This is it. It’s really happening. On Friday, Jan. 20, America swears President-elect Donald Trump into office.
You’ll likely have heard news of the marches by now — groups organizing en masse, from the heart of D.C. to the farthest reaches of both coasts, armed with posters and knitted hats and the steady bonds of solidarity.
But if you aren’t planning to join the crowds on the big day, here are a few ways the Bay Area is looking to art at the turn of a new political era:
Bridge Together Golden Gate
10 am–Noon
Golden Gate Bridge
Information and registration
This epic collaborative performance, reminiscent of the massive site-specific installations of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, seeks to create a human chain across the Golden Gate Bridge. Participants will hold lengths of purple cloth, the color signifying “unity and love in the face of divisiveness and hate,” according to the event website. Organizers advise attendees to register beforehand and wear or bring a yard of purple cloth.
Protest Writing Workshop / Low Mobility March
1–5pm
Local Color, San Jose
Information
San Jose’s Local Color, a new pop-up art space in Downtown San Jose, hosts a drop-in writing workshop the afternoon of the inauguration. The event provides those with limited mobility or those seeking a place to recharge during the marches with an alternative way to contribute to the movement. Attendees will create political zines, protest posters and other artifacts with the assistance of local writers and artists.
‘Existe Y Resiste’
6–9:30pm
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
Information
What began as a recurring idea amongst artists throughout the Bay Area after the election — resisting fascism through radical existence — became a full-fledged show at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. Existe Y Resiste brings together artists from different backgrounds who actively resist the newly elected administration’s intolerant and divisive rhetoric through murals, songs, and other visual arts with the aim of inspiring and reminding audiences about the importance of activism and art in this new political climate.
Power Hour
6-9pm
Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History
Information and tickets
Initially designed as an hour-long icebreaker event involving high-five marathons and trust falls, organizers have reframed Power Hour into a healing space to help people decompress and reconnect in the midst of the inauguration. What better way to exorcise your anxieties than to yell, arm-wrestle and play hide-and-seek with a group of strangers in the space of an hour?
100 Days Action Inaugural Ball
7–10pm
Royal NoneSuch Gallery, Oakland
Information
The 100-day-long project by Bay Area artists to create a counter-narrative to the presidency’s traditional 100 days plan launches at the Royal NoneSuch Gallery in Oakland, where attendees can take their own constitutional oaths on a book of their choice (on the list: On the Origin of Species and The Feminine Mystique) while enjoying work from performance artist Teresita De La Torre and others.
Frequency 49 Benefit Concert
7–10pm
First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco
Information and tickets
Soothe what ails with San Francisco-based chamber ensemble Frequency 49 in a night of music at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco. The group is joined by Wild Rumpus, Divisa Ensemble, and the Siroko Duo, and all proceeds from the evening go to the ACLU.
San Francisco Sketchfest: Will Durst and Co.
7:30–9pm
Cobb’s Comedy Club, San Francisco
Information and tickets
As part of San Francisco Sketchfest, Bay Area legend Will Durst leads comedians Nato Green, Dhaya Lakshminarayanan (a KQED Women to Watch alumnus) and Brian Malow for a night of laughing to keep from crying.
Bazaar Cafe Inauguration Night
7–10pm
Bazaar Cafe, San Francisco
Information
Tuck in with a warm cup of coffee and watch local songwriters and poets perform pieces reacting to the incoming administration at the Bazaar’s quadrennial inauguration night event.
