Inside | Out
a n e w stat e o f m i n d at t h e Oa k l a n d m useu m o f ca li fo rn ia
Our Changing Bay
An innovative new exhibition offers a kaleidoscopic perspective on the San Francisco Bay
History in the Making / Peter Stackpole’s photography of the birth of the Bay’s bridges Days of the Dead / OMCA’s annual commemoration of departed loved ones fa l l 2 0 1 3
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welcome
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Anchors aweigh! Lori Fogarty Director & CEO
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O A K L A ND M U SE U M O F C A L I F O R N I A
s hau n rob e rt s
Happy Year of the Bay!
his year marks a number of major milestones for the San Francisco Bay, from the planned opening of the new span of the Bay Bridge, to the America’s Cup, to the installation of Bay Lights, to the opening of the new Exploratorium on the Bay’s edge. For OMCA, there couldn’t be a more appropriate subject to explore through the lenses of art, history, and natural sciences than the Bay—a landscape defined by the intersection of the natural and cultural worlds that has inspired artists for centuries. Above and Below: Stories From Our Changing Bay, organized by Senior Curator of History Louise Pubols, is the first major museum exhibition focused on the Bay. It is also the central element in what we call an “anchor” project, which involves an interdisciplinary investigation of an iconic topic through exhibitions and programs that extend throughout the Museum. In this case, our project includes not only Above and Below but also Peter Stackpole: Bridging the Bay; Bay Motion: Capturing San Francisco Bay on Film; and A Cinematic Study of Fog in San Francisco. Beyond the California subject and the multidisciplinary approach that OMCA can uniquely provide, anchor projects are also designed to connect our heritage to our future. OMCA’s mission is to not only preserve and care for our history but also to inspire a vision of California’s future. I believe we have never done this more compellingly than in this cluster of exhibitions and programs. I guarantee that you will never see the Bay in the same way after experiencing these projects—and you will have gained a new perspective on this wonderful place we call home. This fall, we also welcome the return of one of our most beloved traditions, the Días de los Muertos exhibition and community celebration. This year’s project is also marked by connections, as we link a profound cultural tradition that honors the cycles of life to the evolving natural world as showcased in our new Gallery of California Natural Sciences. We hope that you’ll enjoy the new perspective this context affords. Fall is always a time of great energy for the Museum as we resume our schedule of school visits, and present our busiest season of public programming. In the coming months, there will be more than ever to see and savor at OMCA—from Friday Nights @ OMCA with Off the Grid to activities exploring issues related to the Bay. We greatly appreciate your involvement with the Museum, and we look forward to seeing you many times as we celebrate the “Year of the Bay” together.
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features 6 Above and Below
A new exhibition explores the many subsurface
and topside stories that have shaped the multifaceted San Francisco Bay.
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A Bird’s-Eye View of History Photographer Peter Stackpole’s arresting images
capture the creation of two local icons: the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.
departments 4 Perspectives OMCA’s celebration of the Year of the Bay includes a compelling new video project titled A Cinematic Study
of Fog in San Francisco.
5 Screen Gems A collection of rarely seen films illuminates quirky stories about the Bay’s history.
18 Commemoration The annual Días de los Muertos exhibition and celebration are meaningful ways to honor departed loved ones.
20 Retail Tales The OMCA Store features a unique selection of colorful, entertaining, and educational items.
21 Advancement Learn how one generous couple chose to help OMCA thrive.
22 Calendar A guide to OMCA’s exhibitions, events, and programs. Peter Stackpole, Quitting Time, 1935. Collection of OMCA, Oakland Museum of California Founders Fund.
The Story of California. The Story of You.
Oakland Museum of California
Inside Out is published three times a year by the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak Street, Oakland, CA 94607. museumca.org ©2013 Editor: Kelly A. Koski
Caption tk.
