Alexa Beller – AIC Blog Archives: Conservators Converse

45th Annual Meeting, May 31st, (Treatment: Going Big) “Puvis de Chavannes’ Philosophy: Condition Issues and Strategies for the Removal of a Severely Detached Mural, its Conservation Treatment and Remounting,” by Gianfranco Pocobene and Ian Hodkinson

Gianfranco Pocobene and Ian Hodkinson’s talk about their rather harrowing treatment of a large mural panel, Philosophy (1895-96) by Puvis de Chavannes, in the Boston Public Library perfectly fit its placement in the session “Going Big.” Pocobene presented the project while also referring to his past involvement with the entire allegorical cycle when they were last treated by the Straus Center for Conservation in 1993 for moisture problems and resulting damage.

Treatment of Philosophy was spurred by the discovery in 2014 that the mural panel, which was adhered into a plaster niche, had partially detached from the wall and was beginning to buckle and sag. After stabilizing flaking paint and supporting the detached areas with padded battens set into the niche, Pocobene and Hodkinson embarked on an investigation of the attachment interface between the canvas and wall as well as the building’s structural components behind the mural to understand where the moisture penetration had originated from and how to proceed with treatment. Cross-section analysis by Richard Wolbers confirmed observations made about Puvis’s painting methods during the 1993 treatment of the cycle. Exploration into the structure of the support was made available through a small area of missing brickwork discovered after removing a piece of oak trim from the edge of the mural. This revealed several things: multiple plaster layers, corroded tie wires attaching metal lathe to steel angle bars, and that the canvas and paint layers were embrittled and liable to shatter with any application of pressure. They concluded that the corroded tie wires were the sources of the paintings detachment and water infiltration may have been caused by a flue carrying a HVAC duct encased behind the niche and a nearby internal rainwater downpipe.

Pocobene and Hodkinson faced the hefty task of removing the already 80% detached mural from the niche and keeping it as planar as possible to avoid loss and damage to the brittle paint surface and canvas. Pocobene reviewed the many questions and summarized the discussion that led to the final treatment decisions. As there were no other examples in conservation literature regarding such an undertaking, careful inquiry, tests with a scaled mock up, and reliance on past experience with mural conservation were imperative. However, inaction was not an option and the authors bravely went where no other paintings conservators had gone before.

The removal process, although more intricate than I will describe in this short blog post, involved facing the front of the mural with Kozo paper and Belgian linen, removing the marble fascia and allowing access to the bottom edge of the mural (undertaken by stone conservator Ivan Myjer), and using a back support, top support, and sliding supports to carefully support the mural as detachment of the mural progressed. Although slate rippers were used to detach the mural at the scratch coat to brown coat interface, the authors eventually used vibration alone. Block and pulleys were used to hoist and maneuver the mural (attached to panel supports by extended strips of the facing) from the niche and it was carried to a separate room a floor above the Grand Staircase.
The preparation for and lining of the canvas presented additional challenges for the authors. First, plaster was mechanically removed from the verso, but the lead white adhesive was allowed to remain. The initial lining was carried out with BEVA 371 and an interface of Belgian linen, but the aluminum skin on the honeycomb panel support began to fail while the lower sections were being lined. For the second, and successful, lining attempt a new honeycomb panel was fabricated and 10% paraffin wax was added to the BEVA 371. The added wax was found to allow easier reversibility, a lower activation temperature, and no change in strength. The subsequent filling, inpainting, and reinstallation were briefly discussed, but were not the primary focus of the talk.

This talk was a perfect representation of the trials and triumphs encountered in the treatment of large-scale works. Pocobene and Hodkinson proceeded through a complicated and uncharted treatment with logical decision making, collaborative discussions, and employing knowledge gained from years of treatment experience

FAIC Oral History Project — ECPs Needed!

