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Slow shopping isn’t just organic, it’s good for you.
It’s a lot better than heading to the mall, anyway. Holiday highway traffic and box store crowds are hard on your health. Take a look at Black Friday, with its long tradition of Cabbage Patch Kid stampedes and Tickle Me Elmo crazes. This year shoppers didn’t hit stores in their usual rabid fashion, though. Black Friday sales rose only 0.5 percent higher in 2009, even as Americans spent $10.66 billion the day after Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday brought up online purchases by 14% from 2008, indicating people stayed indoors after turkey day, pointing-and-clicking.
Let Oakland suggest a more festive alternative. Whether you wore black or plaid last Friday, this week bring out the green; find holiday gifts made and sold in Oakland. You’ll get out, stretch your legs (earning you an egg nogg) and see the streets decked out in holiday decor. Crisp air and sparkling lights beckon more brightly than the glow of a computer screen.
In a time of year when instances of road ragers and QVC sales increase, shopping locally will lead you to the perfect gift in little time. And it will help keep your neighbors in business. Here are some spots to check out…
Holidayland Reception
Blank Space and Compound galleries continue their Paul Bunyan-themed artist sale, featuring the artwork of over 100 local artists, designers and craftspeople. In case you missed the sale launch last week, stop by for Oakland Art Murmur this Friday and take your picture with Paul’s ox Babe; your $5 mug shot goes to support Oakland high schools. Also in store for First Friday are tamales by Tina Tamale of La Borinquena. Sip on Mexican Hot Chocolate, munch on a green bean tamale and peruse the fine art for sale. Emily Sevier creates ornaments to wear on site.
Reception: Fri., Dec. 4, 6 p.m.–10 p.m., Sale through Dec. 20, Blankspace Gallery, 6608 San Pablo Ave., 510-547-6608, blankspacegallery.org.
CCA Holiday Fair
Students and alumni of the California College of the Arts, will turn the campus into an arts bazaar Saturday morning. Have your pick of original paintings, jewelry, textiles, paper media and more. As you browse, enjoy complimentary jazz and treats.
Sat., Dec. 5, 11 a.m.–2:40 p.m., California College of the Arts 5212 Broadway, glee@cca.edu, cca.edu.
Piedmont Avenue Tree Lighting Ceremony & Holiday Stroll
Merchants along one of the city’s oldest business districts show some holiday flair for the shopping season. L’Amyx sells its quality teas (and accoutrements) at a 10–25 percent discount, and feature musician Michael Grandi plays jazz guitar and Cascada de Flores some Cuban folk tunes from 6 p.m.–10 p.m. The tree lighting ceremony (one of three scheduled in Oakland this week) begins the festivities, near the clock tower towering over the Mexican-American diner, J’s Hamburger & Such.
Sat., Dec. 5, 5 p.m. to closing, 41st St. and Piedmont Avenue, piedmontavenuemerchants.org.
Annual Pottery and Craft Sale
Studio One Art Center offers the best of both worlds during the giving season: gifts and a good cause. Purchase any art piece and all the proceeds go to fund Oakland’s youth programming.
Sun., Dec. 6, 12 p.m.–4 p.m., 365 45th St., 510-597-5027, oaklandnet.com/parks.
Fourth Annual Holiday Reception & ArtWalk
Back in the days when corporate plants dominated the landscape, the factory workers used to jangle their pay in-pocket, earning the neighborhood the name “Jingletown.” These days the arts drive the industry here instead of Ford Motor Company, and the products are more climate-friendly. Don’t miss photographer Jan Watten‘s portraits, Sarah Swell‘s metal-wrought jewelry or the Institute of Mosaic Art, whose gorgeous tile murals tag the warehouses on Chapman Street. Download an ArtWalk map here.
Reception: Fri., Dec. 4, 6 p.m.–9 p.m.; Gallery 4:20, 420 Peterson St.; ArtWalk: Dec. 5–6, 12–13, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., when you’ve reached the intersection of Peterson and Ford streets, you’re in the epicenter of ArtWalk, jingletown.org.
