Building Beloved Communities Across Prison Walls

Saturday, November 2nd · 11am - 3pm

We will explore through facilitated dialogue what it means to build beloved community among incarcerated culture bearers and local residents.

All programs will include calls from artists in prisons across the country.

Event is in person at Berkeley Art Center (1275 Walnut Street)

A Moment Missed: Connected through Loss

Saturday, october 12 · 11am - 2pm

We will explore through facilitated dialogue the shared experience of missing everyday moments in our lives, highlighting our universal desire for inclusion and connection to our community, regardless of our circumstances.

All programs will include calls from artists in prisons across the country.

Event is in person at Berkeley Art Center (1275 Walnut Street)

PAINTING OURSELVES INTO SOCIETY: Opening Reception

Saturday, September 21st · 2-5pm

Join Empowerment Avenue and Berkeley Art Center at the opening reception of Painting Ourselves into Society. This exhibition is co-curated by Orlando Smith Aka “O. Smith” from inside San Quentin Prison and Rahsaan “New York” Thomas, who has returned to society after 22 years inside. It features the works of eight currently and formerly incarcerated artists nationwide exploring what it means for incarcerated people to stay connected to the larger community and to challenge the idea of what healing looks like together. 

The exhibition will be on view from September 21st, 2024 — January 12th, 2025

Letter from the Network Artist Talk

Tuesday, June 18th, 6-7:30pm PST

Join us on Zoom for an artist talk with Juror's Awardees, Daniel Brickman, Callan Porter-Romero, and Abel Rodriguez, and curators, PJ Gubatina Policarpio and Juan Omar Rodriguez.

Presented on Zoom.

See recording here

Community Dinner

Thursday, June 13 · 6:30 - 10pm

Join Berkeley Art Center for our first Community Dinner of 2024, with fare provided by Chef Nicole Hodge of Provisions, wine provided by Farm Wine Imports, and more. Purchase unique ceramic bowls from ceramic bowls from Heath Ceramics, Jessie Williams, MM Clay, Whitney Smith and other local potters.

Menu:

• First Course – Wild Arugula, Shaved Beet and Carrot, Pickled Red Onion, Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette with Curried Pumpkin Seeds (gluten free/vegan)

• Second Course – West African Peanut and Spinach Stew served over Brown Rice (peanut allergen/gluten free/vegan)

• Desserts – Sweet Adeline Bakery and Market Hall.

Letter From the Network: opening reception

Saturday, May 25th 2-5PM

We are pleased to announce our new exhibition, Letter from the Network, our 2024 Juried Members Show, curated by PJ Gubatina Policarpio & Juan Omar Rodriguez.

How do we hold complexity—in our minds, in our arms, across our relations? The urgency of the multiple environmental, social, and political crises we are undergoing necessitates that we take our entanglements with each other seriously. While rendering us vulnerable—what affects one element of our interconnected world can affect us all—our mutuality and being-with-the-world is what sustains us.

The exhibition will be on view from May 25th - July 6th, 2024

SPRING 2024 PORTFOlio REVIEWS

Portfolio reviews are a great opportunity to get feedback about your work and ask questions about navigating the professional art world from esteemed artists, curators, and educators. Each participant will have the opportunity to meet with two reviewers for 20 minutes each.

This year's reviews will take place on Saturday March 16, and Sunday March 17, over Zoom. Members: $125 / Non-members: $150

Please submit your registration at the link below. Schedule slots are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. No cancellations.

The deadline for submissions has passed. Thank you to everyone for entering. If you missed this year’s deadline we have this show every year!

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ANNUAL JURIED MEMBER’S EXHIBITION

open february 19th - march 19th, 10:59pm

This year’s Member’s Exhibition is juried by PJ Gubatina Policarpio, a curator, educator and community organizer with over 10 years of experience in arts and culture, and Juan Omar Rodriguez, an assistant curator at the San José Museum of Art.

View our call page below for future info:

opening reception for In the presence of: Collective Histories of the Asian American Women Artists Association

Saturday, January 27th, 4-6pm

We are pleased to announce our new exhibition, In the Presence Of: Collective Histories of the Asian American Women Artists Association, curated by Christina Hiromi Hobbs.

The exhibition will be on view from January 27 - April 20, 2024.

the last hoisan Poets:Poetry performance

Saturday, january 27th, 5pm

Join The Last Hoisan Poets as they present a live poetry performance to celebrate the artists in the exhibition In the Presence Of: Collective Histories of the Asian American Women Artists Association.

Genny Lim, Nellie Wong , Flo Oy Wong (from top to bottom). Images courtesy of The Last Hoisan Poets

wreath making class with tosha stimage

December 17, 2023 3:30-5:00pm at bac

Join Tosha Stimage — whose work is on view at the current exhibition Naming Our Time — for a super special wreath making class.

