Oakland Art Month Returns
Image © 2018 Miss Ari Photography
2nd Annual Oakland Art Month is Back This May 2019
Features Packed Calendar of Arts Events and Performances
(Oakland, CA) – Visit Oakland, the city’s official destination marketing organization, celebrates Oakland’s arts community with the second annual Oakland Art Month in May 2019. The entire month of May is dedicated to promoting artists and events that highlight the diversity of Oakland’s creative community.
Oakland has long been home to innovators, creatives and artists that collectively form the soul of Oakland. As a happening arts and music hub for Northern California, year-round entertainment can be found throughout the city. Visit Oakland hopes to introduce visitors and locals alike to new art forms and also encourage them to revisit old favorites, through promoting art events in May and establishing Oakland as a top-of-mind arts destination in California and the country.
Our vibrant city reflects the mosaic of cultures and people who live and work here, which contributes to an abundance of art forms and experiences here in Oakland,” says Mark Everton, CEO of Visit Oakland. “We’re excited to highlight Oakland’s diverse art scene and the city’s creative community to visitors and locals alike.”
Oakland Art Month celebrates the creation of the City of Oakland’s Cultural Development Plan, with the idea of BELONGING for May 2019. This is the city’s first Cultural Development Plan in 30 years. As it was written in the plan, “People’s sense of belonging is tied to their ability to lead meaningful lives, to be connected to the place they live in and the people they live among, and to feel a part of something larger than themselves.”
“Belonging invokes a sense of home,” says Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Oakland-based Spoken Word Artist. “I’m not originally from this city but I have found myself here because Oakland welcomes outcasts, transplants, forward thinking, the little off, the little weird and also the middle of the road. It’s a place that invites us all to come together in pursuit of something greater. Art belongs in Oakland because people have made it so.” For more artist’s perspectives on Belonging, view our video here https://bit.ly/2UNR4SR.
This year’s Art Month calendar will bring cultural arts events including Cinco de Mayo celebrations, the Armenian Food Festival, the Oakland Greek Festival and the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) Film Festival. Visitors can experience these events and see why National Geographic Traveler named Oakland a 2019 Best Trip for the city’s unique culture.
Running through the end of May, The-Beat-Generation-Exhibition features the Oakland artist, Arthur Monroe’s portfolio for Smithsonian Archives of American Art. The works in The-Beat-Generation-Exhibition depict the life journey of Arthur Monroe as a lifetime achievement celebration in preparation for his induction to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, throughsculptures, photography, drawings and paintings.
During the first two weekends of Art Month, Oakland Art Murmur is offering an “Art Route” map and contest. This gives visitors and locals the chance to explore art venues throughout Oakland and for the people who visit the most galleries on the route, they will be entered to win a shopping spree towards Oakland artwork, a hotel stay, fine dining and more.
See featured events happening during Oakland Art Month below. For the full calendar of events and more information about Oakland artists and art forms, visit oaklandartmonth.com. Follow @visitoakland and #oaklandartmonth on social media for the latest updates.