Holiday Buy Night
Pro-local Oakland Unwrapped and Oakland Grown are just two of the merchant organizations sponsoring this “Mall-ternative” to box store shopping. Products at this evening fair have more variety than a box of See’s candy, with everything from candles to kayaks for sale. Linden Street Brewery keeps customers warm with the launch of its Bleeding Heart Lager, a name that characterizes the most die-hard of Oaklanders.
Dec. 10–11, 5 p.m.–10 p.m., Jack London Market, 55 Harrison St., oaklandunwrapped.org.
Holiday Gifty Art Sale
The Crucible, largely responsible for the upsurge in the Oakland’s art scene, hosts more than 70 Bay Area artisans for this annual gift fair. Each booth standing on their 56,000 square foot space holds new surprises without the high retail prices. Also, sale-goers see demonstrations of what makes the Crucible tick year-round; glass blowing, metal casting and blacksmithing demonstrations wow crowds (11 a.m.–3 p.m.), between live performances and Santa’s appearance (1 p.m.).
Dec. 12–13, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., 1260 7th St., thecrucible.org.
Winter Arts Fair
Join Mercury 20 gallery to select artfully rendered pottery, mixed media, tote bags, jewelry and more. One of the several artists to participate is Chela Fielding, who brings her mixed media to the sale. One of her installation pieces, the charming and stark “Memory Drawers,” was pictured in a book called “Memory Boxes” by Anna Corbin. The hidden objects give the work a nostalgic feel, like a well-loved advent calendar. No chocolate Santa Clauses here, though. Cheer and refreshments however will be served.
11 a.m.–5 p.m., 25 Grand Ave., 510-701-4620, mercurytwenty.com.
Second Annual Temescal Holiday Skate & Stroll
The outdoor ice skating rink takes center stage at this neighborhood fair, with sales proceeds benefiting Good Cents for Oakland and the Emerson School. Once you’ve reprised “The Nutcracker” on ice, peek into the charming stores in the Temescal. All weekend long, hear carolers and dunk candy canes in hot chocolate. On Sunday, artist Mark Brest van Kempen unveils his city-sponsored art series—“Views of the Greenbelt”—sculptures that reflect the flora and fauna of the Rockridge-Temescal neighborhoods.
Dec. 12–13, 12:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m., Telegraph Avenue and 49th Street, temescaldistrict.org.
Local Love
Manifesto Bicycles is just one of the retailers spicing up 40th Street for holiday consumption. On Saturday it fetes 40th Street with the Local Love collective, a band of block merchants, including the Rowan Morrison Gallery, 1-2-3-4 Go! Records and the city’s premier mag shop: Issues.
Dec. 12, 6 p.m.–9 p.m., 40th Street and Broadway, 510-595-1155, wearemanifesto.com.
Fourth Annual Holiday Reception & ArtWalk
Back in the days when corporate plants dominated the landscape, the factory workers used to jangle their pay in-pocket, earning the neighborhood the name “Jingletown.” These days the arts drive the industry here instead of Ford Motor Company, and the products are more climate-friendly. Don’t miss photographer Jan Watten‘s portraits, Sarah Swell‘s metal-wrought jewelry or the Institute of Mosaic Art, whose gorgeous tile murals tag the warehouses on Chapman Street. Download an ArtWalk map here.
ArtWalk: Dec. 5–6, 12–13, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., when you’ve reached the intersection of Peterson and Ford streets, you’re in the epicenter of ArtWalk, jingletown.org.
Renegade Craft Fair
Oaklandish represents The O in SF with its line of pop-historical wear. This homegrown outfit makes the best threads for those tapped into Oakland’s cultural underbelly. And Oaklandish is just one of hundreds more Bay Area vendors setting up shop at Fort Mason, which hosted the wildly successful Slow Food Festival two summers ago. Renegade’s combination of small businesses and big markets provide ample tasting of the region’s indie art.
