This week: The Dipsea Trail, a crow take-over, award-winning BART poem, and site-specific sculptural CD art. Plus, a beloved pop-up bakery gets its own space, a local violinist shines at the Super Bowl, and Black Panther Emory Douglas’s collage images.

Between stations

On a daily ride between San Leandro and the Mission, a young poet found her voice. Sehinne’s poem BART earned a rare sweep of nine-or-higher scores at the 2025 Brave New Voices festival, helping Team Youth Speaks Bay Area take first place.

In the piece, the train becomes a steady, slightly offbeat presence, a place where writing happens in stolen minutes between stations. The poem draws from her internship at Youth Speaks on 16th Street Mission and can be watched in full online. — Bay Area Rapid Transit

In full view

Violinist Rose Crelli’s path runs from one-room cabins in Alaska and the Yukon to the Super Bowl halftime stage. Raised off the grid after being adopted from China, she learned discipline and resourcefulness through long drives for lessons and battery-powered practice sessions.

In San Francisco, she built her own work — teaching, performing locally, and posting online — until a call brought her to Levi’s Stadium to play with Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga, and Ricky Martin. The moment reflected years of work, craft, and a deep connection to her roots. — 7x7

Sweet debut

Grand Opening bakery, run by James Beard–nominated pastry chef Melissa Chou, is now taking orders from its West Oakland kitchen at 2311 Magnolia St. (off Grand), located inside 02 Artisans Aggregate alongside Soba Ichi and other local businesses. Chou, who previously popped up at Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco, offers a menu of whole cakes, pies, and cookies, including a black sesame almond cake with blood orange and a strawberry lychee cheese tart.

Standard favorites like the burnt honey pie and Parisian egg tart remain, alongside a rotating selection of sponge cakes and seasonal desserts. — Berkeleyside

Images of a revolution

At the Fillmore District’s African American Arts and Culture Complex, Emory Douglas’s sharp ink-and-collage images return to the Bay Area, where they first appeared in local papers and the Black Panther Party’s own publication. As the Black Panther Party’s Minister of Culture, Douglas shaped a visual language driven by urgency — scenes of police violence and poverty set beside intimate moments of family life.

The work was never meant for galleries, but its bold lines and clipped photos became inseparable from the movement itself, influencing activists far beyond Oakland. Emory Douglas: In Our Lifetime runs through October at the African American Arts and Culture Complex in San Francisco. — KPIX

Discs of daylight

Inside the Transamerica Pyramid Center, ICA San Francisco opens its program with Stratagems, a room-filling installation by sculptor Tara Donovan. Towering columns made from thousands of recycled CDs catch and scatter daylight, shifting tone and intensity as the sun moves and seasons change, turning the space into something closer to an instrument than a gallery.

The materials are ordinary and familiar, but their repetition bends perception, making hard edges feel fluid and almost biological. Organized with the Transamerica Pyramid Center and timed with SF Art Week, the exhibition runs through July 31. — Groove Atelier

Lifting without limits

In SF’s Noe Valley, Iron + Mettle offers a space where women focus on heavy lifting without intimidation or macho energy. Founder Danielle Repetti built the gym to teach proper form, gradual strength building, and confidence in a welcoming, small-group setting.

Members gradually increase weights and celebrate personal milestones, supported by coaches who understand women’s training needs. The studio blends community, education, and barbell work to make strength accessible to anyone who walks through the door. — Mission Local

Ferns and water

In Marin County, a short trail slips quickly out of the everyday and into something greener and quieter. The 3.8-mile route winds through fern-lined canyons and shaded forest, opening now and then to ocean air, waterfalls, and wide views that feel borrowed from another era.

It’s a moderate hike that rewards an unhurried pace, the kind where you stop often without meaning to. Best tackled with a friend, enough water, and the patience to leave the place exactly as you found it. — California Views/Instagram

A crow boom

San Francisco’s winter crow population has surged to a record 3,260 birds, more than double last year’s count and well above historical norms. Drawn by easy food, warm roosting spots, and fewer natural predators, crows have adapted quickly to city life while other bird species struggle.

