In October 2009, the production model of Spark changed, moving from a stand alone series of original programs to the production of Spark segments, which will be premiered throughout the year as part of the newly re-vamped This Week in Northern California.

Spark visits California Shakespeare Company’s Jonathan Moscone and Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Tony Taccone as they discuss their collaboration on “American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle.” The play is inspired by the turbulent 1970s, brought into focus by the assassination of Moscone’s father, George Moscone, San Francisco’s mayor who was shot along with gay rights activist Supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978. Aiming less to put George Moscone’s story into historical perspective, than to investigate what it means to be a father and a son, the play is scheduled to debut in 2011.

Produced by Spark for This Week in Northern California.

In October 2009, the production model of Spark changed, moving from a stand alone series of original programs to the production of Spark segments, which will be premiered throughout the year as part of the newly re-vamped This Week in Northern California.

In this segment, the San Francisco Mime Troupe celebrates 50 years of irreverent and thought-provoking political theater. The segment follows the Troupe as they mount a performance of their new musical comedy: “Too Big to Fail”, and takes a look back at the group’s incarnation and early years.

Produced by Spark for This Week in Northern California.

In October 2009, the production model of Spark changed, moving from a stand alone series of original programs to the production of Spark segments, which will be premiered throughout the year as part of the newly re-vamped This Week in Northern California.

In this segment, visit the classroom of Amalia Mesa-Bains at the California State University at Monterey Bay as they compile a collective class altar, following the traditions of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

Produced by Spark for This Week in Northern California.

In October 2009, the production model of Spark changed, moving from a stand alone series of original programs to the production of Spark segments, which will be premiered throughout the year as part of the newly re-vamped This Week in Northern California.

In this segment, visit the exhibition Then and Now at the David Brower Center in Berkeley featuring the work by acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado. Salgado is known for images that reveal the human condition — from laborers in Latin America to refugees from war and famine in Africa and elsewhere. In the tradition of social documentary photography, he often makes his work available to social change organizations, such as Doctors without Borders, Amnesty International, and UNICEF.

Produced by Spark for This Week in Northern California.

For thirty years, the all-female vocal group Kitka has performed music rooted in Eastern European musical traditions. In a recent trip to rural Ukraine, they studied Slavic folk songs that previously existed only in the memories of an older generation of local women. Spark joins Kitka as they rehearse and perform a new performance based on the songs and stories that were passed down to them.

Next, the mixed-media work of Santa Cruz artist Victoria May is inspired by the intricate process of custom dress-making. A former seamstress by trade, May now makes sculptural textile pieces that blend traditional hand sewing techniques with evocative and unexpected materials.

Then, in a special collaboration with The NewsHour, Spark presents an investigation into the arts and the economy. How are local artists coping with the economic downturn? Some scholars and activists think hope lies in government support. What can we learn from the historic WPA programs that provided employment for 8.5 Million Americans during the 1930s?

San Jose’s Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra offers Chinese American youth a chance to learn to play the traditional instruments from their ancestral homeland. Spark joins the 100 member orchestra as they accompany the famed Shaolin monks to create a new composition.

Next, follow environmental artist Daniel McCormick as he creates a new site-specific, temporary sculpture in the wilds of West Marin. His biodegradable woven forms are helping to rehabilitate threatened watersheds and prevent creek bed erosion.

Then, artist Jaime Guerrero translates imagery from his Mexican heritage into blown glass.

Spark joins renowned visual artist Kerry James Marshall as he creates new murals in the atrium of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Like much of Marshall’s work, the murals will explore racial identity, urban experience, and the impact of the Civil Rights movement.

Then, Dan Hoyle, son of famed Bay Area performer Geoff Hoyle, works on a new one-man show based on his travels across small-town and rural America, and the people he met along the way.

Next, Ben Levy and his modern dance company, LEVYdance, collaborate on a new work based on a previously untold family history.

Spark goes inside the world of bhangra, a traditional Indian dance that’s been revitalized by a generation of young Indian-Americans. Teams of bhangra lovers merge time-honored moves with hip-hop beats, and travel around the country to battle it out at heated competitions.

Then, visit the Contemporary Jewish Museum, dedicated to exploring Jewish art and culture, for an exhibition that asks artists from various backgrounds to make objects inspired by the ceremonial Passover seder plate.

Next, the music of The Crooked Jades harkens back to an old time musical era infused with a decidedly modern attitude.

Spark follows photographer Katherine Westerhout inside a forgotten West Oakland landmark — the 16th Street Train Station. Once the terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad, this Beaux Arts gem has been off-limits since 1989, but that might be about to change.

Next, comedian W. Kamau Bell shares his wry observations on race and his personal stories about being black in an Obama-era America.

Then, meet Wil Blades, a virtuoso at playing a soulful instrument from a bygone era, the B3 organ.

Spark looks at the legacy of modern dance pioneer and San Francisco native Isadora Duncan, and one of her biggest fans, Mary Sano, who came to the Bay Area from her native Japan to dedicate her life to the preservation of Duncan’s work.

Then, we join Ron Nagle, whose love of both ceramics and rock and roll has led his artistic career in very different directions.

And visual artist Sandow Birk takes puppetry to a whole new level in his filmic adaptation of Dante’s epic “The Divine Comedy.”

Spark visits with Wayne Thiebaud, whose paintings of common, everyday objects such as cakes, pies, and gumball machines, rocketed him to fame in the 1960s.

Then, we join singer-songwriter Vienna Teng as she returns to the Bay Area for a homecoming concert. Teng’s piano ballads have won her a passionate following around the world, and she returns to perform for her loyal hometown fans.

Also in this episode, modern dance choreographer Janice Garrett creates a revealing new work for her company’s 5th anniversary season.

Spark goes behind the scenes to explore the making of the San Francisco Opera‘s “The Bonesetter’s Daughter,” Amy Tan‘s libretto based on her best-selling novel. We follow Tan as she travels to China, searching for her own family history, one that resonates in the book and the opera.

Then watch renowned sculptor Maya Lin install her latest work at the new California Academy of Sciences, a topographical depiction of the San Francisco Bay. Lin was catapulted into the public eye with her Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., but this is her first work in San Francisco.

Finally, we trail street musicians Jacobo Palacios and Rafael Potillo, who go by the name of Los Cazadores del Sur, or “the hunters from the south.” The two troubadours strum their guitars and serenade Mission District patrons with popular tunes from all over Latin America.

Spark goes inside the studio with Victor Cartagena, who draws on memories of El Salvador’s bloody civil war to create a haunting body of work with powerful political messages.

Then, backstage with San Jose Taiko on the verge of their 35th anniversary. The group’s unique style of Japanese drumming infuses traditional rhythms with world beats from Africa to Bali to Brazil.

Finally, watch as Jim Denevan carves enormous, ephemeral sand drawings on the beaches along the Northern California coast.

Spark checks out unique perspectives on art.

See how bands like the Hot Club of San Francisco emulate the style and verve of the Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.

Next, visit with choreographer Sean Dorsey, who is carving out a new space in modern dance for transgender and queer artists.

Finally, see how experimental filmmaker Kerry Laitala creates works of handmade cinematic art, one frame at a time.