciudad Santuario 1989-2009" at Queens Nails Projects
Bernal Heights: 3191 Mission Street, 8-11pm

Friday, May 29

+ "Becoming - Michelle Sank" Side Gallery: Out of Site Retrospective at RayKo Photo Center (Liberty Park)
SOMA: 400 3rd Street, at Harrison Street, 6-8pm

Screening: "The New Young Turks" SFAI Film Screening curated by Tony Labat at Baer Ridgway Exhibitions
SOMA: 172 Minna Street, 7pm

Performance: "YBCAlive!: Facing the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
SOMA: 701 Misssion Street, at Third Street, Free but donations accepted RSVP required; RSVP at www.ybcafree.org, 6:30pm

+ Andrew Mills "Beneath the Lightning and the Moon" at 31 Rausch Gallery
SOMA: 31 Rausch Street, 6-10pm

Devin Leonardi "Shallow Bower" at Altman Siegel
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 4, 6-8pm

Matt Dangler "Searching for Satori" at Gallery 1988
Downtown: 1173 Sutter Street, 7-10pm

Mike Kimball , Stephen C. Wagner "People, Places, & Things" at CBD Gallery (Tenderloin Community Benefit District)
Tenderloin: 134 Golden Gate Avenue, Suite A, 7-9pm

+ Screening: "Animation Shorts From Wholphin" and a musical performance by Ash Reiter at A.T.A.
Mission District: 992 Valencia Street, $6, 8pm

Amy Browne at Curiosity Shoppe
Mission District: 855 Valencia Street, 6-8pm

"Freedom in a Familiar Place" Discovering Community and Promoting Unity through Photography and Narratives by The Rising Stars Photojournalism Project at The Spare Room Project
Bernal Heights: 270 Anderson Street, 6-9pm

Closing reception: Scott MacLeod "Helter Shelter" at Soap Gallery
Bernal Heights: 3180 Mission Street, 5-8pm

+ Closing reception: "Z-axis" at Lobot Gallery
Oakland: 1800 Campbell Street, 18th Street, BBQ and BYO-booze + grillings, 6-11pm

+ "Heavy Hitters" at Cricket Engine Project Space
Oakland: 499 Embarcadero Avenue, Building #3, 7-9pm

John Kilduff "Let's Paint At Smokey's Tangle" A live broadcasting of "Let's Paint T.V." at Smokeys Tangle
Oakland: 4709 Telegraph Avenue, 7pm

+ Performance: Eliza Fernand, Sarina Eastman "Unruffled Bloom" at Abco Artspace
Emeryville: 3135 Filbert, 7-10pm (performance 8pm)

Saturday, May 30

+ Performance: Nick Cave "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
SOMA: 701 Misssion Street, at Third Street, FREE w/ Gallery Admission, 3pm

Chris Ritson "Tomorrow is Eager" at Collectively Grasp
North Beach: 850 Greenwich Street , Sidewalk BBQ-- LIVE MUSIC-- BYO food, drink + cups, 5-8pm

Performance: "I Am Kurious Orange" at David Cunningham Projects
Downtown: 1928 Folsom Street, 6-9pm

Performance: Alex Hetherington, Anne Colvin, Karla Milosevich, Marc Arthur "I Am Kurious Orange" at David Cunningham Projects
Downtown: 1928 Folsom Street, 6-9pm

Benefit: "Keep Us Hot" Annual auction and fundraiser at Public Glass (Unitarian Universalist Church)
Japantown: 1187 Franklin Street, at Geary Street, Star King Room, 4:30-7pm

+ "Experience Project Survival" A Public Art Project in San Francisco’s Historic Warfield Building at Luggage Store Gallery (Warfield Building)
Civic Center: 988 Market Street, Whole Building, 8-10:30pm

Becky Robbins, Nenad Kostic at ArtZone 461 Gallery
Mission District: 461 Valencia Street, 5-8pm

+ Closing reception: "YOU WOULDN'T KNOW CONTEMPORARY ART IF IT SLAPPED US IN THE FACE" at Hatch Gallery
Oakland: 492 23rd Street, at Telegraph Avenue, 2-8pm

"FILMNIGHT 1.0" Featuring Work by San Francisco Art Institute MFA graduates at Swarm Gallery
Oakland: 560 2nd Street, 7:30pm

Benefit: "The Bingo Kings" Bingo Fundraiser at mg gallery
Oakland: 5532 Shattuck Avenue, 6-10pm

Sunday, May 31

+ Performance: Nick Cave "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
SOMA: 701 Misssion Street, at Third Street, FREE w/ Gallery Admission, 3pm

Alex Hetherington, Anne Colvin, Karla Milosevich, Marc Arthur "I Am Kurious Orange" at David Cunningham Projects
Downtown: 1928 Folsom Street, 6-9pm

Carmine Giordano, Hideo Yoshida, Sandra Russell at Venus Gallery
Bernal Heights: 627 Cortland Avenue, 1-4pm

+ Performance: Eliza Fernand, Sarina Eastman "Unruffled Bloom" at Abco Artspace
Emeryville: 3135 Filbert, 12-3pm (performance 1pm)

Monday, June 1

+ Ira Hawkins , Sam Slater "RELEASE" at Forthrite
Oakland: 5857 San Pablo Avenue, w/ BBQ, 6-9pm

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.