07 Mar Venturing across the bay: Oakland’s Art Murmur

Every first Friday of the month streets along one of Oakland’s busiest corridors are shut off to traffic and opened up to the local community to showcase local artists in an “Art Murmur.” I went along to the March edition last weekend with some friends from SF.

Tragedy had struck the previous month’s event due to the fatal shooting of a teenager. Fortunately no such occurrence happened this time, but alas it is a reminder of the high levels of poverty and racism which are prevalent in a city seemingly being poised for gentrification. The night was characterized by a slight somber note because of the aforementioned tragedy, as people held up ‘peace’ signs and lit candles in tribute to the slain teen.

However it also highlighted the best aspects of the community too, for instance, black and white kids danced in the streets together, and numerous stalls dealing with both local and national political issues showed that this remains an event “for and by the people.”

Soul food BBQs, Mexican food trucks and pupusarias served hungry ‘murmur-ers’ with plenty of cheap and tasty options available. Numerous galleries opened out to the street which was lined with stalls. A highlight for me was seeing a local photographer’s images of his community. It remains that this event still has a lot of good to do.

We finished off the evening drinking in a bar opposite the Fox Theater, listening to bands from across the bay, and reminding noting that there really is a life outside of San Francisco.

SFSU students should definitely visit the next ‘murmur’ and support the efforts of the local communities and artists. We should also, however, be aware of the very real issues of inequality, poverty and racism that those communities face on a daily basis!

Check out the website for more details here.