Category Archives: miscellaneous

Your GUIDE to Artisan Holiday Gift Events

Here’s my best effort at a comprehensive list of arty/crafty sales in the next week or so…. I’ll try to do this next week too. If folks have additions to this list, please send ’em in. (Remember, only 15 shopping days left… and even fewer for those celebrating Hanukkah).

Here are a couple of the small but sweet pieces I picked up Friday night… all from the Oakland School for the Arts. Top two are by Maya Ramirez, and bottom two (my favorite picks of the night) are by a 6th grader named Lucie Scanlon. I LOVE them. The left one is titled “Adios love” and the right, appropriately, “Red Eye Bunny #5.”

maya ramirez, lucie scanlon

Thursday, December 10th

  • Oakland Unwrapped! Holiday Buy Night (5pm – 10pm)

    More than a craft fair, this event is a serious alternative to malls, featuring shops & artists from Oakland Unwrapped!, Pro Arts and Oakland Grown! Lots of food, music, entertainment & more!
    http://www.oaklandunwrapped.org/

Friday, December 11th

  • Oakland Unwrapped! Holiday Buy Night (5pm – 10pm)

    More than a craft fair, this event is a serious alternative to malls, featuring shops & artists from Oakland Unwrapped!, Pro Arts and Oakland Grown! Lots of food, music, entertainment & more!
    http://www.oaklandunwrapped.org/

  • Roots of Resistance Holiday Market & Art Showcase (7pm – 11pm)

    A night of Indigenous art, performance, dance, drum, food, vendors, artisans, celebration and solidarity. A free community event where you can support local artisans by purchasing your holiday gifts.
    http://www.snagmagazine.com/2009/11/snag-holiday-market.html

  • Swarm Gallery Shop/Show (6pm – 9pm)

    A curated pop-up shop exhibition including small work installations, limited edition prints, art books, art t’s by Oaklandish, jewelry and much more.
    http://www.swarmgallery.com/gallery/exhibitions/Shop_Show.htm

Saturday, December 12th

  • The Crucible: Family Friendly Holiday Gift Art Sale and Open House (10 am to 4pm)

    Support local artists and community arts education for youth and adults while you get your last minute shopping done at the Bay Area’s most unusual holiday celebration.
    http://www.thecrucible.org

  • Mills College Fall Open Studios (12pm – 5pm)

    The current MFA students in the Mills College studio art program are pleased to announce the semiannual graduate open studios day.
    http://www.millsmfaopenstudios.blogspot.com/

  • 24th Annual Holiday Kwanzaa and Christmas Gift Show (11 am to 7pm)

    As Oakland’s and the Bay Area’s original African American Holiday Crafts Show, this grand event is in its 24th year and is undoubtedly committed to sustaining and growing African American crafts exhibitors, small businesses, wholesome families and communities.
    http://www.kwanzaagiftshow.com

  • Holiday Art Glass Sale (10 am to 4pm)

    Bruce Pizzichillo and Dari Gordon create unique glass artwork in their Oakland studio; including decorative vases, bowls, tumblers, jewelry and sculpture. Their studio is open to the public just twice a year, with substantial markdowns for the holidays.
    http://www.quepasaglass.com/

  • KPFA Crafts & Music Fair ($10 San Francisco, 10am – 6pm)

    The 39th Annual KPFA Crafts & Music Fair, the largest weekend holiday craft fair of its kind in Northern California, features 220 craftsmakers and artists from throughout the country, a gourmet food pavilion and live performances by some of the area’s leading world musicians.
    http://www.kpfa.org/craftsfair/

  • Mercury 20 – Winter Arts Fair (11am – 5pm)

    We will be featuring the work of local artists that have created work specifically for the holidays.
    Come enjoy hand made one of a kind work and holiday goodies. Buy local and support Oakland arts!
    http://www.mercurytwenty.com/Winter_arts/WinterArts.html

  • Stocking Stuffers Craft Fair @ We Art Space (11am – 4pm)

