First, thank you to all of you, hundreds of you, who wrote to me after my last newsletter, “There is a field. I’ll meet you there." It meant so much to me that my words resonated  deeply with you. And when people say they love this newsletter (thank you!) I want to share this love with Jenny Traig, who has been editing my newsletter and all my work including my book for over 19 years. She is a great writer, teaches at U of M, is super funny and a joy to work with. We laugh a lot and it is a total pleasure to get her edits.  

This newsletter is a labor of love for sure. If I read or experience something that I love, I add it to an online doc I share with Jenny. Or if someone whose work I love has spent years toiling over a book, film or art show that has just come out, I want to share that too . . . and that is how this newsletter gets compiled each month. During this period of compiling offerings to share, I’m working on my intro essay, which Jenny edits in a process she calls “ironing." I rewrite, trying to get each word right to articulate something I am either wrestling with or wanting to convey. There is a constant back and forth. The monthly newsletter highlights over 30 books, films, art shows, podcasts and more each month. It's a lot of work.

If you feel inclined to donate for our efforts that would be much appreciated. I have a nonprofit Let it Ripple 501(c)3 (or as someone important to me, reminds me, “You don’t run a 'non'; it’s a 'social profit' providing a valuable resource for the world.” Love that reframing). My “social profit” Let it Ripple has been in existence for a decade, co-founded with Sawyer Steele, whom I had the pleasure of working with for many years; he is now off getting a masters degree–so proud of him. Along with this newsletter, at Let It Ripple we produce our films, film outreach, art events, global events like 50/50 Day and Character Day, and all the things that ripple forth. Lauren Schiller recently joined the team as Strategist & Producer, and we also have a wonderful advisory board. You can read about them all here. This is all supported by generous foundations and donors like you. Big gratitude to all who have supported us over the years. You can help support this newsletter and our work by donating here. It is also lovely to forward this newsletter to three people you think would enjoy it and want to subscribe. This community is nearly 40,000 strong; it's beautiful, diverse and robust and we welcome new people into the ripple.

ART

While Let it Ripple is one aspect of my work, making artwork is another focus and energy. My recent joint exhibition, Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology for PST ART with Ken has been so rewarding to focus on together. A thoughtful review came out in the art publication Hyperallergic.

 If you are in LA, we will be there this Sunday, to do an artist tour on Dec 8 at 6pm, followed by a screening at 7pm in the Skirball theater of the short films we have co-written including The Tribe; Why We Love Robots; The Whole Cinemagillah; and more. Info and get tix here.

While of course I would love for you to see the artworks in person (nothing replaces that:), each month I will share an artwork in this newsletter from either PST ART's Ancient Wisdom or my NYC solo show You Are Here at Nancy Hoffman Gallery.

Below is The Big Picture sculpture from You Are Here. It is a reclaimed redwood sculpture (60ʺ x 63ʺ x 2.25ʺ), where I track all the major inventions or thinking throughout history that have "decentered" us as humans. The opening marker on this reclaimed redwood says "315,000 years ago: We Are Here: Homo sapiens evolve into existence." I then mark the journey of thinking we were the center of everything in the solar system to each new technology and invention that changed our sense of our place in the world from telescope, microscope, the first image of the earth, psychedelics, the internet, to AI. It ends with the question "Today… Where Are We?" Which is a question I've certainly been asking a lot lately. You can read all the text on the work here.

The first edition of this artwork is at Shack15 at the top of the Ferry Building if you ever go visit (image below). There is another edition in a gorgeous building in Atlanta and one in collector's home in the Bay Area. I have one left at my studio. I am thinking of adding some gold into the cracks in the spirit of kintsugi.

JOIN ME AT OUR EVENTS THIS MONTH ONLINE, IN LA & SF

ONLINE: Join from anywhere tonight!: Weds Dec 4, 7pm PT/10pm ET: There will be a free online screening of my and Goldie Hawn’s film The Teen Brain with three of the brilliant experts I interviewed for the film, including Ellen Galinsky, Ken Ginsburg MD and Michael Rich MD and a teen.  Please register here.

LA: Sun, Dec 8 6pm: Artist tour and screening at the Skirball Cultural Center in LA; more information and tickets here.

SF: Thursday Dec 12, 7:30pm: Breathless, Ken’s robotic dance event at the Exploratorium in SF. Ken and fellow roboticist and dancer Catie Cuan premiered this incredible performance last winter Brooklyn at National Sawdust. Watching Catie and a robot that Ken and his students have programmed to dance with her is mezmerizing. It was just featured again in the NY Times this weekend. This event will sell out. Get tix here.

SF: Sunday, Dec 15, 11:30am: I am giving in conversation with artist Amy Trachtenberg at Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco taking about connecting to our Jewishness through art. This will be their closing event.  it will be bittersweet for sure. Hope you can join us. I am thinking of some kind of ritual we can do.  Tix info here 

Sausalito: Friday, Jan 24 9am-noon: I will be having an open studio in Sausalito. Info here.

