Come by this afternoon for a good old fashioned art platica with Eugene Rodríguez and Richard Rodriguez.

Eugene Rodríguez is a Chicano artist based in San Francisco. His work includes painting, film, printmaking, ceramics, and publishing. Aesthetically, his artwork incorporates theater, neorealism, and surrealism and then utilizes multiple painting and storytelling approaches to create a kaleidoscopic hybrid. Rodríguez’s latest project sharpens his focus of attention on how popular media promotes a thin and anemic interpretation of history. All the work looks at the ways contemporary image making practices affect how we see others, ourselves and the world.

Richard T. Rodríguez is Professor of English at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of Next of Kin: The Family in Chicano/a Cultural Politics (2009) and A Kiss across the Ocean: Transatlantic Intimacies of British Post-Punk and US Latinidad (2022), both published by Duke University Press. The author of numerous articles about Latinx cultural expression and politics, he is currently working on two books, including a collection of poems about his time living in Chicago. 

!TONIGHT is Medicina’s birthdia and you are all invited! We are celebrating our beloved Portal’s fifth year on 24th street with poesia, musica, and bilingual locura. The amazing new issue of our yearly poetry anthology Portales will be available, as will some snazzy new Medicina t-shirts, along with musical performances by OG saxophone demigod Francis Wong, poetry by Ellie “La Chillona” Lopez, hector son of hector, Dora Prieto, Lourdes Figueroa, Josiah Luis Pocho, and Frenando Marti.

Data centers have quickly gone from virtually invisible to the target of the public’s ire — such that San Francisco has even passed a moratorium on new data centers. Join Hyperscale author Paris Marx for a conversation with Wendy Liu about the tech industry’s buildout of hyperscale data centers, what’s driving the opposition to them, and whether we really need to accept the future being foisted on us by Silicon Valley’s billionaires.

In Hyperscale, journalist Paris Marx uncovers the excesses of hyperscale data processing. He exposes the deceptive, exploitative ways tech companies are siphoning energy and resources from vulnerable communities in their pursuit of digital power, abandoning the pretense of social responsibility.

Amid energy shortages and tech-induced battles over drinking water, Marx makes a powerful case for technology that promotes the social good over the bottom lines of tech billionaires. He joins the incredible efforts of people and social movements pushing back against the profit-driven interests of Big Tech, illuminating a path toward the sustainable future we all deserve.

The AI boom and its infrastructural demands have accelerated our many modern catastrophes. With razor-sharp reporting and incisive analysis, Marx shows us that the greatest threat is not the specter of AI overlords but a global environmental disaster already in the making.

Paris Marx is a Canadian tech critic and host of the acclaimed Tech Won’t Save Us podcast. He speaks around the world about the politics of technology and writes the Disconnect newsletter. Paris is the author of Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech’s Data Empires.

Wendy Liu is the author of Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism (Repeater, 2020). She writes a column about San Francisco’s bizarre tech billboard for Bay Area Current.

KINAM es una práctica de entrenamiento psicofísico basada en la filosofía Tolteca/Anawaka (Mesoamerica antes de la colonización) y en sus antiguas posturas de equilibrio y de poder, creada a partir de diversas técnicas de movimiento funcional, meditación, y "posturas de poder toltecas". En esta clase buscamos recuperar las raíces culturales de América Prehispánica a través de la exploración de nuestra atención y consciencia y el balance de nuestros centros perceptuales: cuerpo físico, mente, emociones y energía vital. 

Elisa Rubio nació y creció en la Ciudad de México y se ha dedicado a la conservación ambiental y a proyectos de rematriación de tierras indígenas en CA, explorando la relación entre territorio, comunidad y naturaleza. Desde hace más de 15 años, cultiva un interés profundo por la exploración de la conciencia, la meditación y las prácticas ancestrales. En 2025 se certifico como Instructora de Kinam a través del Instituto Kinam en CDMX.

