Cultural bedrock - 33rd annual Black Cuisine

On Saturday, March 2nd, one of Bayview's longest-running and best-loved public events flooded several Bayview city blocks with sweet and savory eats, bluesy entertainment, local product venders, and hundreds of devotees attracted to the distinct fragrance escaping from barrel cookers and outdoor grills.

Black Cuisine, in and around the Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center on Yosemite at 3rd, is a festival celebrating "Soul Food at its best," according to organizers at Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services.  The recent event marked the festival's 33rd year.

In a neighborhood changing so dramatically, Black Cuisine is a bedrock celebration of Bayview Hunters Point historic strengths and rich culture.

Thank you, Rika Kruse, for these great pictures!

 

Young volunteers at Bridgeview Garden

The next generation of community-minded residents is finding the gardens and art projects in the heart of Bayview, and contributing youthful energy to the work. These images by Rika Kruze show work happening at the Bridgeview Teaching and Learning Garden, including finishing touches on a unique bench, crafted from wood donated by neighbors, that artist Mark Baugh-Sasaki (pictured, bottom) has created.

Rika notes that 7 year old Serenity (pictured, middle) loves the garden across the street from her home. ("I taught her that Snapdragons snap open when you squeeze them.") She also observes that Hean He (pictured top), a frequent volunteer at the Quesada Gardens Initiative, and a Balboa High School student, "is an awesome worker."

Stop by the Bridgeview Garden soon, see all the new work, and share some love with the volunteers you are likely to see there.

Creative businesses, local flavor

Scrappy artists have made work and lived in Bayview Hunters Point home for decades, enriching the neighborhood with every creation. So Peg Conley and Rika Kruze must feel right at home. They share the entrepreneurial bug, are talented artists, and have chosen Bayview Hunters Point as the place to live and work.

Peg lives on Palou, is active with Art 94124, and has been found in the Quesada Gardens with pad and watercolor brush in hand. Rika lives on Hudson, and regularly volunteers in the gardens while keeping an eye out for a good photo opportunity.

What they produce feeds their souls, and communicates personal stories about the place they live. Both are happy to share the results.

Peg Conley's transportational watercolor paintings and textual messages have found their ways to a set of cards for all occasions. The colorful, muted-here-bold-there images of nature she finds close to home and heart are lush and unmistakablely her own.

Rika Kruse moved to the neighborhood recently, and originally was a native of Germany. She makes cards and other items that communicate what she sees through the lens of a camera when she is in nature or with friends. The positive messages she pairs with the resulting images are drawn thoughtfully, through her international sensibility.

The card collection pictured (above right) can be found on Peg's aptly named website: Words and Watercolors. She can be contacted by email.

Ask Rika about her images and handcrafted cards and other items by email or by calling 415.821.1732. The image (above left) is of "Nisha's Rose," a blossom from the rose bush Antwanisha Morgan's family and friends planted at the Quesada Gardens in Antwanisha's memory.