WHAT’S
YOUR STORY?
At OMCA, we’re breaking through the walls that divide us as a community and a country. Here, the story is not only about California art, history, and our natural surroundings—but it’s also about what our art, history, and natural surroundings can teach us about ourselves and each other. We’re telling our story and yours. While we’ve been uniquely successful in uniting the diverse people in Oakland and beyond, we’re just getting started. Now we need you to join us by supporting the All In! campaign. Together, we can help redefine what a next-generation museum can accomplish.
WHAT’S
YOUR STORY?
At OMCA, we’re breaking through the walls that divide us as a community and a country. Here, the story is not only about California art, history, and our natural surroundings—but it’s also about what our art, history, and natural surroundings can teach us about ourselves and each other. We’re telling our story and yours. While we’ve been uniquely successful in uniting the diverse people in Oakland and beyond, we’re just getting started. Now we need you to join us by supporting the All In! campaign. Together, we can help redefine what a next-generation museum can accomplish.
WHEN OTHERS FORM THOSE SAME STRONG CONNECTIONS, I FEEL THE LASTING DIFFERENCE I’M MAKING.
engage challenge inform Amplify the stories that unite us. Let’s face it: a Tweet does not constitute a conversation. People—even those as close as our next door neighbors—frequently remain out of reach. We’ve segregated into insular groups that are too frequently unable or unwilling to listen to an idea that challenges us in any way. Opportunities for meaningful, open conversation are scarce, but together we can reverse this backwards slide. Interacting with art and each other at the special exhibition Of Dogs and Other People: The Art of Roy De Forest
The Oakland Museum of California helps us to understand our histories and to see what lies ahead
through exhibitions, events, and a growing community. With your gift, we can keep pulling together. Be All In! for: • $30M to fund catalytic museum engagement, now and in the future • $15M to transform the campus and gardens into the town square a cohesive community requires • $40M to provide the financial resources to ensure these advances can engage generations to come
WHEN OTHERS FORM THOSE SAME STRONG CONNECTIONS, I FEEL THE LASTING DIFFERENCE I’M MAKING.
engage challenge inform Amplify the stories that unite us. Let’s face it: a Tweet does not constitute a conversation. People—even those as close as our next door neighbors—frequently remain out of reach. We’ve segregated into insular groups that are too frequently unable or unwilling to listen to an idea that challenges us in any way. Opportunities for meaningful, open conversation are scarce, but together we can reverse this backwards slide. Interacting with art and each other at the special exhibition Of Dogs and Other People: The Art of Roy De Forest
The Oakland Museum of California helps us to understand our histories and to see what lies ahead
through exhibitions, events, and a growing community. With your gift, we can keep pulling together. Be All In! for: • $30M to fund catalytic museum engagement, now and in the future • $15M to transform the campus and gardens into the town square a cohesive community requires • $40M to provide the financial resources to ensure these advances can engage generations to come
WHEN I SAW IT, I UNDERSTOOD: I’M AN ESSENTIAL PART OF WHAT GIVES THIS MEANING.
belonging connection inspiration People are hungry for understanding. We can’t miss this opportunity to create the kind of public space we all inherently need—one where we can be ourselves. One where we are respected for what connects us, but also what distinguishes us. While we treasure our art, history, and natural sciences collections, our world needs more to be truly connected. That’s why with your help, we’re continuing to open the museum experience to new
audiences and opening new museum experiences to those who’ve already joined us. We need to keep reaching out with the same innovation that made social media contagious—only we’re not satisfied with a virtual community. Our community is real. As a donor, you’ll build the model of what a 21st century museum can be—one that shows the whole country how it’s done.
At the Dorothea Lange: The Politics of Seeing special exhibition, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the artist’s gift of her personal archive to OMCA
Still image from Question Bridge: Black Males, which weaves together video interviews with over 160 Black men
WHEN I SAW IT, I UNDERSTOOD: I’M AN ESSENTIAL PART OF WHAT GIVES THIS MEANING.
belonging connection inspiration People are hungry for understanding. We can’t miss this opportunity to create the kind of public space we all inherently need—one where we can be ourselves. One where we are respected for what connects us, but also what distinguishes us. While we treasure our art, history, and natural sciences collections, our world needs more to be truly connected. That’s why with your help, we’re continuing to open the museum experience to new
audiences and opening new museum experiences to those who’ve already joined us. We need to keep reaching out with the same innovation that made social media contagious—only we’re not satisfied with a virtual community. Our community is real. As a donor, you’ll build the model of what a 21st century museum can be—one that shows the whole country how it’s done.
