| The
main public lobby of the Fillmore Heritage Center---outside
the entrance to Yoshi’s jazz club and
restaurant--- will showcase special local and traveling
exhibits focused on jazz history and culture, with a
particular emphasis on the contribution of San Francisco
to the history of jazz.
Through rare images, photographs,
artifacts, sounds and stories, the Jazz Heritage Center’s
mission is to enable visitors to experience and understand
the history of jazz and its evolution, and to bring
San Francisco’s golden era of jazz origins to
life. In addition, the lobby will host interactive and
traditional exhibits focused on the unique history of
the Fillmore neighborhood, a district rich in diversity
and cultures that has served as the heart of San Francisco’s
African-American population for over fifty years.
Upcoming
Exhibitions
| “Jazz
Genesis: San Francisco and the Birth of Jazz” |
 |
Opening
in Fall 2008, Jazz Genesis will be the Jazz Heritage
Center’s primary permanent exhibit. It will
be the first permanent historical interpretation
of the seminal role of San Francisco in the development
of jazz music and culture. For various reasons,
the role of San Francisco in jazz history has
been overlooked.
This exhibit will celebrate
the city’s formative role in jazz, including
the nightclub owners and musicians who actually
were the first people on record to use the term
“jazz” nearly 100 years ago.
Curated by historian John
William Templeton, the exhibit will feature never-before-seen
photographs, music scores and other rare memorabilia
showcasing San Francisco’s important jazz
history.
It will be the only exhibit
of its kind in San Francisco. |
| “Harlem
of the West” |
 |
Opening
in Fall 2008, The Jazz Heritage Center will present
a special version of the popular “Harlem
of the West” exhibit first presented in
2006 by the San Francisco Performing Arts Library
and Museum.
Focusing on the jazz heyday
of the Fillmore District in the 1940s and 1950s,
the exhibition will feature new prints of rare
archival photographs and original memorabilia
from original Fillmore clubs.
Originally curated by Elizabeth
Pepin and Lewis Watts, authors of the Chronicle
book, Harlem of the West, the exhibit celebrates
a unique and rediscovered chapter in jazz history
and the African American experience on the West
Coast.
|
Other Public Lobby
Attractions
In addition to rotating exhibits, the lobby will soon
feature interactive kiosks and a video wall showcasing
jazz greats from the neighborhood and the multicultural
history of the Fillmore District.
More Coming Soon!
|
