Join ArtSpan as an Art Enthusiast Member! ArtSpan Members, an integral part of our community, enjoy a variety of benefits and the knowledge that their participation in ArtSpan events supports a Bay Area where artists can thrive. Your annual membership fee directly supports SF Open Studios and Art for City Youth, programs that serve 800 local artists and 700 students.

Benefits include mailing of the SF Open Studios Guide in September, advance discount tickets to SF Open Studios Event, and Exclusive, members-only collectors reception. (Normally $30, on sale until 11/15/2009.) $25 tax-deductible.

Visit artspanmembership.eventbrite.com for more information and to purchase online.

After you have purchased your membership, indicate the artist (or his/her map number) who encouraged you to join.

Pictured above, courtesy of Trish Tunney Photography: SF Open Studios artists Melissa Wagner and Mike Kimball, who is also on the Open Studios Committee.

• Sevilla Granger presents "Leaf and Limb" - 3 painters points of view on the trees around us on 11/7, 6-9pm at Back to the Picture SOMA Gallery. Her piece, entitled "Pacifica," was selected for the international juried exhibition "Shorelines" at the Rockport Center for the Arts in Rockport, TX. Three large pieces were selected for the juried exhibition "Celebrating Monterey County and will be on view for the next year at the Monterey County Center. Four of her pieces are hanging in the store front windows of EZDG Design Group, 1246 18th St. She is completing a large commission for RCD Architects which will be featured in the community center of Shinsei Gardens, their new housing development in Alameda.
• Marc Ellen Hamel is part of a group show "Going North" by Nordic 5 Arts at Eddie Rhodes Gallery, Contra Costa College, 2600 Mission Bell Dr., San Pablo, CA, now to 10/30.
• Mike Kimball is showing his works at City Arts Gallery, 828 Valencia, SF, now until 10/31; and at Sanchez Art Center, 1220 Linda Mar Blvd., Pacifica, 10/30 to 12/5.
• Aliona Kazakova is showing in " Inclusions" with three other artists at the City College Art Gallery, Visual Arts Building, Rm 119, CCSF, 50 Phelan Ave., 11/9 to 12/10. Opening Reception: 11/11, 5-8pm.
• Two of Sonia Melnikova-Raich's works have been acquired by the City of Lafayette for its public art collection to be on permanent display at he new Lafayette Public Library. She is also part of a group show "Dementions," the Fourth Annual Halloween Exhibit at Eclectix Gallery in El Cerrito now to 11/29.
• Karl Roeseler is part of a group show at the SF Convention and Visitors Bureau, featuring 6 figurative paintings from his "Black & White Paintings" series, now until 12/11. His work is also exhibited in the upstairs dining loft of Tokyo Go Go.

• If you are an artist who meditates, loves New Mexico and Georgia O'Keeffe, you may want to join 3 of us who have signed up for this 2-day meditation retreat in Santa Fe, 11/6 to 11/10, 2 nights to visit the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, ghost ranch (where O'Keeffe used to live), and surrounding areas. Airfare is running about $200 round trip. Click here for more info. Contact Daniele Erville at realove@att.net to attend.
• SOMA Artists Studios has two studio opportunities coming up: 1) Available Nov 1, a share situation with a photographer, about 125 square feet and is $230/mo. 2) Available Dec 1, separate studio, great light, about 230 square feet, $441/mo. If interested, call Jana Grover at 415 710-6083 or Linda Colnett at 415 602-5434.
• "Promoting Your Art in Today's Economy" Fourth Annual Art Marketing Workshop on 11/14, 9:30am to 3:30pm at Fort Mason, Rm. C-205. Registration is $85 and includes $51 worth of free reports and MP3 recording on how to promote your art,. Register here.

• The Green Art Project, a weekly online magazine with the latest highlights on Green Art - art with reclaimed materials - is seeking to feature SF Open Studios artists. Contact Jane Corrigan at 415.519.7176 or jane.corrigan@mac.com.
• WE Artspace, 768 40th St., Oakland is organizing an art/craft show/fair for the 2009 Holiday season. Contact info@weartspace.com for more info.
• Deadline 11/4/09. Artist listings in the East Bay Express ProArts Holiday Guide to promote your open studio or holiday show. Publication date: 11/25. Discounted rates for ProArts members and non-members. More info here.
• Deadline: 11/6/09. The Creative Work Fund invites letters of inquiry for projects in which artists and nonprofit organizations collaborate to create new works. Grants range from $10,000 to $40,000. In 2010, projects featuring visual artists or performing artists are eligible to apply. More info at creativeworkfund.org.
• Deadline: 11/13/09. Donate to or volunteer at Visual Aid's Big Blue Deal, to be held on 11/14. Call 415.777.8242 or e-mail julie@visualaid.org with questions.