Our passion for art, learning and culture all began after we finished graduate school and moved to Chicago for our first jobs. Tom, in particular,  found himself at endless lunch-hour lectures at the incredible Art Institute of Chicago and art appreciation classes at local universities. While neither of us has an artistic bone in our bodies, we love exploring, learning about, and, in our admittedly casual and amateurish way, collecting art. We stop at virtually every gallery we pass and frequently arrange local excursions (now in California) and even cross-country and international trips around special museum exhibitions and art shows.

The theater is another passion born from our Chicago days. In addition to our subscriptions and attendance at most of the major and smaller Bay Area theaters, we frequently travel to major theater cities, such as New York, London, and Chicago, totally filling our days with museums, restaurants, walking tours (both independent and guided) and in New York especially, a minimum of one play per day. This being said, we are not equal opportunity theatergoers. We tend to favor serious dramas, attend an occasional comedy, and rarely go to musicals.

Lifelong learning? Yes, that too began in Chicago, where Tom attended all types of lectures and was a dedicated, active member of the Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs. Now that we are in San Francisco, we have found similar outlets for ongoing passions for continual learning, as through the World Affairs Council and the Commonwealth Club. Nor can we forget PBS, about the only network that graces our home television screens.