Materiales a traer: Un mat de yoga o un tapete, ropa cómoda

*Apto para todas las edades 

KINAM is a psychophysical training practice based on Toltec/Anawak (Mesoamerica before colonization) philosophy and its ancient postures of balance and power, created from various techniques of functional movement, meditation, and “Toltec power postures.” In this class, we seek to recover the cultural roots of Pre-Hispanic America through the exploration of our awareness and consciousness while balancing our perceptual centers: physical body, mind, emotions, and vital energy. 

Elisa Rubio was born and raised in Mexico City. Her work has focused on environmental conservation and Land Back projects in CA, exploring the relationship between land, community, and nature. For over 15 years, she has cultivated a deep interest in consciousness exploration, meditation, and ancestral practices. In 2025 she got certified by Instituto Kinam as an instructor.

Materials needed: Yoga mat and comfortable clothes
*All ages are welcomed

Block printing workshop for community activists. We'll have tools, paper, tinta, and small blocks, and start off with a conversation about printmaking as cultural and political expression. Second Wednesdays in March, April, and May. Suggested donation $20 for artist and book store.

Clase de grabado para activistas de la comunidad / Tendremos herramientas, papel, tinta, y pequeños bloques, y empezamos con una conversación sobre el grabado como expresión cultural y política. Segundo Miercoles en marzo, abril, y mayo. Donación sugerida $20 para artista y librería.

Fernando Martí (he/him) is an artist, poet, community architect and housing activist, originally from Ecuador, based in San Francisco, Ramaytush Ohlone land.

Fernando Martí (el) es un artista, poeta, arquitecto comunitario y activista de vivienda, originario del Ecuador, y basado en San Francisco, tierra Ramaytush Ohlone.

Book Launch for Lithic: A Hyperballad by Caleb Nichols with guest poets Randall Mann& T.S. Leonard.

Caleb Nichols is the first queer poet laureate of San Luis Obispo County California. Their poems have appeared in the New England Review, Poetry Wales, and many other places on both sides of the Atlantic. Caleb is the author of Lithic: A Hyperballad, winner of the 2024 Harbor Editions Laureate Prize and the editor of You & i Are Earth: Poems of the Queer Pastoral, published by 14 Poems (forthcoming in 2027). Caleb holds a PhD from Bangor University in North Wales and lives in Glasgow. More at https://calebnicholis.gay.

T.S. Leonard is a poet, performer, and educator whose work has been featured in Poetry, Foglifter, and Fourteen Poems and in collaborative projects at the Portland Art Museum and Pacific Design Center. Another Anthem of Fabulous Survival, winner of the 2024-2025 Poetic Justice Institute Prize, is his debut collection. Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, he lives and teaches in San Francisco.

Randall Mann is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Deal: New and Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 2023). A new collection, Memory Puzzle, is forthcoming from Copper Canyon in fall 2027. He teaches in the Bennington Writing Seminars and lives in San Francisco.

Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of musical medicina.

Tonight’s double dose of sonic sustenance is being brought to you by Kulintaikotron(1st set) & Free/Wong/Boyce Sax Trio(2nd set)

Join us for a celebration of Kulhar Books, new South Asian Diasporic literature imprint from Kaya Press featuring poet Ansley Moon, author of Register the Missing -- A heartbreaking exploration of the often-impossible choices faced by mothers and daughters in a world where over 50 million Indian girls have been lost to female infanticide, feticide and gender-based violence. Moon's poetry collection is one of the few American books to explore the perspective of an adoptee from the Indian subcontinent. Ansley will be reading with Tanushree Baidya and Dan Lau. We're so excited to hold this reading and celebration for Kulhar Books in San Francisco -- please do come out to celebrate this milestone for Kaya Press, and connect over poetry, refreshments, and community. 

Ansley Moon (they/them) is the author of the poetry collections Register the Missing (Kaya Press) and How to Bury the Dead  (Black Coffee Press). They are an Asian American adoptee, poet, and educator. A graduate of the MFA program at The New School and a recipient of a Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Grant, Moon’s work has appeared in Agni, Hyphen Magazine, Southern Humanities Review, among other publications. Moon writes the Teach this Poem series for the Academy of American Poets, and is a Co-Founding member of The Starlings Collective, a BIPOC adoptee writers and artists collective.