At the Dorothea Lange: The Politics of Seeing special exhibition, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the artist’s gift of her personal archive to OMCA
Still image from Question Bridge: Black Males, which weaves together video interviews with over 160 Black men
OMCA provides family-friendly books + blankets for picnicking in the gardens.
I FEEL I’VE JUST MADE AN INVESTMENT IN BRAVERY. SOMETHING IS CHANGING, AND THAT CHANGE STARTS HERE.
Fill in the blanks. We mean it. The Oakland Museum of California is a place where, by design, you fill in the blanks and where you have the opportunity to recognize the essential humanity of your diverse neighbors. Building bridges between our different ways of knowing—that’s how we create community. That’s the museum experience we’re daring to create. Presenting exhibitions isn’t enough. Your gift does more. You make possible the experiences that transform lives. And by doing that, you’re transforming the city of Oakland and all who follow our example. In the Gallery of California Art
OMCA provides family-friendly books + blankets for picnicking in the gardens.
I FEEL I’VE JUST MADE AN INVESTMENT IN BRAVERY. SOMETHING IS CHANGING, AND THAT CHANGE STARTS HERE.
Fill in the blanks. We mean it. The Oakland Museum of California is a place where, by design, you fill in the blanks and where you have the opportunity to recognize the essential humanity of your diverse neighbors. Building bridges between our different ways of knowing—that’s how we create community. That’s the museum experience we’re daring to create. Presenting exhibitions isn’t enough. Your gift does more. You make possible the experiences that transform lives. And by doing that, you’re transforming the city of Oakland and all who follow our example. In the Gallery of California Art
THEY NEEDED TO FEEL SAFE AND AT HOME IN A COUNTRY THAT HAS TAKEN SO MUCH FROM THEM—AND AT THE OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA, THEY DID.
B
eing black in America can be dismaying. People who look like you are often misrepresented, treated disrespectfully, or seemingly invisible. On television. In the movies. In courtrooms and on the streets. And sometimes, in museums, too. But the Oakland Museum of California isn’t your ordinary museum. Our exhibitions tell the stories of diverse people, and we tell those stories in a way that respects everyone’s humanity. In one example, our All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 exhibition explored the often misunderstood history of the Panthers. Many remember the group as militants, but they formed to create programs to benefit the community and to help their neighbors stand up to an abuse of power. In fact, the group’s full name was the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. All Power to the People ran for four months. As word spread, this special exhibition gained popularity
Sitting in a replica of Huey Newton’s iconic chair at the All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 special exhibition
and quickly became the best-attended exhibition in OMCA’s history. On its closing weekend, people lined up for hours to get in. On that final weekend, the exhibition curator got a message from a small group of people asking for assistance securing tickets. They were Gwen Carr, Sybrina Fulton, and Wanda Johnson. You may not recognize their names, but you’ll probably recognize the names of their sons: Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and Oscar Grant. The curator, of course, got them in. But getting tickets to an exhibition isn’t the point. The point is that these women—these mothers—needed a place to come together, to hear, to listen, and to heal.
So they came to Oakland, birthplace of the Black Panther Party and, not by coincidence, also home to the Oakland Museum of California. And here in the sold-out exhibition, they walked among people of all races, all ages, all opinions. People who had come to learn and pay respect to who the Black Panthers were and why. They needed to feel safe and at home in a country that has taken so much from them—and at the Oakland Museum of California, they did.
THEY NEEDED TO FEEL SAFE AND AT HOME IN A COUNTRY THAT HAS TAKEN SO MUCH FROM THEM—AND AT THE OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA, THEY DID.
