Culture
On Friday night, more than 50 people crammed into the small narrow studio of the Crucible’s new art studio, the Cathedral Gallery, on Broadway in downtown Oakland. The show, which runs until Dec. 18, displays art ranging from a beautiful clay sculpted statue of a woman to brightly colored neck ties made of glass. The title: eARTh (with an emphasis on art). The art: made from glass, clay, marble, stone and plaster. The price: $50 to $3,000. Or am I…
There’s nothing like a beautiful Saturday to remind you of all the yardwork that remains to be done before the winter rains return in a few weeks. So this past Saturday, members of the California Writers Club, along with Councilmember Jean Quan and other city employees, gathered to celebrate the CWC’s 100th anniversary—and begin the groundwork for a new walkway around the Abbey, Oakland poet Joaquin Miller’s historical home. The two-year project, which will include building the handicap-accessible walkway and…
Oakland resident Wilbert McAlister grew up watching Westerns at the movie theater in his rural hometown of Madera, Calif. For years he reveled in the exploits of white heroes, but as an adult he began to ask himself why none of the actors resembled him or his ancestors, who were ranchers in Oklahoma. As he explained to Oakland North, this question of identity led him to become president of the Oakland Black Cowboy Association, which keeps East Bay residents connected…
At a commemorative interfaith service in Oakland, supporters of gay marriage gathered to reflect on the year since state voters approved the ballot initiative restricting marriage in California to man-woman couples.
A year ago today, California voters approved Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment that bars same-sex marriages in the state. Maine voters yesterday approved a similar ban, leaving five states–Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire–in which gay couples may legally wed. This interactive map (scroll over to get more information on each state), designed and reported by Oakland North’s Shannon Service and Tasneem Raja, shows the current state-by-state array of marriage and civil union law around the United States.
The third annual Scraper Bike Day celebrates yet another Oakland phenom that has gone bigtime. An O.N. video, plus music that will get stuck in your head.
Dutiful sons and daughters keep alive the Mexican tradition of honoring the dead with flowers, food and drink.
In Rockridge, the hordes descended last night in horns, sheets, glo-lights, vampire teeth, death masks, peace sign necklaces, and extremely scary hair.
At the Eastside Arts Alliance, historian Robin D. G. Kelley speaks about his new book examining the life of pianist Thelonious Monk, and upends the myth of Monk as a reclusive jazz genius.