Web portal promotes East Bay arts, culture

510arts.com

The tag line for 510Arts.com is "World Culture in the East Bay." That's the first smart-marketing message being pushed by this online portal for artists and art organizations from the so-called East Bay Cultural Corridor, which comprises Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland and Richmond.

While San Francisco still draws larger crowds to its theaters, music halls and museums, the East Bay is where most artists live these days. There are now more than 6,000 professional artists working in the East Bay - increasingly in the more affordable cities of Emeryville and Richmond - as well as hundreds of nonprofit visual arts, music, dance and theater organizations, according to the four cities' cultural departments. Plus, the East Bay is the melting pot of the region; more than 150 languages are spoken there, with residents hailing from every corner of the globe.

The online portal launched Oct. 2 as a public-private-community partnership, with sign-on from the cities' four mayors and funding from the East Bay Community Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation and Leveraging Investments in Creativity. The organization's goals are to help market local artists and arts institutions, forge relationships among them and use the arts as a catalyst for economic development. [more]

A worthy repost from the Chronicle: Tamara Straus, Special to The Chronicle, Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Edition

Enjoy! Marcus

KQED SPARK airs

KQED's arts program, SPARK, recently aired featuring Katherine Westerhout photographing the light in the abandoned Oakland Train Station. If you missed it you can still view the segment and read the copy by clicking here, and searching Oakland Train Station.
ENJOY!

History in the Gardens

Throughout the project, Miller Company has sited historic elements saved from the original cannery building into the garden areas. In the western entry area historic cast iron wheels, magnificent survivors of the industrial age from the ice making machinery, have been mounted as a sculptural reminder of what once was at the heart of the building. At the eastern end of the Entry Dining Courtyard the factory's original industrial scale, originally used to weigh cans before being loaded onto trains, is placed at the building entrance. Miller Company also incorporated antique switchgear, valves, and gauges now repurposed throughout the project marking underground pipes. Finally, electrical panels from the original cannery are placed at the end of each courtyard. Take a stroll through the grounds and enjoy!

Green Thumb Artist

If you have walked through the Pacific Cannery Lofts you have undoubtedly experienced the beautiful landscaping, courtyards, historic items and seating areas that make the Pacific Cannery Lofts the place you want to live and hang out. Holliday Development has always put serious thought into what makes the difference between a "project" and a "community" and part of that answer is accessibility to inviting outside space where residents, their friends and pets can get to know each other. No one is better at designing and landscaping these spaces than Jeff Miller and his staff at The Miller Company. Jeff is one of the few landscape architects who has explored and mastered landscape design as a way of improving living conditions in urban areas. He has worked his magic on many previous HD projects including the Lofts at 18th and Arkansas in SF, Emeryville Warehouse in Emeryville, and Iron Horse Lofts in Walnut Creek. In the next few blogs I will be covering different aspects of Jeff's work on our gardens and relaying the thought process behind the landscape art. We are so lucky to have Jeff working his green thumb art at PCL.

Bookmark it! Prescott-Oakland Point Blog

I recently went back to check the Oakland Prescott Blog created by Marcus Johnson. I hadn't been there for a while and was amazed at the amount of updated information that is gathered there. From art to culinary interests, from getting around by bus, train, bike or walking, to up to date events in the area....it is all there on this one blog. Easy to navigate and ever growing I would strongly suggest bookmarking this site and visiting it often.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send a email to blogger, Marcus Johnson and put "POPNA" in subject line.

West Oakland Looks to SoMa's revival model

The Novemeber 21-27 SF Business Times featured an article paralleling the current changes in West Oakland to the revival of the South of Market area of San Francisco in the late 80's. This neighborhood transformed from an under utilized industrial zone to a booming office and residential district. Rick Holliday had a large hand in the SoMa revival as he developed three of the first San Francisco loft buildings in this area, 601 4th Street, followed by 355 Bryant Street and the Clocktower Lofts on Second Street. Rick and many other developers including Pulte Homes and Bridge Housing believe that West Oakland is on the cusp. Read more

Art @ Pacific Cannery Lofts

Last Friday night the Pacific Cannery Lofts came alive with activity as 30 local artists displayed their work. The art included sculptures, paintings, metal works, collage, fashion and music. The food was provided by Brown Sugar Kitchen, the new "PLACE TO EAT" in Oakland. Pulled pork and vegetable sandwiches followed by individual pecan pies where examples of the delicious fare. The music touched on both Jazz and fabulous violin music accompanied by drums and guitar. Hardly a foot was able to keep from moving!