    Original ready-t0-hang art, and hand-crafted items such as jewelry, clothing, housewares, and more…
    http://WeArtSpace.com/

Sunday, December 13th

  • The Crucible: Family Friendly Holiday Gift Art Sale and Open House (10 am to 4pm)

    Support local artists and community arts education for youth and adults while you get your last minute shopping done at the Bay Area’s most unusual holiday celebration.
    http://www.thecrucible.org

  • 24th Annual Holiday Kwanzaa and Christmas Gift Show (11 am to 7pm)

    As Oakland’s and the Bay Area’s original African American Holiday Crafts Show, this grand event is in its 24th year and is undoubtedly committed to sustaining and growing African American crafts exhibitors, small businesses, wholesome families and communities.
    http://www.kwanzaagiftshow.com

  • KPFA Crafts & Music Fair ($10 San Francisco, 10am – 6pm)

    The 39th Annual KPFA Crafts & Music Fair, the largest weekend holiday craft fair of its kind in Northern California, features 220 craftsmakers and artists from throughout the country, a gourmet food pavilion and live performances by some of the area’s leading world musicians.
    http://www.kpfa.org/craftsfair/

  • Mercury 20 – Winter Arts Fair (11am – 5pm)

    We’ll be featuring the work of local artists that have created work specifically for the holidays.
    Come enjoy hand made one of a kind work and holiday goodies. Buy local and support Oakland arts!
    http://www.mercurytwenty.com/Winter_arts/WinterArts.html

  • Stocking Stuffers Craft Fair @ We Art Space (11am – 4pm)

    Original ready-t0-hang art, and hand-crafted items such as jewelry, clothing, housewares, and more…
    http://WeArtSpace.com/

Online

And if you can’t bear to leave the warm glow of your computer monitor, you can always support local Oakland artists by buying their wares through Etsy, which is a pretty great site in my opinion. If you click on their shop local section (http://www.etsy.com/shop_local.php), you can type in Oakland, CA and get an abundance of Oaktown artisans…

Homemade

And of course, if you happen to be artistically inclined, or even the slightest bit creative, who says you have to shop at all? Be your own artist… get creative and have some fun making gifts to share with your loved ones. Those are truly the best gifts of all, because they come from the heart, and not just the wallet.

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?

Are you feeling it?

That holiday spirit I mean.

I thought I kicked things off pretty well yesterday, and I’m going to keep the energy flowing… or at least I’m going to try.

I thought it would be fun to document some of the more spectacular holiday light displays around town and decided to start at one of my very favorite places in Oakland, Mountain View Cemetery. Their display is a little kitschy, but that’s kind of what it’s all about isn’t it?

I saw them unpacking the lights and wrapping the trees last weekend when I was there for a jog… young men on step ladders stringing trees, and others placing Santa and his reindeer in their arc around the entrance fountain.

The sign says the “Circle of Lights” display will be up each evening in December from 5 – 9pm. There’s even accompanying holiday music if you tune into the FM station listed. All I can say is I was there at 5:05pm today, and while a few things were lit, the reverential circle was certainly not. Bah humbug. Here are a couple shots, but clearly I’ll have to go back…

holiday lights at mountain view cemetery, oakland holiday lights

holiday lights at mountain view cemetery, gothic church, oakland holiday lights

Keep tuning in for more holiday cheer, unless you’re feeling Scroogey of course… because I’ve got lots of joy to spread around. I’m hoping to make it to:

  • The official city tree lighting ceremony with the Mayor downtown tomorrow (5pm Thursday the 3rd at City Center Plaza)
  • The Zoolights display at the Oakland Zoo (Starts Friday… it sounds pretty cool and I’ve never seen it)
  • The lighted yacht parade on the Oakland/Alameda estuary this Saturday
  • And much much more

Plus I’ve got snowflake how-to’s, cookie recipes, Santacon!!, and who knows what else. Let’s have some fun, eh?

Oh yeah… and Art Murmur is Friday! So I’ll cover some non-holiday stuff too for you Grinchy types.