Category Archives: paint

eRACISM

One of a series of murals featured under various 580 freeway exits in East Oakland. My favorite of the series (Park Blvd exit) was featured awhile back… Invisible Colors.

This one’s my next favorite and is located at the High Street exit…

fruitvale exit mural, word murals oakland, eracism mural, east oakland freeway murals

There are four in total from a project titled Words by Roads which was commissioned through the City of Oakland’s Public Art Program in 1991.

Directed by Iranian born conceptual artist Seyed Alavi, the artworks were created in collaboration with sixteen students from Skyline, Fremont, and Oakland High Schools.

Alavi, who’s known for the use of language in his works, conducted creative workshops with the students “to communicate ideas about the power of language… and the social and cultural nature of public art.”

He saw himself acting merely as a facilitator and credits the ideas and sketches for the murals exclusively to the students. “These students felt racism was the most important issue to comment on and decided on four phrases… to be printed on highly visible locations in their neighborhoods.” (City of Oakland Public Art Program)

You’ll have to check back to see the others…  I’ll have more info on the artist too.

fruitvale avenue, word murals oakland, fruitvale eracism mural

Key Route Plaza Mural

Here’s another mural by artist Rocky Rische-Baird commemorating the history of the Bay Area’s Key Route Train System…

Key Route Plaza, piedmont avenue plaza

Located at Key Route Plaza at the intersection of Piedmont Ave and 41st, the spot marks the site where the first key route electric train arrived in 1904 from a new ferry pier on the bay off Emeryville.  Later in 1937,  a new train station was built here to accommodate new streamlined trains which would run across the Bay Bridge into San Francisco, transporting passengers downtown (1st and Mission) in just 27 minutes. (historic plaque)

The mural is full of symbolism, and as guest commenter Oakland Daily Photo pointed out, this one is significantly more political that the downtown version featured yesterday.  In just one section of the mural we can see figures representing Black Power, Women’s Suffrage, and our country’s military might linked to our need for petroleum.

rocky rische-baird, key route plaza, key route station piedmont ave

The primary figure in the upper right-hand corner, Francis Marion Smith (known as “Borax” Smith for the riches he acquired in mining borax in Nevada), was the visionary behind the Key Route System.  The key he is holding “has three rings at its handle to symbolize the three lines to Berkeley, Oakland and Piedmont. The long stem represents the Key Pier, which carried trains about 3 miles over the bay, and the teeth represent the ferry slip.”

Borax Smith, Key Route System visionary

Artist Rische-Baird raised money for the production of the mural by literally selling the seats on the train.  Passengers portrayed in the windows are real live residents who contributed funds, some who actually rode the train system before its last run in 1958.

Borax Smith, Francis Marion Smith, key route mural

Much of this information and more about the artist and the production of the mural can be found in this article:  Key to the Past / A Piedmont mural captures the glory of a bygone transit system by Sam Whiting.

rocky rische-baird, key route mural

key route plaza, key route station history

The Downtown Key Route Mural

Hey everybody… I’m back from an unexpected hiatus.  Did you miss me?

I thought I could get to some quick posts this past week, but was quickly deluged by streams of cardboard, packing tape, and mountains of goods destined for other homes.  It was a crazy week, but the house is coming together, our garage sale was moderately successful, and though I feel as though I’ve been run over by a freight train, I’m now somewhat back in the swing of things.

Hoping to finish up my bookstore series in the near future, but in the meantime, here’s a little something else…

key system building, early skyscraper oakland

rocky rische-baird, oakland heritage alliance

key system building, key system transit line, rocky rische-baird

oakland heritage alliance, history of key system building


Great historical information in this video, thanks to the Oakland Heritage Alliance:

Mural designed by Rocky Rische-Baird
Mural painted by Rocky & Erica Rische-Baird (2008)

If you want to achieve greatness, stop asking for permission.

Well it was a big night of “openings” this past Saturday and our first stop was the new 5733 Retail Clothing Store & Gallery on Piedmont Ave (this before heading to the Oakland Museum Opening party, but more on that tomorrow…)

5733 clothing, 5733 opening party, 5733 store on piedmont

We weren’t sure exactly where the store was, but as we approached the correct block, the bumpin’ beats led us straight to the party. Tucked into an alcove off the main avenue, and up a flight of stairs, folks might know this location from the next door neighbor Chez Simone, who serves up delectable french cuisine as though you’re a guest in her own home.

5733, 5733 clothing store, 5733 grand opening

Despite the early hour, the party was already in full swing… the place packed and thronged with photographers. It was anything you could do not to get smacked in the face by a huge zoom lens. Others twittered away on their blackberries… and of course, people shopped. A steady buzz broadcast from the direction of the cash register, and with all goods produced locally & sustainably AND marked 25% off, the temptation was hard to resist. What can I say? I love my new hoodie!

5733 t-shirts, 5733 tshirts, 5733 artwork

Above, a display of some of artist Eddie Colla’s T-shirt designs… the far right was particularly memorable, titled X’s. Stitched onto the shirt were various fabric reproductions of polaroid snaps of gorgeous lingerie-clad girls in compromising positions… handwritten notes were scrawled on each one, like “Jiao – Bad English, but we were both fluent in Smirnoff.”

5733 gallery, eddie colla gallery, 5733 retail store

The murals above and below were my favorites… especially the “If you want to achieve greatness….” piece, from which I titled this post. It’s a bold sentiment embraced whole-heartedly by artist and founder Eddie Colla. As a street artist whose works are more typically found on abandoned buildings and back alleyways, the whole point is to create without authorization.

“There is a visual conversation that takes place on the streets of urban environments. This conversation is dominated primarily by advertising and utilitarian signage and assumes  passive participation. Whether invited or not I am going to participate in this conversation. Public spaces were never intended to be coated from top to bottom with photos of consumer products. These spaces should, in some manner, reflect the culture that thrives in that space.”

Hence, the concealed identity through use of bandanas… I love how this is mimicked in other pieces through the use of asian characters wearing masks (but for entirely different reasons).

5733 opening party, 5733 gallery opening, art by eddie colla

Don’t fret if you missed the opening party… After the success of this one, they’re sure to have plenty of future events. You can visit the store at 4125 Piedmont Ave, Oakland.