B
eing black in America can be dismaying. People who look like you are often misrepresented, treated disrespectfully, or seemingly invisible. On television. In the movies. In courtrooms and on the streets. And sometimes, in museums, too. But the Oakland Museum of California isn’t your ordinary museum. Our exhibitions tell the stories of diverse people, and we tell those stories in a way that respects everyone’s humanity. In one example, our All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 exhibition explored the often misunderstood history of the Panthers. Many remember the group as militants, but they formed to create programs to benefit the community and to help their neighbors stand up to an abuse of power. In fact, the group’s full name was the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. All Power to the People ran for four months. As word spread, this special exhibition gained popularity
Sitting in a replica of Huey Newton’s iconic chair at the All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 special exhibition
and quickly became the best-attended exhibition in OMCA’s history. On its closing weekend, people lined up for hours to get in. On that final weekend, the exhibition curator got a message from a small group of people asking for assistance securing tickets. They were Gwen Carr, Sybrina Fulton, and Wanda Johnson. You may not recognize their names, but you’ll probably recognize the names of their sons: Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and Oscar Grant. The curator, of course, got them in. But getting tickets to an exhibition isn’t the point. The point is that these women—these mothers—needed a place to come together, to hear, to listen, and to heal.
So they came to Oakland, birthplace of the Black Panther Party and, not by coincidence, also home to the Oakland Museum of California. And here in the sold-out exhibition, they walked among people of all races, all ages, all opinions. People who had come to learn and pay respect to who the Black Panthers were and why. They needed to feel safe and at home in a country that has taken so much from them—and at the Oakland Museum of California, they did.
HOW DO YOU BUILD A BETTER OAKLAND? WITH THE SAME PEOPLE WHO MAKE THIS CITY UNIQUE.
Dancing at Friday Nights @ OMCA
food trucks pride Uptown Oakland makes me think of mom. Oakland has long been underrated and overshadowed, but this is our moment. New York may never sleep, and San Francisco might be incandescent with investment, but Oakland is, right now, standing forth as a model for how communities can come together. Oakland faces the same cultural dissolution that divides many cities, but the Oakland Museum of California isn’t the kind of cultural institution that takes a back seat. Our method puts us at the heart of these conversations, drawing connections. And our way builds true connections.
Here, people see across boundaries to recognize and respect their neighbors. Your gift to the All In! campaign invests in that respect, allowing OMCA to stand forth as a model. These kind of true connections don’t crystalize at other museums, arts & culture organizations, or even in cafes or clubs—because that’s not what those institutions were designed to do. People come together at the Oakland Museum of California because connection is our goal.
Images of urban farmers from the Take Root: Oakland Grows Food hands-on exhibition
HOW DO YOU BUILD A BETTER OAKLAND? WITH THE SAME PEOPLE WHO MAKE THIS CITY UNIQUE.
Dancing at Friday Nights @ OMCA
food trucks pride Uptown Oakland makes me think of mom. Oakland has long been underrated and overshadowed, but this is our moment. New York may never sleep, and San Francisco might be incandescent with investment, but Oakland is, right now, standing forth as a model for how communities can come together. Oakland faces the same cultural dissolution that divides many cities, but the Oakland Museum of California isn’t the kind of cultural institution that takes a back seat. Our method puts us at the heart of these conversations, drawing connections. And our way builds true connections.
Here, people see across boundaries to recognize and respect their neighbors. Your gift to the All In! campaign invests in that respect, allowing OMCA to stand forth as a model. These kind of true connections don’t crystalize at other museums, arts & culture organizations, or even in cafes or clubs—because that’s not what those institutions were designed to do. People come together at the Oakland Museum of California because connection is our goal.
Images of urban farmers from the Take Root: Oakland Grows Food hands-on exhibition
Image from the Sent Away but Not Forgotten exhibition on the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, where over 7,000 Japanese Americans were held before being sent to internment camps during World War II
IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE YOUR EYES, CHECK THE DATA. THEY BOTH TELL THE SAME STORY.
Connecting with each other Recognizing yourself Breaking through walls is the point. History and tradition aren’t dead things to be put under glass and honored with silence. By the same token, humanity and character aren’t unchanging. We interact, understand, and adapt. The events, ideas, and culture that inspire Californians over time are being continually created. At the Oakland Museum of California, we respect where we’ve been just as much as we respect where we’re going.