 Tanushree Baidya is a transnational writer from India. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Bennington College, a B.S. in Computer Science Engineering, and an MBA from Northeastern University. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in WBUR, Creative Nonfiction, Kweli, Pangyrus, Hypertext Review, Grubstreet, New Pages, and Florida Review, among others. Her poem ‘At a Reading’ was a 2026 finalist for the Plentitudes Poetry Prize, and her story ‘Java Jaya’ was shortlisted for the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction Award. She lives in South San Francisco and is at work on her first novel. 

DAN LAU (they/them) is a Chinese American poet raised on Munsee Lenape land also known as Queens, New York. Their poems have been published in Generations, Cape Cod Review, Gesture, RHINO, CRATE, Colorado Review, Tinderbox Poetry Journal and others. They are the former Managing Poetry Editor of Foglifter, a queer journal and press. A Kundiman fellow, Dan is the recipient of scholarships, grants, and residencies from The Fine Arts Work Center at Provincetown, Queer Cultural Center, San Francisco Arts Commission, Willapa Bay AiR, and Caldera. They received his MFA in Poetry from Boise State University and their MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Currently, Dan resides on Ramaytush Ohlone land and has recently joined the Center for the Art of Translation team as its Director of Advancement where they will create lasting positive change for literary translators and the center’s diverse San Francisco communities.

Molcajete Poets Reading and Open Mic featuring;

anhelo(she/they)
Born and raised in Mexico, Anhelo has been writing poetry since she was three, reciting little verses while her mom wrote them down. Today, she writes to release what she feels, turning emotion and beauty into words. She rarely posts her poems online and has never pursued publication, so open mics are where she enjoys sharing her work.

J. Yuru Zhou (they, she) is a poet rooting in San Francisco. They're in the middle of Saturn return and thinking about what it could look like to have homecomings to places that don't yet exist, while tending to the seeds of those homes. She teaches across afterschool enrichment classes, in-school writing residencies, and community settings across cooking, crafting, dance, and poetry, including, with Sun Park, Crafting Time, an art and writing workshop about ways of breaking and making time within and beyond capitalism. <3

Juan Amador is a writer and performer from South Central Los Angeles. He released his first poetry book titled "Pimping My Trauma" with Riot of Roses Publishing House. His poems have been included in the literary journal and anthologies.

Mauricio es un inmigrante peruano, cultural worker and bay area resident for over 10 years. He uses poetry to escape, create, and reconnect with himself, to understand his mestizo identity, and to gently pray for revolution. Mauricio tiene dos gatos and he has been labeled as a very good poet by his mom.

Genesis walia is a poet and student based in San Francisco. I spend my days balancing school, design, poetry and finding inspiration in the world around me. I’m drawn to creativity in all its forms, especially poetry as a way to express, reflect , and build community.

Fidel Pomajambo Chumbiauca (Fidelius) is a Peruvian-born, Oakland-based multidisciplinary artist, engineer, and co-founder of the event production company Tiny Fest.
Shaped by years in Peru, the UK, and the Bay Area, his work draws on eclectic influences, but music sits at the root of all of it. It started with the flute, led him to house dance, and eventually gave birth to his poetry. He wrote his first poem while listening to Diles que no me maten, a Mexican band known for weaving poetry into their songs.
That spark led him to form a spoken word project with his friend Vanya, built on flute, synth, live looping, and beat machines. His poems arrive as visions sparked by music, whether from their own sessions or from artists he loves.
Fidel and Vanya are now preparing to release their debut EP while writing four new songs toward a full-length album.

Representing Redwood City & the Bay Area,
Know Expressions? discovered Poetry through the lense of Hip Hop.
Navigating the turbulent times we all face,
Know Expressions? found his serenity within Spoken Word, Poetry and Hip-Hop.
Creative expression has been his driving force to stay connected and grounded. Influenced by experience and street narratives he continues the tradition with an objective to uplift, motivate and connect with others,all while being thankful for the Pioneers who have paved the way in this Artistic Community.

