Executive Director Nicole Meldahl will be hanging out as a Historian in Residence at Java Beach Cafe on Saturday, November 23rd from 10:00am-Noon in support of HER(E), our current exhibition installed on streetlamps along Great Highway.

Presented in partnership with The Great Highway gallery and Friends of Great Highway Park, HER(E) reflects a deeply personal journey by Nicole, whose curation focused on eight vibrant women who felt like family. Her emotional connection to these women, “met” while working with the OpenSFHistory archive, has rooted her within a feminine legacy in San Francisco and helped her feel at home here. Yet this connection also made Nicole sad that more women who have lived largely private lives–like her mother and grandmother–have been lost to Time.

By making these eight women visible on large banners installed on street lamps along Great Highway, we hope someone recognizes them and gives them back their names. The exhibition also helps to correct a city-acknowledged gender imbalance in San Francisco’s public art. Most significantly, it provides WNP an opportunity to talk about gender bias in archival practices and address gaps within our own collection.

Nicole will be enjoying her favorite Vanilla Oat Milk Latte at one of our favorite west side cafes, presenting info on the exhibition and other good old-fashioned west side history. Stop by for a visit on your way to the highway.