and accidental deaths. children are at risk because it takes only a few leaves to kill them. a southern california woman tried to collect on her husband's life insurance by putting the leaves in his food. she is now one of 15 women on california's death rowan the only one who attempted to murder with a plant. >> people who may haven't been to their cons tore or been to -- do serve tore or their botanical garden, it gives them a reason to come back. you think let's go and look at the pretty flowers. these are pretty flowers, but they are flowers with weird and fascinating stories behind them. that is really fun and really not what people normally think of when they come to a horticultural institution. >> "wicked plants" is now

showing at the san francisco conserve tore of flowers. unless next time, get out and play. governor welcome to culturewire. on march 18 the san francisco arts commission hosted the 2010

mayor's artwork. the mayor's arts award was established to honor an individual artist with a lifetime of outstanding achievement in the art and civic life. this year's award is to none other than carlos santana. before the award ceremony, the director of cultural affairs had a chance to sit down with carlos to ask him a few questions. >> once a year, mayor gavin newsom gets to select one distinguished individual to receive the mayor's arts award. in 2010,á(át that distinguished individual was none other than the legendary musician carlos santana. carlos, it is so great for the city to be able to recognize you. given all of your

accomplishments already, from the awards, all of the other distinctions you have received, what does it mean for you to get the mayor's part award? >> i am very grateful, moved. i always want to be in the company of illuminaries like cesar chavez. people making a difference, but to people's hearts. giving people a sense of tangible hope. one thing is to be famous, it is quite another for people to like you. i am grateful for this award. it is another blessing. i do not take it for granted. this is an incredible city.

everywhere i go, i tell everyone that this is the atlantis of today. there is no other city in the world -- i have been everywhere. there is nothing like san francisco. in fact, to me, it is not even the united states. you can see how fox network always attacks us. we do not have an inferiority complex. we just do not follow blindly. we question authority. as i said before, a person for person, there are more artists and con artists in the bay area. >> you are someone who has identified so strongly with the bay area. a lot of it reflects the values that you also identify with. i know that you have been

promoting an idea for a work of public art that could be pretty transformative. could you talk about that? >> peace brother is something that i saw, i think in the 1980's there was this lady. she started back there and converted -- she went to the neighborhood and was collecting the guns from some of the gang members. she had it melted and turned into angels. we want to do the same thing and take it to the next level we want to build a boom box by his feet, he will be 7 feet tall. this will be made up of military guns. the boom box will be playing some great songs. marvin gaye. john legenlennon.

bob marley. sam cooke. >> songs that really touch people deeply. >> i have come to a place where i call it the sound of maternity. bob dylan calls it eternal young. i think there are certain songs that help you live without fear. when you are living in fear, you invest in violence. fear is expensive, just ask president bush. inn love. and what marvin gaye says is true, war is not the answer, only love can conquer hate. these things are not cliches, they are truisms. if we implement them, you will

see a transformation in the bay area, richmond, oakland, the mission. all places where we need to dismantle the violence, the fear, the unnecessary pain that goes on. >> you are a person that has lived a pretty miraculous life. pretty extraordinary what you have accomplished, the range of people you have been able to touch with your music. you chose a beautiful word in spanish for your foundation -- miracle. could you talk about what the foundation has been able to do? >> we are able to empower and give young people a way for them to develop their own decisions. i started with my own vision.

there are people like andre agassi who helped finance. desmond tutu. in essence, in the bay area, like on larkin street, i want to see people invest more in people. i love the giants stadium, but i want to see cumins investing in a humans, instead of expensive. expensive buildings. i love to see the mayor and governor invest more in education than in incarcerations. so i am committed with the music and the platform that i have, if i have to, to give a little spanking to those who need to break up. we spend way too much on weapons. all the money that we spend on tv advertising, gears of war,

that is stupidity. in new zealand, they passed a law that said that you could not sell it. all those games about killing people. they do not want it. to me, i'd equate that with columbine, with war. once you desensitize a human being, you cannot tell the difference between shooting someone in a video game and a real person. some people can be gentle and kind. i can be ghetto when i want to be. i grew up with the black panthers doing peace and freedom benefits for them. so on the one hand i like the softness of spirituel the day, but i also like the energy that

you need to be a warrior where you need to be. i love martin luther king, but also malcolm x, sometimes you have to really hold your ground. compassion, kindness, education. rather than more killing. >> when you graduated in 1965, it was the height of the civil- rights movement. you just alluded to the environment that you were growing up in. as a young musician, what was it like for you in san francisco at the time? >> it was heaven on earth. we would go down to the fillmore and see these great band, the doors, and jimi hendrix, cream, and then go down

to the grove to see other music. you could go to the mission district to hear mexican. everywhere i went there was this multi dimensional color and i felt like it was on necessary for me to do just one. like baskin-robbins, i want all the flavors. you cannot just be a mexican play music. there is a lot of beauty in that, but it was not for me. i was born without arms around my heart that wants to embrace everything. palestine's, israelis. japanese, apaches. i am more concentrated with life and love than flags, nationality, religion. that stuff gets in the way.

