Art
After winning a Grammy for the second time, Oakland artist Xavier Dphrepaulez—better known as Fantastic Negrito—came to Oakland’s Impact Hub in early March for a celebration of local talent and to make a donation to support Oakland’s teachers, who had begun a strike a few days earlier. “Feels good, because you know, just four years ago I was playing on the streets right here on Broadway,” he told Oakland North in an interview. “Four years, two Grammys … pretty good.”…
Oakland activists Lead to Life melt guns into shovels and use them to plant trees.
Kids ran around relentlessly, and parents did their best to keep up. This was the scene at the Oakland Museum of California’s Lunar New Year Celebration, an annual event that drew residents from across the Bay Area. A line of traffic formed on Oak St. just for museum parking. As attendees continuously flooded through the museum entrance, the sight of walls adorned with red decorations and multi-colored lanterns welcomed them. The festivities focused on how members of the Asian diaspora…
Dance professor Julia Hughes is finishing a rehearsal in a big circle in the center of a studio. “Breathe in, breathe out,” she says. “Let’s leave all our bad energies and refresh by saying something we are thankful for!” This is the first time that her group, Tô Aí: We Are One People, will be performing as part of the Black Choreographers Festival, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this February during the month dedicated to black history. The festival,…
Last Friday, online music company Bandcamp hosted the grand opening of a new record store and performance space in downtown Oakland. Local artists Sol Development, Queens D. Light, Jazz on the Sidewalk, and MJ’s Brass Boppers performed in front of a packed house. Attendees chatted away while browsing through the store’s diverse music selection. For the record store’s general manager, Sarah Sexton, this new space is all about bringing together musicians that “really showcased the diversity and range of the…
Craftspeople all over the country are busy preparing for holiday sales. Many will make half their annual income in these final two months of the year. Hopefully, it’s enough to make it through the slow months that follow—or at least to justify pressing on.
Oaklanders can take in neon art on display at Transmission Gallery now through March.
At the seventh annual Magic Makers event last week, artists and healers celebrated queer culture and promoted self-care.
Artists and designers repurpose parts of the demolished eastern span of the Bay Bridge and create projects celebrating the bridge’s importance as an iconic structure.