This is the Oakland blog for people living out loud. True to the Oakbook philosophy, we’ll tell you where to go, what to do, and what’s really going down in the town and around the Bay. From parties to films, peace protests to flag football, if there's a there there, we'll blog it.
Invite us to things. We're great at parties.
If you've got events, photos, videos, announcements or general news on all the happenings in the Bay, send 'em over to Kwan Booth at kwan (at) theoakbook.com. And don't be afraid to leave a comment. Don't be shy...come over and talk to us. You just might get lucky!
So if you believe what scientists say and not the holy word from those kinda creepy creationists, all human life originated in Africa. So by grand extension that means we’re all African, right? So with this little nugget of cultural origin tucked under your arm, everyone should celebrate their heritage at Oakland’s official African Diaspora Arts and Culture Day. Started last year by local arts organization Caribelinq and officially sanctioned by da Dellums for July 17, the celebration actually runs for the next 3 days, cuz let’s be honest, Africa has a lot of culture.
Things kick off tonight at Air Lounge with a special poetry and spoken word extravaganza featuring poets from Hot Water Cornbread, music by Hairdoo and a dance performances by Traci Bartlow & The Beautiful One. Tomorrow afternoon there’s a free artist reception and shindig hosted by da Dellums down in Frank Ogawa Plaza featuring culinary and cultural presentations from throughout the African diaspora. Then Friday’s big finale is a free screening of the bad ass concert doc “Wattstax” down at the Black New World, hosted by Oakland Film Society’s David Roach and Caribelinq’s Theo Williams. That’s 3 chances to get in touch with your inner African. Don’t miss out-KwanRead the rest of this entry »
Tonight’s the second to last installment of the Temescal Street Cinema, so get over to the Bank of the West Building on Telegraph before all the fun’s gone. The featured film tonight is Runner’s High, a 2006 doc about a team of East Oakland runners who overcome some pretty daunting obstacles on the way to competing in the LA Marathon. Head over to Rowan Morrison Gallery before hand for a free drawing party then join the bike caravan over to the film.-kwan
It’s that time of year again, when the parking lot across from the West Oakland Bart Station blazes bright into the night, huge metal dragons, robots and thingamawhutzits spring into fire spitting life and pyromaniacs from far and wide come to get their fix before heading to that big hot party in the desert.
Yes folks, It’s Fire Arts Festival time, and the Crucible’s annual fund raiser will be lighting up the sky around 7th and Nelson Mandela from tonight through July 12.
We’ve covered theCruciblequiteabit, but now this year there’s a snazzy new promo video that does the job a lot more succinctly-y’know that whole picture’s worth a thousand words thing. Video has this weird tendency to capture flaming burlesque dancers and spiraling columns of fire in a way that just doesn’t translate into words. Who knew? So anyway, here ya go.-kwan
I got a call a few weeks back from the moms. She’d found a box of my old clothes and wanted to know if should she keep them or sacrifice them to the gods of Goodwill. When she started describing the threads it instantly took me back the early ’90’s, what’s referred to in hip hop as the Golden Age, when the usic was pure and the clothes were super huge and super bright-I’m talking purple jeans, orange and purple Nikes, multicolored Cross Colours button ups with the fitted baseball caps and jackets that matched the rest of the outfit way, way too much. And these were the stepping out clothes. We must have looked like a gang of hood peacocks. Needless to say the box got the donation treatment real quick.
If you’re in possession of such a box of unmentionables, or just have a closet full of last year’s designs you’re itching to get rid of, the homeys from Homeygrown have to solution: bring everything down to Soundwave Studios this Saturday for the Soulstice Swap, a knock down drag out free for all clothing and stuff swapathon. Just show up with your own bag of clothes, movies, books, music or nonperishables and dive right into the mountains of free schwag.
Homeygrown is a local arts and design collective with the mission to “provide a support system for striving artists by offering outlets for exposure.” In the past they’ve sponsored fashion shows, screen printed T-shirts, pushed artist created merch at local street fairs and thrown kick ass parties on both sides of the bay.
Saturday’s event should be another good time. And with the promise all you can drink beer and Sangria for 5 bucks, you just might find yourself coming home with a few questionable items, but hell, just toss them in the closet till next Summer. Unless you find a pair of Orange and Purple Nikes. I might want to get those from you.-kwan
For all you art lovers out there, the galleries are staying busy…
What: Lirielle, an art and jewelry gallery, is hosting a wine & cheese reception for Brenda Reinertson’s abstract painting.
