5 options for stay-at-home fun in SF: Thursday, August 20

5 options for stay-at-home fun in SF: Thursday, August 20Photo: Tracie Hall/Flickr
Teresa Hammerl
Published on August 19, 2020

The Bay Area's shelter-in-place order has brought countless events usually held as in-person gatherings online. We're aiming to support local businesses in San Francisco and Oakland by highlighting five of these events each day.

Got a suggestion for an online event based in SF or Oakland? Email our events reporter, Teresa Hammerl. 


Here's your San Francisco online event calendar for Thursday, August 20. Get creative with a watercolor workshop, learn about Golden Gate Park's history and discover the impact humans have on birds in California.

Watercolor For Beginners

Photo: Jenny Lemons/Yelp

Join a watercolor workshop with Jenny Lemons, a colorful DIY art school run by San Francisco-based artist Jennie Lennick. This class will teach the basics of painting with watercolor, including how to compose an image and different blending and layering techniques. Participants will also get to practice painting a digital still life. 

When: Thursday, August 20, 5 p.m.

How to join: RSVP online

Price: $45

SF Heritage Talk: Neighborhood Newspapers

Image: San Francisco Heritage/Eventbrite

As a project manager for the San Francisco Department of Memory, LisaRuth Elliott has digitized a collection of over 2,300 local newspapers from years past. Now, she'll appear in conversation with Mary Ratcliff, the longtime editor and co-owner of the Black-oriented newspaper San Francisco Bay View.

Ratcliff will discuss the paper’s legacy of social justice work through community journalism, its outreach work during the COVID-19 crisis, and how the Bay View aims to move forward post-pandemic.

When: Thursday, August 20, 6 p.m.

How to join: Via Eventbrite

Price: Free

Christopher Pollock: 'Golden Gate Park: 1,017 Acres of Stories' 

Image: San Francisco Botanical Garden/Facebook

In honor of Golden Gate Park's 150th anniversary, SF Rec & Park's historian-in-residence, Christopher Pollock, recently updated his 2001 book about the park. In this talk with SF Botanical Garden librarian Helen Crocker Russell, he'll discuss some new historical facts he's discovered about the park, accompanied by many photos.

When: Thursday, August 20, 7 p.m.

How to join: Via Zoom

Price: Free

Human Populations and Birds

Photo: Golden Gate Audubon Society

Bird and human health are deeply linked, as both populations feel the impacts of climate change, poverty, marginalization, and population growth. This talk, hosted by the Golden Gate Audubon Society, will explore how human growth and habitat destruction contribute to climate change, and how humans are affecting bird populations throughout California and in other regions.

When: Thursday, August 20, 7 p.m.

How to join: Via Zoom (instructions can be found here)

Price: Free

SF Neon Chinatown Tour Online: Part 2

Photo: SF Neon/Eventbrite

Dreaming of a simpler time? Join SF Neon for a tour featuring some of the oldest neon signs in San Francisco, alongside the stories of the Chinatown businesses whose signs have become neighborhood landmarks. This is the second tour in a two-part series.

When: Thursday, August 20, 7:45 p.m.

How to join: Via Eventbrite

Price: Free, suggested donation of $10