OAKLAND, Calif. — One wonders if Gertrude Stein would write "there is no there there" about Oakland if she could see the thousands of people who convene every month for this city's rambunctious art crawl and street bacchanal.
Actually, there is an abundance of there here: what started six years ago as a small, once-a-month gallery walk has mushroomed into an event that city officials now say attracts as many as 20,000 people downtown for an evening known as Oakland Art Murmur.
"This is definitely more like a shout," John Herbstritt, 26, a wine buyer who recently moved to Oakland, said as he looked at block after city block of overflowing galleries, street musicians, food trucks and curated art exhibits last Friday.
Visual enticements were everywhere, like shiny lowrider cars and a scantily clad pole dancer atop a jalopy with a black metal unicorn head.
And despite some hand-wringing over the event's rapid growth, many city officials and businesses here seemed relieved that so many people are gathering month after month without mayhem, the sting of tear gas or the hum of low-flying police helicopters, things that have become all too common in the turbulent streets of Oakland.
It was just a year ago this week that Occupy Wall Street protesters set up camp in front of City Hall, beginning what would become months of protests and fierce clashes with the police.
Now, some of those combative memories have been replaced by more serene scenes, like one of a man stitching intricate images with a portable bicycle-powered sewing machine.
And nobody seems happier about the new scene than Mayor Jean Quan, who took her fair share of criticism last year during the Occupy protests. "Oakland is always reinventing itself," said Ms. Quan, herself a regular Murmurer.
Art Murmur began in 2006 when a group of galleries created a monthly art crawl in an area of town known, until then, for auto body shops, empty commercial buildings and manufacturing space.
As word got out and the sidewalks became more crowded, the galleries applied for a permit to close one block to make space for food and vendors.
In 2010, the galleries created a nonprofit group called Oakland Art Murmur to coordinate the dozens of exhibit spaces (some in unexpected places like car dealerships). Referring to the whole wild scene as Art Murmur, though, turns out to be incorrect.
"What we do inside the gallery spaces is Art Murmur," explained Danielle Fox, the group's director. "What happens out in the street is First Friday."
As the crowds grew, the group hired four private security guards and brought in a portable toilet. But by June of this year, the crowds had swelled to more than 10,000, spilling into the street, unofficially taking over blocks of downtown and worrying gallery owners who said that even when they called for backup, the police did not come.
"It just got so big and out of control," said Kimberly Johansson, founder of the Johansson Projects, one of the city's crop of new galleries.
Concerned that someone would be hurt, Oakland Art Murmur gave up its road closing permit in June, essentially forcing the city to step in.
So beginning last month, the mayor committed to close nearly 20 blocks of Telegraph Avenue and surrounding streets to vehicle traffic and to dedicate some 20 police officers each month through the end of the year. A volunteer group of business districts and individuals has formed to organize vendors, deal with cleanup and provide portable toilets.
"When this first started it was mostly white and maybe some Asian hipsters," Ms. Quan said. "And now, walking down the street, I've seen everybody from wealthy developers to my favorite homeless guy to new Chinese immigrants and African-Americans from East Oakland."
Also in the crush of people are many familiar faces from the Occupy movement. Some sell silk-screened Occupy posters, wear the telltale Guy Fawkes masks or lead impromptu street marches.
During August's event, a splinter group of protesters handed out leaflets warning that city officials and businesses were trying to usurp Art Murmur and turn it into "a tool to further their agenda of gentrification."
But such disruptions have done little to deter revelers.
"This event is the best thing to happen to Oakland in a long time," said Jim Copes, 61, who sold "I hecka love Oakland" T-shirts to passers-by while yelling out historical tidbits about the Black Panther Party founders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale and the Oakland rappers Too Short and M.C. Hammer.
Many newcomers to the city know little about its past, said Mr. Copes, a lifelong resident. He feels it is his civic duty to inform them.
"Oakland didn't just start yesterday," Mr. Copes said. "We've been here having fun for a long time."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Oakland Journal: Oakland Art Murmur Outgrows Its Name
Dengan url
https://dunialuasekali.blogspot.com/2012/10/oakland-journal-oakland-art-murmur.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Oakland Journal: Oakland Art Murmur Outgrows Its Name
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Oakland Journal: Oakland Art Murmur Outgrows Its Name
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar