September 2, Friday open from 10am – 5pm and again from 7 – 11pm
Museum admission free all day

South First Fridays are an eclectic evening of arts and culture in downtown San Jose's SoFA arts district, centered on South First Street. Held on the first Friday of every month, the arts venues on South First Street are all open from 7 until 11pm and offer free admission and a wide variety of live entertainment. It's a lively scene attended by arts-lovers of all ages.

South First Fridays website

September 11, 2011, Sunday
11am – 12:30pm

Kids Create

Get ready to explore the many cultures in our community with this popular program. Join us each month as we celebrate a different tradition through story and a hands-on art project. Kids Create is a multicultural arts program for children aged 5-10.
Program fee: $7.50. Must pay program fee in advance to confirm reservation. Fee may be paid online or at 408.971.0323 x14. Walk-ins accepted only if there is room at the session.

Theme this month:
Real Recycling: Transform Old Socks into Puppets

See the complete Kids Create Calendar

Two Spirit Boat workshops with Jennifer Ewing

September 17, 2011, Saturday 12:30pm – 4pm
$75/$65 per adult (non-member/member)

September 18, 2011, Sunday 12:30pm – 4pm
The Sunday Spirit Boat workshop is for families and the fee structure is:
$85 /$75 for one adult and one child age 6 years and older (non-member/member)
$25 /$20 for each additional child
$45 / $35 children ages 10 – 18 and unaccompanied by adults
Register Online

All materials will be provided.

Spirit Boats are made as totems for good luck, to give tribute to someone, or to empower the maker. The intention is to work with the boat as an archetype, a vessel that represents passage and transformation. The project is open ended and has many different approaches that offer exploration.

The spirit boat is created from the heart. It is intended to be self-propelled and is designed to, for an individual making it, a unique and highly personal experience.

Plastic water or juice bottles are cut apart and reconnected to form a shell. The shell is then covered with tracing paper stained with coffee or tea that is glued down to form a skin. This process relates to the Iniut culture that uses animal skins to cover their shells. The paper looks and feels like real animal gut and connects the spirit boat to an ancient way of boat making. The glue used is a gel medium that can also serve as a varnish.

This simple process can be enhanced by piercing or cutting into the boat. One can punch holes along the edges so materials can be woven into the work, or accent pieces can be stapled, glued or taped down. The outside and inside can hold many layers of paper, paint, collage, twine, feathers, twigs, wire and more.

Materials provided include plastic, tracing paper, various papers, gel medium for glue, brushes, wire, twine, raffia, yarn, string, cording, wire, feathers, twigs, cardboard.

Jennifer Ewing is a San Francisco artist, teacher and muralist. She was a 2011 artist in residence at the deYoung Museum and is a staff artist at the Fine Arts Museum and Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco. She is also a partner and business owner of Ewing and Germano Murals and Fine Art Painting.

September 17, 2011, Saturday
10am – 11am

Scrap Aesthetic with collector Roderick Kiracofe
Lecture and Walkthrough with Collector

What is scrap? How could it possibly be art? Roderick Kiracofe gives us his thoughts and perspective on how leftover fabrics, unused materials, cast-offs, and even garbage find there way into quilts and other works of art. Kiracofe will do a power point presentation featuring his collection and refining the scrap aesthetic followed by a walk through of the Scrap ART exhibition.

$15/$10 per adult (non-member/member)
Register Online

September 24, 2011, Saturday
10am – 4pm

Redesigned, Re-purposed, Recycled Clothing
Darcy Fowkes

In this workshop explore the creative possibilities of recycling and creating new fashions from existing garments and accessories. An inspirational trunk show of designs will illustrate the multitude of possibilities for making over outdated garments. Then with clothing brought from your own closets and scissors in hand, you will recreate something new from something used. You will leave the class with a one-of-a-kind unique garment or accessory and ideas for reconstructing more clothes from your closet.

$85 /$75 per student (non-member/member)
Register Online

Skill requirements: basic sewing skills are encouraged. If you do not know how to operate a sewing machine, you must be willing to use one during the workshop. Bring your own machine if you plan on sewing for more than 45 minutes during the workshop.

Recommended Materials List:
• Sewing Machine and Extension Cord (a few machines will be available to use in class)
• Sewing Kit (scissors, pins and needles, seam ripper, extra spools of thread)
• Clothing and accessories (including jewelry) you would be willing to recycle yourself and/or donate to the group
• Please bring measurements if you plan on making something for another person (friend, child or grandchild.)

Darcy Fowkes has been sewing for over 40 years. She began designing and publishing in Altered Couture Magazine in 2008, and has been hooked on recycling new and gently used clothing ever since. She has taught Altered Couture (recycled) designing at Eddie's Quilting Bee and participated in informal Altered Couture round table discussions at the Peninsula Wearable Arts Guild.

Save the Date! October 7, South First Friday at the Museum
Join us for a Recycled Fashion Show featuring the work of Darcy Fowkes, Jill Pilot, and many other well known Bay Area recycled clothing designers! Models will be stationed in Museum galleries from 8 to 10 p.m., to answer any questions about their garments including what they were before their redesign, as well as how they were re-constructed.