one gets in the way is me, myself, my story. for me, that is why music is liberating. when you hear "imagine" anywhere in the world, people sang the lyrics. as soon as you hear the melody -- same thing with a bob marley song. i grew up taking everything from bob dylan, curtis mayfield, the beatles, smokey robinson. mike alma mater was the streets of san francisco. i would dare to go to school. where i really hung out was at the fillmore. that was my university, checking out be the king, and james

brown, a cream. finding out how they were able to penetrate people's hearts. with their music. once you do that, something happens to their eyes. they become brighter. they start crying, they do not know why. they start dancing. it is like when a woman gives birth. =mmfirst, she cries and then she laughs. later on, she dances. and that, to me, is the beauty of what san francisco is about. >> one final question, and we are going to link it to your music today. such a rich legacy that you are giving us. you mentioned to me that you are working on a new album. could you share what is coming up? >> i love to dream when i am awake. kand so i had this dream of

working with india arie and yo- yo ma to do the george harrison saw; and "-- song. this is the definitive way to do this. we are all in it together, we do not leave anybody out. t conviction, i am one of the few people that you can recognize by one note. god gave me that universal tone, and that is what we want to implement in all the songs. thank you. >> carlos santana, thank you for accepting the 2010 mayor's part

award. >> to watch the ceremony, visit the home page of the arts commission website, sfarts commission >> the san francisco arts commission held celebrates -- helps celebrate, and we do that with many festivals throughout the city. one of those festivals is celebrated in december by the filipino community. joining me today to talk about this festival is the coordinator of that festival.

you work with the cultural center, do you not? >> yes. >> in 2003, you helped to establish this in san francisco. >> that is correct. >> what motivated you? >> i come from a town where this is rich and very much popular in our hometown, so we important the tradition and we can do it in san francisco. >> this is -- and rekindled it in san francisco. >> there is the story of inactivity -- >> here in san francisco, many different community groups come together to create things for the

festival, is that correct? >> yes, that is correct. it is coming from different villages. it is only during before christmas where they show all of their lanterns, and then they have the competition among the different villages, and the villages will determine which of those will be the man turn of the year -- the lantern of the year. >> i know you worked earlier for the festival. >> yes, september -- i know you work earlier. >> yes, september. this is so they can see for themselves what kind of lantern

they will do. >> and can you describe to me who comes to these workshops? >> during the first year, because there are very, very few, but everybody in the neighborhood came to the workshop, children, seniors, different areas, and they do the lantern festival in their area, but they do not have the technology. if you go to a place where you have a filipino household, chances are, they have the lanterns, because that is a symbol of hope and blessings, so, therefore, filipinos identified with the lanterns -- identifiey with the lanterns.

it is a great collaboration. they are more connected with this community, but then to showcase them and their performance, their profession, the festival, and the most prestigious award of the year -- >> i want to thank you so much for sharing this insight with us here on "culture wire" and bringing this cultural tradition to san francisco. >> a thank you. >> the bards commission has played a leading role -- >> thank you. >> the bards communication has played a leading role. ®ñdcommis sion has played a leading role.

thank you for joining us. how did your organization, but being part of the parole festival? >> it is a way to organize communities -- how did your organization come to being part of the parole festival? >> it is a way to mobilize the communities. there is a lot of warmth, and a lot of the younger generation, a lot who are born here, second and third generation filipinos, they also really appreciate having this kind of event. >> you have a unique perspective begins you have been part of the festival from the very beginning. -- because you and part of the festival from the very beginning. -- you have been part of the festival.

>> there have been many changes. aspect of it, based on performance production, the presentation, so we were able to bring in sort of like scheduling different ways of making sure that we were organizing the five letter people that were going to be coming in, and most of the time with the festival, that basically ends up in the church. last year, in preparation, we were able to secure st. patrick's church to do a program there. it is a year round thing for the workshops, so folks can come. the website, check it out. we have a lot of things that the people do not know about. come on down. we are also working here. >> thank you so much for sharing your insights with us here on

"culture wire" and for helping to make san francisco such a diverse community. >> thank you. >> with my artists, eight of them are working in tehran, iran, the capital city, and one is an iranian american based in san francisco. the problem is really a collective exploration in the day and the life in tehran. it is the largest city in the middle east. for the gallery, one of the

first pieces you see is one piece which is a laser-cut peace, it taken directly from the map of the city itself -- a laser-cut piece. it represents the geography of the city. it is positioned right next to another work by an artist who took a 77 taxicab runs and let the potholes and the city turns of tehran dictate how the city would be portrayed. >> [singing] >> one of the other pieces that to experience in the one-day exhibition is from another artist, a recording of state radio from tehran, and is played

for four speakers. >> [speaking foreign language] . >> [speaking foreign language] >> [speaking foreign language] >> [speaking foreign language] >> the entire gallery is covered with white vinyl on white walls, really minimalist, and the kind of the merged -- of emerge as you walk through the room. >> [speaking foreign language] >> [speaking foreign language] >> these are excerpts from the radio broadcast that you are hearing in the space. it is just another visual reference 0.2 hopefully transport you to a different place -- reference to hopefully transport you to a different place about one day in iran.