At dusk, the birds gather in large, coordinated flocks — a daily spectacle shaped by both social behavior and survival. — SFGate

Top image: Rose Crelli Violin/Facebook

Previously: Field Notes: 124-Year-Old Light Bulb, UC Davis’ Cheeto the Cat, and ‘Trash Falcons’ Art Exhibit

This week’s Field Notes: Local staycation ideas, mahjong nights in a historic church, Black Oakland’s future at OMCA, indie musicians reviving Contra Costa, and SF’s new Disability Cultural Center. Plus, the Tenderloin Museum turns 10, a youth poetry call, and an East Bay trail to explore.

Tourist for the weekend

Why fight traffic out of town when you could ride a cable car to dinner instead? This local staycation guide suggests leaning into San Francisco’s charm with an overnight at the Beacon Grand, dumplings at House of Nanking, oysters and negronis at Hog Island, vinyl hunting at Tunnel Records, and a sunset cocktail at Charmaine’s. — Eater SF

Reclaiming the future: Black spaces at OMCA

A new exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California explores Black life in the East Bay through past, present, and future. Black Spaces: Reclaim & Remain features archival photos, personal artifacts, and visionary installations from architect June Grant, artist Adrian Burrell, and community groups like Moms 4 Housing.

Through stories of displacement and resilience — from Russell City to West Oakland, the exhibition contemplates what Black Oakland could look like in the year 3000. On view through March 1, 2026. — Oaklandside

Calling all young poets

Applications are now open for San Francisco’s newly relaunched Youth Poet Laureate program. Local teens ages 13–19 can apply to join a cohort of rising literary voices, with regular workshops led by 826 Valencia and Youth Speaks, performance opportunities, and a $700 scholarship.

Two students will be named Youth Poet Laureate and Vice Laureate, serving as cultural ambassadors alongside the City’s Poet Laureate and Drag Laureate. The deadline to apply is August 9. — SF Public Library

Skywatchers bring art, power, and protest to the Tenderloin

Skywatchers, a collective of Tenderloin-based artists uses movement, music, and sculpture to share stories of survival, ancestry, and resistance.

Their performances, often staged in parks and alleyways, challenge systemic neglect while cultivating joy, solidarity, and visibility in a neighborhood too often ignored. — Mission Local

Showering SF streets with spontaneous kindness

On July 31, a crew of “kindness ambassadors” will roam the streets of San Francisco handing out flowers, singing songs, sharing art, and offering spontaneous moments of support — from compliments and notes to real-time help.

The grassroots event invites anyone to join. Learn more or sign up to participate. — Kindness Crawl

Tiles, talks & tradition: Mahjong Night at Saint Joseph’s

Mahjong Night happens monthly at Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, a creative hub inside a beautifully restored historic church in San Francisco’s South of Market district. July’s event will feature founder of The Mahjong Project and author Nicole Wong.

Beginners can sign up for guided instruction (limited spots). Beer and wine available. Signed copies of Nicole’s book Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora will be on sale. — The Third Place

Exploring the East Bay Skyline Trail

The East Bay Skyline Trail stretches nearly 33 miles from Richmond to Castro Valley, offering sweeping Bay views, volcanic landscapes, redwood groves, and rolling hills. While some tackle the full route in a day, most break it into seven scenic segments to savor the sights without wearing themselves out.

Highlights include wildflower-covered ridges at Wildcat Canyon, panoramic vistas from Inspiration Point, volcanic remnants at Sibley Preserve, and cool redwood forests near MacDonald Gate. Wildlife sightings might include coyotes, hawks, and wild turkeys. — Bay Area News Group

San Francisco’s new Disability Cultural Center opens

San Francisco’s first Disability Cultural Center officially opened on Thursday, offering a unique public space dedicated to rest, community, and celebration of disability culture. Located across from City Hall, the center hosts accessible movement classes, poetry workshops, support groups, and hybrid events that combine in-person and livestream participation.

Designed with thoughtful amenities like weighted blankets, accessible seating, and open-air patios, the center aims to be a restorative haven for disabled people facing daily ableism and barriers.

