Oakland Urban Paths: downtown murals

Saturday was a walking tour of some of the murals downtown, organized by Oakland Urban Paths and our parent organization, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland, and led by local artist and organizer Sorell Raino-Tsu. The walk was originally scheduled for March, but rescheduled for this month because of the weather. And the weather definitely cooperated—it was warm and sunny, not too hot, perfect for a walk around downtown.
After an introduction and safety reminder by WOBO president Chris Hwang, Sorell led us up Telegraph to view the first mural.

On the back of the Cathedral Building is the United Nations Mural. Sorell told us about the challenges in getting permission (separate permission for every floor of the building) and painting it (the height caused the crane to start tipping). And in an echo of the past, the mural was originally intended for San Francisco. But the artist Zio Zigler wanted to do it in Oakland, and Sorell helped make it happen. The mural was probably intended for San Francisco because that's where the United Nations Conference on International Organization was held in 1945. But in 1966 when it came time to fly the UN flag, San Francisco said no, and the flag ended up in at Jack London Square in Oakland.

Then it was up a ways and over to Broadway to view another large piece, by far the largest of the Beacon Mural Series by Joshua Mays. On 19th near Flora is a smaller piece by Argentinian artist Pastel (aka Francisco Diaz), featuring his trademark deadly flowers. On Thomas L. Berkley Way on the back the I. Magnin building is a large, striking mural of flowers by Jet Martinez. it's painted in shades of green to echo the green terra cotta tiles of the building shown at the start of the post. On Franklin St. there are two notable murals on opposite sides of the same building: Water Writes on one side, painted by Estria and crew, and a striking human rights mural on the other, painted by Ricky Lee Gordon from South Africa. Over on Webster, there's a combination fence and ground-based mural by Brett Flanigan. Brett broke his foot during the painting, and finished the job with help from others while he was in a wheelchair!

Near 19th and Webster is a large mural sponsored by the Oakland A's, painted by Illuminaries. Going down Webster a bit we passed a temporary mural by Sorell on a construction fence. Across the street on the back of Howden Market is another piece by Zio Zigler. It was painted shortly after he broke up with his girlfriend, and so fittingly, it features a man with his heart being ripped out. A couple doors down on the side of the former Oakland Business and Professional Women's Club building is a piece by Irot. And across the parking lot is a work in progress called Elevate. And next door to that was our final mural, a somewhat disturbing rabbit mural painted by Nychos, an artist from Austria.

Thanks to WOBO for organizing the walk, and to Sorell for sharing his knowledge!

See the Athen B Gallery website for lots more photos, including some of the murals in progress.
See here for more photos from the walk.

photo of the week: colors

Yesterday, K and I toured some of the galleries taking part in the Saturday Art Stroll, the quieter alternative to First Fridays. We talked with artist John W. Wood for a while (we've seen his artwork before, at Gray Loft Gallery in Jingletown), and he showed us a few of the tools he uses to create his art.

Oakland Urban Paths: Legendary Locals of Oakland

Saturday we had perfect weather for an Oakland Urban Paths walk focused on some of the people in my new book, Legendary Locals of Oakland. The book has profiles and images of 180 of the people who have shaped Oakland over the years, both historic and contemporary. About 70 people and 6 dogs joined us to explore Lakeside Park and Adams Point, and learn about a few of the people in the book.

We started near the Rotary Nature Center where I talked about Lake Merritt being the oldest wildlife refuge in the country, dating back to 1870, even before the National Park System. To protect birds, neighbors, and property values, Dr. Samuel Merritt lobbied California governor Henry H. Haight to make the area surrounding the lake into a wildlife refuge. Nearly 80 years later, Paul Covel was hired to be the first municipal naturalist in the country, who taught countless children I also talked a bit about current naturalist, Stephanie Benavidez, who's not in the book but is a legendary local, too.

