'Red Umbrellas' Art Show Brings Live Music To Golden Gate Park's Alvord Lake

'Red Umbrellas' Art Show Brings Live Music To Golden Gate Park's Alvord LakePhoto: Susan Strolis/Red Umbrellas
Camden Avery
Published on April 14, 2017

Last year, as part of the city's ongoing efforts to occupy the Alvord Lake area at the Haight Street entrance to Golden Gate Park, SF Rec & Park partnered with nonprofit arts organization Red Umbrellas to install weekly art shows at Alvord Lake.

Now, live music will be added to the events. "Our hope is to enliven this wonderful little oasis in the Golden Gate Park not just with art, but also with talented musicians," Red Umbrellas writes on their website.

"[The music] is a welcome addition to the park," said neighborhood organizer Susan Strolis, who is behind both the Friends of Alvord Lake and the monthly volunteer cleanup days.

Red Umbrellas is an artists' collective whose mission includes the objective to "beautify our plazas and parks with the excellent work of emerging and established artists." Their other regular shows occur in Union Square, the Music Concourse, Maiden Lane, Marina Green, and Washington Square.

Jazz and art at Alvord Lake (sorry, it's vertical!) | Video: Marion Maenner/YouTube

Stephen Bruce, the president of Red Umbrellas (and one of the exhibiting artists) initially approached Rec & Park late last year about the possibility of including acoustic, non-amplified live music at Alvord Lake once a month.

After Rec & Park manager Phil Ginsburg met the idea with enthusiasm, the musical performances kicked off with a December 3rd show.

This weekend's show will feature pianist John Steven Morgan. He'll be performing on Saturday and Sunday, noon-3pm.

"Our commitment to the city is to try this for a year and see what the impact is," Bruce said. "The goal is to attract more people to the location, and the live music tends to draw folks in for a little longer."