Co-founder Emily Beitiks emphasizes the center’s goal to reshape how disability is understood through arts and connection, providing a restorative space where disabled people can thrive and organize. — KQED

Indie musicians find a home in Crockett and Port Costa

Out along the Carquinez Strait, Contra Costa’s rusty industrial towns are quietly becoming a haven for Bay Area indie musicians. With venues like Toot’s Tavern, studios like Bubudzuki, and throwback vibes from co-mayor-cowboy Mitch Polzak, the scene here mixes old-school charm with a refreshingly DIY spirit.

More than just nostalgia — they're building something new where artists can afford to create, perform, and actually be heard. — 7x7

Tenderloin Museum marks 10 years of telling its own story

Ten years ago, people scoffed when Randy Shaw proposed a museum about San Francisco’s Tenderloin — “What are you making a museum about, drug use and prostitution?” But today, the Tenderloin Museum is a vital cultural hub and neighborhood beacon.

Under Executive Director Katie Conry, it has become known for immersive events like a reenactment of the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, a growing neon sign district, and programming that spotlights local artists, musicians, and activists.

The museum just celebrated its anniversary with a jazz concert at the Great American Music Hall and will soon break ground on an expansion that triples its size and adds exhibits on Indian American migration and neon art.

In a neighborhood that’s too often reduced to headlines, the museum continues to amplify stories of community, resilience, and joy. — NBC Bay Area

Top Image: Kenny Playing Sax at the De Luxe Inn in Oakland, 1983; Michelle Vignes, Collection of the Oakland Museum of California, Dorothea Lange Award

Previously: Field Notes: Valkyries Podcast, Audium’s 50th Anniversary, Hidden Alcatraz, and Bandaloop

22-year-old Amanda Gorman, the youngest ever inaugural poet and the country's first ever Youth Poet Laureate, wowed the inaugural crowd and earned immediate accolades from Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and many others after delivering her poem "The Hill We Climb" at Joe Biden's inauguration.

Gorman, who grew up in Los Angeles, became Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles at age 16, and later National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017, while she was studying at Harvard.

As the New York Times reports, Gorman had the poem about half done two weeks ago, on January 6, when she saw the right-wing marauders storm the Capitol — an event that then led to specific lines of the poem, and to her completing it that night.

Obviously a Hamilton fan, Gorman made a couple of references to songs from the musical — she subsequently tweeted at creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who immediately tweeted back that he noticed. In one reference, she quotes from scripture that is quoted by George Washington in the musical, "Everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid." And in another, she uses a line that is central to Miranda's show: "History has its eyes on us."

Here is the transcribed poem in full — it has not been published, so this uses USA Today's transcription (and the line breaks are ours and may differ in Gorman's version).

The Hill We Climb

by Amanda Gorman

When day comes we ask ourselves,
'Where can we find light in this never-ending shade,
the loss we carry, a sea we must wade?'

We've braved the belly of the beast,
we've learned that quiet isn't always peace.
And the norms and notions of what just is
isn't always justice.

And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it,
somehow we do it. Somehow we've weathered
and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished.

We, the successors of a country and a time
where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves
and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one.

And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine,
but that doesn't mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge our union with purpose.
To compose a country committed to all cultures,
colors, characters and conditions of man.

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us,
but what stands before us.  We close the divide,
because we know to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
that even as we grieved, we grew;
that even as we hurt, we hoped;
that even as we tired, we tried;
that we'll forever be tied together victorious,
not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that 'everyone shall sit under their own vine
and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid.'
If we're to live up to our own time,
then victory won't lie in the blade
but in all the bridges we've made.

That is the promise to glade,
the hill we climb if only we dare it,
because being American
is more than a pride we inherit –
it's the past we step into and how we repair it.

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it,
would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
it can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith we trust
for while we have our eyes on the future,
history has its eyes on us.
This is the era of just redemption
we feared at its inception.

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour,
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So while once we asked 'how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe,'
now we assert: 'how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?'

We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be:
a country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold, fierce and free.

We will not be turned around or interrupted
by intimidation because we know our inaction
and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.

Our blunders become their burdens
but one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might, and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy in change,
our children’s birthright.

So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.
With every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the winds swept north,
east where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rinsed cities of the midwestern states.
We will rise from the sun-baked South.
We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover in every known nook of our nation
and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful.

When day comes, we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid.
The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it,
if only we’re brave enough to be it.