Contributors: Lori Fogarty, Joni Hess, Linda Larkin, Claudia Leung, Loretta Lowery, Lisa Sasaki, Maggie R. Pico Photography: Terry Lorant Produced by: Diablo Custom Publishing dcpubs.com
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perspectives
From Bay to Z OMCA celebrates the Year of the Bay with four thought-provoking exhibitions
This fall, the Museum presents a quartet of new exhibitions that, taken together, offer a kaleidoscopic perspective on the wonders of our Bay. One of the most stirring of these projects is A Cinematic Study of Fog in San Francisco, by filmmaker Sam Green and cinematographer Andy Black. Known for their work on the Academy Award–nominated documentary The Weather Underground, in this video project Green and Black explore fog—certainly one of the most defining qualities of the Bay Area—in all its glory. Filled with fresh insights into our unique environment, this video is compelling proof of how the city’s complex systems of wind, air, and water engage our minds and stir our emotions.
A Cinematic Study of Fog in San Francisco is on view in the Gallery of California Art from Nov. 9, 2013, through June 29, 2014. The project is presented in partnership with the Exploratorium’s Bay Observatory and Cinema Arts Program, where it is on view as Fog City.
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a n d y black , court e s y of Sam G r e e n
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screen gems
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Movies of the Bay A collection of rarely seen films offers an extraordinary view of the Bay’s past
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ilent films of San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake. Boat festivals on Lake Merritt in 1925. Newsreels of the Golden Gate and Bay bridges under construction. Touching footage of private lives in early home movies. These
and other glimpses of bygone Bay Area life can be seen in Bay Motion: Capturing
San Francisco Bay on Film, on view Nov. 9, 2013, through June 29, 2014, in the Gallery
T op ( 2 ) : T h e pr e li n g e r A R C H I VES ; B O T T O M : M e ga n P r e li n g e r
Rare Footage of Oakland Share your insights on local points of interest when Rick Prelinger screens
Lost Landscapes of Oakland. SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014.
of California Art. Guest curator Rick Prelinger assembled the exhibition from the legendary Prelinger Archives, which he co-founded, and its vast collection of rare amateur, educational, advertising, and industrial films. “The selections span the breadth of cinema history with a focus on informal moviemaking—from its stuttering black-and-white, silent beginnings to the revolutions of color and sound, and through the 1970s,” says René de Guzman, OMCA’s senior curator of art and the exhibition’s organizing curator. “After experiencing this exhibition, you’ll see the Bay Area differently, not only in terms of what it looked like in the past but also what it meant to people.” Prelinger established the archives in 1983 with an aim to preserve films of historic significance that haven’t been archived elsewhere. In 2002, part of the collection was acquired by the Library of Congress and made accessible and downloadable for free at archive.org/details/prelinger. “The amazing thing is that anyone can view the films, add annotations, and make mash-ups of them,” says Amina Yee, curatorial assistant. OMCA is enthusiastic about collaborating with Prelinger to provide Museum visitors
Top to bottom: Cameramen on SF Bay, 1936, and California St., n.d., both from the Prelinger Archives; Rick Prelinger in the film vaults.
with a new perspective on the Bay Area. Says de Guzman, “It’s a way to celebrate film and its conservation and open access to this irreplaceable resource.”
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The San Francisco Bay is truly a joint venture of humans and nature. Above and Below: Stories From
Our Changing Bay explores this vital interconnection in OMCA’s most ambitious original exhibition to date. Following are just a few cool, quirky, and provocative examples of the exhibit’s main themes.
ABOV And
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ABOVE Industrial Salt Ponds to Wildlife Refuge In the early 1900s, the Leslie Salt Company transformed the South Bay’s marshes into highly managed salt pond systems. There, warm sun and breezes evaporated the brine, which was pumped from one increasingly salty pond to the next, eventually crystallizing into salt. Amazingly, what was once a vast complex of salt ponds is today one of the most extensive urban wildlife refuges in history. Environmentalists sparked the transformation in the 1960s when they advocated for the preservation of open space for wildlife habitat
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and human recreation. In response, state and federal governments acquired lands around the Bay and restored the wetlands. When the U.S. Congress established the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in 1974, 20,000 acres of salt ponds were
The Bay Is Not a Bay
transferred to federal ownership in partnership with Leslie Salt
The Bay is an estuary—a mixing
(now Cargill). The refuge has since expanded to 30,000 acres in the
zone where cold, salty water from
South Bay plus another 14,000 acres at other sites around the Bay.
