For Immediate Release

Contacts: Dyana Curreri-Ermatinger, 415-565-0545 x 15

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — (Monday, October 1, 2007) — The San Francisco Center for the Book (SFCB) is pleased to announce it will host the 4th annual Gala Dinner and Auction on Friday, November 2, from 6:30-10:00 pm. All proceeds from this event will benefit programs at the San Francisco Center for the Book. This annual event is SFCB's largest fundraising event of the year.

The highlight of the evening will be a live auction of the acclaimed prints from the SFCB's 2007 "Roadworks: Steamroller Prints" event. Each year for "Roadworks," SFCB invites prominent local artists to carve four-foot-by-four-foot linoleum blocks. The artists and volunteers ink the plates, stack paper and plates together in the middle of DeHaro Street, and then drive a two-ton steamroller across the stack to make a print.

"Roadworks" artists include Paul Madonna, whose strip All Over Coffee runs weekly in the San Francisco Chronicle, and William T. Wiley, whose internationally recognized paintings and prints have been shown in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and many other institutions.

In addition to Madonna and Wiley, the other live auction artists are: Kathy Aoki, Michael Carabetta, Maia de Raat, East Side Editions (a collaboration with Simon Blattner, David Avery, Chester Arnold and others), Leif Fairfield, Mary Laird, Patricia Miye Wakida, Brandon Mise, and Rik Olson.

You can see a gallery of all the prints here.

A silent auction will also take place at the Gala Dinner, featuring unique art objects, weekend getaways, event tickets and other items.

Event Details
Friday, November 2nd
Carême Room, California Culinary Academy
625 Polk Street, San Francisco

6:30 pm: Wine and hors d'oeuvres reception, silent auction opens
7:15 pm: Grand buffet and dessert bar
8:15 pm.: Live Auction
9:30 pm.: Silent Auction closes
Live Music by the Michael Gold Quartet

Tickets are available at three levels:

Basic Gala ticket: Includes open wine bar, hors d'oeuvres, dinner and auction registration ($80/person; $150 for two). Reserved parking is available for $10/vehicle. Please reserve with ticket.

Supporter Gala ticket: Includes all of the above plus free parking, 10% discount on live auction purchases, special event memento, champagne with dessert ($130/person; $250 for two).

Supporter Table for Eight: $900 includes all Supporter ticket perks plus a $100 ticket discount.

For reservations, please make checks payable to the San Francisco Center for the Book and send to 300 DeHaro Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. Tickets must be purchased by October 22nd. For more information, please visit www.sfcb.org or contact Dyana Curreri-Ermatinger at 415-565-0545 x 15.

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Press inquiries: contact Dyana Curreri-Ermatinger at 415-565-0545 x 15 or by email.

About the San Francisco Center for the Book:
The San Francisco Center for the Book is devoted to teaching the art and craft of making books by hand. We introduce and foster the joys of books and bookmaking—their history, artistry, continuing presence in our culture and their enduring importance as a medium of self-expression. We provide a home for Bay Area book artists and a place where the wider community can discover book arts. Everyone is welcome here, experienced practitioners and newcomers alike. Over 300 workshops annually foster learning at all levels: from introductory classes on traditional bookbinding to cutting-edge printing techniques and experimental book forms. There's always an exhibition up at the Center and free public programs from poetry readings, to book signings to gallery talks, are designed to inform and delight visitors. We hope you'll visit us. For more information, see our website.