Tag Archives: Oakland Museum of California
Off The Grid launches in Oakland for Museum nights
Food truck market Off The Grid is making its first foray into Oakland with the launch of a new weekly market outside the Oakland Museum of California. The street food gathering is part of the museum’s new Friday Nights program which will include films, live music, dancing, as well as half-price admission for adults (under-18s go free).
The final truck line-up for Off the Grid: Lake Merritt @ OMCA has not been finalized, according to a spokesperson for the San Francisco based street food organization, but some of the East Bay trucks that used to be regulars at Berkeley’s Wednesday Gourmet Ghetto market (which was canceled last month), and at the Thursday Berkeley Telegraph Avenue market, will likely be there. So too will some of the perennial favorites that cross the Bay Bridge to attend Off The Grid markets in its two other East Bay venues, Alameda and Hayward, such as Gua Bao bun specialist The Chairman.
OMCA said the idea was to build on the success of a Summer Nights program that the museum has been running since 2010 and incorporate food trucks, music and other foodie attractions. … Continue reading »
A Berkeley magazine celebrating native culture turns 25
Ohlone artist Linda Yamane has spent the last three years weaving 20,000 stitches and thousands of feathers and beads into a traditional tribal basket. Yamane is the first artist to follow the Ohlone basketweaving tradition in over 150 years, and her work displays just the enthusiasm and dedication to Indian culture that the magazine News From Native California celebrates.
This magazine, which was started in 1987 by Malcolm Margolin, author and founder of Berkeley’s Heyday Books, features articles, artwork, and a calendar of events dedicated to the native culture of California. The magazine’s 25th anniversary, along with the unveiling of Yamane’s basket, will be celebrated this Saturday at the Oakland Museum of California.
The anniversary party will include a welcoming speech by Yamane, conversation with Margolin, and traditional Indian singing, dancing, and music. Many artists and basketweavers will also display their work and have a chance to teach the public about their art. … Continue reading »
With elegy book, community becomes part of exhibition
Speaking about his new exhibition of photographs which opened simultaneously at the Berkeley Art Museum and the Oakland Museum of California this week, Richard Misrach says it is as much a community event as an art show.
The haunting images, taken 20 years ago in the wake of the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm, document the aftermath of a disaster that touched everyone who lived or worked locally. And, now, because the photographs have never been shown before, people who lost homes — or perhaps even family members — are seeing these large scale, beautifully composed images for the first time. The impact is bound to be strong and responses are likely to be emotional.
Misrach knew he wanted to create a way for community members to articulate their reaction to the photographs and contribute to the exhibition directly. So he decided to create two handcrafted elegy books, one for each museum. Exhibition goers are encouraged to write in the books — or include photos or drawings — and the tomes will become part of the museums’ exhibition archives.
The design of the books fell to Brian Scott of San Francisco’s Boon Design, who worked with Misrach 20 years ago on his book, Bravo 20, and Berkeley bookbinder John DeMerritt. Scott and DeMerritt share a love of ledgers — the type that banks or courthouses would use in the past, or that hotels still sometimes have on display as guest books. … Continue reading »
Richard Misrach: A focus on the after-story
Richard Misrach is nothing if not patient.
When, in 1997, the renowned photographer moved into a home in the Berkeley hills and decided to capture his new view of the Golden Gate Bridge, he didn’t just take a few dozen shots and leave it at that.
Rather, over the course of three years, he shot hundreds and hundreds of photographs. The result was Golden Gate [Aperture, 2005], 85 beautiful meditations on the iconic bridge seen through the seasons from a single … Continue reading »