This class is

• 25 participants//class (*max)

  • masks required as per gallery policy

• Tosha Stimage will provide materials and demonstrate: creating wreath forms, material exploration, and binding techniques

During this workshop, you will learn basic binding techniques and create your own take home holiday wreath!

Each class includes; music, beverages and light snacks

There will also be a curated selection of gifts!* (*for purchase)

Learn more and purchase tickets at the link below.

Saint Flora is full service floral and online gift shop based in Oakland; this event is hosted by Berkeley Art Center.

research/study presentation

Friday, November 17th, 12-1 pm, On zoom.

As a conclusion to her internship at the Berkeley Art Center which began at June 2023, Marthe will present her research in the archives of the Berkeley Art Center, focusing on the integration of discriminated gender artists in their exhibitions.

Despite numerous efforts to change a patriarchal, Western-white worldview, the contemporary art world is rife with injustices. With a Master's degree in Curatorial Studies (Université Rennes 2, Brittany, France) and a Master's degree in Photography and Contemporary Art from Paris Panthéon Sorbonne, Marthe Benoit focuses on artistic creations by historically marginalized artists, and their representation in the institutional and exhibition worlds.

opening reception for naming our time

Friday, October 27st, 5-8pm

We are pleased to announce our new exhibition, Naming Our Time, curated by Qianjin Montoya.

The exhibition will be on view from October 27, 2023 - January 13, 2024.

OÑI OCAN: A RITUAL PERFORMANCE BY COURTNEY DESIREE MORRIS

Friday, september 8, 6–8PM

Berkeley Art Center & Live Oak Park

Oñí Ocan is a multimedia performance ritual that focuses on the use of honey as a material and metaphysical healing modality, as well as a way to honor current and former sex workers and pleasure activists. It is composed of a five-channel experimental film as well as live performances of honey rituals.

Community Dinner

Thursday, September 14 from 6-9PM.

Join Berkeley Art Center for our final Community Dinner of 2023 over a menu of dishes inspired by Filipino flavors.

Artists in conversation: Arleene Correa Valencia

Tuesday, August 29 from 7–8PM on zoom.

Join Berkeley Art Center online for an Artists in Conversation with artist Arleene Correa Valencia, moderated by curator Adrianne Ramsey.

RABBIT HOLE

opening reception

saturday august 12 from 2-5pm

We are pleased to announce our new exhibition, RABBIT Hole, curated by Adrianne Ramsey.

The exhibition will be on view from August 12 through September 23.

2023 Annual Juried Members’ Exhibition: EXCURSIONS

Artists in conversation

thursday july 20, 6:30-7:30PM

Join us for an online conversation between Lee Oscar Gomez, Helia Pouyanfar and Amy Yoshitsu, the 2023 Juror's Award winners for this year's Members' Exhibition, and curator Hoi Leung!

2023 Annual Juried Members’ Exhibition: EXCURSIONS

opening reception

saturday june 10 from 2-5pm

We are pleased to announce our 2023 Juried Members’ Exhibition, EXCURSIONS, curated by Hoi Leung, Deputy Director of the Chinese Culture Center. EXCURSIONS brings together over 20+ Bay Area artists working across a diverse range of mediums including painting, sculpture, installation, and video.

The exhibition will be on view from June 3rd through July 29th.

xandra ibarra: Scum in ecstasy and other shorts

friday, may 26 from 6:30-9PM

Join us for an evening of short video works by Oakland-based visual and performance artist, Xandra Ibarra, including the debut of Scum in Ecstasy, a video project created in conjunction with the BAC Basement Projects.

Ages 21+.

SELF-Care card deck workshop

thursday, april 13 from 6-7PM

A participatory, hands-on workshop with Artist-in-Residence Christine Wong Yap. We will brainstorm how we already practice self-awareness, self-compassion, self-acceptance, and self-love. Then we’ll draw and hand-letter a card deck of these practices.

Ages 12 and up. Free to RSVP. Masks are required in the gallery.

Artist’s talk & Zine launch

SATURDAY, April 8, 2023, 2-5 Pm

Artist’s Talk from 2–3, followed by a reception from 3–5.

Join Artist-In-Residence Christine Wong Yap to celebrate this year-long project with a slide show and conversation. Refreshments will be served.