Closing celebration and poetry reading for Shizue Seigel’s exhibit “Burden of Imagination”.

Join Maha Hashwi, author, and Colette Ghunim, filmmaker, for a poetry reading and conversation surrounding Maha's debut book, The Pomegranate is a Grenade (Central Avenue, 2026) The Pomegranate is a Grenade is a debut poetry collection that examines what it means to grow up Arab and Muslim in the United States, where home is both inherited and continually reshaped. Maha Hashwi draws from the textures of an immigrant household-food shared across generations, religious traditions carried forward, the weight of displacement, and the small, steady acts of love that hold a family together. 

Maha Hashwi is a storyteller and spoken word poet. She is unapologetic in her identities as a Muslim and Arab woman. Her debut poetry book, The Pomegranate is a Grenade, will be published September 1st, 2026. She hosts a writing workshop in NYC called Anyone Can Write encouraging all to put pen to paper. Maha has attended Aspen Institute's Summer Words Writers Conference in Poetry and Tin House's Winter Workshop. She grew up in Dearborn, Michigan and now lives in New York City. 

As a documentary filmmaker and nonprofit co-founder, Colette Ghunim’s soul purpose is to use the power of film and storytelling for those oppressed around the world to be seen, to be heard, and to heal. Her first documentary, The People’s Girls (2016), received over 2 million views and won Best Short Documentary at the Arab Film Festival. Traces of Home, her first feature-length film, documents her inner quest to find home through unearthing her parent’s forced migrations from Mexico and Palestine. The film, in distribution with Watermelon Pictures and supported by the Sundance Institute, is currently on the festival circuit and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best U.S. Documentary at DOC NYC. Colette is a 2023 Obama Leader and has been highlighted on international outlets such as Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, Univision, and TEDx. 

TONIGHT come hear decolonized verses, spanglish poesia, Latine spokenword, Pocho poemas and neighborhood chisme at Speaking Axolotl, the Bay Area’s long running monthly Latine Reading series. 10 slot open mic goes up a las 6:50PM. Open mic poets have 5 minutes to read.

Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of musical medicina.

Tonight’s sonic sustenance is being brought to you by DJ Z4K vs. Black Edgar

In celebration of the launch of Mixed Roots: Writers on Multiracial Identity & Both/And Belonging, you're invited to join us for an interactive reading and collaborative afternoon exploring multiracial and interwoven identities.
Co-hosted by Anne Liu Keller (editor) and Interwoven, we'll gather with four of the book's contributors - Leslie Nguyen-Okwu, Savala Nolan, Faith Adiele, and Joemy Ito-Gates - to read excerpts from the anthology and offer discussion prompts for attendees to explore together in small groups.
Mixed Roots collects 29 personal narratives that explore themes of race, identity, privilege, language, ancestry, nonbinary belonging, intergenerational trauma, and collective healing. This anthology was born out of a community of writers who took part in editor Anne Liu Kellor's Both/And workshop, and has been called "a gift to anyone who lives within the both/and" and "an existential homecoming for the soul."
This free, interactive event centers the voices of mixed race/ethnicity/roots people and our extended communities. All are welcome! We'll have books for sale, and you can get your copy signed by the editor and four contributing writers all at once.

REGISTER HERE: https://events.humanitix.com/mixed-roots-sf

Space is limited, so knowing the anticipated headcount is so very helpful for the organizers.

Based in San Francisco, Interwoven brings people together to celebrate and navigate the nuances of living mixed and multicultural lives. Through events and gatherings for our members, we build community amongst humans who are mixed race and/or culturally mixed (diaspora, third culture kids, people raised in multiple cultures).

Anne Liu Kellor is a mixed-race Chinese American writer, mother, and teacher based in Seattle. She is the editor of Mixed Roots: Writers on Multiracial Identity & Both/And Belonging (Beacon, 10.13.26), and her memoir, Heart Radical, was a Washington State Book Award Finalist. www.anneliukellor.com

Savala Nolan is the author of Don't Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body (Simon & Schuster).  Her writing has appeared in Vogue, The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, Time, and more. She directs the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at UC Berkeley School of Law. Her second essay collection, Good Woman: A Reckoning, was published by HarperCollins in 2026, and has been called "stunning," "electrifying," and "revelatory."