Photo by Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images

A documentary that's been on the festival circuit but hasn't yet premiered to the general public, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise might, as the New York Times points out, "seem redundant to those who’ve read her autobiographies, notably I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."

Nevertheless, "the photographs and film footage here add another dimension to her stories, as do interviews with her son" and artists who worked with her, the Times goes on. In particular, documentary directors Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack, who began this portrait of Angelou before her death in 2014, linger on moments those less familiar with Angelou may have glossed over: Her acting, and yes, singing ability, for example.

The documentary about Angelou, "a redwood tree," as the quote goes, "with deep roots in American culture,” might have particular resonance with those of us in San Francisco, as some of those roots can be traced back to the ground here.

You can learn more about the film here from PBS. The film premiers with KQED on Channel 9 this evening at 8 p.m.

Finally, a little extra on Angelou's encounter with another, if vastly different, Bay Area-born poet.

Related: How Maya Angelou Became San Francisco's First African-American Female Streetcar Conductor

FOOD/CLUB: Wo Hing General Store's Felix Torricer (Wo Hing) and the legendary Juanita More are teaming up for Sunday Tea with Juanita & Fe, featuring Juanita More on the decks and a special Dim Sum menu, a rum punch and other surprise cocktails, and whimsical dessert specials, along with Wo Hing's regular menu. (6 to 10 p.m., Wo Hing General Store, 584 Valencia Street)

FILM: Meridian Gallery presents, in conjunction with its current exhibition, The Painted Word, a screening of Red Poet, a documentary about Bay Area poet Jack Hirschman, which "recounts a tale of a life lived on its own terms: against all odds, a unique poetic talent finds personal redemption through his art and his poetry." (5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Meridian Gallery, 535 Powell Street)

THEATER: CASA (Children's After School Arts) presents I am the Center of the Universe!, starring 140 kindergarten through fifth graders in a play about celebrity babies born at the stroke of midnight in the year 2000, who ten years later, in the battle to be the center of attention, get swept back to the beginning of time and journey to the true center of the universe. (5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Lowell High School, Carol Channing Theater, 1101 Eucalyptus Drive)

POETRY/FILM: Peter Coyote will be at Meridian Gallery tonight reading poetry by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, followed by a screening of Ferlinghetti, the 2009 documentary by Christopher Felver, which is "an incisive, sharply wrought portrait that reveals Ferlinghetti's true role as catalyst for numerous literary careers and for the Beat movement itself." (7 to 9 p.m., Meridian Gallery, 535 Powell Street)

COMEDY: Comedian Nato Green, who's described by critics as having "a knack for pushing boundaries” (East Bay Express) and sparing "no sacred cows” (Santa Cruz Weekly), will be performing two shows tonight at Oakland's New Parish, the recordings of which will be included in his first stand-up comedy album, the first known comedy album ever recorded live in Oakland. (7 and 9 p.m., The New Parish, 579 18th Street, Oakland)

PHOTOGRAPHY: Eric Johnson, a professor of art and design at California Polytechnic University, will discuss the photography of the great twentieth century composer Ernest Bloch (1880 - 1959), which demonstrates a sensitive composer's eye and reveals Bloch's love for nature and showcases Bloch's many self-portraits and portraits of his family and musical colleagues. (7 to 9 p.m., Jewish Community Library, 1835 Ellis Street)

FILM: The new documentary, Hit So Hard, which opens tonight at the Roxie, tells the true story of the "hell-and-back" life of Patty Schemel, the openly gay, hard-hitting drummer of Courtney Love's band Hole during its peak years. Schemel and fellow Hole member Eric Erlandson will introduce both of tonight's screenings, and there will be a Q&A after the 7:15 show. (7:15 and 9:30 p.m., Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street)

POETRY: The annual Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam, which launched in 1997 as the first poetry slam for teenagers in the country, features the top performers out of hundreds of young writers, emcees, and performers from throughout the Bay Area and Northern California. (7 to 10 p.m., Masonic Auditorium, 1111 California Street)

ART: Celebrate the Inner Sunset at its second Art Crawl, the first of which was hugely successful, featuring art, film, music, food, and much more. (6 to 10 p.m., around the 9th & Irving intersection)