PORTFOLIO REVIEWS

SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2023, 11AM–2PM

Demetri Broxton, Interdisciplinary Artist & Senior Director of Education, MOAD
Svea Lin Soll, Director, Johansson Projects
Weston Teruya, Related Tactics

SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 2023, 11AM–2PM

Elena Gross, Co-Director, Berkeley Art Center
Anthony A. Russell, Interdisciplinary Artist & 2022 BAC Juror’s Award Winner
Zoe Taleporos, City of Berkeley

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ANNUAL JURIED MEMBER’S EXHIBITION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22 at 10:59PM PT

This year’s Member’s Exhibition is juried by Hoi Leung, Deputy Director of the Chinese Culture Center. Visit our page to learn more.

RED CULEBRA, LET US SPEAK FROG — FINAL PERFORMANCE PRESENTED IN CONJUNCTION WITH, THE LETTERS OF MINA HARKER

SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 4-6 PM

Join us for a closing performance by RED CULEBRA (Guillermo Galindo & Cristóbal Martínez). "Let Us Speak Frog" is an experimental music performance by electronic synthesizer duo Red Culebra that explores non-human languages and imagined ecologies in response to the ongoing extinction event caused by human activity. The duo will transform into flying snakes and visit frogs worldwide to apologize for human destruction, drawing inspiration from Mexican and Chicanx mythologies and storytelling traditions.

This will be the final performance presented in conjunction with the current exhibition, The Letters of Mina Harker. The exhibition will close the following Sunday, March 12th.

No RSVP needed. Masks are required in the gallery.

A series of performances and readings presented in conjunction with the exhibition, The Letters of Mina Harker

Saturday, february 11, 2:30-5PM

Crossings / عبور is part of a larger collaboration between artist-scholar DENA AL-ADEEB and SHOLEH ASGARY that uses the Epic of Gilgamesh as a departure point in a series of performances comprised of sound, moving image, and text that seek to excavate the relationship between racialized necropolitical destruction and bodies in protest across time and space. At Berkeley Art Center, AL-ADEEB and ASGARY will perform Crossings /عبور, the latest iteration from this project: a voice, poetry, and electroacoustic lamentation that calls forth those amongst us.

Following this performance, author DODIE BELLAMY will perform a reading from her titular novel The Letters of Mina Harker.

No RSVP needed. Masks are required indoors.

OPENING RECEPTION FOR THE LETTERS OF MINA HARKER
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2–5PM

Join the artists and curator at BAC for a free public reception for our first exhibition of 2023. There will be light refreshments. KN95/N95/F94 or double masks required indoors. No RSVP needed.

SUNDAY SESSIONS X MAJLES

Artist-in-Residence SHOLEH ASGARY will invite guests into the residency space at BAC to collaborate and produce scores which the artist will build upon. During these Sunday Sessions, the gallery will be open and the public is welcome to quiet observation of the artists at work.

The residency will conclude in a final performance and artist talk on Friday, January 13th. More details will be announced as the series unfolds.

Sunday, Dec. 4, 2 - 5pm

Sunday, Dec. 11, 2-5pm

Sunday, Dec. 18, 2-5pm

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2-5pm

Sunday, Jan. 15, 2-5pm

Culminating Event: Friday, January 13, 6-9PM

No RSVP needed. Masks required in the gallery.

HOLDING, CEREMONY: CLOSING CEREMONY
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 6PM–9PM

Join the artists for a free public closing reception for HOLDING, CEREMONY. This event features artist talks by Alma Leppla, Lynette Betancur, Tricia Rainwater, and Angelica Trimble-Yanu. KN95/N95/F94 or double masks required indoors. No RSVP needed.

COMMUNITY DINNER
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 6:30PM
IN THE GALLERY & LIVE OAK PARK

Join us for an evening celebrating community and connection under the redwoods at Live Oak Park. Tickets include a program and plant-forward harvest meal by Oakland-based artist and radical hospitality chef, Lexa Walsh, and cocktails by 7th West.

HOLDING, CEREMONY: OPENING RECEPTION
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 12 PM–5 PM

Join the artists for a free public reception for HOLDING, CEREMONY. This event features a pop-up by Queer Rain and performance by Steven Flores. KN95/N95/F94 or double masks required indoors. No RSVP needed.

BRUNCH WITH 500 CAPP STREET AND BERKELEY ART CENTER
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 from 10:30AM–1PM
500 CAPP STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110

Join 500 Capp Street and the Berkeley Art Center for a joint Brunch Event at the David Ireland House at 500 Capp Street in San Francisco. Berkeley Art Center and 500 Capp Street are collaboratively strategizing joint practices of fundraising to support Bay Area artists and artist communities. Get to know Bay Area artists who have been involved with both organizations, and meet other like-minded arts supporters and arts champions over brunch and mimosas.