the Pacific Ocean meets warm river water filled with nutrient-rich sediment. The energy of the tides churns the water and sediment together, making a fertile zone that can support a vast array of life. If you could drain all the water
that the Bay's floor is covered with ridges and valleys that have been sculpted by powerful currents. People sculpt as well, dredging shipping channels and dumping debris. We also litter the Bay with our trash—from tires and
“YOU can't easily separate 'nature' from 'culture' here—we live in a landscape that's a hybrid of both. even the most natural-looking marshes depend on people to manage and sustain them now.” —Louise Pubols, Senior Curator of History
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shopping carts to sunken ships and demolished buildings. We’ve added new structures too, like pipelines, bridge footings, and the BART tube.
L e ft : S A N F R A N C I S C O H I S T O R Y C EN T E R , S A N F R A N C I S C O P U B L I C L I B R A R Y
out of the Bay, you would discover
Nike Missiles on Angel Island During the Cold War, Nike antiaircraft missiles were stashed underground on Angel Island. From 1954 to 1962, the U.S. Army was at the ready—with missiles loaded with TNT—to defend the Bay from enemy planes.
ABOVE
100 square miles At the height of the Cold War, military bases covered some one hundred square miles around the bay and forty miles of the shoreline. Today, military sites in the area are slowly being converted to civilian use.
BELOW Culture Clash: Humans and Shrimp top : S A N F R A N C I S C O H I S T O R Y C EN T E R , S A N F R A N C I S C O P U B L I C L I B R A R Y
In the 1870s, Chinese immigrants harvested millions of pounds of shrimp from the Bay every year to dry and sell in China. When local fisheries started to fail, the Chinese were blamed—accused of accidentally catching too many fish in their shrimp nets. By 1920, the Chinese had been driven out of shrimping by laws that made their unique tools and methods illegal.
More Than H2O Forty percent of the surface of California —sixty-one thousand square miles— drains into the San Francisco Bay. Consider a raindrop’s journey: Rain that falls on Bay Area yards, parking lots, and roads flows into storm drains and straight out into the Bay. Along the way, the water picks up fertilizer, pesticides, bacteria from pet waste, oil leaking from cars, copper particles from brake pads, and trash.
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ABOVE
Spanning the Old and the New Bay Bridge spokesMAN Andrew Gordon discusses the seismic retrofit of the historic San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
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Q: Designwise, what’s
world. The old bridge’s gray,
of seismic innovations. Any
path from the foot of the
different about the
double deck is replaced by
one of these would make
bridge in Oakland to Yerba
new Bay Bridge?
white, side-by-side bridges
this a major challenge.
Buena Island.
A: The original bridge might
and sweeping views of the
—
—
be described as very utilitar-
San Francisco Bay.
Q: How will THE use
Q: How do you answer
ian. It’s done its job but it’s
—
of the new bridge
public concerns
hard to call it elegant. The
Q: What were the
differ from THAT
about possible delays
new bridge combines an
major design
OF the original?
in opening the bridge?
iconic structure with one that
challenges of the
A: The Bay Bridge is the
A: We are replacing the
is seismically safe. It is much
new structure?
third busiest bridge in the
original span because it is
more graceful looking, with a
A: A lot of what has been
country. The new bridge
very susceptible to earth-
clean, streamlined appear-
done on this bridge had
will have the same number
quakes, and we will open
ance. The signature element
never been done before.
of lanes but both decks will
the new bridge when it’s
of the 2.2-mile-long east
We’re building a bridge
have shoulders on both
safe to do so. When all is
span is the self-anchored
between two major seismic
sides, which will help with
said and done, it will be
suspension bridge, which is
faults with complex, seismic
traffic flow. We’re also add-
something everyone can
the largest of its type in the
engineering, including a lot
ing a bicycle/pedestrian
be proud of.
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Gold Rush Legacy: Thanks but No Thanks
Between 18 and 48
During the Gold Rush, miners used mercury to separate gold
That’s the number of islands
from water and gravel. In the process, they released about
in the bay, depending on how
eight million pounds of mercury into the Bay. Mercury doesn’t
you count. Some are little
break down over time, so about a half million pounds of the stuff are still buried at the bottom of the Bay. Bacteria there
more than bits of marsh.
can turn it into a highly toxic form—methylmercury—that can
Most are wild. Five of them
poison people who eat from the Bay.
are inhabited.
