Monthly Archives: December 2009

Royal Nonesuch Gallery (Art Murmur – Act III)

Our last stop of the night (our last gallery stop… more on our real last stop later) was the Royal Nonesuch Gallery on Telegraph between 42nd and 43rd Streets. As far as I know, this is the newest addition to the Art Murmur tour, having just opened about 2 months ago.

Royal Nonesuch Gallery, art murmur

You literary folks may get the reference, but for those who don’t, Royal NoneSuch Gallery was named after “the crafty theater troupe in Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn… in the spirit of participation, interaction, and art making of all kinds.” The space is run by two local artists: Elizabeth Bernstein, a photographer, and Carrie Hott, who works in mixed medium (drawing, painting, installations), and their focus is to provide more dynamic and interactive experiences than the typical conventional gallery space. Judging from the descriptions of their brief history of events, they seem to be hitting the mark spot-on: craft markets, barbeques, parlor game nights. How fun!

small works holiday show, royal nonesuch, urban yeti, aaron terry

Their Friday night event was called “Small Works! Art for Under a Hundred Bucks.” Not a bad price point for original art. The “Urban Yeti’s” above are wood and paint constructions by artist Aaron Terry, and the “Venom Dip Collection” below is the work of artist Ben Venom.

ben venom, royal nonesuch gallery, royal nonesuch small works

Their next event is this Sunday, December 13th: Sunday Craft Market & BBQ! (1 – 5pm) I’ll mention this again in my guide to all the holiday sales, artisan markets, and craft fairs around town this weekend, so you can get your holiday shopping needs met while supporting local artists. Check back tomorrow for that.

And finally, our last last stop of the night was just down the street to Pizzaiolo for delectable late night delight (chocolat pots de créme… you must say this in french… exquis!) I love this restaurant and the fantastic fare that Charlie Hallowell and his staff consistently put out. I’ll give them their own in-depth post in the future, and plan to hit his new restaurant (Boot and Shoe Service) opening this month on Grand Avenue too!

Creative Growth Gallery – Art Murmur (Act II)

Next stop on our Friday night tour was Creative Growth Gallery on 24th Street near Broadway for their annual holiday show & sale… and what a stop it was! I can’t believe I’ve never been to this place. I think it’s one of those Oaktown secrets. Or maybe I’m just slow.

The Creative Growth Art Center provides studio arts training by professional artists to adults with mental, physical, and developmental disabilities. The center’s mission is “to provide a safe environment that fosters and nurtures the creative process, and to promote and market the art of people with physical, developmental, and emotional disabilities.”

creative growth oakland

It was the first of its kind in the nation when established over 30 years ago, and it’s been going strong ever since… producing works of art exhibited in, and collected by, such revered institutions as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, San Francisco’s MOMA, and other major museums & galleries throughout the world.

In 2008 they completed a full one-million dollar plus renovation of their building, to provide their 140 artists “a better, safer and more organized studio and healthier place to be.”  They also opened a gallery in Paris called Galerie Impaire, in order to further the representation of their artists, and provide greater exposure of disabled artists’ works to contemporary art collectors.  These folks aren’t kidding around.

They currently have a holiday window display at Barneys in San Francisco (77 O’Farrell Street), and recently teamed up with celebrated fashion designer Marc Jacobs to produce a limited collection of wallets, t-shirts, and tote & shoulder bags, designed by four Creative Growth artists: Louis Estape, Dan Miller, William Scott, and Gerone Spruill.  Awesome.

From the look of things Friday night, I’d say their holiday sale is one not to be missed… I only wish I was telling you about it beforehand and not after, but you’ll just have to mark your calendars for 2010.

creative growth in oakland

welcome to magic show, william tyler, art at creative growth

There was an incredible display of the widest variety of art I’ve seen at any of the galleries in Oakland.  They had everything from handmade clothing, to 70’s style latchkey rugs and embroidery work (I bought one of these and it is very cool!), paintings, prints, mixed media, pottery, housewares, greeting cards… the list goes on and on.  In addition to the gallery displayed pieces, the studio area (which is HUGE) was filled to the gills with tables and bins and boxes of bargain basement priced art.  $10 tables, $5 tables, $2 bins…   I bought my Christmas cards (see below) and gifts to boot.

creative growth holiday sale, creative growth art

studio art sale at creative growth, creative growth oakland

Holiday Sale at Creative Growth

Here’s a shot of the cards I got… designed by Lolita Triplette… isn’t it groovy? I love the little dragon tree-topper!

Lolita Triplette christmas card

They also got me for an annual membership.  Gotta support the arts!