COMMUNITY DINNER
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 6:30PM
IN THE GALLERY & LIVE OAK PARK

Join us for an evening celebrating community and connection under the redwoods at Live Oak Park. Tickets include a traditional paella by Anthony Sueuga, dessert by Standard Fare, and wine by Donkey & Goat. Programming includes a walkthrough of the exhibition "Soft Material" and a performance by a dynamic Bay Area musician. More information to be announced!

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: SHANTAE ROBINSON, RAVEN HARPER, AND KAREN MAY
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 12PM–1PM
ON ZOOM

Join Berkeley Art Center, NIAD, and Soft Material artists, Shantae Robinson, Raven Harper, and Karen May for a conversation regarding their collaborative garment-construction project.

SOFT MATERIAL: OPENING RECEPTION
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 4 PM–7 PM

Join the artists and NIAD for a free public reception for Soft Material. KN95/N95/F94 or double masks required indoors. No RSVP needed.

CLOSING RECEPTION & DANCE PARTY
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 4PM–6PM
IN THE GALLERY & LIVE OAK PARK

Join us for a closing reception of our 2022 Juried Members Exhibition, with the announcement of the 2022 Audience Award and a picnic in Love Oak Park with DJ ET IV. Bring your picnic baskets & blankets, we’ll provide beverages! No RSVP necessary.

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: SERENA VIOLA CORSON, ZOE LOA, AND ANTHONY A. RUSSELL
FRIDAY, JULY 15, 12PM–1PM
ON ZOOM

Join Berkeley Art Center and the three winners of the 2022 Juror Awards, Serena Viola Corson, Zoe Loa, and Anthony A. Russell in an artists in conversation with moderator Elena Gross.

2022 JURIED EXHIBITION: NO WAY OUT BUT THROUGH
SATURDAY, JULY 2, 3 PM–6 PM

Join the artists and the curator for a free public reception for No Way Out But Through. KN95/N95/F94 or double masks required indoors.

OPEN HOUSE FAREWELL RECEPTION
THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 4PM–7PM

Join us in saying thanks to departing co-director DANIEL NEVERS as he steps down after four years with BAC and check out our current exhibition All of Us All of Us before it closes. Light refreshments will be served outdoors. Masks required indoors.

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: FIRST EXPOSURES MENTEES & MENTORS
FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 12PM–1PM
ON ZOOM
FREE
Berkeley Art Center presents Artists in Conversation: First Exposures Mentees & Mentors, moderated by curator Roula Seikaly.

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: TRISTAN CRANE AND THE Q-SIDES
FRIDAY, MAY 13, 12PM–1PM
ON ZOOM

Berkeley Art Center presents Artists in Conversation: Tristan Crane and The Q-Sides (Vero Majano, Brown Amy, Kari Orvik), moderated by curator Roula Seikaly.

ALL OF US ALL OF US OPENING RECEPTION
SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 3 PM–6 PM

Join the artists and the curator for a free public reception for All of Us All of Us. KN95/N95/F94 or double masks required indoors.

BAC COMMUNITY DINNER
ON THE BRIDGE UNDER THE LIVE OAKS
THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 6PM–8 PM
LIMITED SPACE

Join us for an evening celebrating community and connection. Tickets include a three-course meal, wine, and cocktails, plus a preview of our upcoming exhibition All of Us All of Us, guest curated by ROULA SEIKALY, and a performance by artists featured in MARCEL PARDO's Kin-Streets, a 2020 project that honors transhistorical kinship in the LGBTQIA+ community in the Bay Area. VIP ticket purchasers will also receive a unique handmade gift from artist CATHY LU, whose project Customs Declaration was installed overhead on the bridge at BAC in 2021.

2022 PORTFOLIO REVIEWS
March 29, 30, 31 & April 5, 6, 7
4 PM – 7 PM on Zoom

Portfolio reviews are a great opportunity to get feedback about your work and ask questions about navigating the professional art world from esteemed artists, curators, and educators. Each participant will have the opportunity to meet with two reviewers for 20 minutes each.
$125 for members, $150 for non-members.

MIDAS GALLERY RECEPTION
SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 3 PM–6 PM

Join the artists and the curator for a free public reception for Midas. KN95/N95/F94 or double masks required indoors.

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: RICKI DWYER, LINDA GEARY & MARIA A. GUZMÁN CAPRON
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 12 NOON
ON ZOOM

Join some of the artists from our current exhibition, Midas: How Art Becomes Life & Life Becomes Art, alongside guest curator Squeak Carnwath for a conversation about the mysteries and certainties of the creative process.

