In celebration of the recent publication of Gigi Otálvaro-Hormillosa’s new book, Erotic Resistance: The Struggle for the Soul of San Francisco, Tenderloin Museum hosts the author for a double-header book talk with Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens, fellow activist-artists and scholars of human sexuality, who will discuss their latest latest, Assuming the Ecosexual Position:The Earth as Lover. Program moderated by Dr. Joy Brooke Fairfield
Saturday April 27, 2024 | 3-5pm
At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA94102
A celebration of the erotic performance cultures that have shaped San Francisco, Erotic Resistance: The Struggle for the Soul of San Francisco (UC Press, 2024) explores a milieu that is indelibly intertwined with the Tenderloin’s history: the city's bohemian past and its essential role in the development of American adult entertainment by highlighting the contributions of women of color, queer women, and trans women who were instrumental in the city's labor history, as well as its LGBT and sex workers' rights movements. Otálvaro-Hormillosa utilizes visual and performance analysis, historiography, and ethnographic research (including participant observation as both performer and spectator), and interviews with legendary burlesquers and strippers to share a remarkable history and to frame an intersection of art, activism, performance, and human sexuality. Otálvaro-Hormillosa explores how, in the 1960s, topless entertainment became legal in San Francisco for the first time in the US, even while cross-dressing continued to be criminalized, and how, in the 1990s, stripper-artist activists led the first successful class action lawsuits and efforts to unionize! She writes, says Annie Sprinkle, “courageously and eloquently from her perspective as a performance artist and scholar inspired by the tradition of sex-positive feminists since the 1960s who have resisted patriarchy by reclaiming and celebrating their sexuality.”
On Saturday April 27th, Otálvaro-Hormillosa will present her work and new book at a TLM public program in conjunction with her friends and fellow artist-activists Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, who also work in the space where scholarship, sexuality, activism, and the arts intersect and have in fact helped shape the field and discipline of human sexuality studies. In 2008, Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens married the Earth, which set them on the path to explore the realms of ecosexuality as they became lovers with the Earth and made their mutual pleasure an embodied expression of passion for the environment. Ever since, they have been not just pushing but obliterating the boundaries circumscribing biology and ecology, creating ecosexual art in their performance of an environmentalism that is feminist, queer, sensual, sexual, posthuman, materialist, exuberant, and steeped in humor. Their latest publication, Assuming the Ecosexual Position: The Earth as Lover ((U. of Minnesota Press, 2021), describes how the two came together as lovers and collaborators, how they took a stand against homophobia and xenophobia, and how this union led to the miraculous conception of the Love Art Laboratory.
Join us for these complementary book talks in a program moderated by professor at Rhodes College, media-maker, and Sprinkle/Stephens collaborator Dr. Joy Brooke Fairfield. This program is one of many happenings for “I Love Tenderloin Week,” a celebration of the neighborhood and its people, businesses, and culture by a coalition of local individuals and organizations.
Free or Suggested Donation ($10) | Register via Eventbrite
Tenderloin Museum has teamed up with our neighbors to offer an evening-length experience of our block at its best! The “Leavenworth Passport” starts at TLM for a historical mini-tour of the 300 block of Leavenworth St., stops at Azalina’s for a tasting menu of Mamak Malaysian cuisine, and lands at the Black Cat for an evening of live jazz.
Wednesday May 8th, 2024 | 5-8:30pm
Meet at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102
The “Leavenworth Passport” is a collaboration between the Tenderloin Museum, Azalina’s, and the Black Cat to offer a hyper-local experience of the Tenderloin and our shared block of Leavenworth St. between Eddy & Ellis. Join us for an evening of arts, history, and innovative cuisine.
Each “Leavenworth Passport” will begin at the Tenderloin Museum, where staff will do something we’ve never done before–share the history of the Tenderloin through a tightly focused walking tour of our immediate block! Topics will include the history of residential hotels like the Cadillac, Verona, and Aarti; the block’s extensive neon signage; the storied Newman’s Boxing Gym; the Eichler-designed Mosser Towers; The Tenderloin National Forest and the epic, Luggage Store organized Tauba Auerbach mural; and more!
The tour will take attendees up the block to Azalina’s, where they will enjoy a tasting menu of Malaysian Cuisine. Winner of the Eater Chef of the Year award and a James Beard semi-finalist, Azalina’s Eusope takes diners on a trip through the night markets and home kitchens of her native Malaysia, with a focus on the cuisine of the Mamak ethnic group. Eusope has been cheffing in the TL and around SF–locals may remember her pop-ups at the Heart of the City Farmer’s Market–for the better part of a decade, and her new restaurant manifests these specific, complex Mamak flavors with virtuosity, innovation, and mastery of traditions that for her stretch back five generations.
