CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Listing of events...

The Oakland Museum of California is devoted to the environment, history and art of the state. The museum is located at Oak and 10th Streets in downtown Oakland, one block from the Lake Merritt BART station and four blocks from Highway 880.

Museum hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month open until 9 p.m.

Admission is $8 for adults, $5 seniors and students with ID, free for children five and under. Free admission the second Sunday of the month.

For more information, call 510/238-2200 or visit the museum web site at www.museumca.org .

Wednesday & Thursday, Nov. 26 & 27 MUSEUM CLOSED
Have a Happy Thanksgiving. The museum is closed Wednesday as part of the
municipal services shutdown mandated by the City of Oakland and Thursday for
the Thanksgiving holiday.

Friday, Dec. 5 FIRST FRIDAY
EVENING EVENT
Curator's Walkthrough of David Ireland Exhibition. Join Senior Curator of
Art Karen Tsujimoto in a walk-through of the exhibition The Art of David
Ireland: The Way Things Are. No-host bar. 6-9 p.m. Included in museum
admission.

Saturday & Sunday, Dec. 6 & 7 FUNGUS FAIR
34th Annual Fungus Fair. The beauty, tastes, smells and intricacies of the
world of fungi in a display of up to 1,000 specimens of local mushrooms. See
choice edible and deadly mushrooms; learn about medicinals and psychedelics.
The fair includes slide shows, cooking demonstrations, a mushroom
marketplace and family activities. Organized by the San Francisco
Mycological Society in collaboration with the Oakland Museum of California.
Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday 12-5 p.m.

SEE, TASTE AND LEARN ABOUT MUSHROOMS AT
THE 34TH ANNUAL FUNGUS FAIR

Hundreds of specimens of freshly gathered mushrooms will be on display on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 6 and 7, 2003, as the Oakland Museum of California hosts the 34th Annual Fungus Fair. The beauty, smells, tastes and intricacies of the world of mushrooms will be explored in exhibits, lectures, slide shows, cooking demonstrations and children's activities accompanying the exhibition. This two-day celebration of all things mycological has, since its return to the Oakland Museum two years ago, been one of the museum's most popular events.

Fresh mushrooms will be displayed in settings that assist in their identification and mimic their natural habitats. Visitors will see choice edibles and examine deadly mushrooms. Lectures and slide shows will include presentations on mushroom cultivation, mushroom hunting and identification, exotic mushrooms, the use of mushrooms in textile dyeing, toxicology and psychedelic fungi. Cooking demonstrations by Bay Area chefs will demonstrate wild mushroom cooking techniques and recipes. Experts will be in the gallery to discuss mushroom "hunting," poisoning, biology, art, medicinal uses and identification of mushrooms.

Mushroom-related items for sale will include mushroom-dyed fabrics and clothing, books, posters and mushroom home cultivation kits.

Lectures taking place throughout the weekend in the museum's theatre and lecture hall will include, among others:

· Dr. Dennis Desjardin discusses how and why fungi rule the world

· Ken Litchfield explains how to create your own mushroom garden

· Taylor Lockwood screens his new video, The Endless Foray, which includes footage from Thailand, Europe and America

· Dr. Terry Henkel discusses the strange mushrooms found in the remote rain forests of Guyana

· Dorothy Beebee and Miriam Rice discuss the use of mushroom pigments in dying and paper making, and after their presentation invite attendees to try drawing with "Myco-Stix"

· Dr. Thomas Volk, winner of the Mycological Society of America's 2003 award for excellence in teaching, explores the secret sex lives of fungi

The exhibition is presented by the San Francisco Mycological Society in collaboration with the Oakland Museum of California. Project managers are Mark Lockaby, Dan Long and Ken Litchfield of the Mycological Society and Tom Steller, chief curator of natural sciences at the Oakland Museum. A large group of volunteers collect and identify the fungi and set up much of the exhibition.

The Fair is open to the public. The admission fee of $8 adults, $5 seniors and students with ID, free for children five and under includes access to the museum's other special exhibitions as well as the exhibits in the art, history, and natural sciences galleries of the museum.

The Mycological Society of San Francisco is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of educational and scientific activities involving mushrooms. The M.S.S.F is the largest regional mushroom society in the United States and has over 800 members. Founded in 1950, the society awards yearly scholarships, tracks local mycological species, assists Bay Area poison control centers, leads mushroom identification walks and works to preserve cultural traditions of mushroom collecting. For more information, call Mycological Society of San Francisco's hotline at 415/759-0495 or visit www.mssf.org .

Saturdays & Sundays, Nov. 1-Dec. 14
OPEN STUDIO
Open Studio with Artist in Residence Donna Keiko Ozawa. Come to the Art
Studio and meet the fall Artist in Residence. Donna Keiko Ozawa--who works
with sculpture, installation and mixed media--is creating artwork inspired
by the museum's collections. Watch an artist in action and learn about her
techniques and inspirations. 1-5 p.m. Included in museum admission.