BERKELEY ART CENTER AT FOG DESIGN + ART
SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 4:30 PM
FORT MASON FESTIVAL PAVILION | SAN FRANCISCO

Join BAC Co-Director DANIEL NEVERS in a conversation with SFMOMA Curator JANET BISHOP, ICA San Francisco Director ALI GASS, and BAMPFA Director JULIE RODRIGUES WIDHOLM about the future of the arts in the Bay Area.

Moderated by KQED Arts & Culture’s SARAH HOTCHKISS.

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: JULIA GOODMAN & JENIFER K WOFFORD, WITH PATRICIA CARIÑO VALDEZ
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 12PM – 1PM
ON ZOOM

Join us on Zoom for an artist talk with two artists featured in Suspended Matter, Julia Goodman and Jenifer K Wofford, with curator Patricia Cariño Valdez.

FIGURE ‘N COLOR
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 11AM – 2PM
ON ZOOM

ATELIER NOIR, FIGURE DRAWING with instructor Patricia Reneé Thomas and model Nikita

This charcoal-based workshop will focus on the full figure; from gestural exercises that will ensure we are properly elongating and considering proportions, to some long poses that will introduce techniques that improve likeliness and accuracy. Emphasis will be made on the proper use of depth and tone on our melaninated model and to better gauge contrasts when working with Black and POC bodies.

SUSPENDED MATTER: COMMUNITY BREATHWORK OFFERING
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 6PM – 8PM
ON ZOOM

As we breathe, there is much focus on our inhale and exhale. But the suspended matter and liminal space between breaths is just as integral to our BEing. In this practice, we will expand into this portal, examining our illusions. We’ll disrupt our personal environment with the breath to focus our minds and recalibrate our nervous systems. There is art in Being. Allow your breath to show you.

Tickets for this session are $0–$15 sliding scale. Scholarships are available. Please email us for more information.

CHANEL DURLEY is an Integrative Wellness Coach, Death Doula, and Founder of 33rd & RiSING Virtual Wellness Studio. Her work is focused on holding space for BIPOC, Marginalized Communities and our Allies to unpack from Trauma and heal holistically. She holds a BA in Psychology with a focus in Behavior, as well as an Executive MBA. Chanel is passionate about Decolonizing and Dismantling systems of oppression in Wellness and Spirituality, and creating accessible and equitable structures within these Industries. She has been integral in projects that have been featured in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Mashable. In addition to facilitating Energy and Breathwork Healing sessions, you can find her sharing her expertise as a Wellness Business Consultant for Brands and Wellness Entrepreneurs.

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION: LAURA ARMINDA KINGSLEY & ASMA KAZMI, WITH PATRICIA CARIÑO VALDEZ
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 12PM – 1PM
ON ZOOM

Join us on Zoom for an artist talk with two artists featured in Suspended Matter, Laura Arminda Kingsley and Asma Kazmi, with curator Patricia Cariño Valdez.

SUSPENDED MATTER OPENING RECEPTION
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2021, 2PM – 5PM
IN PERSON

Berkeley Art Center presents Suspended Matter, a group exhibition curated by Patricia Cariño Valdez and featuring four Bay Area artists, Julia Goodman, Asma Kazmi, Laura Arminda Kingsley, and Jenifer K. Wofford. The exhibition title borrows from the event of when there is a disruption in the environment — such as erosion or flooding due to rainfall — detritus and particles mix together, creating a new composition of matter that doesn’t dissolve. Suspended Matter refracts our contemporary moment, examining the sentiments and materiality of these unsettled times. Through sculpture, video, photography, and paintings, the artists consider the intimate connections with ourselves, others, and the domestic objects that shape our surroundings.

No appointments necessary; masks required indoors

Berkeley Art Center and MATATU performative think tank present the Lawn Chair Conversation Series Quitting the Self: On Embracing the Fragments I’d Yet to Center Within My Own Being.

The series navigates the vulnerabilities, fears, and privileges that canonize our internal sense of self, with the first sentiment of sitting with liminality and brutality, and living the approach of “ensemble thinking." The second sentiment focuses on how we bring one another together when we make the realization that the group we belong to resembles remnants of our intentional self after conceding to the demands of a group membership. The series ends holding on to how all the mourning can yield a new beginning for a sovereign self engulfed by love.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10
1PM–3PM
Outside BAC in Live Oak Park. Masks mandatory.
Free. RSVP Required.

Sentiment 3
BEYOND MOURNING, A RETURN TO BEGINNING
This conversation explores how holding on to mourning can yield a new beginning for a sovereign self engulfed by love. ANGELA MICTLANXOCHITL with the support of RIMAQ PALMA will guide a sacred fire ceremony to honor the life force of this element and to invite the community to let go of what they desire to transform and heal in these times of change. RAS K'DEE will DJ the afternoon with sounds to ground and move the celebration of mourning.

