Culture
On Friday night, art and love enthusiasts hit up The Crucible’s Fireside Lounge event in West Oakland. The Crucible, an education facility specializing in industrial arts, welcomed the public in for an evening of art, music, libations, demonstrations by faculty and, of course, a kissing robot.
Cherrie Tan, a high school senior, has been going to Oakland’s Lakeview library every week for the last year, but she’s not there to check out books, surf the Internet or read—she’s there to knit. Part social, part class, this library knitting circle, called “All Knit,” is one of several knitting groups to have popped up in the East Bay over the last few years.
Goodbye to the cured pork tacos served with mint, cabbage and diakon radishes. Goodbye to the creamy mac-and-cheese cake topped with panko breadcrumbs and Gremolata cheese. Goodbye to the butterscotch pudding. One of Oakland’s first mobile food trucks, Jon’s Street Eats, is shutting up shop.
Meet Forest—or more formally, Gingerbread Black Forest Tradition—and his handler Christine Ghimenti of Paw Prints Boxers, as they compete in the Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show, and get a peek into the Bay Area’s dog show scene.
Blade, 29, describes Sight School as a studio with multiple platforms for supporting Bay Area artists. ”I’m trying to build this as an art space for learning how to see together as a community,” she said, noting the limitless possibilities for how she can use her space. Starting next month, Blade is introducing Café Sunday, a weekly brunch in the studio prepared by guest chefs for neighbors.
On Friday, the Oakland Museum of California will launch its newest project—the Oakland Standard. Part art, part music and part venue for conversation, this art series is all about honoring the creative people who live in Oakland or who are from here. And the museum staff is kicking it all off with a party.
Photographers who find their muse in Oakland can now submit their work to compete in the 2011 Visit Oakland Photo Contest, which began Tuesday. Visit Oakland, formerly the Oakland Convention & Visitors Bureau, is dedicated to promoting Oakland as a destination for meetings and travel. This is its fifth photo contest, and so far it has recognized more than 100 photos.
Crowded in the back of St. Vincent de Paul’s community center, dozens of people paint an extensive wood panel with a mosaic of images—trees, faces, buildings and flowers. They’re creating a work for display at the center, but these painters aren’t professional artists, they’re low-income and homeless clients of St. Vincent de Paul.
Snap Judgment—which began airing weekly last July and is produced in Washington’s studio in Oakland—is now the fastest-growing show on National Public Radio, with more than 100 stations airing it weekly and over 160 having played its specials. All the episodes are available to stream on the show’s website (SnapJudgment.org) and to download as a podcast on iTunes.