I also talked about mayor Melvin Chapman and Oakland founding scoundrel Edson Adams (along with Horace Carpentier and Andrew Moon). In the Gardens at Lake Merritt, we talked about WWII internee Frank Ogawa, namesake of the garden center Marsha Jean Corprew, world-renowned music producer Harold Lawrence, and Calvin Simmons, the first black conductor of the Oakland Symphony Orchestra. We could see the bandstand across the way, and I talked about Fred Morcom, mayor of Oakland and namesake of the Morcom Rose Garden,

At nearby Children's Fairyland, there were a lot of people to talk about: Oakland Parks superintendent William Penn Mott, Jr., puppeteer Frank Oz and master puppeteer Lewis Mahlmann (both pictured above with Oz's character, Bert of "Sesame Street"), restaurateur and inventor of the mai tai "Trader Vic" Bergeron, and businessman Joe Shoong.

Near Lake Merritt I talked about then-mayor Jerry Brown and the story of Measure DD that brought about the improvements to the lake, and about industrialist and healthcare creator Henry J. Kaiser. Over on Webster, I told people Sid Hoff and the Ali Baba Ballroom, and 3-time restaurateur James Syhabout of Hawker Fare, The Dock at Linden Street, and the Michelin-starred Commis.

Over on Broadway, we stopped in front of The Hive. There I talked about legendary newspaperman Robert Maynard and his wife Nancy, one-time owners of the Oakland Tribune. One of the buildings that makes up The Hive is a former automotive business designed by Oakland architect Julia Morgan, better known for designing Hearst Castle. Someone asked about the church that had been where the YMCA building across the street now stands; that was the First Methodist Church, which was destroyed by a spectacular fire in 1981.

At 27th Street we stopped between the First Presbyterian Church and Temple Sinai. Connected with the former are Henry Durant, one of the founders of the University of California, and Laurentine Hamilton, who was charged with heresy and left (along with much of the congregation) to form what became the First Unitarian Church. Members of Temple Sinai include writer and art patron Gertrude Stein, of the i1nfamous but misunderstood "there is no there there", and Rachel "Ray" Frank, the "girl rabbi of the Golden West", whose students included a young Gertrude Stein.

Walking up 28th Street we climbed our first set of stairs to Hamilton Place. Down Harrison took us to the First Congregation Church. Notable members included "Borax" Smith, borax miner and creator of the Key System, and his first wife, Mary R. Smith, who started an orphanage for girls. (The walk in February will focus on Cleveland Heights and "Borax" Smith.)

Across Harrison we climbed another set of steps to Vernon Terrace and Vernon Street. There we saw the home of judge and Chief Justice Earl Warren. He was head of the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled on the historic Brown v. Board of Education which banned segregation in public schools. As California District Attorney, Warren had been"the moving force" behind the WWII internment of Japanese Americans, but he later said he deeply regretted that.

The next streets we went past included Adams Street, named for Edson Adams, and Jayne Avenue, named for his wife, Hannah Jayne. She was Oakland's first, and for a time, only teacher. I talked briefly about Alice Street downtown, named for the sister of Horace Carpentier, Alice Carpentier.

With a large group on the walk and so many people to talk about, we didn't have time to go over to MacArthur Blvd., but instead we walked to the back side of Temple Beth Abraham. It's named for Abraham Bercovich. His brother Edward Bercovich and later his nephew Sam Bercovich ran a furniture business, and supported youth athletics in the East Bay. Many of the athletes went on to college and pro careers, including baseball player Curt Flood. His refusal to be traded by the St. Louis Cardinals led to free agency in sports.

Our last stop was at the home of Rose and Joe Shoong, founder of National Dollar Stores. To keep the connections going, the home was designed by none other than Julia Morgan.

A great walk—thanks to everyone who came out for it, and to everyone who bought a book! Special thanks to Alan Forkosh and Paul Rosenbloom for the use of some their photos, thanks to whoever carried the speaker, and thanks to volunteer Charlie Lenk for helping with all sorts of stuff. More pictures from the walk:

signs: Drake's Dealership

The newest beer garden in town is Drake's Dealership. It's in part of the Hive complex that (surprise!) used to be a car dealership. Back in the day, a lot of the businesses around there were related to the auto industry. They've done a creative reuse of the space, and removed the roof of part of the building to serve as a beer garden. Yummy pizza, and as always, yummy Drake's beer.

signs: Fox Theater

For whatever reason (besides the usual lately, being too busy), I haven't previously featured the great sign the of the amazing Fox Theater. Shows there tend to be expensive, so it wasn't until recently that K and I got a chance to go to a show, courtesy of one of her friends. Both the show (The Moody Blues) and the theater were amazing.

