The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco is seeking photos for “California Dreaming,” an upcoming yearlong, participatory exhibition that explores Jewish life in northern California from the Gold Rush to the present.

From Levi’s denim jeans to Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,” the exhibit will explore how the pioneering spirit of the Jews who moved West in the decades after the Gold Rush have informed local Jewish life.

“California Dreaming” also will feature a documentary by San Francisco–based filmmaker Pam Rorke Levy and a commissioned series of photographs by local artist Rachel Schrieber, as well as stories and photos from Bay Area Jews who want to tell their family histories.

Individuals can submit photographs representing what being Jewish in the Bay Area means to them through Sept. 2. The exhibition opens Nov. 17 and runs through Oct. 16, 2012. For more information, visit www.thecjm.org.