Attention Emerging Conservation Professionals, the FAIC Oral History Project needs your help! Participation in the Oral History Project is an excellent way to connect with seasoned conservators and make a contribution to our field’s legacy. Interviewers are needed especially in the following areas:

Indianapolis, Indiana
Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Hendersonville, North Carolina

For more information, please visit the FAIC Oral History Project website (http://www.conservation-us.org/our-organizations/foundation-(faic)/initiatives/oral-history-project#anchor3) and contact Joyce Hill Stoner at Jstone@winterthur.org

Scholarly Writing for Conservation Pre-Session at AIC’s Annual Meeting in Chicago

Attention, Emerging Conservation Professionals! Before making your way to ECPN’s Poster Session Lightning Round at AIC’s Annual Meeting in Chicago, be sure to stop by the pre-session Scholarly Writing for Conservation and learn how to whip your articles into shape for peer-reviewed publication!

Scholarly Writing for Conservation

Haymarket Concourse Level, West Tower

Does your conservation project need some exposure at the national and international scale? Would you like to get the word out about the conservation work you do, but do not know how to begin to write a paper for a journal? Then this pre-session is for you. This informative session will help you organize and summarize your work in order to meet the strict requirements of a peer-reviewed journal article.
The JAIC editorial board wants to encourage and provide guidance to potential authors wishing to submit articles to our journal. Our goal is to assist in the development of skills needed to write and submit journal manuscripts to improve the dissemination of research, treatments, and enhanced knowledge sharing. Scholarly communication, at both the national and international levels, is a skill that is not often prioritized by conservation programs, while the ability to publish in peer-reviewed journals is an essential part of communicating research and results, which is necessary for professional development.

Within this framework, the pre-session will take participants through the process of planning, preparing, and writing a manuscript for submission to a journal in the conservation field, with a clear emphasis on JAIC.

The session will consist of short presentations, a roundtable discussion with Q&A, and practical exercises with feedback from speakers. Attendees can bring research ideas and/or basic outlines to share for discussion by the editors.

Planned speakers also include Michele Derrick (former JAIC editor-in-chief), Robin Hanson, and Ellen Pearlstein. The panel will be moderated by Julio M. Del Hoyo-Meléndez, Research Scientist, National Museum in Krakow.

ECPN Poster Session Lightning Round at AIC's 45th Annual Meeting

Calling all Emerging Conservators!

The Emerging Conservation Professional’s Network (ECPN) is excited to announce that we will be hosting a Poster Session Lightning Round during AIC’s 45th Annual Meeting next year in Chicago. This session will highlight the contributions of ECPs who are accepted to the Annual Meeting Poster Session, providing a fun and informal platform for you to share your work with ECPs and established conservators alike. Participants will give a very short presentation—essentially an “elevator pitch”—that highlights the contents of their poster with an opportunity to field questions from colleagues.
Posters are an excellent way to participate in the Annual Meeting and present research, treatment projects, new tools, and innovative techniques in a concise format; we encourage you to submit an abstract! Once final selections are made by the Poster Session Committee, ECPN will put out a call for participants.
In the meantime, submit your Poster Session abstracts by the September 12 deadline using AIC’s submission portal: http://www.conservation-us.org/annual-meeting/call-for-submissions#.V6ytE036uig

Welcome 2016-2017 ECPN Officers!

ECPN 2016-2017 Committee (left to right): Eve Mayberger, Jessica Walthew, Rebecca Gridley, Kari Rayner, Alexa Beller, and Michelle Sullivan (not pictured: Kimi Taira, Emma Schmitt, and Alyssa Rina)

We are happy to introduce the officers of the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network for the 2016-2017 term! The new and returning officers are very grateful for the dedication and service from the outgoing officers of the 2015-2016 term: Elyse Driscoll, Anne Schaffer, and especially our fearless outgoing chair, Fran Ritchie. We wish you all the best and look forward to your future endeavors in AIC and ECPN!