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION:
DAVID HUFFMAN WITH RHEA FONTAINE

Thursday, September 23
5:30 pm – 7 pm
Outside BAC in Live Oak Park. Masks mandatory.
Free but space is limited.

Join us under the oaks for a conversation between artist DAVID HUFFMAN and RHEA FONTAINE, partner and gallery director of Paulson Fontaine Press. They’ll discuss Huffman’s solo show Afro Hippie, the influence of family and activism on his practice, and Black identity within abstract painting.

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION:
CATHY LU WITH JESSICA SILVERMAN

Watch a recording of the Zoom talk

Join artist CATHY LU for a discussion with gallerist JESSICA SILVERMAN about the inspiration behind her installation piece Customs Declaration and other projects. Conversation will be followed by Q&A from the audience.

Bios

Cathy Lu’s work manipulates traditional Chinese art objects and symbols as a way to deconstruct assumptions about Asian American identity and cultural authenticity. By creating ceramic-based sculptures and large-scale installations, she explores what it means to be both Asian and American, while not being entirely accepted as either. Lu lives and works in Richmond.

Jessica Silverman is the founder and CEO of a contemporary art gallery with an international reputation for curating compelling exhibitions, building artists’ careers, and collaborating with collectors who are keen on positive provenance. Her mission is to support artists whose relevance to contemporary culture is such that museums want to understand and embrace their work. For nine years, Silverman sat on the San Francisco Arts Commission where she oversaw the acquisition of public art and has, since then, advised property developers. Silverman recently opened a new gallery space at 621 Grant Avenue (corner of California) in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

LIVE OAK SOUND SERIES
JUNE 2021

The Live Oak Sound Series is a celebration of the Bay Area’s diverse community of musicians and songwriters, and a re-emergence of the safe, in-person show under a beautiful Live Oak canopy. Each event is an opportunity for cross-cultural exchange through music — subtle conversations between Mexican folk singers and sci-fi beat producers, traditional Indian ragas and haunting operatic ballads. They are an invitation to reconnect, with music at the center.

Shows will feature two performers that come from different musical traditions or backgrounds, sharing music in a safe, outdoor live environment. Advance tickets are required and capacity is limited.

Exhibition Event

2021 Bay Area Cup Swap Live

Saturday, May 8, 1 pm PDT
Live Oak Park

Organized by ERIK SCOLLON, the Bay Area Cup Swap is an ongoing project that connects ceramic artists to one another through generosity and the exchange of mugs. For the 2021 version, BAC has been inviting ceramicists and potters who visit Origin Stories: Expanded Ceramics in the Bay Area to bring a handmade mug to exchange, or to swap by mail. For the final weekend of the show, we will host a live event following safety protocols in the park outside the gallery. Ceramic artists/makers/potters/sculptors of all levels are encouraged to attend to swap mugs with another artist in person.

Free registration is required. All participants must wear face coverings and adhere to social distancing guidelines. The gallery will also be open for walk-ups before and after the event for the final day of the exhibition.

WORKSHOP

SPRING 2021 PORTFOLIO REVIEW Day

SATURDAY APRIL 17, 10 am – 1 pm PDT
via google meet
Cost for Two Reviews: $65 for BAC members/$75 for nonmembers

Portfolio reviews are a great opportunity to get feedback about your work and ask questions about navigating the professional art world from esteemed artists, curators, and educators. Reviewers for our Spring 2021 sessions are KIMBERLEY ACEBO ARTECHE, LEO BERSAMINA, MICHAEL HALL, MEL PREST, LORDY RODRIGUEZ, and PATRICIA CARIÑO VALDEZ.

Each participant will have the opportunity to meet with two reviewers for 20 minutes each. We expect this to be a popular event and encourage you to reserve spots quickly.

Artists in Conversation

Artist Nicki Green with Nicole Seisler, Director of A–B Projects

Thursday, April 15, 3 PM PDT
Via Zoom

Join Bay Area-based artist NICKI GREEN with guest speaker NICOLE SEISLER, artist and director of LA’s contemporary ceramics gallery A-B Projects, for a freewheeling discussion about contemporary ceramics and ceramics education, especially teaching approaches during the pandemic. Featured in the exhibition Origin Stories, Green is a transdisciplinary artist working primarily in clay. She completed her BFA in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2009 and her MFA in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2018, where she now teaches. Her sculptures, ritual objects, and various flat works explore topics of history preservation, conceptual ornamentation, and aesthetics of otherness. In her practice, Seisler uses clay as a conduit between people, and between people and place. She directly engages others in her process and often positions herself as ‘facilitator’ in order to question authorship and blur the overlapping roles of artist/viewer/participant/collaborator. She recently published Recipes for Conceptual Clay (in the time of COVID-19) and teaches at UCLA.