When: June 27th, 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm
Where: 3980 Piedmont Avenue
Susan Tuttle’s Sea-Spray at Float
What: See the art at FLOAT. You’ll find paintings, sculpture, photography and mixed media by Keiko Nelson, Bill Stoneham, Elizabeth Tennant and Susan Tuttle. You can always jump into the floatation tank if the art watching tires you out.
When: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 10 pm. The show isn’t on for much longer – It closes with a party on July 12th, 6 pm to 9 pm.
Where: FLOAT, 1091 Calcot Place #116 in the Cotton Mill Studios. (510) 535-1702
For more information: thefloatcenter.com
And there’s more. Esteban Sabar gallery, usually the hub of the art walk, is hosting artists from his native land, the Philippines.
WHAT: In their honor, there’s an artists reception, where you can meet
Raul Roco Jr., Norlito Meimban, Jose Evangeslista, Grandier Gil Bella and Cesar Montano.
It’s time again for Mix It Up, the monthly meet ‘n drink get together for young and young at heart activists, artists and organizers in the East Bay. Often firmly entrenched in some social justice campaign or another, Mix It Up offers a much needed chance for organizers to step away from the policy debates and funding crises and kick back with some fellow do gooders (and is it me, or is the activist set just full of hotties?). The night usually starts off with a short presentation and discussion-tonight the topic is “Public Art: Essential for a Vibrant City”- followed by all out networking, imbibing and revelry. Green, eco friendly, sustainable revelry, of course. Take a brake from saving the world for a few hours and have a beer. The world will thank you for it later.-kwanRead the rest of this entry »
We all know that housing prices in the Bay reached comethefuckon levels quite a while back, and that if you’re an artist looking for a place to hang your hat as well as your canvas/drum kit/photo equipment, chances are you’re going to have to open a vein, promise your 1st and 2nd born child, then get a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) gig in order to afford your own piece of the California real estate pie. And that’s if you’re one of the lucky ones.
Well, 11 working artists are going to get really lucky, as the Noodle Factory has extended it’s call for applicants for it’s new live work arts complex in West Oakland. Once a staple in the West O underground warehouse scene, Noodle is in the process of being converted into 11 live work units, specially priced for working artists and artisans. (You can read the Novometro article about the conversion here.)
In addition to prices ranging from $175,000 to $275,000, the totally green, LEED certified project includes a new rehearsal area, theater and performance space and a cafe. And a deal with the Northern California Land Trust ensures that the units will remain low cost well into the foreseeable future.
The Noodle Factory is hosting an open house today from 6:30 to 8:30 for artists interested in applying for the units and organizations interested in renting the performance space. Be warned: the project is still in the construction phases so expect a little grunge and grit.-kwanRead the rest of this entry »
Creativity’s all over the place this weekend as artists throughout the region open their doors for the East Bay Open Studios. With over 400 artists to choose from, it can be a little difficult to decide where to go. Well in our *ahem* completely unbiased opinion, a couple of spots not to miss include our friends over in the Jingletown arts district and the continuing exhibition over at Swarm Gallery.
The Jingletown district is presenting over 20 artists, repping everything from photography to mosaics, including work from Oakbook photo contest finalist Russ Osterweil), while Swarm’s current installations, “Improvised Territory” and “Picket Fencing” both offer a slightly skewed look at homescapes, unknown territories and suburbia. Oooh, suburban art in Oakland.-Kwan
Jeff Eisenberg, Relay Solution, from “Improvised Territory”
Featured Event: Oakland Art
Y’know that often repeated “fact” that Oakland has the most artists per capita of any city in the country? While I like the idea, I’ve always met the statement with just a slightly snarky hint of “Oh, really? Is that a fact?”
It’s not that I don’t love the Town’s art scene-I really, really do-it’s just that I’ve always found the statement a little hard to swallow. Well this weekend I’m eating crow, big brightly colored bowls of artistically arranged crow. As the sunshine from the first weekend of June beams down on the timely convergence of Art Murmur and East Bay Open Studios, there’s truly a ridiculous amount of art happenings happening-from photography to fresco, installations to open studios. It’s enough to turn even a skeptic like me into an ardent Oakland Art Cheerleader.
