After dinner on Wednesday Desi gave Anna and me a copy of the magazine he and the artists in the Community Rejuvenation Project produced last summer: S.W.E.A.R. — Street Warriors Enacting Artistic Revolution. The magazine documents the art made as part of their Summer 2009 project.
The magazine (and Desi) got me interested in the mural art we see around Oakland. Some of it is painted on commission, but much of it is painted without permission. It’s a fascinating scene. Today I found a website, Oaktown Art I hadn’t seen before which curates the public art on display in Oakland, including a rich sampling of murals and graffiti. What a great website—my daily browsing schedule just got longer.
The top article on Oaktown Art (on Jan 28) is about Desi, the S.W.E.A.R. magazine, and the Community Rejuvenation Project. Hop on over and give it a read. And spend a few minutes scrolling down the page for more about public art in Oakland. The site also features a google map page that locates all the art that she finds and writes about.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the shout out. Wish I’d been at Susan’s dinner party… sounds like an interesting mix of folks (and dog!)
When I started my blog, it was really about public art on display… such as murals and graffiti. But as I got into it further, I realized that Art can be defined incredibly broadly (see my post “What is Art?”).
I write about all kinds of things in Oakland (not unlike your blog)… parks & gardens, restaurants, coffee shops, galleries, architecture, and more.
Hope to see you again!
~ deb
— Oaktown Art · Jan 29, 08:57 AM · #