Faith Adiele is a memoirist, essayist, and travel writer. She is the author of four mixed-genre chapbooks exploring her Nigerian/Nordic/American identity, and Meeting Faith, a memoir about becoming Thailand's first Black Buddhist nun that won a PEN award. Her media credits include My Journey Home, a PBS documentary about finding her Nigerian father and siblings, stories for HBO and the Calm app, and articles in OkayAfrica, Smithsonian, Oprah Magazine, and Essence. Named one of Marie Claire magazine’s “Five Women to Learn From,” Faith speaks and teaches writing around the world.  

Joemy Ito-Gates she/her, is a mother and Ethnic Studies educator based in the Bay Area on unceded Ohlone land. She has been a public educator for over twenty years and helped to co-found a summer program in 2004 called Fusion Camp, for Multiracial and transracially raised children of color.  

Leslie Nguyen-Okwu is a Vietnamese Nigerian American writer and journalist with bylines in The New York Times, BBC, National Geographic, The Economist, and Harper's Bazaar. She has received fellowships from the Aspen Institute’s Summer Words, Hedgebrook, Tin House, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Disquiet International Literary Program, Mesa Refuge, and VONA. She holds a BA in International Relations from Stanford University and is pursuing an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Saint Mary's College of California. Leslie is at work on a memoir called American Hyphen about belonging between Asian America and Black America. 

'A flor de piel’, a photography project by Lorena Jimenez, explores the personal realities of women’s health through intimate images of scars, bodies, and other traces of lived experience. Bringing individual stories into conversation, the project reflects on the challenges, changes, and experiences that connect women in our community.

Everyone is welcome to join, and share their stories if they wish.

This event will be bilingual (Español/ English).

Exhibit on view November 19-22.

Come celebrate the release of Jaz Sufi's first chapbook, Catalog of Shadows! "Catalog of Shadows is a dynamic postmortem of an abusive intimate relationship. Through both form and free-verse, these poems explore codependence, autonomy, and identity while complicating the victim-to-survivor narrative. If abuse requires the abandoning of one's self, then this collection is a chronicle of its rebuilding and reclamation."

Jaz Sufi - Jaz Sufi (she/hers) is a queer Iranian-American poet and arts educator. Her work has been published in Best New Poets, Best of the Net, AGNI, Black Warrior Review, Muzzle, and elsewhere. Her first chapbook, Catalog of Shadows, is forthcoming with Game Over Books. She is a National Poetry Slam finalist and has received fellowships from Kundiman, the Watering Hole, and New York University, where she received her MFA.  She is the Poet Laureate of San Ramon on occupied Ohlone land, where she lives with her dog, Apollo.

Tino V. H. Jr. - Fortino Vazquez Edmonds aka Tino VH Jr. is a gay Mexican American spoken word teaching artist from Oakland, CA, who uses Popular Education and Freedom frameworks in his classroom. Currently, he is serving as the Artist in Residence at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco, CA, for their Spoken Arts Department. An avid reader, Vazquez believes in transformative and healing education, it has led him with incarcerated youth of the Bay Area and Sonoma county. His poetry explores masculinity/feminism, addiction, indigeneity, queerness, and his Mexican-American heritage. 

Jordan Ranft - Jordan Ranft lives in Northern California, where he works as a therapist. He writes poetry and non-fiction. His poems have received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and have been published in Boulevard, Passages North, Frontier Poetry, and elsewhere. He writes about DIY art and punk scenes for his local paper. He is the author of the chapbook Said the Worms (Wrong Publishing). In 2015, he took 3rd place at the National Poetry Slam as a member of the Berkeley Slam Team.

Tonight the Portal is over la luna excited to welcome back Mystery School! Featuring Boohabian reed player David Boyce and the indomitable and well read Philip Greenlief. Come get yourself some of this prime sonic sustenance.

