Larkspur
Noir to See Here
The Lark Theater steps into the shadows with a week devoted to film noir, serving up murder, crimes of passion, double-crosses and enough chiaroscuro to make everyone look suspicious. The sprawling program reaches from canonical darkness—including Fritz Lang’s M, The Lady from Shanghai, The Asphalt Jungle, Key Largo, Touch of Evil, In a Lonely Place and The Night of the Hunter—to neo-noir descendants such as Chinatown, Angel Heart and Sin City, plus genre-bending outliers Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Cheap Detective. Especially close to home is Impact, the 1949 noir partly shot in Larkspur, offering local moviegoers the rare pleasure of watching their hometown acquire a suitably shady past. Wednesday-Monday, Sept. 2-7, at the Lark Theater, 549 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur. Individual showtimes vary. larktheater.net
San Rafael
Queerly Spoken
Poetry gets proudly personal at “Queerly Spoken,” an evening celebrating LGBTQ+ identity through the written and spoken word. The lineup features Marin Poetry Center Youth Poet Laureate Ambassadors Ezra Buell and Frances Sveinson alongside acclaimed poet Shelley Wong, whose As She Appears won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry, and poet, attorney and librettist Karen Poppy. Poppy will also honor the late Marin County Poet Laureate Joseph Zaccardi with a photo presentation and readings from his work. The evening includes an open mic inviting attendees to share their own LGBTQ+ poetry. Light snacks and beverages provided. 6-8pm, Saturday, Aug. 29, at Marin LGBTQ Center, 709 Fifth Ave., San Rafael. Free. All are welcome. marinlgbtqcenter.org
Healdsburg
Vines & Roses
Sonoma County’s Wine Country landscape gets a painterly valentine in “The Days of Vines and Roses,” a new collection of oils by longtime local artist Donna Schaffer. Drawing on three decades in the region, Schaffer turns her attention to roses spilling across vineyard trellises, punctuating rows of vines and brightening the hills and woodlands beyond. Upstairs Art Gallery pairs the exhibition with Tosya Shore’s Stairway Showcase, “It’s Black and White with a Splash of Color,” featuring expressive watercolors stripped to essential contrasts of light and dark alongside colorful new oil paintings inspired by the Carmel coast. Meet both artists at the opening reception, with refreshments served. 3-6pm, Saturday, Sept. 5. Exhibition runs Aug. 31-Sept. 27 at Upstairs Art Gallery, 306 Center St., Healdsburg. Open daily, 11am to 6pm. upstairsartgallery.net
Graton
Feeling Blue
Artists have until Sunday, Sept. 13, to get the blues—and deliver the art they inspire to Graton Gallery. The gallery’s upcoming juried exhibition, “The Blues,” invites artists to interpret blue however inspiration strikes: as color, mood, music, planet or something altogether unexpected. Original 2D and 3D works in any medium or style are eligible, with up to three entries per artist. Works must be available for purchase, ready to exhibit and hand-delivered; the entry fee is $20 per piece. Accepted artists will be announced online by midnight Wednesday, Sept. 16, with the exhibition opening the following day and an artists reception that weekend. Submissions accepted 11am to 4pm, Thursday-Sunday, Sept. 10-13, at Graton Gallery, 9048 Graton Rd., Graton. ‘The Blues’ runs Sept. 17-Oct. 25; artists reception 1-4pm, Saturday, Sept. 19.More info at gratongallery.net.