And hey, if you missed this one and want to check them out, they have other events throughout the year.  Go to their website and either become a Facebook fan to be kept informed about upcoming events, or better yet, become a member.  You’ll be supporting a fantastic organization, and you’ll get 10% off any art purchases.  What a deal!

Oakland School for the Arts – Art Murmur (Act I)

So last Friday was another First Friday here in Oaktown, and this time I did it a little bit differently. My plan was to focus on galleries and spaces that were specifically set up with holiday sales…

My friend and I were on our way to grab a bite and a drink at Flora, probably my favorite restaurant in Oakland. At this point in time, that’s a pretty high compliment given the slew of fantastic restaurants that are springing up seemingly weekly. Oakland’s dining scene has been getting a lot of press and it’s very exciting. Here are a few samples…

East Bay Express:  America’s Next Great Dining Town

Wall Street Journal:  Oakland’s Temescal Goes From Rundown to Reborn

NYTimes:  36 Hours in Oakland

Diablo Magazine:  One Fine Night: Oakland’s Uptown

I’ve written about Flora before, and I’ll do an even more in-depth story in the future… I have plans for a whole Art Deco series thanks to a suggestion from my friend Jessica. But in the meantime, all you need to know, is they make fantastic cocktails and out of this world food. You’ll likely have to book early to get a reservation on a First Friday, but I’ve had good luck dropping in early and just grabbing a seat at the bar. A fancy libation and small plate delight and you are on your way to murmuring right!

We made our way down the block to a space we had passed earlier while parking… it wasn’t a gallery I was familiar with, and it wasn’t a spot on my list of to-see’s for the night, but hey, when you’re murmuring, you gotta kinda roll with it. And this was clearly a scene worthy of an adjustment to our plans. There was a crowd of people outside and an even larger crowd inside, snaking their way through a labyrinth of gallery walls chock full of art, accompanied by live music, spoken word, and improv rap.  This was a cool scene, and it was mostly kids… real kids.  We had serendipitously stumbled upon the holiday sale of the Oakland School for Visual Arts.

OSA, oakland school for the arts, oakland holiday sale, osa holiday sale

The Oakland School for Visual Arts (OSA) moved to the Fox Theater‘s building (also to be covered during Art Deco Days!) in January of this year. The brain-child of former Mayor Jerry Brown (Wikipedia), OSA is school is a public charter middle & high school with a mission “to provide students with intensive conservatory-style training in the arts while maintaining a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum.” They offer seven core artistic programs: Arts Management, Dance, Instrumental Music, Literary Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, and Vocal Music. Students wishing to attend have to audition to show they’ve got the artistic muster to make it… think Fame!

They currently maintain an attendance rate of 94%, one of the highest in Oakland. And their first senior graduating class (2006), graduated with 100 percent of the class accepted to four-year colleges (Wikipedia). That’s pretty impressive.

In fact, the whole scene was quite impressive. The huge turnout… the talented musicians… the amazing works of art (at bargain basement prices too!) I, for one, emptied my wallet in support of this school and its young artists. My only complaint would be that the lines for buying the art were too long, and that’s not a bad problem to have. Yay for OSA!

oakland school for the arts, small works show and sale, OSA small works sale

oakland holiday art sale, oakland school for the arts

OSA Small works sale, OSA gallery, oakland school for the arts

Check back tomorrow for the futherings of our murmurings… And if you missed the holiday sales this past weekend, check back later in the week for my best effort at a comprehensive list of arty/crafty holiday fairs and events next weekend.

“A Season of Brotherhood and Generosity”

Tonight the Obamas presided over the National tree lighting ceremony in Washington D.C.

Here’s how we did it, Oaktown style….

And if this doesn’t get you in the mood, I don’t know what will.

city center tree lighting, christmas elf

There were elves performing magic tricks that astounded!

Christmas elf, magic elf, city center tree lighting

Free hot refreshments to warm us from the insides… including hot chocolate, spiced cider, churros, and real roasted chestnuts! That’s pretty darn festive.

City Center Tree Lighting Ceremony

The Oakland Jazz Workshop performed some lively numbers, especially with the accompaniment of this young talent… the girl had some pipes. And she was only ten! (And ten months).

oakland jazz workshop, city center tree lighting

Of course, Santa was there!

santa, oakland city center, santa at city center

The Golden Gate Boys Choir and Bell Ringers performed a number of holiday carols… pretty impressive.

City Center Tree Lighting Ceremony

tree lighting ceremony, oakland city center, city center tree lighting

And after the lighting of the tree, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir came out to really kick things into high gear. Fantastic. And if you missed this performance, you can catch them this Saturday night, December 5th at the lovely Paramount Theatre, 7:30pm.

gospel choir at city center, city center tree lighting

You feelin’ it yet?