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l e ft : H e n ry Sa n d ham , T h e M o n itor , 1 8 8 3 , C ourt e s y of th e L ibrary of C o n gr e s s
ABOVE Drawbridge: Modern-Day Ghost Town > Programs & Events Opening Weekend Events - Donor Forum Preview and Reception: Thursday, Aug. 29, 6–8 pm - Member Preview: Friday, Aug. 30, 3–7 pm - Sneak Peek: Friday Nights @ OMCA: Friday, Aug. 30, 7–9 pm - Saturday, Aug. 31, 11 am–5 pm - Free First Sunday: Sunday, Sept. 1, 11 am–5 pm OMCA Family: Drop-in Hands-on Workshop - Sunday, Sept. 8, noon–3 pm - Sunday, Sept. 22, noon–3 pm - Sunday, Dec. 8, noon–3 pm California Futures Lecture Series: Geek Out! - Saturday, Sept. 21, 2–3:30 pm - Saturday, Nov. 16, 2–3:30 pm - Saturday, Feb. 1, 2–3:30 pm
Today, Drawbridge is a ghost town on Station Island (now part of the city of Fremont), but a century ago it was a wildly popular destination. Weekend duck hunters traveled there in search of the waterfowl that flocked to the marshland then at the southern end of the Bay.
Aware of the declining number of wild birds, the state of California outlawed duck hunting in 1917. In the 1920s, the community of Drawbridge began to decline. Raw sewage and silt filled up the sloughs; nearby towns and farms
> above and below goes Mobile: Expand your Above and Below experience by accessing intriguing Bay stories via your mobile device. Learn more at museumca.org/bay-mobile.
pumped so much groundwater that Drawbridge began to sink. The last resident left in 1979.
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500 Billion Gallons the bay rises and falls several feet with THE tides. At high tide, a quarter of the Bay’s volume—500 billion gallons—flows in and out of the Golden Gate twice a day.
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Paper Sons From 1910 to 1940, thousands of travelers passed through the Immigration Station on Angel Island, the “Ellis Island of the West.” The Chinese Exclusion Act, in effect from 1882 until 1943, barred the entry of most Chinese immigrants. To get around the law,
children of citizens. Inspectors at Angel Island interrogated them and their California sponsors, sometimes for months, to see if they could describe their home villages in China in exactly the same way. But with many records destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, verifying these familial ties was nearly impossible.
They’re Back Porpoises are making a comeback. They used to be a common sight in the Bay before the 1940s. But during World War II, the Navy installed a seven-mile, underwater
Above and Below: Stories From Our Changing Bay is supported by the California Department of Transportation, in partnership with the Bay Area Toll Authority and the California Transportation Commission, to complete the seismic safety project on the historic San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The exhibition and related oral histories, school curriculum, and online resources help satisfy mitigation obligations required to comply with state and federal environmental laws. The exhibition also received generous support from the Oakland Museum Women’s Board, Barclay and Sharon Simpson, and Stephen and Susan Chamberlin.
