A1 Travel Grants, Mission Chinese, Sea Monsters

The best days usually aren’t recognizable as such while they are happening, they just flow whether or not you’re paying attention. We often devote so much mental time and energy laying the groundwork for things to go right that we neglect to notice when they do. I had one of those days yesterday, but was […]

Sea Monsters on my mind

The depiction of sea monsters is as old as seafaring. Only the shape, size and imagined intention of the monster changes over time, generally in direct relation to what is being explored and whatever constitutes the boundaries of current knowledge. Sea monsters represent the unknown, simultaneously warding off and goading the curious-minded. Historically, sea monsters […]

The Sory Behind ‘The Guardian’

‘The Guardian’ by Frederic Fierstein, 1985, at the foot of the Berkeley Pier. I’ve always admired the huge concrete sculpture depicting an archer/warrior seated on a mysterious creature at the foot of the Berkeley Pier. A genuine Berkeley landmark, ‘The Guardian’, made by Frederic Fierstein and a small group of collaborators in the mid-eighties, functions […]

Makkeweks

Last night the City of Oakland approved our preliminary concept for a new public art project to be sited adjacent to Lake Merritt, as a part of the Lakeside Green Streets initiative. This is our biggest commission to date, so we’re very excited to bring the concept into reality. I’ve attached a few images of […]

Learning from the Murmur

I was lucky to catch the last rays of early September sun glistening off the ornately glazed tiles and finials of downtown Oakland’s deco treasures; the building facades just drink up this light, colors saturated against a deep azure sky. I had arrived on bike just as the Murmur was setting up, bought tickets at […]

Lakeside Green Streets Research

Ene and Aili chat it up with local residents on the shores of Lake Merritt. We’ve been spending a lot of time roaming the shores of Oakland’s Lake Merritt as we enter the research phase of our public art commission for the City of Oakland’s Lakeside Green Streets initiative. Our project is to be integrated […]