Meet the 2016-2017 ECPN Officers:

Michelle Sullivan, Chair
Michelle Sullivan is an Assistant Conservator in the Department of Paper Conservation at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She earned an M.S. and C.A.S. in Art Conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, specializing in works on paper with a minor concentration in photographic materials. She has completed graduate internships at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Michelle previously served as ECPN’s Vice Chair (2015-16) and Professional Education and Training Co-officer (2013-15).
Rebecca Gridley, Vice Chair
Rebecca holds a BA in Art History from Yale University, and is currently working towards an MA in Art History & Archaeology and an MS in Conservation at The Conservation Center at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (expected 2017). She is currently completing a summer internship at the Brooklyn Museum, and will begin her fourth year internship in the Objects Conservation Department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art this September. She has held internships at The Museum of Modern Art, The Frick Collection, and the American Museum of Natural History. Before graduate school, she worked as a National Account Manager at The Conservation Center in Chicago and completed pre-program work at private practices in New York. She previously served as Communications Co-Officer for ECPN (2015-16).
Jessica Walthew, Professional Education and Training Co-officer
Jessica is an objects conservator focusing on archaeological and ethnographic materials. Her research currently addresses the use of digital tools for documentation and technical analysis of artworks. She is currently completing an Andrew W. Mellon foundation fellowship at the Metropolitan Museum’s Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas and will begin a teaching/research Mellon fellowship this fall at the Bard Graduate Center and American Museum of Natural History. Jessica Walthew is serving a second year as co-officer for Professional Education and Training.
Emma Schmitt, Professional Education and Training Co-officer
Emma Schmitt graduated from the College of Wooster in 2010 with a BA in Archaeology. She held pre-program jobs and internships at ICA- Art Conservation, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Harvard Art Museums (2011-2012). Emma attended the Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History at the University of Glasgow (2012-2014). During this time she interned at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford UK, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Glasgow Museums, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Upon returning to the US, she worked for Windsor Conservation before taking up her current position as Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Textile Conservation at the Denver Art Museum. This is Emma’s first year serving ECPN.
Kari Rayner, Webinar Coordinator
Kari graduated with a BA in Art History and a second major in Art Theory and Practice from Northwestern University. She holds an MA in Art History and Advanced Certificate in Art Conservation with a specialization in paintings conservation from the Conservation Center, the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Kari has previously interned at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, Germany; and Modern Art Conservation in New York, NY. She is currently a post-graduate intern at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, Cambridge University, and she will be returning to the National Gallery of Art in the autumn of 2016 to begin an Advanced Fellowship in Paintings Conservation. This is Kari’s first year serving ECPN.
Kimi Taira, Outreach Co-officer
Kimi is an Assistant Conservator for Works on Paper at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. She earned her BA in Studio Art from Mills College and an MS from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, specializing in paper with a minor in library and archive materials. She has served various positions and internships at Zukor Art Conservation, the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the UCLA Library Conservation Center. Her interests include conservation ethics, community-centered preservation initiatives, and the relationship between tangible and intangible heritage. This is her second year serving as an ECPN Outreach Officer.
Evelyn (Eve) Mayberger, Outreach Co-officer
Eve holds a B.A. in Art History with a concentration in Asian Art from Wesleyan University (2010). In 2016, Eve graduated with a M.A. and M.S. degrees in art history and conservation at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University where she specialized in objects conservation. She has worked in the conservation departments of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Historic Odessa Foundation, Small Collections Library at the University of Virginia, National Museum of the American Indian, Worcester Art Museum, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (fourth-year internship). In addition to museum work, Eve has participated in excavations at Sardis (Turkey), Selinunte (Sicily), and Abydos (Egypt). In November, Eve will start a Mellon fellowship at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This is Eve’s first year serving ECPN.
Alyssa Rina, Communications Co-Officer
Alyssa graduated with a B.F.A. in Visual and Critical Studies from the School of Visual Arts (2013) and worked at Jim Kempner Fine Art in Chelsea (2014) before discovering art conservation and becoming a pre-program student. Since then, she has studied Chemistry and French, and completed additional studio courses like: ceramics, mold making, three-dimensional printing, and book binding. Alyssa has completed pre-program jobs and internships with private conservators at Francavilla Paper Conservation, The Better Image, and Cultural Preservation and Restoration. Recently, Alyssa has been completing a pre-program summer internship in outdoor sculpture and Ancient Greek objects at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Alyssa is most interested in object conservation, but continues to seek opportunities that will diversify her experience across most conservation specialties. This is Alyssa’s first year serving ECPN.
Alexa Beller, Communications Co-officer
Alexa holds a BA in History, a BFA in Painting, and a minor in Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2013). She is currently a third year student in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation majoring in paintings conservation with a minor in murals. She is in Paris this summer conserving murals by Delacroix and Roger and will be spending her third year internship at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and within the private practice of Gianfranco Pocobene. She has had previous internships or positions at the Western Center for the Conservation of Fine Art, the private practice of Ria German-Carter, Architectural Conservation Inc., the Chicago History Museum, the Spurlock Museum, and the University of Illinois Library Conservation Unit. This is her second year serving as an ECPN Communications Officer.