Saturday Art Stroll

If you've gone to a First Friday and felt overwhelmed, you're not alone. What started as the monthly Art Murmur to get people interested in art and the growing art scene in Oakland rapidly grew to include a street festival, food trucks, and other happenings. In the words of Yogi Berra, "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

If you want the art but not the crowds, there are some options. Every Saturday, many of the same galleries and art spaces take part in the Saturday Art Stroll. It's a chance to see the art, talk to people in the galleries, and take in things at a slower pace. Once a month on the third Saturday, they also lead special tours.

This past Saturday the Saturday Stroll art tour started at Warehouse 416 with a powerul exhibit from the Foster Youth Museum. Then it was over to Creative Growth Art Center, which serves adult artists with developmental, mental and physical disabilities, and provides a professional studio environment. Creative Growth also includes a gallery space where the work is shown, and a small store where some of the art is available for purchase. Steve Oriolo, who runs the wood studio and the Saturday youth program, kindly stuck around and showed the large group the space and then answered questions.

Our final stop was the Rock Paper Scissors Collective, one of the original founders of the Art Murmur. RPS works to foster creativity and collaboration through free and low-cost art classes. It's all volunteer run, and in need of some financial help, so considering volunteering or donating to help keep it running.

Foster Youth Museum

At the gallery Warehouse 416 (416 26th Street) right now there's an amazing and powerful exhibit. Go see it. It is not cheery, though it will leave you with hope. It's called "Lost Childhoods", and is about the experience of foster youth, shown in photographs and artifacts. Making it even more powerful was a special tour on Saturday, led by a number of former foster youth, including Captain Young who is featured in the poster for the event.

Jamie Lee Evans, herself a former foster child, is the co-director of the Foster Youth Museum. She told us about the exhibit and talked about some of the artifacts, like the large purple teddy bear given by one foster child to her sister, so she would always remember her. Although the woman went on to be successful, like many foster youth, she hung on to this reminder of her experience. In any event, this is a case where more words from me won't add anything. Go see it. You will be moved. Unfortunately, it's only at Warehouse 416 through March, so you don't have much time to see it.

The museum is looking for a permanent home, so if you know of a space that's appropriate, contact them. The exhibit is also available for rent, so if you're a gallery or exhibit space looking for something powerful to show, talk to them.



This was all part of a Saturday Art Stroll tour of several galleries with different connections to foster youth, including Creative Growth and Rock Paper Scissors collective, which I'll hopefully have time to write about more later. But go see this exhibit while you can!

Links:
Foster Youth Museum website
Warehouse 416
Oakland Local article by C.J. Hirschfield

watch the Super Bowl at The New Parkway, with Marshawn bigger than life!

The Super Bowl may not be on your radar anymore since neither the Raiders nor the San Francisco Santa Clara 49ers are in it this year, but it promises to be a great game. If you're looking for a spot to watch it, consider The New Parkway. It's not just a great place to watch movies, they also show special events like the Super Bowl and soccer's World Cup, as well. I've watched the Raiders play there, and it's pretty amazing. There's great beer and food available, and they'll deliver it right to your seat.

Marshawn Lynch is an Oakland-grown celebrity who hasn't forgotten his Oakland roots. He regularly returns to Oakland, and his Fam 1st Foundation works in Oakland mentoring kids on the importance of education, literacy and self-esteem. He's an Oakland Tech grad who is larger than life, so not watch him larger than life? He may not speak to the media, but his actions speak plenty loud.

