SHOP, SHOP, GIVE Now that Thanksgiving is over, let the holiday shopping begin! Berkeley is filled with craft and art shows in the coming weeks. We’ve wrapped up our pick of five of them into one It List package:
OPEN STUDIOS One of the longest-running and best-known is the Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios. During the next four weekends, 100 artists will open their studios to display and sell blown glass, ceramics, furniture, garden art, floor cloths, textiles, jewelry, leather bags, recycled art, sculpture, photography, paintings and more. The studios are scattered around Berkeley and will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Dec. 24.
POP UP ART Ten friends who are artists are banding together this holiday season to open a pop up store in the space below the Delaware Apartments at 1800 San Pablo Ave. at Delaware. They named it fancy too: The De La Ware. The artists are hosting an opening party Friday Nov. 30 from 6-9 p.m. and will also be open Dec. 1, 2, 8 and 9 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
GOODS FROM AFAR The Tenth Annual Palestinian Hand-Crafted Gift Bazaar will have dozens of items from the Middle East at its popular fair on Saturday, Dec. 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 pm. at the Middle East Children’s Alliance at 1101 Eighth St.
MOTHERS TOGETHER Mothership Hacker Moms, a group of “maker” women who have rented a store space at 3288 Adeline St., is holding a “Show and Sell” holiday party on Sunday Dec. 9, noon to 5 p.m. Food and drink and wares will be offered.
TREES AND LIGHTS If you’re not ready to shop but want to get in the holiday mood, stop by the Downtown Berkeley Holiday Tree Lighting celebration at 5:30 p.m. Friday Nov. 30 at the BART Plaza at Shattuck and Center streets. There will be cookies and hot chocolate, a cappella singers from UC Berkeley, and Santa Claus. Or bring food and new or unused children’s toys to the YWCA Berkeley/Oakland annual Toy Drive at 2600 Bancroft Way.
FUNGI FEST Get up close to hundreds of wild mushrooms at the Lawrence Hall of Science’s 43rd Annual Fungus Fair. The halls and classrooms will be filled with exotic specimens and displays. Eat tasty mushrooms, buy mushroom-themed garments, take your mystery mushroom to a local mycologist, and learn everything there is to learn about fungi. (Read our story about last year’s fungus fair.) The fair is Saturday Dec. 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
GUERILLA LIVING True Modern, the contemporary furniture store run by Edgar Blazona on San Pablo Avenue, is hosting “Guerrila Living for Modernists” on Saturday at the Carbon Warehouse on 4th Street (where Endless Canvas held its Special Delivery art installation in September.) “We’re setting up guerrilla living rooms in unexpected places,” says Blazona. This is the first in a series of events. “There will be cocktails and meatballs! Oh, and dress warm. The warehouse is somewhat exposed so it could be chilly with the rain at night,” he says. Saturday Dec. 1, 1350 Fourth Street, 6-9 p.m.
UP IN THE AIR Michael Layefsky takes photographs by hoisting a camera on a kite or balloon, producing unusual views of everyday landscapes. (Read our January story about Layefsky.) Whether it’s the roof of Berkeley’s Forge and Tool complex, or the striking architecture of the Berkeley Art Museum as seen from above, the rice terraces of Bali or San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, Layefsky’s images are never less than enthralling. Picturish Gallery at The Photo Lab at 2235 Fifth St. is now running an exhibition of his photos and will host a reception with Layefsky on Saturday Dec. 1 from 2-5 p.m.
COMPOSED When Mozart died more than 200 years ago, he left an ambitious vocal work, the “Great” Mass in C minor, K. 427 incomplete. Despite decades of sleuthing, no one is quite sure why Mozart composed the mass or why he never completed it. The Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra will be performing Mass in C minor in a series of three free concerts in the coming weeks at free concerts. The first performance is Sunday Dec. 2 at 4:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St., Berkeley. The other concerts are on Saturday Dec. 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday Dec. 16 at 4:30 p.m. at Hertz Hall, on the UC Berkeley campus. Performers include Jennifer Paulino, soprano, Megan Berti, mezzo-soprano, J. Raymond Meyers, tenor, and Igor Vieira, baritone. Ming Luke is the music director.
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