Category Archives: murals

Creature

I haven’t posted much street art lately so I thought for the next few days I’d focus on some new pieces I’ve seen recently.  Here’s the first…

oakland murals, west oakland graffiti art

west oakland mural, west oakland graffiti art, oakland murals

I don’t know who the artist is. If you can decipher the lettering between the two gargoyle figures, that is likely the artist’s name (or moniker). I think I can make out an ‘A’ in the middle, but that’s about it. Anyone good at reading these tags?

west oakland creatures mural, oakland murals, oakland graffiti art

It caught my eye last Friday as I was running errands in West Oakland/Emeryville. I’m pretty sure it’s fairly recent because I’ve been over there a bunch lately and this is the first I’ve seen of this. Located on 35th street (a prime dumping spot despite the cameras and signs that say dumpers will be prosecuted), I think it’s pretty excellent.

west oakland graffiti art, west oakland creatures mural, 35th street mural

Maybe with these guys keeping watch over the street, things will be kept a bit tidier, eh?

Speaking of Dimond Public Art…

Here is the latest installation, completed just last week.  Titled, Dimond’s Hidden Jewels, this is actually just the first of five panels to be installed on the side of the Farmer Joe’s Market located at Fruitvale and MacArthur.

Farmer Joe's Mural, mural of dimond district

Created by Dimond artists, Debbie Koppman and Amanda Lockwood, both long-time teachers at nearby Sequoia Elementary School, the mural is based on hundreds of student drawings and sculptural puppet creations.  The idea is to portray this slice of Oakland “through the eyes of its youngest inhabitants.”

Looks pretty idyllic doesn’t it? Oh, to be five again…

The series of panels are planned to showcase the history of the area:

  1. The region’s first inhabitants – the Ohlone
  2. Farms, orchards, and redwood logging
  3. Historical development of Dimond
  4. Historical development of Dimond cont.
  5. Present day Dimond – this is the panel they painted first, featured here.

Though the mural has been in the planning for years, the real challenge has been funding.  What allowed this first panel to be created was an Oaklandish 2010 Innovators Award plus “Pay-Go” district funding committed by Councilmember and new Oakland Mayor-elect Jean Quan.  Thanks to everyone involved for this gorgeous addition to the neighborhood!  Can’t wait to see the next four panels…

Here are more shots of the work in progress…

Dimond Hidden Jewels

amanda lockwood, debbie koppman

sequoia elementary school art projects

And details of the finished product…

east oakland murals, dimond public murals

oakland mural, based on childrens' drawings

Dimond Mural Details

dimond public art, dimond public mural, east oakland public mural

I love it!

If you want to help support the creation of the future panels, you can donate funds or provide ideas and suggestions about what you think makes Dimond special, by contacting the artists directly… debkoppman@yahoo.com or amandalockwood9@gmail.com.

One way to spruce up those boring garage doors…

art on garage doors, slice of california, multicultural art

My girlfriend recently had to replace her garage door with essentially a large piece of plywood… a short term solution. She asked if I had any ideas for how she could “spruce it up a bit,” so I’ve been on the lookout during my travels about Oaktown to see what creative folks have done with theirs. I shared one a few weeks ago, with DREAMS.

Here’s another… and all I can say is, “wow!” It’s quite a production.

And it’s so quintessentially California I almost have to laugh. We see people of all colors and backgrounds happily integrated… even the Muslim woman and the Jewish man sit together under the tree (though not k – i – s – s – i – n – g). She’s reading Frog and Toad Together, while he reads Horton Hears a Who.

And all are living in peaceful harmony with their woodland creature friends…

painted garage, creative garage doors, funky garage doors

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