Welcome 2015-2016 ECPN Officers!

We are pleased to announce the new officers for the Emerging Conservation Professionals Network for the 2015-2016 term. The new and returning officers are very grateful to all the outgoing officers who have worked so hard in their 2014-2015 term: Heather Brown, Laura Neufeld, Ayesha Fuentes, Amy Hughes, and especially our out-going chair, Megan Salazar-Walsh. We wish you the best and hope to see you involved with future AIC and ECPN activities!
Meet the 2015-2016 ECPN Officers:
Fran Ritchie, Chair
Fran graduated with a BA in Art Conservation and Anthropology from the University of Delaware (2006), an MA in Museum Anthropology from Columbia University (2009), and an MA and CAS from the Buffalo State College Program in Art Conservation (2013) with a specialization in objects. She completed pre-program jobs and internships at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, Patronato Panama Viejo in Panama City, Panama, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Her Third Year Graduate Internship at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University and subsequent Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the National Museum of the American Indian solidified an interest in organic materials. Fran is currently a Project Conservator at the American Museum of Natural History working on a grant-funded project researching dyes used in recoloring faded taxidermy. After serving as Communications Co-Officer (2013-2014) and Professional Education & Training Co-Officer (2014-2015), she is now ECPN Chair (2015-2016).
Michelle Sullivan, Vice Chair
Michelle graduated with a BA in Art History and Studio Art from the University of California at Santa Barbara (2005). In August, she will earn an MS and CAS from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation (2015), specializing in works on paper with a minor concentration photographic materials. Michelle has completed internships at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. She will return to the Getty in September as a post-graduate fellow in the Department of Old Master drawings. Previously, Michelle has served as ECPN Regional Liaison to Southern California (2011-12), Graduate Program Liaison to the University of Delaware (2012-14), and Professional Education and Training Co-officer (2013-15).
Jessica Walthew, Professional Education and Training, Co-officer
Jessica holds a BA in Art History and Biology from Williams College (2009), with an MA in the History of Art and Archaeology with an Advanced Certificate in Conservation from The Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (2015). She has worked in the conservation departments of the American Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn Museum, The Frick Collection, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Penn Museum. Her research interests include theory and practice in archaeological and ethnographic conservation, best practices in documentation, and technical research in art history and archaeology. In fall 2015 she will begin an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at The Metropolitan Museum of Art researching the intersection of textiles and objects conservation practices in the Department of Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas.
Elyse Driscoll, Professional Education and Training Co-officer
Elyse is Assistant Paper Conservator at the Brooklyn Museum. She holds a BFA in Drawing from Pratt Institute and an MA and CAS in Art Conservation with a specialization in works on paper from Buffalo State College (2014). Her training included internships at the Morgan Library & Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Williamstown Art Conservation Center. This is Elyse’s first year serving ECPN.
Alexa Beller, Communications Co-officer
Alexa holds a BA in History, a BFA in Painting, and a minor in Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2013). She is currently a second year graduate fellow at the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and is focusing her studies on paintings conservation. Alexa has had pre-program jobs and internships at the University of Illinois Library Conservation Unit, The Spurlock Museum, the Chicago History Museum, in the private paintings conservation practice of Ria German-Carter, and Architectural Conservation Inc as well as a graduate internship at the Western Center for the Conservation of Fine Art. She previously served as the ECPN Regional Liaison for the San Francisco Bay Area (2013-2014).
Rebecca Gridley, Communications Co-officer
Rebecca holds a BA in Art History from Yale University (2009). She is entering her third year at The Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where she is specializing in objects conservation. Prior to graduate school, she worked for three years as a National Account Manager at The Conservation Center in Chicago and completed pre-program work at Art Conservation Group and Cranmer Art Group, private practices in New York with respective specialties in objects conservation and modern and contemporary paintings conservation. She recently completed an internship at The Museum of Modern Art, and is interning at The Frick Collection this summer. This is Rebecca’s first year serving ECPN.
Anne Schaffer, Outreach Co-officer
Anne Schaffer earned her BA in Visual Art and Chemistry from Bennington College (2011), with additional coursework at Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy. She has held pre-program internships at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Williamstown Art Conservation Center, Higgins Armory Museum, and Baltimore Museum of Art, in addition to work in private practice. Anne completed a graduate summer internship in 2014 at ICA – Art Conservation in Cleveland, OH and is spending the summer of 2015 at the Menil Collection in Houston, TX before beginning her third year graduate fellowship at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Anne expects to earn her MA and CAS in Art Conservation with a paintings specialization from Buffalo State College in 2016. This is her second year serving as an Outreach Co-Officer for ECPN.
Kimi Taira, Outreach Co-officer
Kimi has a BA in Studio Art from Mills College (2008) and is finishing her degree with the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, specializing in paper with a minor in library and archival materials. Her interests include conservation ethics, community-centered preservation initiatives, and the relationship between tangible and intangible heritage. She has worked various conservation positions and internships at Zukor Art Conservation, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. She is completing her third-year internship at the Cleveland Museum of Art and will continue as their Kress Fellow. This is Kimi’s first year serving ECPN.