If the Super Bowl isn't your thing, The New Parkway is also doing a special movie showing Valentine's Day on February 14, and showing the Academy Awards on February 22. There are different charges for different events, but it's a great spot to watch all sorts of things.

signs: Uptown Nightclub

I've posted a picture of the Uptown Nightclub before (wait...5+ years ago? How did that happen?) but that photo was during the day. It popped into the news with the announcement that they're closing next week. "Our lease is up and we've chosen not to renew." Bummer. In their honor, here's a night time picture of their great sign, plus a bonus of the smaller one in the window.

Nerd Nite East Bay

Last night I attended Nerd Nite East Bay at the New Parkway Theater. What, you may ask, is Nerd Nite? Two to three speakers provide 18 to 20 minute long fun and informative presentations across a wide variety of disciplines. It's a bit like a TED talk, but can be about anything. You eat and drink and listen, and can ask questions at the end. What that doesn't tell you is how fun and interesting it is.

Last night's talks were:

• Great Moments in Pedantry: The Modern Girl's (Or Guy's) Guide to the Seventh Century Easter Controversy by Alice Handley
• How to Fix Climate Change for Free by Dan Miller
• Crazymaking: The History of Mental Illness in the U.S. by Sharon Osterweil

As you can see, a wide variety of disciplines. What they have in common is that they're subjects the speakers are interested in. The results were sometimes funny, sometimes sobering, but in all three cases informative and interesting.

It's well worth the $8 admission price (plus any food and drink you consume). The New Parkway is a great location not just for movies, but watching sports and events like Nerd Nite. Nerd Nite is held the last Monday of every month, so check it out. Who knows? I may be speaking about Oakland history at a future event...

food+drink: Lost+Found

Ifinally got a chance to make a second, longer visit to Lost+Found, the new beer garden on Telegraph. On my first visit, I barely had time for a beer. This time I got to hang out with my friend Mike for a while, have a couple beers, and sample the food.

The food menu is fairly simple, but includes some vegi and vegan options so I was happy. The vegan sloppy joe was quite good, as was the definitely-not-vegan grilled cheese sandwich. Lost+Found has a great beer selection, with about 20 local and not so local beers on tap. While the beer garden is built on an old parking lot, it feels like a garden with lots of plants around the seating, plus a ping pong table and other amusements. Even though yesterday was still pretty warm (though not nearly so hot as Wednesday), the space was cool and inviting, with a nice cross-breeze.

One wall of the garden space is home to a Ernest Doty mural, though fairly tame compared with many of his works. While there's definitely a hipsterish vibe (like many new places in Uptown), it still all adds up to a lovely spot to hang out, have a beer, and a bit of food. To me the only thing missing is the presence of dogs. Someone tried to bring one in while we were there, and while I couldn't hear what was exchanged, the upshot was that the dog and its person left.

Learn to Curl with SF Bay Area Curling Club

This weekend in Oakland was a special learn-to-curl event with the SF Bay Area Curling Club, Road to the Olympics - Olympic Celebration Tour. Sponsored by the World Curling Federation, it featured Olympian Carolyn McRorie as well as other Northern California Olympians (not necessarily in curling). In addition to the learn-to-curl sessions, there was also a mini-bonspiel (tournament) on Sunday, and special learn-to-curl sessions for youth.

I was reminded just how much fun curling is! It's an easy sport to learn, but with enough finesse to it that you could spend a lifetime improving and enjoying it.

Some short video clips from Friday:


More pictures from Friday:

Oakland Heritage: Redevelopment and the Revitalization of Downtown

If you're new to Our Oakland, note that the links below marked with the oak tree logo will take you to the corresponding article on the Oakland Wiki where you can read more about the topic. Just be sure to come back—it's easy to start following trails through Oakland's history on the wiki.

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Sunday was another Oakland Heritage Alliance walking tour, focused on different redevelopment projects and the effects on downtown. The tour was led by Jeff Chew, who was the project manager for redevelopment of the Fox Theatre and numerous other projects in Oakland. He was assisted by local historian and columnist Annalee Allen and several other OHA volunteers.

The tour started in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Chinatown. One thing that was notable about the area on a Sunday was how active it is. It was noticeably quieter everywhere else we went later. Jeff pointed out several things the average person may not notice. One is the 3rd-floor roof garden that's set aside for residents; from below all you can see is a hedge. Another thing (which contrasted strongly with some other redevelopment projects we saw later) is the presence of retail around the perimeter of the area.

