Culture

At “Fiber Florist,” a local artist creates everlasting bouquets

In the window display of Vivian Truong’s studio there are rose petals as soft as a newborn’s hair, tulips as vibrantly colored as wild birds, and daffodils as bright as the early morning sun. It may appear that Truong has finally found the trick for keeping fresh-cut plants alive longer than a week. But a closer look reveals that these flowers are actually carefully handcrafted out of felt and fabric—Truong is a “fiber florist.”

Little Kids Rock brings music education to schools

On March 23, members of the Pandora team held a music day at Roots International Academy, a middle school in East Oakland. This is a continuation of their Little Kids Rock program, which works to bring music education to schools serving a low-income student population.

Oakland Tribune to be folded into a new multi-city publication

After an announcement from the Bay Area News Group (BANG) on March 1, Oakland found itself on its way to becoming a city without a daily newspaper: In April, the Oakland Tribune will be folded into a new multi-city publication called the East Bay Times, along with the Contra Costa Times, the Daily Review that serves Hayward, and their Fremont counterpart, the Argus. “These changes are prompted by a desire to sharpen our content offerings and are supported by extensive…

In new collection, librarian-poet pens odes to Oakland

Throughout the years, Oakland librarian Nina Lindsay shelved books, helped cardholders with reference questions, and aided children in interpreting their school assignments, sometimes with instructions from teachers that were somewhat lost in translation. As she helped other people, slowly but surely she was collecting something of her own: poems.