net across the Golden Gate to keep out submarines. The net kept out the porpoises too. Now, after sixty years, these wonderful animals have returned. Look for them around the Golden Gate Bridge
and Angel Island. WHITE ELEPHANT SALE
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top : S A N F R A N C I S C O H I S T O R Y C EN T E R , S A N F R A N C I S C O P U B L I C L I B R A R Y
many immigrants (known as “paper sons”) claimed to be the
Why is it so important to have a sense of the Bay Area’s ecology over the past couple of centuries? The most fundamental reason is it helps us understand how these systems work. What we see today is a limited snapshot, too short. Studying the ecosystem in its fuller expression a century or two ago helps us analyze that information in relation to contemporary settings, as well as see what kinds of scenarios are possible in the future. One example: Before studying the history of the Bay, we had pretty much forgotten there were many miles of beach not just on the outer coast but also along what’s now San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Marin. Thinking about sea-level rise, scientists now realize beaches can be a part of our strategy by forming a buffer against wave action. Take us back to 1850. What are the most striking changes we would notice right away? What’s really remarkable about the San Francisco Bay is the massive amount of tidal wetlands. This was much more pronounced back then. We’ve built over much of that now, but at high tide around the year 1850, the size of the Bay would be 60 percent larger than it is now because of those wetlands. That fueled a tremendous ecosystem of fisheries
A Conversation with Robin Grossinger
and shorebirds. Sea-level rise is a hot topic. How will it affect life for Bay Area residents in the coming decades? It’s important to realize the sea has been rising into the Bay for thousands of years naturally, but now with global climate change that rate is really speeding up. The problematic combination over the next fifty to a hundred years
The esteemed scientist discusses how appreciating the Bay’s ecological past can help us shape its sustainable future Whether we realize it or not, the Bay affects our lives and is transformed by our activities. Few people are as familiar
is this acceleration coupled with how far our development has encroached into what was once the Bay and the adjacent lowlands—including parts of Silicon Valley, for example. The projected footprint of sea-level rise is close to where the Bay was in 1850, so it’s arguably on track to reclaim what was once part of it. what would you like to see prioritized when planning the future of the Bay? I’d like to see us respond to the sea-level rise challenge by using it as an opportunity to revitalize our Bay and its
with this complex of landscapes and
shoreline, as part of our overall adaptation strategy. We
seascapes as Robin Grossinger, a senior
can either barricade ourselves off from it with seawalls,
scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute, which partnered with OMCA to develop Above and Below: Stories From
Our Changing Bay.
or use it as a living piece of green infrastructure by reestablishing components like beaches, mudflats, and tidal marshes. There will have to be some combination of both approaches. But we should maximize the nature-based approaches as we think about the Bay we want to leave for future generations.
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P e t e r s ta c k p o l e : B r i d g i n g t h e B ay Through Jan. 26, 201 4 On view in the Gallery of California Art
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Peter Stackpole, Quitting Time, 1935. Collection of OMCA, Oakland Museum of California Founders Fund.
P e t e r S ta ckp o l e ’ s m a gn i f i c e nt photogr a phs show two B ay Ar e a i cons i n th e m a k i ng
A Bird’s-Eye View of History
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rew Johnson, OMCA’s curator of photography and visual culture, loves to recount this 1930s tale
about celebrated photographer and Bay Area native Peter Stackpole. As the story goes, workers on the rising Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge invited Stackpole, then in his twenties, to come with them so he could snap “some good pictures” of the seminal construction projects. The photographer took up their offer, gaining access to breathtaking vantage points. “That was the beginning of what would become one of the most distinguished photojournalist careers in the twentieth century,” says Johnson, describing the man who soon thereafter was hired at the newly launched LIFE magazine. Stackpole joined Margaret Bourke-White, Alfred Eisenstaedt, and Thomas McAvoy as the magazine’s first staff photographers. He spent the next twenty-four years there chronicling American life, from World War II soldiers to Hollywood celebrities. Over the span of his career, his photos also appeared in Time,
Fortune, Vanity Fair, and U.S. Camera. After leaving LIFE in the early 1960s, Stackpole returned to the Bay Area and pursued a variety of photography-related projects. He died in 1997 at age eighty-three.
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“We would look and wonder at the progress of the bridge, knowing full well that the ... whole lifestyle was bound to change.” —Peter Stackpole
Top: Peter Stackpole, View from Crossbeam Tower W2, 1935. Collection of OMCA, OMCA Founders Fund. Left: Peter Stackpole, Bridge Worker in Overalls, 1935. Collection of OMCA, gift of Douglas Elliott.
Curator Tour Pete r stackp ole : Brid ging th e B ay
Saturday, Dec. 14, 3–4 pm Join Curator Drew Johnson for an intimate tour of the exhibition. Visit museumca.org/stackpole To see videos of Johnson discussing STackpole’s work.