Exploring the Gallery of California Natural Sciences
We want people to be enraptured by seminal works by artists such as Richard Diebenkorn or Dorothea Lange, and to understand how and why the Ohlone made their homes here—and we also want you to soak the past up as part of a story that involves you today. It’s all part of who we are and, with your support, it will remain on view at the Oakland Museum of California.
Image from the Sent Away but Not Forgotten exhibition on the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, where over 7,000 Japanese Americans were held before being sent to internment camps during World War II
IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE YOUR EYES, CHECK THE DATA. THEY BOTH TELL THE SAME STORY.
Connecting with each other Recognizing yourself Breaking through walls is the point. History and tradition aren’t dead things to be put under glass and honored with silence. By the same token, humanity and character aren’t unchanging. We interact, understand, and adapt. The events, ideas, and culture that inspire Californians over time are being continually created. At the Oakland Museum of California, we respect where we’ve been just as much as we respect where we’re going.
Exploring the Gallery of California Natural Sciences
We want people to be enraptured by seminal works by artists such as Richard Diebenkorn or Dorothea Lange, and to understand how and why the Ohlone made their homes here—and we also want you to soak the past up as part of a story that involves you today. It’s all part of who we are and, with your support, it will remain on view at the Oakland Museum of California.
Students visiting the Gallery of California History
AND THE KID RESPONDED PROUDLY, “SÍ. NOS HACEN SENTIR SEGUROS.” THEY MAKE US FEEL SAFE.
A
s a docent, Andrea volunteered to lead groups around the Oakland Museum of California, helping patrons to gain a deeper understanding than they could without a guide. One Thursday, Andrea escorted a group of thirdgraders through the history galleries, explaining about the Native People of California, the changes the Spanish settlers wrought, the boom of Los Angeles, and on into the future. But Andrea noticed that the kids’ attentions were drifting—even more than third-graders’ attentions normally do. Then she saw that when they spoke to each other, they were speaking Spanish. It clicked for her. These kids understood English as a second language. But that was no problem; Andrea spoke fluent Spanish.
And so she asked them—in Spanish—if they’d prefer if she conversed with them in their first language. They perked up in an instant, paying attention and smiling. She could feel their relief. She could see the strain and anxiety wash from their faces. Instead of just quietly following her around, the students started engaging Andrea and asking her questions. As they walked between exhibits, Andrea made some small talk with one of the boys. She asked him, “Do you know what it is that a docent does?” And the kid responded proudly, “Sí. Nos hacen sentir seguros.” They make us feel safe.
Students visiting the Gallery of California History
AND THE KID RESPONDED PROUDLY, “SÍ. NOS HACEN SENTIR SEGUROS.” THEY MAKE US FEEL SAFE.
A
s a docent, Andrea volunteered to lead groups around the Oakland Museum of California, helping patrons to gain a deeper understanding than they could without a guide. One Thursday, Andrea escorted a group of thirdgraders through the history galleries, explaining about the Native People of California, the changes the Spanish settlers wrought, the boom of Los Angeles, and on into the future. But Andrea noticed that the kids’ attentions were drifting—even more than third-graders’ attentions normally do. Then she saw that when they spoke to each other, they were speaking Spanish. It clicked for her. These kids understood English as a second language. But that was no problem; Andrea spoke fluent Spanish.
And so she asked them—in Spanish—if they’d prefer if she conversed with them in their first language. They perked up in an instant, paying attention and smiling. She could feel their relief. She could see the strain and anxiety wash from their faces. Instead of just quietly following her around, the students started engaging Andrea and asking her questions. As they walked between exhibits, Andrea made some small talk with one of the boys. She asked him, “Do you know what it is that a docent does?” And the kid responded proudly, “Sí. Nos hacen sentir seguros.” They make us feel safe.
Architectural rendering of the planned 12th Street garden entrance
Your leadership makes our collaborative exhibitions possible, encouraging visitors to engage with each other through the lenses of art, history, and natural sciences.
All In! will double the income that the Museum’s endowment and investments provide annually, keeping the community coming together for generations.