Artists in Conversation

THINGS MADE ABOUT PLACES LIVED: Ebitenyefa Baralaye & Ilana Crispi

Thursday, March 11, 3 PM PST
Via Zoom

In conjunction with the exhibition Origin Stories: Expanded Ceramics in the Bay Area, artists EBITENYEFA BARALAYE and ILANA CRISPI speak with moderator ZOË TALEPOROS about projects inspired by neighborhoods in San Francisco, as well as the role of public participation in these works. Based in Detroit, where he is an assistant professor and the section head of ceramics at the College for Creative Studies, Baralaye was on a teaching fellowship at SFAI in 2017 when he made the piece ContAxts (Tenderloin) featured in the show. His work explores cultural, spiritual, and material translations of form/objects, text, and symbols interpreted through a diaspora lens and abstracted around the aesthetics of craft and design. Crispi’s interdisciplinary practice incorporates ceramic arts with local histories and geologies. Her Mission Dirt Project (2017–ongoing) mines soil from beneath her rent-controlled apartment and transforms it into a range of ceramics. She has been the resident artist at the Rochester Folk Art Guild, Montalvo Arts Center, de Young Museum, and Can Serrat, and is Assistant Professor of Art at San Francisco State University. Their conversation will extend to include the influence of artist communities and teaching upon their respective practices.

About the Moderator

Zoë Taleporos is a curator, arts administrator, and writer based in Oakland. She currently works as a Public Art Project Manager at the San Francisco Arts Commission, where she is involved in commissioning a wide range of artworks for public spaces. She co-organizes Premiere Jr., an exhibition space that commissions new work by Bay Area artists on a 6-by-12-foot billboard in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset. Formerly, she was a co-director/curator of Royal NoneSuch Gallery in Oakland and Queen’s Nails Projects in San Francisco. She received her MA in curatorial practice from California College of the Arts.

ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION

the option to… part 1

wednesday, december 9, 3pm pSt
via Zoom

Join BAC Program Committee Chair KERRI HURTADO in conversation with artists KIMBERLEY ACEBO ARTECHE, ROYA EBTEHAJ, and ADIA MILLETT as they discuss projects from The Option To..., a series of newly commissioned projects presented online by BAC in conjunction with the Feminist Art Coalition’s yearlong initiative to spotlight works informed by various feminisms.

BERKELEY ART CENTER & GALERÍA De La Raza Present

Sergio De La Torre & Chris Treggiari / Sanctuary City Project

In Conversation with Patricia Cariño Valdez

Tuesday, October 27, 2 pm PDT
via Zoom

For the past 12 years, artists SERGIO DE LA TORRE and CHRIS TREGGIARI have utilized primary and secondary research methods to inform engagement platforms that encourage public conversations concerning sanctuary cities and immigration. Projects have included interactive installations, public projections, mobile food projects, and mobile print-making shops. The aim has been to create inclusive spaces where deeper dialogue can take place between individuals and institutions.

Join them for a conversation about their latest research, the impact of COVID-19 on their public engagement art practice, and their current banner projects on view outside the Berkeley Art Center and at the corner of Mission and 18th streets in San Francisco.

About the Moderator

PATRICIA CARIÑO VALDEZ is an independent curator and art consultant based in California. Her research interests include the history of art and exhibitions, artists in the Philippine Diaspora, her Ibaloi family history and archives, and public art practices and interventions. In 2019–2020, she curated the Oakland Museum’s 50th anniversary program series Community Conversations, which included the daylong symposium Exploring Public Art Practices. Her curatorial and public program projects have taken place at numerous museums, galleries, and art spaces in the Bay Area — including the Contemporary Jewish Museum, BAMPFA, and the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art — as well as the Asia Society Texas (Houston). She previously served as curator and director of public programs at San Jose ICA and created public programs at the intersection of art and science at the Exploratorium.

Art From Home

Community Banner Project With Feral Fabric

DIY Fabric Kit Pick-Up Day:
Saturday, October 17, 11 am – 2 pm
at BAC

Remote WORKSHOP (OPTIONAL):
Saturday, October 24, 2 pm – 4 Pm pDT
VIa Zoom

FERAL FABRIC highlights radical textiles in art, activism, and countercultural movements. They work with people and textiles to facilitate personal and cultural transformation. With your participation, Feral Fabric will create a banner that will be displayed on the bridge outside BAC later this year.

During this difficult time, the artists are drawn to the snake as a symbol of creativity, healing, regeneration, and rebirth. The banner will take the form of a long snake in vibrant colors comprised of sequential fabric blocks made by you. Each block will reflect something the maker wants to change or shed in the process of transformation.