ONE CLEAR ACTION FOR YOU TO DO

I will leave you with one clear action you can do towards our democracy: call or email President Biden to publish the ERA. You have seen me write for years about the fact that the Equal Rights Amendment, ensuring women's equal rights in this country, still has not been published. We are one of the few western countries that still do not guarantee women equal status. WTF? While the ERA was officially introduced over a hundred years ago! and then finally ratified in all states after decades of effort in 2020, it still needs to be published in order to protect women's equal rights in the United States. Publishing the ERA in the Constitution fortify  protections for reproductive healthcare and combats sex and gender discrimination.

Go to this great organization, the ERA Coalition, site to get sample script + sample posts. 

To fortifying our democracy, art, seeing the bigger picture and always asking "Where are we?"

Love,

Tiffany 

PS: Here's a photo I took of someone reading the whole timeline of The Big Picture sculpture at Shack15 at the SF Ferry Building during packed event.

Below is The Big Picture in Atlanta. It has such a different feeling when a collector or a museum places the work on wall with color. It is quite thrilling when I see my art in the wild in a completely different setting with curved lights next to it or on color. It's like they are adding to the artwork.

IN THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

Support Let it Ripple, ERA Coalition, Yale Community Kitchen, Tamalpais High's Empowerment Ventures Club on Kiva.org, Headlands Center for the Arts, the Red Tent Fund, Tree Sisters, and Eat Real; art and exhibitions from Ken and Katie Cuan, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, Fog Design + Art, True North group show at di Rosa, Amy Sherald at SFMoMA, Jimi Kabela at Nancy Hoffman, Julie Heffernan at Catherine Clark, Alvin Ailey at the Whitney, Christian Marclay at MoMA, Kara Walker at SFMoMA, Minnesota Street Project, Creativity Explored in SF, the Nova Exhibition in Miami, and Michele Pred; films including Joni Mitchell: Lady Blue, Sabbath Queen, Zurawski v. Texas, Saturday Night, Daughters, October H8, Music for Mushrooms, Invisible Nation and Ratified; books from Shira Gill and Chutzpah Girls; the Illumyn Impact Report; kvelling about Ken's surgical advances, Claire Brooks's new album, and Maya Man's art piece for the Whitney; comedy from Gary Gulman; wonderful things from Averylily and Erica Tanov; Francine Mbvoumbo's Mothers to Daughters; and downtown Mill Valley's holiday bash.

Forwarded this newsletter and want to receive them? Subscribe here.

We would love for you to join the ripple. Our monthly newsletter, free films and discussion materials, art events, and live and virtual experiences are supported by wonderful foundations and individuals like you. All donations are tax-deductible. You can donate here.

The ERA Coalition is doing the very important work of campaigning to get the Equal Rights Amendment published, guaranteeing equal rights for the women of America. Support their efforts here.

This one's from Odessa: (the pumpkin from a Halloween event)

"For the past four years, I've had the privilege of volunteering with the Yale Community Kitchen as a volunteer, coordinator, and head-coordinator. YCK is one of the only completely student-run soup kitchens in the country. We take leftover food from the dining hall and reheat and serve nutritious meals to ~150 New Haven residents facing food insecurity every Friday and Saturday night. You can donate and read more here."

This one is from Blooma:

Blooma has started The Empowerment Ventures Club at Tamalpais High School. The club aims to inspire and support young entrepreneurs both locally and globally, and and is working with Kiva.org to make that happen. I hope you'll join me in supporting their efforts here.

Guided by Jewish values and teachings that affirm the right to abortion, the Red Tent Fund works to provide affordable access to healthcare. i support their work and hope you'll join me.

Tree Sisters works with women and local communities to reforest and restore our planet. They're a great organization and you can support their work here.

Eat Real is working to get ultra-processed foods out of school lunches. Support their important work here. My brother Dr. Jordan Shlain helped start this one and I love their mission.

I can't wait for the West Coast premiere of Breathless: Catie and the Robot, a modern dance homage to physical labor created by Ken and Catie Cuan. This duet created by dancer/choreographer/engineer Catie and artist/researcher Ken pairs Catie with an industrial robot arm for a dance performance that shows appreciation for the work performed by humans every day, and contrasts the the beauty, strength,
and frailty of the human body with the relentless precision of machinery. Get tickets here.

Getty's PST ART show features exhibitions from 70 institutions across the LA area. Here are dates for events for Ken's and my exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Center,

Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time, and Technology at the Skirball.

This Sunday, we'll be hosting a 6pm artist tour and 7pm screening. Tix here.

Save the dates: Feb 2 for our Festival of Trees and March 1 & 2 during Frieze Art Fair.

FOG Design + Art Fair at Fort Mason is always a fantastic gathering of art, design and great people.  

The True North show at di Rosa is a juried exhibition featuring wonderful work by North Bay Area artists. I love di Rosa! Can't wait to see this show. 

Amy Sherald's exhibition at SFMoMA is such a potent show.

Jimi Kabela paintings at Nancy Hoffman Gallery have so much energy. I just experienced them last weekend and you need to see in person. Details on the show.

This painting by Julie Heffernan's stopped me in my tracks. It conveys to me all the power and twisted results of women's ability to give birth. This is her self-portrait. The whole show is amazing. 

