San Francisco & 20th Century Design
April 19-25th, 2010

The next destination of our award-winning travel program is San Francisco. We hope you can join us for a cultural adventure of art, architecture, design, and food!

In addition to San Francisco, we’ll also travel to the East Bay cities of Berkeley and Oakland. Plans include viewing the works of Bernard Maybeck, a prominent architect in the Arts & Crafts style, although his works often include Gothic, Asian, and Beaux-Arts elements. We’ll see some of the marvelous Art Deco buildings of Timothy Pfleuger, and works by one of America’s first female architects, Julia Morgan. Although she is most famous for her work on the Hearst Castle, Morgan designed over 700 other structures during her distinguished career. Finally, we hope to include murals by Diego Rivera and other WPA-era artists.

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This is a preliminary itinerary.  Expect many changes as we approach April.  Please check back frequently for updates.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

(optional pre-tour evening gathering) Meet for cocktails at a yet-to-be-determined location.

Monday April 19, 2010

8:30am  Registration at the Galleria Park Hotel.
9:00am  Opening Day breakfast at the Galleria Park Hotel, catered by MIDI,  the hotel restaurant.  We are hoping that Therese Poletti will be able to join us and provide a brief introduction about Timothy Pflueger.  She is author of the book: Art Deco San Francisco: The Architecture of Timothy Pfleuger.  She will also be one of the tour guides on Saturday for the Downtown Deco Tour.
10:30am  Leave Hotel Galleria Park for an introductory tour (via minibus) of San Francisco.
11:00am  First stop will be Coit Tower (Brown & Howard, 1933) This 210 foot Art Deco Landmark has PWA murals by 26 different artists.  Our private tour by San Francisco City Guides will include some areas not typically open to the public.
We will also see the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street (the crookedest street in the world,) Fisherman's Wharf, some "Painted Ladies" (Vicotorian Homes) and Golden Gate Park.  We'll be able to get out of the minibus at most locations.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Chinatown tour, including the Chinatown YWCA (Julia Morgan, 1930.)
Dim Sum Lunch in Chinatown.
Diego Rivera mural Pan American Unity (1940) at San Francisco City College.
George Washington High School (Timothy Pflueger,1936) including a very cool frieze by Sargent Johnson and murals by Victor Arnautoff.
(optional evening activity) Late night run to Ghirardelli's--via cable car--for a hot fudge sundae.

Registration Details

The registration fee is $775 per person.

Registration is first-come, first-served. Space is limited to 50 participants so early registration is encouraged to avoid disappointment.

A 100% refund is available before January 1, 2010. A 50% refund is available from January 1 to February 1, 2010. There are no refunds available after February 1, 2010. Please understand we have to commit considerable investment, many months in advance, for deposits, fees, and other expenses.

The Galleria Park Hotel is an 8-story boutique hotel located between Union Square and the Financial District. It was selected as our host hotel because it offers excellent customer service, a wonderful location, and an fine value. The building dates from 1911, so the rooms are "cozy" (travel euphemism for "on the small side") but feature some sylish touches like Italian sheets and in-room minibars. The bathrooms are simple, with plain white tile and a pedestal sink. Various travel guides rate the hotel between 3 and 3.5 stars. Think of it as a three star hotel with four star service.