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wenty-one of Peter Stackpole’s spectacular images of these two Bay Area icons are featured in Bridging the Bay. The bold composition and fearless storytelling of
his black-and-white prints—all from OMCA’s collection and rarely exhibited—distinguished Stackpole from conventional photographers of the day. So did his nifty 35mm Leica. “It was cutting-edge technology with beautiful optics,” says curator Johnson, especially when compared to the then-popular but cumbersome 4-by-5-inch Speed Graphic. “It gave him tremendous freedom and flexibility, vitally important when crawling around catwalks hundreds of feet above the Bay.”
O A K L A ND M U SE U M O F C A L I F O R N I A
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astering his profession came naturally to Stackpole. The son of sculptor Ralph Stackpole and artist/interior designer Adele
Barnes Stackpole, he was educated in the Bay Area and Paris, where he grew up under the influence of his parents’ friends and peers such as muralist Diego Rivera and photographer Dorothea Lange. Stackpole’s photos of the Bay’s bridges caught the eye of a new, and ultimately legendary, circle of photographers who were based in Oakland and destined for national acclaim. Called Group f/64, the group included Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, and Edward Weston.
“I was just awestruck with the view and watching the men work. They were climbing down over the side, climbing on diagonal pieces or on the top of the rivet heads. It just scared me watching them. The drama was overpowering.” —Peter Stackpole
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eter Stackpole’s first exhibition at OMCA—
Peacetime, Wartime & Hollywood: Photographs of Peter Stackpole—was in preparation when the 1991 firestorm swept through his Oakland Hills neighborhood. Grabbing photos and negatives from his home, Stackpole drove to safety. Covered in soot, he ended up in a parking lot near OMCA, where Therese Heyman, OMCA’s founding curator of photography, and Drew Johnson, then Heyman’s assistant, collected Stackpole’s images for safeTop: Joan Murray, Peter Stackpole, 1971. Collection of OMCA, gift of Joan Murray. Bottom: Peter Stackpole, Quitting Time, 1935. Collection of OMCA, gift of Douglas Elliott.
keeping—relieving the photographer and benefitting posterity too.
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SHAUN ROBERTS
The Tree of Life and Death: DÍAS DE LOS MUERTOS 2013 will be on view in the Gallery of California Natural Sciences, Oct. 9–Dec. 8. Join NEXT YEAR’s team! Each year, a committee of volunteers works with OMCA to put on the annual Days of the Dead celebration. To learn more about joining the 2014 committee, which will help plan the event’s twentieth anniversary, contact Amy Vazquez at avazquez@museumca.org.
Programs & Events OMCA Artist Showcase Series - Saturday, Oct. 12, 1–2:30 pm - Saturday, Nov. 9, 1–2:30 pm - Saturday, Dec. 7, 1–2:30 pm Community Celebration - Sunday, Oct. 27, noon–4:30 pm OMCA Family: Drop-in Art Workshop - Sunday, Nov. 10, noon–3 pm
The 2013 Días de los Muertos project is made possible in part by generous support from Kaiser Permanente and the Oakland Museum Women's Board.
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Samuel Rodriguez, Nahual de California [concept sketch], 2013.
commemoration
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SHAUN ROBERTS
Matters of Life and Death Our ancestors’ ageless legacies come alive at OMCA’s Días de los Muertos exhibition and community celebration wo worlds—the realm of spirituality and that of the natural sciences—will intersect this fall, as OMCA presents The Tree of Life and Death: Días de los Muertos 2013 in the newly opened Gallery of California Natural Sciences. Highlights of the exhibition will be the enlightening parallels between the vibrant Días de los Muertos tradition of honoring departed loved ones and the cycles of the natural world, says artist and guest curator Eduardo Piñeda. “It’s exciting— and so fitting—to have the Gallery of California Natural Sciences as the setting for a show that is dealing with life and death.” Like the Gallery, which references conservation themes throughout its displays, the Días de los Muertos tradition also conveys profound messages about coexisting with nature, drawing on examples of past generations whose connection to the world of plants and animals was vital to their understanding of existence. “Without romanticizing the past,” says Piñeda, “we can take that older wisdom and use it as a tool in our own interactions with nature.” Mirroring the way Días de los Muertos celebrations are traditionally prepared, the altars and other installations in OMCA’s exhibition will be on view in the Gallery over a short period of time—about eight weeks. “You want it to be timely and responsive,” says Piñeda. Participating artists, all northern California residents, represent Mexican and Mesoamerican influences; in addition to an artist from Oaxaca, Mexico, artists from other cultural traditions will participate. “Across cultures, it’s a human want and need to mourn,” says Evelyn Orantes, OMCA senior experience developer. “Building an altar or other remembrance reminds us of the interconnectedness of the natural world.”