Dec. 19–20, 11 a.m.–7 p.m., Fort Mason Center, Herbst Pavilion, San Francisco renegadecraft.com.
Berkeley Holiday Artisans Open Studios
This recurring gallery crawl has an Oakland Art Murmur feel, and this winter it comes in holiday dressing. A self-guided tour leads you through every type studio shop and material imaginable, from leather to glass to semi-precious stones.
Dec. 5–6, 12–13, 19–20, Berkeley, 510-845-2612, berkeleyartisans.com.
Holiday Warehouse Sale
Fair trade goods are in abundance at this warehouse sale. It’s hosted by the World of Good, an organization and think-tank that works to improve living conditions for women living on less than $2 a day. World of Good helps millions of women and adolescent girls in the developing world. You can help by purchasing a gift at the sale; items are as little as $5 and discounts as great at 90%.
Dec. 5–6, 9 a.m.–6 p.m., 6315 Doyle St., Emeryville, worldofgood.org.
Oakland Artisan Marketplace
For those who miss this year’s slow shopping events, swing by this marketplace year-round. Each weekend Oakland artisans open up their folding tables and display their wares. More often than not, you’ll find Paula Chan among the vendors; her line includes handcrafted jewelry and frame-worthy cards and she’s always working on something new.
Fri., 10 a.m.–4 p.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza; Sat., 10 a.m.–6 p.m. at Jack London Square; Sun., 10 a.m.–5 p.m. at Jack London Square, oaklandculturalarts.org.
Today Bobby Seale turns 73 years old. A week before his 30th birthday, he co-founded the Black Panther Party with Huey Newton steps away from their North Oakland community college. Seale spoke to a small crowd some ten years ago at the now closed New College of California; he had the same furrowed brow and mustache pictured in archival photos, but sported a pair of suspenders and silvered hair. He engaged the audience with his boisterous energy as he talked about past political rallies. His memoir, “Seize the Time,” remains the most popular book about the Black Panthers, a revolutionary group that changed the consciousness of a nation.
You can check out a host of BPP literature today and tomorrow at Laney College, from 11–3 p.m. Former Panthers turned authors will present a book fair at the Student Center. It’s just one of several events dedicated to October, aka Black Panther Party History Month:
Pictured: Bobby Seale, Co-Founder of the Black Panther Party
Billy “X” Jennings has called Seale’s autobiography the “Bible of the Black Panthers.” A former Panther and party archivist, Jennings is co-hosting the event with The Commemoration Committee of the Black Panther Party, run by Melvin Dickson. Dickson was one of the Panthers to start the Community School—a place where kids could get a free meal, school supplies, access to medical care and bus fare.
With 43 years between now and the moment Seale and Newton laid down the party’s constitution, time has mitigated much of the Panthers’ history. Memories and mainstream media accounts of the Panthers conflict and conflate with one another. It’s a story defined by its diversity and best understood in volume.
Certainly, the books written by and about the Black Panther Party could fill a library. A couple of them can be found here. Stay tuned for a more complete list.
Hiatus happens. I hadn’t planned on taking a blog break but things got out of hand when my friend Johnny came to town. I won’t go into the details here but a one-day trip turned into a week. Now he’s back in Colorado and I’m playing catch-up with work.
But what a great Oakland sojourn it was. I got a chance to give my third tour of the city since last summer, when friends I had just left in Pittsburgh, PA started dropping by. Usually I start with my neighborhood of the Glenview:
here's a view looking down park blvd. toward wellington st.
here's a shot at the corner of park blvd. and hollywood ave. some of the best sunsets in town are visible from here. this is also near where the key system streetcar turned around and head back to town.
there are some great walks in dimond park. i love exploring the trails in the canyon and taking a dip in the pool, preferably avoiding the marco polo sessions in the summer.
this is the church where bishop cummins absolved me of my sins. that was right before the parish painted it dark orange. we called it "jesus and the giant peach" until it faded to a warm adobe beige.
here's a cool apartment building on park blvd. during the prop. 8 fiasco, there were reports of stolen anti-8 signs. luckily the g'view is also known as the "lesbian castro," so much of the signage remains.
look for this banner on the gna website one of these days. change is percolating.
