Peninsula arts center to be Kulapat design

At the recent Asian Art Museum gala, many eyes were on celebrity architect

Kulapat Yantrasast, who, with his design firm, wHY, is designing the Transformation project of the museum. That mention prompted John Goldman to share news that Kulapat and his wHY design has another large local project, working with the John & Marcia Goldman Foundation on the planned $50 million 21,000-square-foot EpaCenterArts, an arts and music center for the youth of East Palo Alto.

The foundation has been planning the center for seven years. In 2015, the foundation bought a 3½-acre piece of land in the center of town. That same year, Kulapat and a team of designers traveled to East Palo Alto, exploring the region on bikes for days, conducting community design sessions at which they met with groups of young people to better learn of their needs and wants. A team from Northern California also traveled to the Venice area of Los Angeles, where wHY is headquartered, to talk with the architects.

In an interview in Gentry magazine, Kulapat said he designed the project as thoroughly “community-driven . ... As the architects, we are de facto design partners with everyone involved, and especially young people.” The two-story design of the building, “emerged from years of conversations and workshops,” said Kulapat, who hopes its inception will “lead to new future roles for architects within the communities they serve.”

As of March 8, Joe Paulino had written 355 poems about Donald Trump, one every day since March 17, 2017. Some are funny (“She’s not genius nor athlete nor bard/ Still Melania scored a Green Card ... ” begins the poem for March 2), some serious (“While we debate our laws and social ills —/ A luxury not out there for those in grief ... ” begins a Feb. 26 poem responding to the Parkland, Fla., shootings).

Each poem at www.TrumPoetry.com, is headed with the day it was written and the number of days left in Trump’s term.

Stremmel Auctions in Reno is offering for sale (an online auction ends March 24) what the sellers refer to as “The Grateful Dead’s Harley Davidson Motorcycle.” The fine print says that this was a gift to Jerry Garcia from a fan. But Garcia, who had been riding around San Rafael on his scooter, got so spooked by publicity about the bike that he would not ride it in areas he knew would be congested. The bike was taken to some shows, where, according to the auction house, members of the band “including Jerry, would take it for a ride.”

Quiz for readers: The press release says that the product “allows for people to take care of themselves in the stress-free comfort (of ) their own homes, sans stale waiting room . ... All you do is follow the directions on the box.” What’s the product?

In addition to the familiar vacation packages and luxury sports-watching experiences auctioned at the recent Smuin Ballet gala were items with the dancers’ DIY touch: baked goods homemade by the company’s dancers. Ben Needham-Wood’s lemon pie, said to be “made with real lemons picked freshly at midnight,” sold for $2,000, a dark chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, made by Terez Dean, went for $3,000. Dining with Alexandra Morgan at Monsieur Benjamin, Baltimore native Norman Schwartz was heard assessing his hometown: “Baltimore is the Kauai of Maryland.”

PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING “Honey, my jitter won’t bug anymore.” Older woman to older woman, overheard in Palm Springs by Stan Pechner

Apparently enjoying their leisure hours in the off-season after their “Nutcracker” duties were done, mice in search of cultural opportunity seem to have scampered across Grove Street. On Thursday, March 8, Diane Woods was at a San Francisco Symphony rehearsal — Rachmaninoff “Symphonic Dances” and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” — when the rear box, section P, at orchestra level all the way in back, was visited by a rodent music-lover.

She’s not sure whether it was one or a few, since — no offense, Mickey — they all look pretty much alike. “I think it was the same one that first put his head out and then got a little bolder. And then he would run out and run back in. So we just asked the usher if she could find us different seating.” Woods admits to having “yelped” at the sight, mid-concert.