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CelebratE WITH OMCA! Mark your calendar for OMCA’s beloved Days of the Dead community celebration, featuring live performances, an artisan mercado, foods from local vendors, and family-friendly activities. Sunday, Oct. 27, noon–4:30 pm. Included with Museum admission.
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re tail tales
True Colors Playable Art Ball These bright, interconnected wooden balls (left) can be shaped into countless creative designs. “Fortune Cookie” Chopstick Set Colorful ceramic chopstick rests (right) are perfect for a festive Chinese dinner.
Creating Visual Interest at the OMCA Store OMCA Store Member Sale, Saturday, Nov. 16–Sunday, Nov. 17. Members get 20 percent off all purchases.
Read On Knock on Wood Port of Oakland Crane Kit by Laurence Srinivasan This easy-to-assemble kit showcases an Oakland landmark.
Tiny Pie Pie lovers of all ages will enjoy this adorable book, with illustrations by Edward Hemingway, a story by Mark Bailey and Michael Oatman, and a recipe by Alice Waters.
Bread Board and Rolling Pin by Gastboards Roberto Gastelumendi handcrafts one-of-a-kind works of art from sustainably sourced wood.
Find all these products and more online! The OMCA Store has a new website, with new products added all the time. Check out the selection at shop.museumca.org. Members, be sure to use your 10 percent Member discount when shopping online. Visit museumca.org/member-store for instructions.
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K e y s to th e K itch e n court e s y of ru n n i n g pr e s s book publi s h e r s , th e p e r s e u s book s group ; ti n y pi e court e s y of chro n icl e book s
Aida Mollenkamp’s Keys to the Kitchen The innovative recipes in this new cookbook are illustrated with beautiful color photographs and include helpful techniques, tools, and tips.
ADVANCEMENT
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A Gift from the Heart By generously including the Museum in their estate planning, longtime volunteers Muriel and Irv Schnayer are contributing to OMCA’s bright future
Irv and Muriel Schnayer (middle row) with their daughter, Laura Rosenberg (front row), and son and daughter-in-law David and Jennifer Schnayer (back row).
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arried for sixty-three years, Muriel and Irv Schnayer know the meaning of dedication better than most people. Their deep-rooted sense of commitment extends to all aspects of their lives: family, work, community, and perhaps above all, helping others. So when the Schnayers decided to establish a charitable remainder trust with the Museum as its beneficiary, the
act of generosity was in keeping with the couple’s selfless spirit. They volunteered for years at the White Elephant Sale hosted annually by the Oakland Museum Women’s Board and were active with many nonprofit organizations in the East Bay, where they have made their home for more than fifty years. But it is the Museum that has always held a dear place in the Schnayers’
Have you included OMCA in your will, trust, retirement plan, or life insurance? Please let us know! We’d like to thank you and include you in our Heritage Society programs. To learn more, contact Linda Larkin at 510-318-8516 or lalarkin@museumca.org, or visit museumca.org/support.
hearts, and they want to help future generations enjoy it as much as they and their two children have for many decades. In fact, their daughter, Laura Rosenberg, remembers spending many happy hours as a young girl at OMCA, which she says played a formative role in her early development. “I practically grew up in OMCA,” Rosenberg says, “and my childhood was all the better for it.” “It is a very special museum,” adds Muriel, “and we want to help keep it accessible to the public for years to come.” When asked why he wanted to set up the charitable trust for OMCA, Irv says, “The Museum has a great track record of presenting our community and its history in a positive light. And that means a lot to Muriel and me.”
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calendar
Check out the full lineup of events and programs at museumca.org.
exhibitions, events, and programs Oakland on Two Wheels Sunday, Sept. 15, 10 am Sunday, Oct. 20, 10 am Explore Oakland with OMCA's biketripping docents on the third Sunday of the month. Bring your bicycle, helmet, and repair kit. RSVP to 510-318-8470 or docentcenter@museumca.org. Participants must be twelve or older.
