In this week’s Field Notes: A family rides SF to Guerneville, Prelinger Library invites curiosity, Berkeley’s lanterns relit, origami honors Ruth Asawa, a solo show unpacks identity, kids pitch inventions, Monopoly refreshed, Tilden grows rare plants, salons spread health info, and dance dives deep.

A Berkeley neighborhood’s lanterns return after 60+ years

Two early-1900s lanterns that once lit the corner of Hopkins and The Alameda in Berkeley’s Northbrae neighborhood are getting re-lit this weekend. Thanks to a community fundraiser, they’ve been rebuilt by metalsmith Jerry Coe and his apprentice, Sofia Barron-Kardos.

On Saturday, the neighborhood will flip the switch during an official ceremony  — complete with a walking tour, lantern-making, history talks, and a bronze-welding demo. — Berkeleyside

Ruth Asawa’s legacy, one square at a time

San Francisco artist Lilli Lanier is currently showcasing a series of origami portraits at Café Alma in Bayview–Hunters Point, including a striking piece of her grandmother, the late Ruth Asawa. Lanier’s portrait of Asawa is made from over 10,000 folded paper squares in 20 shades — a skill she first learned from her grandmother as a child.

The exhibit runs through September 1 and also features portraits of figures like Stephen Curry, Frida Kahlo, and Martin Luther King Jr. Among the largest is Origami la Virgen de Guadalupe, made from 20,000 folds. — Mission Local

A public library like no other

Tucked into an unmarked SoMa building, Prelinger Library is a privately funded public space open three days a week serving as part archive, part art project, and part sanctuary. Its image-rich collection of 19th- and 20th-century maps, periodicals, pamphlets, and books is arranged in a geospatial system that starts with the land beneath your feet and ends in theory and space, as described on the library’s website. Visitors are welcome on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays — with experimental music often playing on Sundays.

Founders Rick and Megan Prelinger founded the library in 2004. Rick, an archivist and “old school punk,” has spent his life preserving forgotten media. Megan, a writer and former member of the zine collective Bad Subjects, helped shape the library’s unique organizational style of arranging materials by thematic and conceptual connections rather than traditional categories. Their 7,000-title zine archive captures a wide range of creative, personal, and independent voices. — empowa, KALW

SF to Guerneville via Clipper Card

This resourceful family made the trip from San Francisco’s 24th Street Mission Station to Guerneville in Sonoma County using only their Clipper Cards. The leisurely journey took about six hours, with stops for lunch at the San Francisco Ferry Building and ice cream in Santa Rosa. It involved four transit agencies and cost around $36.80 round trip per adult.

They recommend catching the ferry by noon to allow plenty of time. The bus from Santa Rosa isn’t on a timed transfer, so expect some waiting, and check each agency’s website for the most accurate info. — bikecuriouslive

The wonders of Tilden

The East Bay's Tilden Regional Park’s crevice garden is a unique space designed to mimic high-altitude conditions, allowing rare alpine plants like the elusive Sky Pilot, which was procured from atop Mount Whitney, to grow at low elevation. Using thick slabs of slate to protect roots and provide drainage, the garden supports species that struggle to survive elsewhere in the Bay Area.

With 3,600 native plants including over 700 rare or endangered — Tilden is a living archive dedicated to preserving California’s botanical diversity against climate change and time. — Bay Area News Group

Using salons to bridge health gaps

Stanford student Diba Dindoust is enlisting hair salons to connect low-income women with free healthcare services they might not know exist. Through her Makala Women’s Collective, she posts resource guides in local shops and trains stylists to share the information with clients.

Stylists are learning how to start conversations about everything from free cancer screenings to mental health resources, making the salon chair a surprising gateway to care. — NBC Bay Area

Young entrepreneurs master financial literacy

San Francisco’s Boys and Girls Club teamed up with the University of San Francisco for a summer financial literacy camp that wrapped up with a “Fish Tank” pitch event. In preparation for the kid-friendly take on Shark Tank, campers brainstormed inventions — from expandable shoes to dissolving gum, which won top prize.

The program blended budgeting, banking, and entrepreneurship with creative teamwork, offering opportunities often out of reach for low-income kids. — Chronicle

Hope amid conflict

In Israel, Hend Ayoub was the Arab outsider. In the US, she’s often cast as the terrorist. In Home?, the Palestinian actor unpacks these contradictions with sharp wit, tracing her journey from a divided homeland to the New York stage — all while facing the question, “Where are you really from?”

The solo show moves through checkpoints, culture clashes, and casting calls, as her mother wonders if she’s found a home yet. This performance might be the closest answer. Runs through August 16. — KQED

Asking the big question through dance

Joe Goode Performance Group’s latest site-specific work, Are You Okay?, transforms San Francisco’s Rincon Center into an immersive meditation on loneliness, anxiety, and the search for connection.

Drawing on conversations with Mission District residents — where the group’s dance studio is located, as well as mental health workers and longtime collaborators, choreographer Joe Goode blends dance, theater, and song into a roaming experience of intimate moments and sweeping views.

Co-created with vertical dance artist Melecio Estrella and scored by composer Ben Juodvalkis, the piece invites the audience to face their vulnerabilities together, embracing it as part of the human experience. Runs from August 14–31. — Mission Local

World’s largest Monopoly board gets spruced up

Volunteers gave San Jose’s world-record-holding Monopoly board a much-needed refresh last weekend. Covering 930 square feet in Discovery Meadow, this massive granite game is the largest Monopoly board sculpture on the planet, with corner slabs weighing nearly 250 pounds each.

Since its 2002 debut, it’s become a local favorite photo spot and gathering place, complete with oversized dice and life-sized tokens that visitors can rent for actual play. The board’s spaces are also personalized with San Jose landmarks. — KGO

Top image: Google Reviews

Previously: Field Notes: 'Dolores' Opera, Rooftop Roller Rink, Rebel Lit, Tree Guide, and Coastal Wineries

Local zine Ker-bloom! never fails to supply a light meditation on various topics (love, gamer culture, mid-life crises and more) – the latest issue, #63 deals with topics of forgiveness. Each issue is gorgeously, painstakingly handset and letterpress-printed on recycled cardstock, in limited edition batches of about 250.

Karen Switzer (aka artnoose) has kept Ker-bloom! in production since 1996, and also runs Crafty Cards, designing custom letterpress cards and stationary out of her East Bay studio. Check out artnoose's blog for photos from collating parties (get a sneak peek of issue #64!), food porn of vegan goodies and info on an upcoming tour around the Pacific Northwest with fellow Berkeley zinester Tomas, of Rad Dad

Catch the bi-monthly mag in a number of stores around the Bay Area (including SFist fav Needles and Pens on 16th Street where we scooped up our copy) or check out the author's Etsy site for back issues.