42nd Annual Meeting – Painting Session, May 30, "A Hangover, Part III: Thomas Couture's Supper After the Masked Ball"

Conservators are often faced with objects that have had extensive past treatments. While undertaken with the best intentions, some treatments have resulted in aesthetically jarring effects and loss of original information embedded in the construction of the work. Fiona Beckett explored these challenges of decision-making within the treatment of Thomas Couture’s Supper After the Masked Ball (1855).
The large painting is a depiction of a scene in the Maison d’Or in Paris following a party in the infamous hangout for artists and writers. The hungover revelers acted as vehicles for Couture’s commentary about the degradation of society’s morals. Although the composition was originally intended for use as a wall paper design, Couture seemed to have a soft-spot for this scene and the finished painted version was kept in his studio as illustrated by its numerous appearances in drawings and depictions of the studio space.

Thomas Couture's Supper After the Masked Ball (1855) Courtesy of the National Gallery of Canada — Thomas Couture’s Supper After the Masked Ball (1855)
Courtesy of the National Gallery of Canada

Supper After the Masked Ball had undergone two linings and at least two cleaning treatments in the past. It had been relegated to storage for the last 90 years because of its problems. While one lining was done with glue paste the second used wax resin resulting in an uneven combination of the two residues on the verso of the canvas. Ms. Beckett described the factors that had to be considered before removal of the lining. Some of the effects from the lining treatments included wax residue stains, shrinkage of the canvas and compression tenting from the glue paste, and flattening caused by the irons. Additionally, Couture’s habit of testing tints of colors on the verso of his paintings was obscured by the lining’s presence. The condition of the lining was such that it had already began to separate fairly easily from the original canvas and it was decided, after determining that it was not appreciably stabilizing the painting, to remove it. After removal, the color tints were indeed visible on the verso of the canvas. Another interesting aspect of Ms. Beckett’s treatment was her use of Gellan Gum to locally moisten and soften the glue residues on the verso prior to mechanical removal with a spatula.
The decision to not re-line Supper After the Masked Ball followed the trend to refrain from re-lining, but was also informed by other factors specific to the painting. The original canvas was in good condition after the lining removal and the previous linings appeared to not have been necessary. The residual glue and wax residues seemed to have added strength to the canvas as well. Lastly, the absence of the lining allowed easy viewing of the brush marks on the verso.
Final steps in the treatment included a spray application of B-72 to the verso, strip lining with Lascaux P110 fabric and BEVA, and building up the face of the stretchers to an even surface with the addition of mat board and a felt-like non-woven polyester.
Supper After the Masked Ball was an excellent case study to illustrate the decision-making processes conservators must use when approaching prior extensive treatments. Ms. Beckett made an astute observation that it is quite easy for us to criticize these past treatments, but we must acknowledge that they were carried out with the intentions to preserve and stabilize using the most advanced technology available at the time. Often it’s the case that these linings and such really did have a positive effect on the preservation of the pictorial surface, although these measures need to sometimes be undone in the present day when we have less invasive and more effective processes available.

