I have mixed feelings about Creative Growth and similar projects (Creativity Explored in San Francisco, Richmond's NIAD Art Center). This perhaps stems from the same Texas-born guilty conscience that has had trouble readapting to ‘black’ instead of ‘African American’; raised in a culture of mistreatment of minorities it is hard to shake the feeling someone is being slighted or exploited. I find it hard not to err on the side of  oversensitivity (possibly doubling the initial slight by being paternally protective).

The fear of exploitation is heightened when Creativity Explored holds its exhibitions and fails to list the artists as individuals (a common occurrence). The Berkeley Art Museum initially repeated this oversight in the early press for last year’s exhibition Create  (which they later corrected).

Fortunately this is not the case with the show opening Thursday at Gallery Paule Anglim. Curated by Matthew Higgs (a long time supporter of artists in these sorts of programs) who co-curated the Berkeley show, it features the collage work of John Hiltunen paired with works by Aurie Ramirez, Carl Hendrickson, Carol Hiltunen, Cedric Johnson, Charles Nagle, Dan Miller, David Albertsen, Dinah Shapiro, Donald Mitchell, Dwight Mackintosh, Erin Punzel, Juan Aguilera, Judith Scott, Kim Clark, Laura Jo Pierce, Maureen Clay, Merritt Wallace, Olga Bielma, Simmie Muhammad, Susan Janow, Terri Bowden, William Scott, William Tyler, Ying Gee Zhou. 

From the images online, Hiltunen’s collages will make for quite a show: strange characters with human bodies with new heads (often animals), placed centrally upon disjointed natural backdrops. With the same subtle queasiness nagging at me (again, its mostly my own projections plaguing me), I look forward to this show. 

Note
Our interview with Jessica Silverman is up at Art Cards Review:
http://artcards.cc/review/

Curiously Direct Picks

Queens Nails//I'm So Goth - I'm Dead= Taking the 'goth' theme as a loose thematic incorporating both its focus on morbidity/mortality and on persona creation (the key features of someone who is goth being a very externalized construction of fashion and attitude), the exhibition featured a diverse array of artists and both new and old works. This wide netted approach led to what were for me hits and misses (or at least less-hits). Highlights include large paintings by Wally Hedrick, Manuel Acampo and Eamon Ore-Giron, a vinyl text piece, and works from Anne McGuire and Euan Macdonald. And the gallery is much improved, quite impressively really, and is offering gallery hours, so the show is definitely worth a visit.

Thursday:
+ Performance: Cliff Hengst "Cliff Hengst: Maybe" Stage Presence Performance Series at SF MOMA

+ Aurie Ramirez, Carl Hendrickson, Carol Hiltunen, Cedric Johnson, Charles Nagle, Dan Miller, David Albertsen, Dinah Shapiro , Donald Mitchell, Dwight Mackintosh, Erin Punzel, John Hiltunen, Juan Aguilera, Judith Scott, Kim Clark, Laura Jo Pierce, Maureen Clay, Merritt Wallace , Olga Bielma, Simmie Muhammad, Susan Janow, Terri Bowden, William Scott, William Tyler, Ying Gee Zhou "John Hiltunen +1" curated by Matthew Higgs at Gallery Paule Anglim

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+ Performance: Roxanne Crocker, Sarah Bernat "S.H.E.D. Projects Presents: House Show Live!" at S.H.E.D. Projects

Friday:
+ Charles Linder "Charles Linder: New Sculpture" at Gallery 16

+ Andrew Chapman, Chris Duncan, Rhonda Holberton "Visible Horizons" at SF Arts Commission Gallery

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Saturday:
+ Jeremiah Barber, Kate Gilmore, Mel Day, Michael Namkung, Nicole McClure, Noah Krell, Renee Rhodes "From Our Bodies Blinking" curated by Blake Gibson at Root Division
+ Panel Discussion: "OMCA In-the-Mix Series | Women and the Military" at Oakland Museum of California

Sunday:

+ Performance: Ali Liebegott, Chris Vargas and Greg Youmans, Julio Salgado, Micia Mosely, Philip Huang, Yun Suh "Talk of Marriage: A Comedy" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

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Thursday, August 9

+ Performance: Cliff Hengst "Cliff Hengst: Maybe" Stage Presence Performance Series at SF MOMA
SOMA: 151 Third Street, Mission Street, Space is limited; advance tickets required. $18 general; $13 seniors; $11 students; free for SFMOMA members. Ticket includes same-day museum admission., 5:30-7:30pm

+ Aurie Ramirez, Carl Hendrickson, Carol Hiltunen, Cedric Johnson, Charles Nagle, Dan Miller, David Albertsen, Dinah Shapiro , Donald Mitchell, Dwight Mackintosh, Erin Punzel, John Hiltunen, Juan Aguilera, Judith Scott, Kim Clark, Laura Jo Pierce, Maureen Clay, Merritt Wallace , Olga Bielma, Simmie Muhammad, Susan Janow, Terri Bowden, William Scott, William Tyler, Ying Gee Zhou "John Hiltunen +1" curated by Matthew Higgs at Gallery Paule Anglim Downtown: 14 Geary Street, floor 2, 5:30-7:30pm

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Max Rippon aka Ripo "Signs, Fines, & Cheap Wines" at White Walls
Tenderloin: 835 Larkin Street, floor 1, Free, 7-11pm

Peter Gronquist "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda" at Shooting Gallery
Tenderloin: 839 Larkin Street, free, 7-11pm

+ Performance: Roxanne Crocker, Sarah Bernat "S.H.E.D. Projects Presents: House Show Live!" at S.H.E.D. Projects
Oakland: 1506 Peralta Street, floor 1, free, 8-11pm

Friday, August 10

+ Charles Linder "Charles Linder: New Sculpture" at Gallery 16
SOMA: 501 Third Street, 6-9pm

Randy Colosky "Air & Space Museum" at SF Arts Commission Gallery
Civic Center: 155 Grove Street, Free, 6-8pm

+ Andrew Chapman, Chris Duncan, Rhonda Holberton "Visible Horizons" at SF Arts Commission Gallery Civic Center: 401 Van Ness Avenue , at McAllister Street, Free, 6-8pm

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Saturday, August 11

Workshop: "Make It @ MOCFA: Cascading Mobiles" at Museum of Craft and Folk Art
SOMA: 51 Yerba Buena Lane, $5.00, 2-4pm

Jacqueline Norheim, Kirsten Harkonen "it’s hard to make it whole when all you have is pieces" at Adobe Books Backroom Gallery
Mission District: 3166 16th Street, free, 7-10pm

+ Jeremiah Barber, Kate Gilmore, Mel Day, Michael Namkung, Nicole McClure, Noah Krell, Renee Rhodes "From Our Bodies Blinking" curated by Blake Gibson at Root Division
Mission District: 3175 17th Street, South Van Ness, Sliding Scale Suggested Donation: $1-20, 7-10pm

+ Panel Discussion: "OMCA In-the-Mix Series | Women and the Military" at Oakland Museum of California
Oakland: 1000 Oak Street, The Great Hall's 1968 Lounge, Free with gallery admission, 1-2 pm

Sunday, August 12

+ Performance: Ali Liebegott, Chris Vargas and Greg Youmans, Julio Salgado, Micia Mosely, Philip Huang, Yun Suh "Talk of Marriage: A Comedy" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts SOMA: 701 Misssion Street, at Third Street, $10 at the door, $5 advance, free for Members and YBCA:You, 4-6pm

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Artcards San Francisco is a weekly email publication led by editor Jackie Im and Aaron Harbour. 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.