summer of love Experience @ THE DeYoung museum, SF

'The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll will be an exhilarating exhibition of iconic rock posters, photographs, interactive music and light shows, costumes and textiles, ephemera, and avant-garde films. A 50th anniversary celebration of the adventurous and colorful counterculture that blossomed in the years surrounding the legendary San Francisco summer of 1967, the exhibition will present more than 300  significant cultural artifacts of the time, including almost 150 objects from the Fine Arts Museums’ extensive permanent holdings, supplemented by key, iconic loans.'

Upon entering the museum lobby, your senses were bombarded with the sounds, smell and exuberant attendees festooned in the fashion of the era.
​IT WAS A HAPPENING, MAN!

There were activities for children who were invited to embellish a picture of bell bottom jeans with buttons, ribbons and sequins. The official poster of the Exhibit was done by Stanley Mouse. Mike was fortunate to meet him (and share a 'spliff') at his gallery in nearby Healdsburg on a previous visit. 

At the Fillmore Auditorium, Avalon Ballroom, and other venues throughout the city, musical groups such as Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane drew fancifully dressed crowds and, together with their fans, put on a show.  And then there were the iconic "posters that rock" promoting the bands and the concerts.

The buttons and quotes of the time were scattered throughout the exhibit. How many of you had one or more of these buttons?
​Participation was at the heart of San Francisco’s counterculture, and nowhere was this felt more strongly than in gatherings where likeminded people came together in support of social and political change. The exhibition concludes with artworks that reflect the movement’s ideological concerns, highlighting the intersecting strains of art and activism.

Distinctive codes of dress also set members of the Bay Area counterculture apart from mainstream America. Local designers began to create fantastic looks using a range of techniques and materials, including leatherwork, hand-painting, knitting and crotchet, embroidery, repurposed denim, and tie-dye.

"On this day 50 years ago, the words “Summer of Love” first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle carrying the term into the “mainstream media” in San Francisco and around the country."
"The spring and summer of 1967 brought nearly 100,000 outsiders, activists, and dreamers to San Francisco. These young people traveled far and wide to join a community of artists, musicians, poets, and radicals who would change the world–influencing popular culture through music and art; launching the natural and organic foods movement; protesting war with peace and love; and ushering in an era of greater connectivity."

The counter-culture of San Francisco was such a powerful movement of social and political change that spread nationwide - changing all our lives forever.  And on the 50th Anniversary that was the Summer Of Love, we celebrate that change!