Tonight kick things off on 14th and Broadway at Joyce Gordon Gallery’s annual “Insight” emerging photographers exhibit. The six Bay Area and two London based photographers, including Traci Bartlow, Rameen Gasey and Judy Seidel vary in styles from black and white photojournalism to abstract imagery but all eight have proven that they have bright futures behind the lens.
Afterwards head next door to Awaken Cafe for “Superimpositions,” Julie Oppermann’s exhibit of small watercolors and large mounted canvases centered around the idea of layering, collaging, and juxtaposing patterns, shapes, lines and colors.
Next there’s “Myths and Dreams,” showing at the Front Gallery on Grand Ave., featuring frescos, video and prints by Calixto Robles, Alexandra Blum and Ana Hurk respectively. Each artist uses the various mediums to explore ideas “inspired from memories, images, fables and myths that bridges concerns of the modern world and that of the traditions of ancient Meso-America.”
After a bit of Meso art head over to 21 Grand for their 8th annual Benefit Art Sale, featuring the work of over 70 local artists, all priced to make sure you leave the spot with your own personal masterpiece tucked neatly under your arm…
As you make your way up to Well Boutique, one of the newer Murmur additions, located on Telegraph and 43rd. Shop owner Riquelle Small is on a mission to create a little spiritual oasis in the Temescal with her combination of healing products, local art designs and jewelry in addition to the art openings she hosts in the back room. Illustrator Johnny Siu’s work fits right into the aesthetic, with colored pencil sketches of wide eyed little girls and fantasy figures.
Then if you’re still thirsty for art but want something a bit less “artsy,” make the trek over to Compound Gallery on San Pablo for “Water, Oxygen, Light” a collaboration between Emery Secondary School Biology Instructor Cassandra Neaves and Kala Arts Instructor Eric Sanchez that explores the process of seed germination and vegetative rooting. Science and art all in one place? Hmm, (slow, thoughtful chin stroking) very fascinating…
And this is all just tonight! We haven’t even begun to talk about the weekend’s East Bay Open Studios or Oakbook’s resident art critic Theo Konrad Auer’s handpicked faves. I mean, not to get all zealot on you dudes but I’m just saying: Oakland is where all the real artists kick it. And that’s a stone cold fact.
The ability to manipulate form and color in order to blend into your surroundings is one of nature’s true wonders and a time honored tool for hunting and basic survival. Whether it’s a frog turning itself all types of rust colors to snag that tasty fly, or a fish that blends into the background whenever the big bad eel comes along, or the short skinny kid from middle school who strikes a ninja pose and vanishes into the crowd to avoid that weekly ass kicking, in certain situations, the ability to fade and mimic have proven to be crucial skills.
Along these same lines, certain industries have been known to use visual deceptions to their advantage in several, sometime shiesty ways. From passing counterfeit twenties to packaging a generic product to look just like the New! Improved! Tide! sitting right next to it, media and marketing especially have been using mimicry,camouflage and decoys to get over for years.
Tonight a group of artists are giving the technique a try. Decoy, the new show at Lobot Gallery is a group exhibition of sculpture, painting, video, and works on paper featuring recent work by Patrick Blaeser, Robert Burden, Ross Campbell, Diane Derr, Robert Jackson Harrington, Claire Jackel, Whitney Lynn, Jana Rumberger and Brian Stinemetz. The show attempts to engage the political and psychological aspects of deception, perception, cognition and abstraction.
There’ll be music by The Tea Set, MNDR and Family Tree, and Lobot Resident Artist Patrick Blaeser will open his studio for viewing.
Decoy
Friday May 23
Free
8:30
Lobot Gallery
1800 Campbell St. Oakland www.lobotgallery.com
So if you believe what scientists say and not the holy word from those kinda creepy creationists, all human life originated in Africa. So by grand extension that means we’re all African, right? So with this little nugget of cultural origin tucked under your arm, everyone should celebrate their heritage at Oakland’s official African Diaspora Arts and Culture Day. Started last year by local arts organization Caribelinq and officially sanctioned by da Dellums for July 17, the celebration actually runs for the next 3 days, cuz let’s be honest, Africa has a lot of culture.