One of the walks Johnny and I took will appear in an article coming out in the OakBook this spring. I wrote up three of my fave stairway strolls for the magazine. It could’ve been a book-length guide as there are many great walks in Oakland. Some are more urban than others; all are little voyeuristic pockets that make you feel like a neighbor.
For the car tour, I like to highlight the sights with a story. A running soundtrack of Bay Area funk is optimal but not necessary. When my buddy A. flies in for a week this Saturday, I’ll be sure to check these items off the must-see list:
• The tasty new restaurants Marzano and Bellanico in the G’view, and the empty space where À Côté will move very soon.
• The new cathedral by the lake that looks like a female body part (the inside, as you can imagine, is pretty awesome).
• The best Oakland taco truck on 22nd and International (press play on Roger Collins’ “Foxy Girls in Oakland” tune here).
• Mexican cookies and the transit village of the Fruitvale (my gramma B. lives in this ‘hood).
• My high school’s parking lot in East Oakland, where some dude stole my friend’s Suburban and then drove it off a cliff, magazine clips and all. (I first found out about this when I saw M.’s car on KTVU news, crashed into a house. Thank goodness no one was hurt.)
• The Coliseum (ruined by those supporting the Raiders’ return and where I love to see my A’s) and the strip by 880 (where the Matrix car chase was filmed), close to where the Oakland Tribune and Oakland Magazine reside.
• The sinewy road up Golf Links, past the Oakland Zoo, through the eucalyptus-lined drive and the entrance into Joaquin Miller Park.
• Just past the Chabot Space and Science Center, there’s a kick-ass view of the Bay. Lots of hiking opportunities around here.
• Swing back into Montclair, where I grew up before it got yuppie, and the field where my soccer team used to practice (go Maniacs). Drive by the old firehouse that closed down after the Hills Fire in 1991. I still remember what I took with me when my family evacuated.
• Take the Highway 13–24 on-ramp (love this) to West O. Cruise down 7th Street, past The Crucible, past my favorite papuseria, by Esther’s Orbit Room and the project formerly known as Slim Jenkins’ Club. Check out the sagging but beautiful Victorians.
• Head up the Mandela Parkway to North Oakland, past the annoying “Here…There” metal sculpture and down MLK. Show folks where the first Black Panther Party office opened, where my great-grandparents lived (under the BART tracks before the house was demolished), and the still standing home on 52nd where my gramma P. grew up.
• Hit up Bake Sale Betty’s before riding up 51st and into the Piedmont Ave. strip. We’ll drive through Fenton’s if we haven’t over-stuffed ourselves. Never can pass up their Black & Tan.
• Make it down past Mosswood Park (where my mom used to play as a girl) and toward Uptown, with all its newfound finery. Special visits to Oakland Fox and Oaksterdam landmarks.
• Roll by Lakeshore area, my fave commercial strip in town: Arizmendi, Lamyx, Peets, Urban Indigo, Spettro, Colonial Donuts, Maribel and my friends’ bar, The Easy. Always nice to get their sustainable cocktails on Saturday morning, when Kolin gathers fresh ingredients at the farmers market.
• And of course there’s my breakfast place of choice, Full House (Laurel district). I usually include this on a trip to Mills College, where I studied as a preschooler.
• If my visitor isn’t maxed out on historical references and foodstuffs, I’ll get us (more) ice cream at Loard’s on MacArthur before returning to my place in the G’view.
Since I’ve two other friends staying in San Francisco for the weekend, I may head to the “west side,” hopefully to the Mission or to see a new flick I’m interested in. Tomorrow, I’m checking out a new restaurant in Jack London Square area. More details on that very soon.
Oaklander Online 