We will keep you posted of future events in the courtyards of the Pacific Cannery Loft!

Emory Douglas at the Pacific Cannery Lofts

Village Bottoms Cultural District and the Black New World Presents:

BLACK PANTHER
the culture of ministry of
EMORY DOUGLAS

in collaborations with and curated by
Marcel Diallo

August 22, 2008 - Sept 26, 2008

Pacific Cannery Lofts,1200 Pine Street, Oakland ART @ THE CANNERY

Opening Night Reception
Friday Aug. 22 @ 7pm
A conversation with Emory Douglas
A performance by Marcel Diallo & co.
Plus a special cultural presentation

Prints and Books available on site
510.451.4661 BlackNewWorld.com

Fire Arts Festival

I was there on Friday night, at the Fire Arts Festival put on by the Crucible in West Oakland. This was a celebration of creativity through fire and light.

This scorching showcase of fire performance is the largest collection of fire and light installations on the West Coast. The Fire Vortex by Nate Smith, pictured here, was a stream of fire spun around by well placed fans reaching up towards the height of the BART tracks. I kept wondering what the people riding BART were thinking as they looked down on this fire vortex and all the other blazing pieces of art. The proceeds from the festival provide critical funding for the Crucible's arts and education programs for all ages from 8 up. Classes include anything from blacksmithing and ceramics to glass, foundry, jewelry making and working with neon and light. You can find out more about this incredible art opportunity at www.thecrucible.org. Check it out!

More Young Talent

You may have seen a young Brazilian woman carrying a tripod and camera bag around the Pacific Cannery Lofts lately. She is Carmen Campos, a masters student at Academy of Art College in San Francisco. She is "shooting" the lofts inside and out and we will be displaying her work on our website gallery once she is finished.

Carmen comes from Sao Paulo, Brazil where she completed her undergraduate degree in advertising at McKenzie University and a graduate degree in Film and Television Business at Fundação Getulio Vargas-SP. Keep tuned for her images popping up her and there.

Budding Photographer visits Pacific Cannery Lofts

Budding Photographer Rosanna Anson Vazquez, who has generously agreed to display her most recent works in our signature loft, visited to view her works in the recently installed model and was thrilled with the results. She was amazed at the amount of light in the unit and to see her works in such a "cool" setting. Keep tuned as we will be having an evening wine and cheese event to meet the artist including many of her fellow photography friends and professors. For a preview of her works check out www.rusansonphotography.com.
I have found so many young talented artists to work with in a number of projects over the past few years. Thanks to all the new young talent out there.

Rosanna Anson Vazquez, Photographer

You will be treated to a number of Rosanna's surrealistic photographic works in the new Pacific Cannery Lofts model, a Signature Loft, opening next week. Rosanna comes to us on a full scholarship to the MFA program at the Art Academy from Barcelona Spain. Growing up in an artistic family Rosanna began her college studies in advertising but followed her artistic passion and switched to graphic design where she explored the world of shapes , colors, and drawing both by hand and on the computer. Moving on to study at the Llotja School of Arts in Barcelona she found work with a fashion photographer and was fascinated more by the photo shoot itself than the art. Shooting with a "point and shoot" camera she entered her own work into the El Pais Photography competition and won first prize which was a Canon 30D camera. Since then she has not stopped shooting. Winning the scholarship to San Francisco has allowed Rosanna to live her dream. She wishes to entertain people with her surrealistic photos and to get their minds off hard times. The actual photograph is only the first step in her art form. The image is later manipulated in order to create different dreamscapes. Changing color, and applying additional images all come together to create the incredible surrealism of her work. You can view her work at her flickr site and of course at our new Signature Loft Model at Pacific Cannery Lofts.

We're a geographical George Clinton, the "King of Funk."

Funky Brazilian shack offers up a taste of Rio ...

THE MORE TIME you spend in the Oakland area, you come to realize this is one funky scene. We're a geographical George Clinton, the "King of Funk."

Enjoy a libation at the Kingfish or Last Chance Saloon in Oakland or Croll's in Alameda, or grab a burger at The Smokehouse in Berkeley — it doesn't get any more funky.

But if you want funk, samba-style, there's only place: The Brazil Fresh Squeeze Cafe. Even the name sounds funky.

The cafe — it hardly resembles one — is one block from the University of California, Berkeley, campus at the corner of University and Walnut. Seeing it for the first time, your immediate thought will be: How did it ever get a building permit? For its architecture is impossible to describe — sort of a shack or a hut or a fort.