KINAM es una práctica de entrenamiento psicofísico basada en la filosofía Tolteca/Anawaka (Mesoamerica antes de la colonización) y en sus antiguas posturas de equilibrio y de poder, creada a partir de diversas técnicas de movimiento funcional, meditación, y "posturas de poder toltecas". En esta clase buscamos recuperar las raíces culturales de América Prehispánica a través de la exploración de nuestra atención y consciencia y el balance de nuestros centros perceptuales: cuerpo físico, mente, emociones y energía vital. 

Elisa Rubio nació y creció en la Ciudad de México y se ha dedicado a la conservación ambiental y a proyectos de rematriación de tierras indígenas en CA, explorando la relación entre territorio, comunidad y naturaleza. Desde hace más de 15 años, cultiva un interés profundo por la exploración de la conciencia, la meditación y las prácticas ancestrales. En 2025 se certifico como Instructora de Kinam a través del Instituto Kinam en CDMX.

Materiales a traer: Un mat de yoga o un tapete, ropa cómoda

*Apto para todas las edades 

KINAM is a psychophysical training practice based on Toltec/Anawak (Mesoamerica before colonization) philosophy and its ancient postures of balance and power, created from various techniques of functional movement, meditation, and “Toltec power postures.” In this class, we seek to recover the cultural roots of Pre-Hispanic America through the exploration of our awareness and consciousness while balancing our perceptual centers: physical body, mind, emotions, and vital energy. 

Elisa Rubio was born and raised in Mexico City. Her work has focused on environmental conservation and Land Back projects in CA, exploring the relationship between land, community, and nature. For over 15 years, she has cultivated a deep interest in consciousness exploration, meditation, and ancestral practices. In 2025 she got certified by Instituto Kinam as an instructor.

Materials needed: Yoga mat and comfortable clothes
*All ages are welcomed

An Exhibition of Photography, Life, and Legacy
As co-director of the Luggage Store Gallery and 509 Cultural Center in San Francisco, Darryl Smith helped curate hundreds of art exhibitions throughout his career, championing countless artists and helping bring spaces like the Tenderloin National Forest to life.
But before becoming a curator and cultural force in San Francisco, Darryl was an art student at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), creating large-scale photographs centered on people of color, their lives, environments, and experiences.
Many of these photographs were taken in San Francisco's Hayes Valley housing projects during the 1980s, capturing the people, everyday moments, and spirit of a community during a particular time in the city's history.
His intention was to make viewers feel as though they were inside the photograph — immersed in the moment, connected to its subjects, and able to experience the feeling and energy of that particular time.
Around 2018, Darryl began experiencing the effects of dementia, a disease he continues to live with today.
As an ode to Darryl, his artistic vision, and the extraordinary contributions he has made to San Francisco's cultural landscape, we are proud to present The Darryl Smith Show, an exhibition of his photography.
All proceeds from the sale of his work will go directly toward supporting Darryl's daily life, care, and expenses associated with living with dementia.
This exhibition is more than a celebration of photography. It is an opportunity to honor a man who spent decades creating opportunities for others, uplifting artists, building community, and helping shape the cultural fabric of San Francisco.
Now it's our turn to shine a light on someone who has spent so much of his life shining his light on others.

A welcoming space for queer musicians and songwriters to share their work, connect, and build community. Performers can sign up online in advance, join as walk-ins, or be featured as a monthly Featured Artist.

Featured Artist Bio:
Three Reefs Deep is maritime folklore with fresh modern sounds, close furled and ready for heavy weather. Hands on the helm, eyes on the horizon, and a bone in our teeth. Sounds that freshen the breeze. Come for the sun, stay for the pounding waves.

Flannery O'Connor Award-winning author Siamak Vossoughi will be reading from his new Kirkus-starred collection, The Friend Seekers, composed of stories that wrestle with the meaning of what it is to be both Iranian and American today.

Siamak Vossoughi is an Iranian-American writer living in Seattle. His first collection, Better Than War, received a 2014 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and his second collection, A Sense of the Whole, received the Orison Fiction Prize. His stories have also appeared in Missouri Review, Kenyon Review, The Rumpus, Columbia Journal, West Branch, and in other journals.