May 08 Thursday
Join us on a beautifully paired wine and chocolate experience. This guided tour walks you through the chocolate making process, from bean to bar! Taste the cacao every step of the way and finish with a chocolate and beverage tasting that excitingly pairs three truffles with three sustainably-made, small production wines, selected and poured by our local wine partner, WINECULT.
May 09 Friday
Attendees will enjoy a welcome drink while we give a brief introduction to our bean-to-bar, dark chocolate making process. Ingredients for decorating will abound and inspire, and you'll learn a few tidbits about how we invent flavor combinations for new delicious, sweet products at our chocolate factory. We will fill chocolate bar molds with luscious 75% dark chocolate, and you will get to decorate chocolate bars with local ingredients, like flowers, salt and fruit. While bars are setting up, we will lead a 20-30 minute chocolate tasting experience while you sip on perfectly paired wines to enhance the flavors. We are happy to provide a non-alcoholic tasting experience for anyone in the group who might require that. Your custom chocolate bars will go home with you in beautiful, resealable Twenty-Four Blackbirds pouches. Don't miss out on this delicious experience!
May 10 Saturday
Let your imagination take the lead at Crafternoons, every Wednesday from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm and Saturday from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, in the EE Makerspace above Art From Scrap.Join us for our May Crafternoons: Tinker Lab, where creativity meets sustainability! This month, we're working on creative machines that jump, fly, and walk with reclaimed materials. Perfect for all ages and skill levels, these eco-friendly projects encourage kids to craft purposefully while having a blast.Craft for the Earth Projects include:Jack & Jill Jumpers – Craft classic pull-string jumping jack toys using reclaimed paper and brads—watch their arms and legs spring to life with a tug!Marionettes – Create your own characterful puppets using upcycled materials, string, and imagination—then bring them to life with a tug of a string!Upcycled Aviators – Build playful airplanes from repurposed bits and bobs, and let your creativity take flight!Come craft and create with us! Sign up now!Cost: $8.00 per person. Crafternoons are for kids ages 5 and up. Please note that our workshop is upstairs and utilizes hot glue guns. Adults must remain in the EE Makerspace with their child.We have something for everyone at the EE Makerspace, so bring the kiddos—Crafternoons are just for them!
May 13 Tuesday
Today, when we think of the United Kingdom, we presume England and gloss over Scotland, especially when considering art. Glasgow, Scotland was a growing industrial city in the 1880s and through that growth produced a group of artists whose rebellious natures catapulted the art world into Modernism.
Many of the artist’s names are unfamiliar but the styles and design elements that were created by their innovations will be recognizable. Curious about who married the Macdonald sisters and were known as “The Four”? Who participated and created suffragette banners?
Discover the Glasgow Boys and Girls who pushed through and ahead of the existing, stale academy mindset and became the catalysts for a barrage of contemporary artistic movements in the 20th century, whose sphere of influence remains with us today.
Christine Maasdam holds a Master in Humanities and a B.A. in Cultural Geography. Her art studies include The Courtauld Institute of Art in London, The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center in D.C. and Post Graduate studies in Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime at the University of Glasgow.
The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.
Welcome the fresh scents of spring in this Candle Making Workshop with special guest artist Claire Giroux! Using reclaimed jars, we’ll craft beautifully scented candles, blending eco-conscious creativity with custom fragrance combinations. Claire will guide you through the candle-making process, sharing expert tips on wax pouring, scent mixing, and upcycling materials. Whether you love floral, herbal, or citrusy aromas, you’ll create a unique candle to brighten your home or gift to someone special.All materials provided. Open to all skill levels. Come spark your creativity with sustainable candle crafting!
May 14 Wednesday
Join Our Monthly Sewing & Mending Club!
Discover the joy of creating and repairing with our welcoming community at the Explore Ecology Makerspace. Whether you're a seasoned seamstress or just beginning your sewing journey, our monthly club is the perfect place to bring your projects to life.
Every month, we invite you to drop in with your sewing ideas, projects, or mending needs. Our Makerspace is equipped with nine sewing machines and a wide array of materials to fuel your creativity. Plus, our knowledgeable staff is always on hand to offer guidance, tips, and tricks to help you bring your vision to reality.
Join us for a night of creativity, camaraderie, and crafting excellence. Your next sewing adventure awaits at the Explore Ecology Makerspace. See you there!"
May 15 Thursday
The Classic Blues style was recorded, defined and spread during the 1920-30s by its two foremost proponents, singers and songwriters Bessie Smith, “The Empress of the Blues” and Ma Rainey, “The Mother of the Blues.” They shaped an expressive, lusty, sobbing, growling ‘opera of the vernacular,’ inscribing their distinctive voices onto America’s musical culture.
This two-part lecture explores the life and times of several extraordinary blues divas including the first woman to sell a million blues records, Mamie Smith, the bawdy Creole chanteuse, Lizzie Miles and cross-dressing singer/pianist, Gladys Bentley. Each lecture features a dozen or more video and film clips including Bessie’s 1929 collaboration with composer W.C. Handy in the landmark movie-with-sound, “The Saint Louis Blues.”
During the last four decades Dave Radlauer has been telling tales of early Jazz, Blues and Swing on the radio, garnering six broadcast awards and authoring 200 articles for online and print publications. For Stanford Libraries, he’s written interpretive online text and donated a large collection of unique music and photos. He teaches lifelong learning courses at UCLA, UC Berkeley, San Francisco State and Dominican University.
This event is for someone with a high interest in single-origin dark chocolate, where it comes from, how it's processed and the technicalities behind making shiny, lusciously smooth chocolate from what starts as a small, bitter bean. You’ll get to taste chocolate at every stage, from bean to bar (including sampling through all our single origin dark chocolate bars), as well as other products we make, like caramel and chocolate-covered espresso beans. We’ll describe the stages of roasting, sorting, refining and tempering. You’ll come away having tasted a lot of chocolate and having learned more about our specialty!
