Oakland's Street Art

A scene from the Oakland Wall of Fame

Reason #1,209 why I love Oakland: The ridiculous amount of public art that is all over the place.  If you don’t have money to go to a museum in San Francisco, you can walk around the streets of Oakland and be treated to a world class gallery.

Oakland often times gets a bad rap.  People talk about how screwed up things are here, how violent it is, etc.  And all of that is true.  But Oakland is also one of the most amazing cities I’ve been to, and it a place I am now proud to call home.  The culture, the diversity, the food, the music, the art, the people.

I decided a while ago to go all over the city to document some of this art.  What I thought would be a fun one-day project turned into three days in the streets.  It’s one thing to notice all of this art as you’re going about your day, but it’s a whole different thing to actually sit and appreciate all of it and it took way longer than I thought.

West Oakland

This post has nothing to do with nonviolence, really.  But one thing we do talk about in our work is the need to change the narrative.  We so often talk about what’s wrong and what we don’t want and what we want to tear down, and sometimes we forget how amazing our communities already are.  So I may be posting a few more of these “Why I Love Oakland” posts.  There’s a lot to love here.

The New York Time recently named Oakland the #5 places to visit in 2012, and cited much of the new developments around downtown as the reasons to visit.  And it is true that these new restaurants, bars and lounges have brought some good things to Oakland.  But Oakland was a pretty cool place waaaaaay before these new businesses showed up, and the arts and culture scene was thriving loooooong before any of these new clubs showed up.  You just gotta know where to look.

Below are just the highlights of my travels around Oakland.  It’s hard to believe that all of these pictures below are just the highlights and that it’s all from just one city, but it’s true.  You can see the entire album by clicking HERE, but make sure to check out the highlights after the jump.

Here are the highlights.  Click HERE to see the entire album or on the image to enlarge them.

Oakland Wall of Fame

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

MLK Cultural Corridor, West Oakland

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Oakland Wall of Fame

Fruitvale

Fruitvale

Decolonize!!! Lower San Antonio

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Here are the highlights.  Click HERE to see the entire album.

Fruitvale

Oakland Wall of Fame

West Oakland

Lower San Antonio

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

West Oakland

West Oakland

Warehouse in West Oakland

Off the railroad tracks in East Oakland

West Oakland

Off the railroad tracks in East Oakland

A utility box downtown

Here are the highlights.  Click HERE to see the entire album.

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Melrose

Fairfax

Warehouse in West Oakland

A mural of MLK in Grant Lake

Fruitvale

Downtown

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

West Oakland

Fruitvale. RIP Mac Dre

Fremont

Grand Lake

Downtown

Millsmont

Adams Point/Piedmont area

Here are the highlights.  Click HERE to see the entire album.

Fairfax

West Oakland

Fremont High School

West Oakland

West Oakland

Lower San Antonio

The historic Paramount Theater, Downtown

The historic Intertribal Friendship House in Merritt

The old Parkway Theater

Downtown

Melrose

West Oakland

West Oakland

Oakland Wall of Fame

Downtown

West Oakland

Downtown

Downtown

MLK Cultural Corridor, West Oakland

West Oakland

Downtown

Fruitvale

United Roots office, downtown

West Oakland

Here are the highlights.  Click HERE to see the entire album.

West Oakland

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

West Oakland

Eastmont

West Oakland

Millsmont

A warehouse in West Oakland

West Oakland

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Off the railroad tracks in East Oakland

Fruitvale

East Oakland Youth Development Center in Webster

MLK Cultural Corridor, West Oakland

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

The Great Wall of Oakland, Downtown

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Fruitvale. Malcolm X Jazz Festival is May 19th!!!

Melrose

West Oakland

A warehouse in West Oakland

Merritt

Fremont

West Oakland

Oakland Wall of Fame

Merritt

The Oakland Wall of Fame

Here are the highlights.  Click HERE to see the entire album.

Fruitvale

West Oakland

Oakland High School

Fruitvale

Fruitvale

Oakland Wall of Fame

Grand Lake

Fairfax

West Oakland

Melrose

Downtown

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Eastside Cultural Center

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

A warehouse in West Oakland

West Oakland

Oakland Wall of Fame

Here are the highlights.  Click HERE to see the entire album.

Off the railroad tracks in East Oakland

West Oakland

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

The Oakland Wall of Fame

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Three Amigos, my corner store in Lower San Antonio

Oakland High School

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Outside Bikes 4 Life, West Oakland

Oakland Wall of Fame

A warehouse in West Oakland

Bushrod

Oakland Wall of Fame

West Oakland

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Temescal

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Oakland Wall of Fame

Oakland Wall of Fame

Oakland Wall of Fame

Downtown

Trucks in Lower San Antonio

Fruitvale

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

MLK mural at Oakland High School

Rigoberta Menchu mural at Oakland High School

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Railroad tracks in East Oakland

Warehouse in West Oakland

West Oakland

Temescal

Here are the highlights.  Click HERE to see the entire album.