Support for core programs includes:
• Keep and attract exceptional staff by offering competitive compensation
• On and off-site programming, breaching the barriers that otherwise divide the community
• Supply stable support for core programs
• Exhibitions and programming to advance dialogue on the urgent topics that challenge us • Cultural celebrations and other initiatives to welcome diverse community members • Educational services for 40,000 students and teachers each year
Your gift gives this expanding community the space to listen, respectfully. • Open the OMCA gardens to Lake Merritt and the neighborhood, creating a new civic space for dialogue and congregation • New streetscapes around the campus to extend welcome • Landscaping and native plantings that reflect OMCA’s commitment to both sustainability and to highlighting California’s biodiversity
• Upgrade and maintain technology and other systems • Launch innovative activities that would otherwise remain beyond the scope of the annual operating budget
Architectural rendering of the planned 12th Street garden entrance
Your leadership makes our collaborative exhibitions possible, encouraging visitors to engage with each other through the lenses of art, history, and natural sciences.
All In! will double the income that the Museum’s endowment and investments provide annually, keeping the community coming together for generations.
Support for core programs includes:
• Keep and attract exceptional staff by offering competitive compensation
• On and off-site programming, breaching the barriers that otherwise divide the community
• Supply stable support for core programs
• Exhibitions and programming to advance dialogue on the urgent topics that challenge us • Cultural celebrations and other initiatives to welcome diverse community members • Educational services for 40,000 students and teachers each year
Your gift gives this expanding community the space to listen, respectfully. • Open the OMCA gardens to Lake Merritt and the neighborhood, creating a new civic space for dialogue and congregation • New streetscapes around the campus to extend welcome • Landscaping and native plantings that reflect OMCA’s commitment to both sustainability and to highlighting California’s biodiversity
• Upgrade and maintain technology and other systems • Launch innovative activities that would otherwise remain beyond the scope of the annual operating budget
OMCA IS FLIPPING THE SCRIPT. WHATEVER YOU EXPECT FROM A MUSEUM, THEY’RE TAKING THAT PARADIGM AND REMAKING IT FOR THE WORLD AS IT REALLY IS.
Altered State: Marijuana in California was the first major museum exhibition to cover this provocative plant.
No other museum does this. These ideas, this method, this intention—it’s all part of who we are. Other institutions around the world enact pieces of what the Oakland Museum of California is putting into play, but few other museums bring this level of intentionality to bringing people together. By engaging diverse audiences and creating the public space for people to recognize and respect the essential humanity of their neighbors, we’re delivering the proven antidote to divisiveness.
Our way is powerfully effective, but we need your help. We need your help to continue to lead the way, to serve as a model for how other museums can enable communities to come together, and to make the changes that make a difference. What’s your story? Will you step forward to share it so others can do the same?
Science for the People—OMCA’s PeoplePowered Vending Machine makes participating in real scientific research projects as easy as buying a snack.
OMCA IS FLIPPING THE SCRIPT. WHATEVER YOU EXPECT FROM A MUSEUM, THEY’RE TAKING THAT PARADIGM AND REMAKING IT FOR THE WORLD AS IT REALLY IS.
Altered State: Marijuana in California was the first major museum exhibition to cover this provocative plant.
No other museum does this. These ideas, this method, this intention—it’s all part of who we are. Other institutions around the world enact pieces of what the Oakland Museum of California is putting into play, but few other museums bring this level of intentionality to bringing people together. By engaging diverse audiences and creating the public space for people to recognize and respect the essential humanity of their neighbors, we’re delivering the proven antidote to divisiveness.
Our way is powerfully effective, but we need your help. We need your help to continue to lead the way, to serve as a model for how other museums can enable communities to come together, and to make the changes that make a difference. What’s your story? Will you step forward to share it so others can do the same?
Science for the People—OMCA’s PeoplePowered Vending Machine makes participating in real scientific research projects as easy as buying a snack.
THE ANSWER IS YOU
Invest in the All In! campaign at museumca.org/all-in or call us (510) 318-8501.
THE ANSWER IS YOU
Invest in the All In! campaign at museumca.org/all-in or call us (510) 318-8501.
Oakland Museum of California 1000 Oak Street Oakland, CA 94607 Invest in the All In! campaign at museumca.org/all-in or call us (510) 318-8501.
Design & Writing: Mission Minded