42nd AIC Annual Meeting – 30 Things to do in San Francisco

The upcoming Annual Meeting in San Francisco will surely be educative, informative, and a great opportunity to mingle with colleagues, but its location in the City by the Bay makes this meeting truly unique. As a relatively recent transplant to San Francisco, moving here nearly nine months ago from Chicago, I fell in love with the city’s landscape, food, and cultural heritage but was intimidated by the cost of living and overall expense of exploring. One of my personal missions during my time in San Francisco has been to find activities and places to go that fit within my limited budget as well as let me see and learn about this great city.
This list of 30 Things to Do in San Francisco was compiled by several other Bay Area emerging conservators and me to offer the attending membership to the Annual Meeting a concise selection of accessible and affordable things to do in San Francisco. While there are infinitely more “things” that could be added to this list, these are some of our personal favorites and we hope that you all enjoy them as much as we do!

Sutro Baths, Courtesy of Wikipedia

Sunday June 1st (first Sunday of the month) is free at the Asian Art Museum
Try local produce and products at the Saturday Farmers Market at the Ferry Building
Check out the SF Public Library’s free walking tours of different neighborhoods in the city
Visit the frescoes at the Beach Chalet and grab a drink while enjoying the incredible view
Take the 38 MUNI bus to Lands End (end of the line) and go for a hike to see the Sutro Bath ruins and great ocean views
Visit Coit Tower and the incredible WPA frescoes
Grab a delicious cocktail roll or mooncake at Eastern Bakery in Chinatown
Visit the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park for free before 10 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (see #3 for a guided tour of the Garden)
Try Burmese food at Burma Superstar (warning: no reservations and the wait can be long during peak hours – but the tea leaf salad is worth it)
Take a walk around Haight/Ashbury and feel the love
Take a boat trip to Sausalito
Visit Alcatraz Island
Ride the cable car from Powell Station to Ghirardelli Square
Need a coffee fix? Try Philz or an Irish coffee at Buena Vista Cafe

Camera Obscura, Courtesy of Wikipedia
Grab a drink at a speakeasy – the Library at Bourbon and Branch
Experience North Beach, the little Italy of SF, with delicious food at Calzone’s
For delicious Chinese food check out House of Nanking at the edge of Chinatown and be sure to let the owner order for you
Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge (take the 28 MUNI bus to the bridge)
Enjoy a chocolate sundae in Ghirardelli Square
Have a sweet tooth? Try some great pastries and ice cream in the Mission between Guerrero and Dolores Streets at Tartine Bakery and Bi-Rite Creamery
Take a walk through Golden Gate Park and check out the paddle boats, grazing buffalo, and hippie hill
Check out the murals in the Mission and pick your favorite burrito joint (La Taqueria, Papalote, El Farolito, etc.)
See amazing panoramic views of the city from the de Young Museum’s Tower in Golden Gate Park
For affordable and tasty vegetarian eats try Loving Hut on Irving St. in the Sunset
Find great music and movies at Amoeba Music on Haight St.
Check out the Sing-Along Movies at the Castro Theater
Go see the Camera Obscura near the Cliff House in Sea Cliff (weather dependent and call ahead!)
Grab a tasty bite at the Off the Grid – a gathering of local food trucks. Check out the schedule of where to catch them at

Off the Grid at Fort Mason, Courtesy of Off the Grid
Go to the California Academy of Science’s NightLife Thursday from 6-10 pm to see the planetarium, rainforest biosphere, and aquarium
Walk in the shoes of the Beat generation and visit City Lights Books in North Beach

Continue reading “42nd AIC Annual Meeting – 30 Things to do in San Francisco”