Special events include: - OMCA In-the-Headlines, discussion series on Above and Below: Stories From Our Changing Bay on second and fourth Fridays, 6:30–7:30 pm - OMCA Family Storytime with the Oakland Public Library on final Fridays, 6–6:30 pm
Museum Hours Monday Closed Tuesday Closed
Free First Sundays are made possible in part by Wells Fargo. Friday Nights @ OMCA is presented in partnership with Off the Grid: Lake Merritt @ OMCA. Media support is provided by the East Bay Express. Friday Nights @ OMCA art programs are made possible by generous support from the Walter and Elise Haas Fund.
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O A K L A ND M U SE U M O F C A L I F O R N I A
Wednesday
11 am–5 pm
Thursday
11 am–5 pm
Friday
11 am–9 pm
Saturday
11 am–5 pm
Sunday
11 am–5 pm
l e ft : marc fiorito , court e s y of off th e gri d ; right : s hau n rob e rt s
Friday Nights @ OMCA Fridays, 5–9 pm Join OMCA and Off the Grid on 10th Street every Friday for a family-friendly night market. Sample the offerings from tvelve food trucks and savor California beer and wine. Enjoy live music, dance lessons, art activities, and more.
OMCA Connect
LGBT History Tour Sunday, Sept. 15, 2 pm Friday, Sept. 27, 7:30 pm Celebrate Oakland Pride Month with an LGBT tour in the Gallery of California History.
OMCA is coming to you!
s hau n rob e rt s
OMCA is engaging local communities through interactive art activities that foster creativity and encourage the expression of personal and community identities. This fall, OMCA’s mobile museum, the Oakland Rover, will be out and about, taking free hands-on activities to public spaces in Oakland Chinatown, San Antonio, Uptown, and West Oakland neighborhoods. Some participant artwork and portraits will be featured in a special “We Dream in Art” mural banner at OMCA along Oak Street and the neighboring buildings. This interactive art engagement project is produced in partnership with 100 Families, a program of the Alameda County Arts Commission; East Side Arts Alliance; Oakland Asian Cultural Center; and the YMCA of the East Bay. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to learn more about the Rover and when it will be in your neighborhood! Please visit museumca.org/connect for more information.
OMCA Connect, OMCA's Community Engagement program, is supported by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation. The Oakland Rover is made possible by Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
New Exhibition Celebrates Mexican Folk Art Opens Oct. 9 Celebrated artist Rex May was an avid art collector who helped popularize Latin American folk art. This fall, OMCA will display four intimate dioramas from his collection, each of which captures a Mexican street scene in exquisite detail.
Member Tour | California Indians Saturday, Sept. 21, 11:15 am Explore the artifacts, culture, and environment of Native Californians on an exclusive docent-led tour for OMCA Members.
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NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Oakland Museum of California 1000 Oak Street Oakland, CA 94607-4820
SALT LAKE CITY, UT PERMIT NO.6563
In celebration of OMCA's transformation, the Museum has extended the opportunity for donors to receive permanent recognition on the Community Donor Wall.
Sh a u n r ob e r t s
Make a one-time gift of $2,500 or more by December 31, and your name—or the name of a loved one whom your gift honors—will be added to the vibrant wall alongside the Museum’s central staircase. To make your tax-deductible gift today, call 510-318-8516 or visit museumca.org/community-wall.
Express your OMCA Pride… be recognized on the Community Donor Wall! “We always find something interesting, educational, and FUN at OMCA. It has been part of our lives for more than thirty-five years.” —Craig and Rosemarie Garman “The Oakland Museum of California has always been a magical place for our children to visit. Having the opportunity to be part of the growing and expanding vision has been equally magical. Now, the first thing the kids do when we visit is run to find their names on the Community Wall. It is inspiring and endearing to think of this ritual continuing as we continue to enjoy OMCA into the future.” —Tamara White
“I am really proud of the Museum and I love bragging about what we’ve done; I think it is amazing.” —Ellen Paisal