Things to Do in Pacifica

The tech-savvy staff members at Blue Sky Rental Studios lease three varied studio spaces to clients for multimedia, film, and still-photography shoots. Two studios with multipurpose floors and white industrial walls bathe subjects in natural light spilling in from tall, white windows. The Light Grid studio's four walls and ceiling are inlaid with digitally controlled studio lighting, enabling photographers to join forces with a robot without having to promise their camera's hand in marriage. Outside these three creative spaces, a 7,000-square-foot hall hosts a range of private events such as weddings and new-equipment showcases.

When not hosting creative talents, Blue Sky staffers contribute directly to the process as they provide camera gear and accessories, photography and production assistants, and services such as location scouting and casting. They can also aid in completing a photographer's digital workflow with postproduction work, secure-image archival, and hand-drawing mustaches on models in each photo.

Since it was erected 75 years ago, the Golden Gate Bridge has welcomed thousands of commuters and connected two pieces of land that, like itself, stand as preserved national parks. Staffers at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy have maintained the Bridge and more than 40 other local parks for the past 30 years, working to keep them relevant and accessible to visitors while preserving their original structures and native wildlife. Today, guides lead walking tours along the Golden Gate Bridge, walking and ferry tours around Alcatraz Island during the day and at night, and bus tours through Muir Woods. Their conservation staff also hosts regular local events such as botany workshops, endangered species restoration efforts, and youth classes in the history of ethnobotany: the cultural use of plants for food, medicine, and toga-party accessories.

The third annual Ceramics Annual of America expo takes over Festival Hall in San Francisco, bringing with it thousands of visitors and a diverse array of ceramics. Dozens of featured artists—who hail from California as well as from farther-flung locales such as Mexico and Italy—offer professional insight via artist-panel discussions and display their wares at personal kiosks. These works range from decorative statues and figures to functional pottery, conceptual art, and recreations of King Tut’s favorite dish set.

Master goldsmith Alan Revere founded The Revere Academy in 1979, creating a space where gifted metalsmiths could pass on their skills to burgeoning jewelry-makers. Today, more than a dozen expert instructors form the faculty, introducing hobbyists and hopeful professionals alike to the fundamentals. The facilities include magnified video feeds that broadcast larger-than-life demonstrations of the teacher performing small and delicate processes, a feat that once required each student to bring their own periscope to class. In the tool room, students will find a blasting unit, magnetic polisher, and other essentials needed to bring their bejeweled creations to shimmering fruition.

Teaching robotics at the Chabot Space & Science Center, Jutiki Gunter realized that his pupils had few robotics-learning resources outside the classroom. He aimed to fill that gap by founding Robotics for Fun in 2004, supplying students with a year-round space where they can construct robots and enrich their mathematic and scientific skills along the way. Gunter's team of instructors fills inquisitive minds with basic design and programming know-how, as well as teaching them how to make two robots communicate and fashion a racing robot programmed to express crippling anxiety. Students enrolled in the membership program tinker on themed projects throughout the year, while attendees of the Robotics for Fun summer camp study programming languages or the fundamentals of RC-vehicle technology.