From there we went through one of Chinatown's "scramble" crosswalks and across Broadway into Old Oakland. Although the area is hopping much of the week, it was quiet on Sunday, and it was quiet for many years. From after WWII until the 1970s it became increasingly rundown and desolate. Architects Glenn and Rich Storek saw it in the late 1960s and saw the potential. They were better architects than they were developers, and ended up going bankrupt. As a result, it took almost 15 years for the work to be completed, and even longer for the area to start to pick up again. We walked past Swan's Market and saw a couple of residential developments of varying degrees of success.

We walked past the Oakland Convention Center. From a design standpoint, it's a classic example of what not to do. The perimeter is hard and uninviting. The only ways to interact with much of the building is to avoid getting hit by cars entering or exiting the parking structure. It's also apparently too small for a lot of uses. And it closed off Washington Street which used to go through to the city hall plaza.

Then it was up to City Center. It is part of a larger pedestrian mall along what was 13th Street, which extends from Preservation Park, through the Federal Building, all the way to Broadway. Although it has lots of retail, almost all of it was closed on Sunday, and so it was very quiet.

From there we walked towards uptown, stopping in the Oakland Ice Center to check it out and cool off a bit. Across the street is some successful affordable housing, Fox Courts. Around the corner is one of the best-known redevelopment projects in Oakland, the Fox Theatre.

We headed back towards our start for a special treat—a chance to go up in the Tribune Tower. It's one of my favorite buildings in Oakland, so I was very excited. Led by building owner Tom Henderson, we took the elevator up to the 20th floor. Tom led us through a small conference room to the balcony which is just behind the clocks. As you might expect, there are great views all over Oakland from there. Plus a chance to see lots of downtown from above.

After the tour was over, many of us went to the Tribune Tavern for a late lunch. As if I hadn't had enough Oakland history goodness on the tour, it turned out I was seated next to the grandson of "Borax" Smith, a major figure in Oakland history. I showed Stephen and and his wife the entries we have on the Oakland Wiki for Smith and for the magnificent Smith estate, Arbor Villa. I was so excited I forgot to show them the entries for Smith's first wife, Mary ("Mollie") Thompson or Smith's second wife (i.e., Stephen's grandmother), Evelyn Ellis, never mind the Home for Friendless Girls, the Key System, the Claremont Hotel, or any of the other two dozen "Borax" Smith-related pages.

Next Saturday is an OHA tour of Oakland Airport's North Field, and Sunday is the final OHA tour of the summer, Historic Downtown Churches. Check out the Oakland Heritage Alliance events page for more details.

Lots more pictures from the tour:

free concerts at the Kaiser Roof Garden

Today I headed to the Kaiser Roof Garden for a free concert featuring Oakland singer-songwriter Alexa Weber Morales. As part of today's concert, she sang a mixture of her own songs and a few standards with her own twist. She and the band were clearly having fun, as were the people who got up to dance!

If you made the concert and want to hear more, or didn't and want some idea of what you missed, or find out when and where she's performing next, check out Alexa's website. For the schedule of upcoming concerts, check the Kaiser Center website. The concerts are free, and it's a great way to spend your lunch hour.

More pictures from the concert:

morning bite of Oakland food news

Yesterday while running around Oakland, I spotted a new bar + restaurant opening. New as in watched them open the door to the first customers on Friday evening, shortly after 5pm. The place is called Hutch, and the sign advertises "Cocktails and Oysters".

It's at 2022 Telegraph, formerly home to a bar called 2022. They recently passed their final inspections and decided to do a soft opening in time for this month's First Friday. The kitchen won't be up to full speed until next week or so, but in addition to cocktails and beer from the bar, they had tastes of some of their food available for the opening. Food included fried polenta balls, hushpuppies, and a butterbean hummus with some vegis for dipping. All the food I tasted was great, and the staff super friendly. It all bodes well for their future.

Their website is hutchoakland.com and will have details on hours, menu, etc. as it becomes available.