DIY kits include a range of colorful fabrics, needle, thread, and glue. Pick up your kit in person outdoors (face coverings required) on Saturday, October 17 from 11 am to 5 pm, or arrange to have a kit no-contact delivered or mailed to your home.

Once you have your kit, join the artists for a casual and fun optional Zoom workshop on Saturday, October 24 from 2 pm to 4 pm, where they’ll provide technical support and some background on the history of radical textiles.

This project is commissioned by the Berkeley Art Center. Materials are free to participants. All ages welcome.

Art & Ideas

Lecture: Sight & Futurisms of Art History

Wednesday, October 21, 2 pm PDT
Via Zoom

RAMÓN DE SANTIAGO is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of History of Art at UC Berkeley who researches the trans-Pacific transfer of visual and material culture between Southeast Asia and Latin America in the Early Modern period (ca. 1450-1650 CE), with a particular interest in pre-colonial systems of trade in both regions. Their theoretical interests include questions of historiography in trans-oceanic systems and visual and material practices. They are a graduate of the Art Practice program at UC Berkeley, which allowed them to further develop socially engaged art practices that connect directly to their community in the Mission District of San Francisco. Ramón is a painter and printmaker who has worked in multiple media including ceramics, screen-printing, videography, installation, and performance, as well as gonzo activist street art. He is a firm believer in the transformative powers of mutual aid and non-hierarchical structures of community governance.

A reading list compiled by Ramón:

· Cohen-Aponte, Ananda. “Decolonizing the Global Renaissance: A View from the Andes.” The Globalization of Renaissance Art. Brill, 2017. 
· Flood, Finbarr Barry. “Between Cult and Culture: Bamiyan, Islamic Iconoclasm, and the Museum.” The Art Bulletin 84, no. 4 (December 2002): 641. 
· Jansen, Maarten, and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez. “RENAMING THE MEXICAN CODICES.” Ancient Mesoamerica 15, no. 2 (July 2004): 267–71. 
· Mercer, Kobena. Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural Studies. New York: Routledge, 1994.
· Thompson, Krista. “A Sidelong Glance: The Practice of African Diaspora Art History in the United States.” Art Journal 70, no. 3 (September 2011): 6–31. 
· Tuck, Eve, and K. Wayne Yang. “Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 1, no. 1 (September 8, 2012). 

Exhibition Event

CURATOR WALK-THROUGH With NATANI NOTAH

Monday, october 12, 12 NOON PDT
Via Instagram live

Join us on Indigenous Peoples’ Day for a live walk-through of our newest exhibition We have teeth too with curator Natani Notah. She will discuss her inspirations behind the scenes and talk about why she selected certain artworks for the show. In her words, “On their own and together, the works included in this exhibition inspire a collective call to action, which is rooted in deep connections to community and conversations about representation in the arts.”

Art & Ideas

Lecture: Building an Asian American Art History Today

Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, assistant curator of American art, cantor arts centeR

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020, 2 pm PDT
via Zoom

Working with assistant professor of art history Marci Kwon, ALEESA PITCHAMARN ALEXANDER leads the Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI) at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford, which aims to transform the Cantor into the pre-eminent institution for the collection, display, and study of art of the Asian diaspora in the United States. The AAAI seeks to bring scholarly and public attention to the rich and diverse history of cultural production by artists of Asian descent, whose contributions to American culture remain understudied and underacknowledged.

Her curatorial practice is driven by a commitment to social justice, a broad and critical understanding of what constitutes “American art,” and a desire to collaborate with living artists. At the Cantor, she curated a re-installation of the permanent collection, The Medium Is the Message: Art Since 1950, and served as on-site curator for Jordan Casteel: Returning the Gaze. In an ongoing effort to diversely expand the center’s collection, she prioritizes acquiring art by women and artists of color, and has brought in works by TITUS KAPHAR, LONNIE HOLLEY, BETYE SAAR, MARTIN WONG, and STEPHANIE SYJUCO. As the daughter of a Thai immigrant and first-generation college graduate, she is also passionate about demystifying museum practice for those interested in the field, and has led workshops on the topic at Stanford, the University of California, Santa Barbara, University of San Francisco, and Southern Exposure.

Alexander has been invited to present her research and writing at the Harvard Art Museums, Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Folk Art Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; her scholarship has been supported by the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts; the Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design; and the American Craft Council. From 2017–2018 she was a Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she completed her dissertation, Unaccountable Modernisms: The Black Arts of Post-Civil Rights Alabama, and assisted with the exhibitions History Refused to Die: Highlights from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation Gift and Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture 1963–2018. She received her PhD in art history from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2018.