But Berkeley is strange, so the cafe fits the city perfectly.

However, if you want genuine Brazilian food, you don't have to go to Rio de Janeiro. Just drive over to Pedro Robin's funky food palace, with the American and Brazilian flags flying above the roof and place your order.

Figuring what to eat will be challenging. The cuisine is quite good and quite varied. Thus making a decision will be harder than doing the samba.

[more] Dave Newhouse's Good Neighbors, Oakland Tribune 01.28.08

In Style

The Black Dot Artists, located almost immediately next door to the Pacific Cannery Lofts and lead by Marcel Diallo (pictured 3rd from the left), hosted a fundraiser event, "A Conversation with Don Cheadle." Cheadle is a longtime friend of Marcel and was excited to come up to support the Black Dot Artists.

Cheadle was remarkably humble and insightful as he spoke on everything from genocide in Darfur to his family & children to the writer's strike in Hollywood. Speaking of his work in the Darfur region, he said that after seeing some of the atrocities firsthand during the filming of Hotel Rwanda, he had no choice but to become involved.

Pictured in the Style section of the San Francisco Chronicle from the event, Rick & Nancy Holliday are above to the right of Don Cheadle.

More shots from the event as pictured in the Chronicle:

Joy Rider Clothing

What a trip! I was at the Temescal Farmers Market this past Sunday and the first booth I saw had a young woman seated at an old fashioned foot powered sewing machine creating colorful clothing. Interested in photography, I bent down with my camera and took a picture of the brown boot working the pedal, (this image will appear on our photoblog 1/19-20) but eventually I grabbed a business card from the artist and saw the words COMMUTER BICYCLIST CLOTHING. How cool is that? Nan Eastep, a local Bay Area mother, clothing designer, textile artist and urban farmer created Joy Rider clothing as an attempt to support bicycle and pedestrian culture. You can get more information on Joy Rider at http://www.joyriderclothing.com/ or visit Nan at the Temescal Farmers Market at the Claremont DMV on Sundays 9am - 1pm. Or you can email Nan at info@joyriderclothing.com.

A Summer in Italy and Istria: Studio Exhibition

Local artist Anthony Holdsworth is holding a studio exhibiton on Sat. & Sun (Dec. 8th & 9th) from 11-5 at his studio, 351 Lewis Street in Oakland, just a couple minutes from the Pacific Cannery Lofts.

The exhibiton "is an attempt to capture the spirit and culture of Italy, and is also a reflection on his experiences there during the last 40 years."

Learn more about Anthony and his exhibiton in NovoMetro's recent feature article.

Anthony's studio is located just down the street from the studio of acclaimed sculptor Bruce Beasley.

It's Oakland's Turn...Jerry Brown wasn't crazy.

San Francisco magazine has made these assertions in their current issue regarding development in and around downtown Oakland. I couldn't agree more with SF magazine's assessment. Seven years ago I bought the main Oakland Train Station and 25 acres of vacant land that surrounded it. When I bought the site I decided to delve directly into the neighborhood and learn more about the hopes and aspirations of the residents. I spent time in the local barbershop where I heard many stories of the rich history of the area. I also became aware of a very deep frustration with the lack of progress in getting new buildings and new residents to the area....the neighbors were saying that "It's Oakland's Turn"....isn't it??

One of the most interesting people I met in the early days is my counterpart in the photo above. his name is Marcel Diallo and he shared his vision for bringing back the neighborhood by organizing creative young folks like himself....he's was in his middle 20's at the time......and getting them to focus on a few blocks in West Oakland known to locals as the "Lower Bottom". His vision is to create an opportunity for entrepreneur's like himself to re-create the lost culture of the Black community.

As a 54 year old "white guy" I was intrigued at how we might work together to start the process of re-building this amazing neighborhood. This blog is designed to tell our story in real time as the buildings come to life. Our first building ...the Pacific Coast Cannery is scheduled for completion this spring 2008. I hope you find this story interesting and compelling and that you participate in Marcel's and my effort to redevelop this special neighborhood the right way....by reaching out and including ALL interested parties and blending ALL of their hopes and aspirations. This is the Bay Area's oldest neighborhood...the Station was the end of the trans-continental railroad in 1870...it has been called "Ellis Island West" by local historians as it was the landing point for all new residents to Northern California. I will post at least once a week to update you on our progress.