A few more wheatpastes down the building from yesterday’s. This one’s pretty fantastic…
And this one next to it looks like it was pretty interesting too… bummer I didn’t catch it before it was damaged. It says “Just Becauz“.
Category Archives: west oakland
E-ville Wheaties ~ part I
This is another abandoned building that gets frequently used by local artists… I’ve also featured this location before, but spotted this piece last weekend as I whizzed by and knew I needed to come back to feature it. I love it.
The building is located on San Pablo Avenue, just across the Emeryville border. I drove this stretch of San Pablo probably a thousand times over the years and it never ceased to amaze me how dramatically things shifted across that city line. Hell, even the street lamps were prettier! To me, this long-standing boarded up building looks more Oakland than antiseptic Emeryville. Regardless, I love to check on it from time to time to see what folks have thrown up…
What I love about this piece is its depth, not to mention its message. I actually tried to watch Glenn Beck last week just to see what all the hullabaloo is about… all I can say is, the man is f&*#ing crazy! I had to turn it off after just 5 minutes, and find it hard to believe (and sad really) that millions of Americans have simply shut off their brains to consume this man’s rants as gospel. Thank god we have artists like this who are willing to question the status quo.
It’s a wheatpaste on top of a wheatpaste and has some killer stencil work (I think) in the tiny bomber plane…
The backdrop consists of 6 large “Fox News” posters mounted to plywood and then stenciled with the plane and the repeated words “media blitz media blitz…” But on top of all that is mounted another wheatpaste… a monster war machine of a tank with the words “Fox News” emblazoned across the top. The whole thing seems to be covered in some type of plastic or acrylic material to protect it.
See below right for fragments of all the older wheatpastes on the sidewalk below… There were a couple others up nearby; I’ll feature them in my next post or two, which should be on the shorter side, as last week’s were kinda time consuming. Please check back.
Tripping… by 2am
So I moved this weekend, yesterday evening to be precise…
After 10 years!
As you can imagine, in the course of a decade I managed to cram a ridiculous amount of stuff into various hidden nooks and crannies. I thought I was traveling light. I thought it would be easy. After repeated Goodwill donations and Salvation Army pickups throughout the years, I thought I was in good shape.
I was wrong.
I’ll be digging out for days, and in the interest of keeping my sanity, and my day job, my next few posts will be short and sweet.
Here another sticker from outside what is no longer my home! (Incidentally, it’s probably a good depiction of how my movers were feeling about hour five into the job… I can’t thank them enough… heaps of gratitude to Crispin & Eric from Anonymous Movers!)
BTW, anyone want to rent a cool loft in the hood???
Weekend Fun!
Man, it feels like summer is here… and as you can imagine, there are a whole host of ways to kick off it off right!
I’m taking a break from the bookstore series (but more coming soon) to highlight just a few of the incredible options going on this weekend…
- ART MURMUR tonight (5pm onward) Free
Not much to say here other than “do it”. It’s really fun as you can see from my post last month… (Art Murmur is FUN) - OPEN STUDIOS (Saturday & Sunday 11am – 6pm) Free
East Bay Open Studios will be taking place over the next two weekends. This is your opportunity to, not only check out & hopefully buy some amazing art produced by local artists, but also meet the artists in person, tour their workspaces (which I always find fascinating), and enjoy some snacks while you’re at it. Get your maps/directory at the link above (download) or in this week’s East Bay express, and have fun exploring & discovering… - BLUEGRASS FOR THE GREENBELT (Saturday 11am – 6pm) $40 – $45
This is a fundraiser for the Greenbelt Alliance (local advocates for “open spaces & vibrant places”) also sponsored by the Hellman Family Foundation, which I assume is related to Warren Hellman, producer-extraordinaire of San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. This event is not free like HSB, but it’s for a good cause, and appropriately located on the beautiful rolling lawns of Oakland’s Dunsmuir-Hellman Historic Estate – a 37-room Neoclassical Revival mansion built in 1899 on 50 acres of urban park land. - TOWN FUNK BLOCK PARTY, 19th St. @ Park Blvd. (Saturday 12pm – 5pm) Free
My friend Desi’s organization Community Rejuvenation Project has orchestrated this BBQ/party in conjunction with local neighborhood businesses and organizations to celebrate arts & community. Featuring tons of live music including a Michael Jackson tribute by DJ Zeph, free food, the unveiling of four new murals, and more. Should be a blast! - MUSIC IN THE GARDENS, Lake Merritt (Sunday 11am – 4pm) Free
“Stroll through the beautiful Lake Merritt-adjacent gardens and encounter diverse musical ensembles, from vintage blues to klezmer, classics to classical, Japanese flute to Renaissance recorder, and the Pacific Boychoir. This event will include gardening demonstrations, children’s activities, and tasty food.” I visited the gardens recently on a spin around the lake and they are gorgeous and fully in bloom. If you haven’t visited recently, I highly recommend it! - TEMESCAL STREET FAIR, Telegraph between 45th & 51st (Sunday 12pm – 6pm) Free
Featuring two stages of live music & performances, “foodie row” with samples of the amazing culinary wizardry available in this new gourmet district, craft & art booths, fashion shows, a Green Zone with info about greening your home, and much much more.
I’m sure there’s more going on as well, but these are the things I’ve got on my radar. Wish I could do ’em all!
Have a great weekend everybody!
ps – I didn’t have a photo for today, so I’m posting this cute kitty I met recently… (too cute!)
Oaktown Art | Oakland Art, Public Art, Murals, Graffiti, Culture, Oakland 