This extraordinary show brings together visual art, video, live performance, music, and archival materials to celebrate and showcase the work of Alvin Ailey. The vibrant energy that envelops you when you walk into the exhibition space is so powerful.  

The Clock is a mesmerizing 24-hour montage of clips featuring clocks and other timepieces. Ken, Odessa and Blooma and I went this past weekend and it was hard to leave. As a filmmaker, this may be one of my favorite pieces of film art.  

Minnesota Street Project Foundation does such incredible work for artists in the Bay Area! Join Minnesota Street Project Foundation for "a ball" in two parts, supporting their Artist Studios and the pilot for their new residency program. Tickets here and support their ongoing work here.

 I can't wait to check out Madeleine Fitzpatrick + Evan Shively exhibition at The Jones Institute at Minnesota Street. Opening, Dec 5th, Thursday, 6-8    Info  Here

Kara Walker's beautiful work explores themes of trauma, technology, and the possibilities of transformation.

Creativity Explored supports artists with developmental disabilities to create vibrant works of art. They also have a great exhibition at SFMoMA.

This show recreates the Nova music festival, which suffered such horrors on Oct. 7. I saw it in NYC and was incredibly moved. I am glad it is now in Miami for people to witness.

I love Michele Pred's Projecting Empowerment, a mobile projection project amplifying messages of equality, bodily autonomy, and social justice. She started by projecting on the National Gallery of Art in DC and will do so in Miami the San Francisco Bay Area, New York. Yes, Biden, please publish the ERA. 

Join me for the free online screening tonight at 7pm PT/10pm ET of my and Goldie Hawn’s film The Teen Brain followed by a panel discussion with many of the experts I interviewed for the film, including Ellen Galinsky, Ken Ginsburg MD, and Michael Rich MD. Register here.

Seeing Joni Mitchell perform live at the Hollywood Bowl this fall with Ken was a life highlight. She is 80 and performing with Jam Band. What an inspiration. What a life. She is a treasure, and this new documentary about her life and music is great.

Sandi Dubowski's film about Amichai Lau-Lavie is a NY Times Critics' Pick for good reason! It is in theaters in NYC and LA now! Definitely see it on the big screen. All info here.

Napa Valley Film Festival presents a special screening + Q & A with the cast of Zurawski v Texas (2024) to benefit Planned Parenthood and the Sex Ed Justice Project, Sunday 12/8 at 7:30pm and Monday 12/9 at 5:30pm at the Cameo Theater in St Helena CA. Get tickets here and watch trailer here. I have heard amazing things about this film!

This powerful documentary about girls preparing for a daddy-daughter dance with their incarcerated fathers will move you deeply.

As a lifelong SNL fan, I loved this film about this iconic show's first show 50 years ago. The casting is so brilliant. Warning, it's intense and not just humor.  

This important film directed and executive produced by Wendy Sachs unpacks the current rise of antisemitism in America.

The incredibly talented East Forest's new film features music for your journey. The world premiere livestream screening is Dec 12 at 4pm PT/7pm ET. Get tickets for future screenings here.

Vanessa Hope's fantastic film about Taiwan's first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, is streaming on Gathr Dec. 6-9 with a Q&A featuring Vanessa and special guests. Reserve tickets here.

This film about about the long overdue ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment is a must-see. Find a screening here.

I love Shira Gill and I have her new book and it's so good! Pub date was yesterday!

This book tells the story of amazing Jewish women through history. Buy it for every Jewish girl you know!

Jocelyn Mangan and Illumyn is working to make corporate boards more diverse. We need it! Read the latest Illumyn Impact Report to see what they've accomplished so far.

So proud of Ken's work to make surgery safer using AI. Read about it here. 

So excited to share that talented niece Claire Brooks has released her first album.

My other talented niece Maya Man's has a piece in the Whitney unpacking the idea of DITL videos. Next generation, here they come. 

Gary Gulman's The Great Depresh is so poignant. He is one of Ken's and my favorite comedians. We saw this show live in SF and highly recommend.

You'll love everything from Lily Kanter's Averylily. I have their robe and it's so gorgeous, a beautiful design and soft. Use the special discount code BASALT for 50% off Averylily.

Erica Tanov's clothing and home goods are such simple luxury -- beautiful and sublime. I wear her clothes and love her home items so much.

Francine Mbvoumbo, founder of Mothers to Daughters (M2D), transforms women’s leadership through the power of connection. Her signature intergenerational mentorship program unites accomplished women with emerging leaders, creating ripples of impact across generations. Ready to shape a more equitable future? Join M2D’s vibrant community of mentors and help cultivate tomorrow’s change-makers. Your wisdom becomes their catalyst. I love what Francine is doing with Mothers to Daughters!

This annual event is so fun and a great way to shop local.

I love my studio space in Sausalito that sits right in front of the houseboats. My next-door neighbor, Antuanette Holder, is an architect and is looking to share her 1000 sq ft furnished studio/office. Antuanette writes: "I have a design practice and will be out of the country for 6 month every year for the next couple of years. If interested contact antuanetteholder@gmail.com"

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I hope you are surrounded by family, friends, art and nurturing things this holiday season. l

Love, Tiffany