Ace Hotel

The Living Arts Fund and First Person Magazine present Snow in the Desert & Seeking the Present, an activated retreat for women in the arts, hosted by Betty Nguyen.

Snow in the Desert invites women to playfully consider and explore the ideas and values of art today. An improvised exhibition curated by Betty Nguyen features work by guest artists Eve Fowler and Anna Sew Hoy. Trinie Dalton leads a writing workshop with Snow participants. DJ Asma Maroof of Nguzunguzu spins poolside and in the Amigo Room. Abby Portner performs live set poolside on Saturday, and Sunny Kim DJs poolside on Sunday. 

Participants are welcomed to tweet their favorite passages from feminist literature live-streamed via slideshow at a library sculpture by Eve Fowler, take part in a panel discussion moderated by Betty Nguyen, make "Fresh Sno Cones" with artist and Blue Bottle Coffee Bar Pastry Chef, Leah Rosenberg and participate in a documented photography performance, "Lifting Bellies," poolside by Living Arts Fund director Betty Nguyen.  All of the action is streamed live on the Living Arts Fund website, as well as documented in a multi-city network for the upcoming First Person Magazine's "Values of Art" issue 2012-2013.  

Schedule:

Saturday, May 5

Noon - 4pm : DJ Set & live performance by Magician/Musician Abby Portner, Poolside
Her set invites you to improvise with her as she provides instruments and a framework of vibrations. 

2 - 4pm : Artist Workshops, Clubhouse
Leah Rosenberg, head pastry chef and artist from Blue Bottle Cafe in San Francisco and at SFMoMA, prepares a DIY sno-cone station where participants  can select from locally foraged ingredients to build their own flavor combinations. Bookmaker and badass Trinie Dalton sets up a collage art book station where you can make your own mini books.The inimitable Anna Sew Hoy leads a "make your own talisman" table with clay, leather cords and beads.

9 - 2am : Betty Nguyen DJ Set, Amigo Room
Betty's set is in homage to both women and Cinco de Mayo. She'll be curating songs by women producers, singers and songwriters, coordinating the decades chronologically -- 50's girl groups early on, then 70's disco singers, then Latin freestyle jams into the wee hours. 

Sunday, May 6

12 - 5pm : DJ Dorian Garry, Poolside
Mellow-vibed, long-playing, smooth jams. A tour manager by day, and a devotee who knows music inside and out.  

Amigo Room events are 21+, poolside events are all ages. All events are free to guests and Swim Club members, and poolside events are included in a $20 Swim Club day pass, which includes all-day access to the pool & hot tub, gym, sauna and steam room. Evening events are free to all. Add this event to your calendar on Facebook.

The Living Arts Fund is a non-profit think tank based in San Francisco dedicated to producing art projects that promote sustainability. The LAF works with artists to foster site-specific experimentation and to build community.

First Person is a magazine edited by Living Arts Fund director Betty Nguyen, exploring ideas of sustainability through art and words.

Betty Nguyen is curator, creative consultant and publisher of First Person Magazine and Director of the Living Arts Fund. She curated the panelists of Snow in the Desert & Seeking the Present for the Present to provide a varied perspective on women's expression and different takes on the value of art today. 

Leah Rosenberg is an artist and the head pastry chef at the Blue Bottle Café at SFMOMA. Her work explores the concept of generosity in an art context. She makes cakes that reflect her paintings and vice versa. She recently created a multimedia edible sculpture for First Person Magazine's "Radical Foods” launch party.

Eve Fowler is a feminist artist whose work has been featured in the LGBT publication LTTR, the traveling art exhibit Ridykeulous and the Los Angeles Museum of Ceramic Art. 

Anna Sew Hoy is an LA-based artist who works in sculptural mixed media. Her work is in the permanent collection of SFMOMA and has been featured in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Art Forum. 

Trinie Dalton is writer and curator who lives in LA. She is the author of Baby Geisha, Wide Eyed, was a contributor to the dearly departed Arthur Magazine and publisher of Werewolf Express and other zines. She recently hosted a leap day reading at City Lights Bookstore. 

Asma Maroof is one half of the post-global polyrhythmic production duo Nguzunguzu, known for  "teasing total chaos but ultimately staying on track" with their hard-driving mixes says Pitchfork.