The Leavenworth Passport concludes at the Black Cat Supper Club, where guests will enjoy a set of live jazz music and a drink to conclude the night on the block. Since 2016, the Black Cat has consistently programmed some of the most exciting jazz in the city in a setting that harkens back to the Tenderloin in its heyday as the city’s entertainment district.
A TLCBD Mini-Grant via SF’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development will support SF residents in need of financial assistance to enjoy the Leavenworth Passport! Fill out this Google Form to request a free passport experience; request forms are also available in-person at TLM.
General Admission tickets are available for purchase via Azalina’s Resy!
$10 tickets to TLM tour of the 300 Leavenworth only | Register via Eventbrite
TLM hosts the book release for a new biography about Marilyn Chambers, whose X-rated breakthrough Behind the Green Door was made in the TL and completely reconfigured the pornography industry as well as public sentiment for smut. In Pure, Jared Stearns chronicles the pioneering entertainer’s untold life story. This program features the author in-person and in-conversation with Chambers’ daughter, McKenna Taylor.
Thursday May 9, 2024 | Doors/Pre-Show at 6:30pm | Program 7-8:30pm
At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102
Marilyn Chambers is a legend here in the Tenderloin. Her breakthrough to fame–the starring role in the groundbreaking X-rated film Behind the Green Door–was filmed in part and premiered at the Mitchell Brothers’ O’Farrell Theater. That flick’s followup, Resurrection of Eve, featured an orgy scene shot next door at the historic Great American Music Hall (itself a boundary pushing site during its time as burlesque pioneer Sally Rand’s Music Box). Chambers’ name practically lived on the marquee of the Mitchell Brothers’ infamous TL establishment (and others across the country) during the 1970s era of “porno-chic.” In 1985, she was booked by an SF vice-squad for committing a lewd act in a public place and soliciting prostitution, part of Mayor Feinstein’s anti-porn crusades.
With Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers (Headpress, 2024), Jared Stearns has assembled the important and long-overdue account of Chambers’ life story, depicting a complex and hard working entertainer who navigated a new type of celebrity all while striving to find her true self. She was the embodiment of the free-spirited Seventies, the world’s most famous X-rated star, and an unappreciated talent whose work in adult films hindered her dreams of becoming a serious actress. Nevertheless, Marilyn was the first woman known primarily for her work in adult films to cross over to mainstream entertainment. She sustained a versatile three-decade career in entertainment, including roles in dramatic plays, a Broadway musical revue, her own television show, and the lead role in David Cronenberg’s film Rabid. But her success in adult films also proved to be her undoing. Marred by a violent relationship with her abusive husband-manager, Chuck Traynor, she developed the persona of a twenty-four-hour-a-day sex star. In the process, she lost her sense of self and spent much of her life searching for her true identity. With recollections from family and friends, many of whom have never spoken publicly, along with Marilyn’s own words, and never-before-published photos, Jared Stearns vividly captures the revolutionary career of one of the twentieth century’s most misunderstood icons.
Free, Suggested Donation ($10), or with a signed copy ($25) | Register via Eventbrite
TLM hosts a block party in Myrtle Alley–the outdoor space adjacent to The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot’s new venue at 835 Larkin–to gather our community, give friends & neighbors a chance to learn about play’s upcoming production, pre-purchase tickets or request free/sliding community tickets, DJs, live music, and drag performances.
May 11, 2024 | 1-4pm
Myrtle Alley at Larkin St.
Perhaps you’ve heard that a new production of The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot play is in the works? Not only is the Tenderloin Museum bringing this immersive theater piece back to life, and we’ve been working to create a permanent home for the play in a long vacant commercial to create a dedicated venue and truly immersive environment for this powerful story. The space is located in the neighborhood where the eponymous riot went down, on a block of Larkin St. that’s having a resurgence of queer community and queer-owned business like Rosebud Gallery, Moth Belly Gallery, Dark Entries Records, and the Bob Mizer Foundation/The Magazine.
The Compton’s creative team has nearly completed the transformation of 835 Larkin St. into the Compton’s Cafeteria, and we’re ready to give people a sneak peek! Powered by a TLCBD Mini-Grant through the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Tenderloin Museum hosts an Open House & Block Party on the afternoon of May 11th, featuring live music and DJs, drag performances, info and artwork from our neighbors, as well as an opportunity pre-purchase tickets or request free/sliding scale community tickets for when the play officially opens this fall.
ft. drag performances by Donna Personna, Shane Zalidvar, Collette LeGrande, Coco Buttah, & Mary Vice + live music by violinist Kippy Marks & DJ Josh Cheon (Dark Entries)
Free! All welcome!