San Rafael looks different today than it did 12 months ago.
While Fourth Street remained a fixture for socially-distant outdoor dining throughout 2020, many of San Rafael’s businesses and venues went dark as indoor gatherings were halted in the wake of Covid-19.
Now—with vaccines streaming into the North Bay—San Rafael is reopening, as several local music and arts destinations welcome back visitors for safe and distanced in-person experiences.
For many years, pottery was a hobby for Scott Reilly. The landscape company-owner put a few of his pots and pieces out at his office on Lincoln Avenue in San Rafael, but he never got much traffic with them.
Once the lease was up at Lincoln Avenue, Reilly moved to 846 Fourth St. After settling in, he realized he could turn the storefront into a studio.
Thus, Glaze & Confused Pottery Studio began attracting attention from passersby, who watched Reilly throwing clay on a wheel. Now, the studio is a full-fledged operation with memberships, classes, camps, a professional gallery and more.
“In the first two years, the landscape business supported the pottery, but then the studio started gaining traction right about the time the pandemic hit,” Reilly says.
The studio was able to stay open on a limited basis this past year, with social-distancing in place. Reilly also sold take-home ceramics kits for at-home artists. Even with the restrictions, Reilly says, people gravitated to the studio for an artistic outlet.
This month, Glaze & Confused returns to a full schedule of art-making and exhibiting. Memberships are available for beginning or advanced pottery crafters, and classes are available for hand-building and wheel-throwing. Kids camps will also return this summer.
Glaze & Confused is even expanding into live music on Thursdays and Fridays, when San Rafael’s Dining Under the Lights opens downtown Fourth Street for al fresco food and entertainment. This Friday, April 9, acoustic duo The Breedloves performs 6–9pm. (glazeandconfused.com)
Live music is also slowly, but surely, making its way back to San Rafael’s popular Terrapin Crossroads. While the venue continues to monitor the guidance of city and state health agencies, it also hosts ticketed dining events with live music in its adjoining Beach Park outdoor space.
On April 1, Grateful Dead bassist and venue co-owner Phil Lesh and several musical friends played at the Beach Park. Later this month, roots-rock outfit Midnight North—featuring Phil’s kid Grahame Lesh—will play on Sundays beginning April 18. Tickets to these shows are selling out fast, so act now to save your spot. (terrapincrossroads.net)
Movie mavens are flocking to the Smith Rafael Film Center since it began hosting in-person screenings again last month. Operated by the nonprofit California Film Institute, the theater is home to this year’s DocLands Documentary Film Festival, which will offer virtual screenings as well as a limited number of in-person screenings when it runs May 7–16. DocLands will feature 42 films from 10 countries and host an interactive industry forum to discuss the business and art of nonfiction filmmaking. (doclands.com)
