Category — lakemerritt

Downtown promises plenty to do today and tomorrow, July 3 and 4 2009, from First Friday events spanning the length of the district, to tomorrow’s long-awaited return of fireworks on the waterfront.

ProArts, the non-profit dedicated to aiding and promoting East Bay artists and artisans, has merged with the Oakland Art Gallery. The Oakland Art Gallery, subsidized by the city of Oakland, was one of Oakland’s few galleries dedicated to local artists a few years ago, but now has been eclipsed by private galleries in better locations. Merging the two organizations should help restore focus to the Oakland Art Gallery, and give ProArts better access to like-minded organizations including the city’s Cultural Arts Department. Today, the First Friday of the month, ProArts will present its first show at its new space in Kahn’s Alley.

First Friday was of course popularized by the Art Murmur galleries concentrated on Telegraph, and there will be no shortage of art to see in Uptown. Adding to the likely boisterous atmosphere on this lovely evening, Oakland Soft Rock Chorus will perform in the street around 23 and Telegraph, probably at 8:30. The OakBook’s monthly arts article highlights several of the Uptown galleries’ shows, including Mark Inglis Taylor and Porous Walker at the Hatch Gallery.

Down south, the Ellington, a new high-rise building at 2nd and Broadway, will host a curated “Art Walk,” combining tours of the apartments with works by Oakland artists. Also on 2nd, Swarm Gallery currently displays contemporary landscape paintings by Claire Baker and R. Reynolds.

For those less interested in fine art than street art, Old Oakland’s Fiveten Studio presents its second annual graffiti exhibit, featuring “the Throw Up Style.” Featuring a dozen artists and a hip-hop DJ, the event is at 8th and Broadway.

Between Uptown’s Art Murmur and Old Oakland / Jack London Square’s events, new bar Penelope is getting raves for its cool interior and innovative, savory cocktails. Nearby, on the pedestrian alley between the Federal Building and Preservation Park (what was once 13th St), a gastro-pub is under construction with the goal of opening at the beginning of August.

Many Oaklanders are looking forward to the opening of the Lake Chalet, which promises to grace Lake Merritt with fine, though not daring, cuisine. You don’t have to wait to enjoy a lake view at dinner, since the Terrace Room at the Lake Merritt Hotel has reopened. I’ve heard great things about brunch.

Last but not least: after a two-year hiatus, fireworks will be back at Jack London Square, despite some finger-wagging from budget watchdogs. The Square will provide entertainment starting at 1pm, including performances by a big band and an R&B group. Valet bike parking will be provided by Bay Area Bikes‘ new bike-rental location at 427 Water St. Though it’s likely to be foggy as usual, downtown’s waterfront will boast a spectacular show. See you there!

Yes, it is once again the first Friday of the month! That means open galleries and people out and about enjoying the beautiful weather of downtown Oakland. Artsy events in and around downtown include of course the Art Murmur, but also a Saturday crafts fair at ABCo in West Oakland.

East Bay Open Studios, an annual peek into the studios of the East Bay’s artists and artisans, begins today. Stop by ProArts, the organizer, for more information and a guide, and get started by visiting neighboring Swarm Gallery and Hive Studios.

Not everything to do is indoors, though. Saturday will see the Jack London Aquatic Center hosting their Summer Splash event, and on Sunday the Lake Merritt gardens celebrate their fiftieth anniversary.

Today’s the last day to register for the National Homebrewers’ Conference, to be held at the City Center Marriott June 18 – 22. Nearby beer temple The Trappist will surely be busy that weekend! Though perhaps not as busy as Uptown.

Though not an event, Jack London Square’s handsome The Bond building opened to the public this week. The large apartments include views, services, and that most coveted of Oakland amenities, a dog park.

Saturday, horns-driven funk band Damon and the Heathens releases their long-awaited album with a show at the Uptown. I included the Heathens on my Oakland mixtape for Rebecca Kaplan’s election to the City Council, not just because they are excellent, but because many of their songs touch on the Oakland condition (such as their live cover of Life During Wartime). The lyrics of Trite Life mention one of West Oakland’s most pressing problems, food insecurity:

Ghost Town is a motherfucker

So take your ass to the corner store

It says groceries but you will find

The only vegetables are waiting in line

Check out their high-energy show and great new album, featuring audio samples of disturbing news reports on Oakland compiled by V Smoothe, at the Uptown tomorrow. See you there!

UPDATE: A Better Oakland makes a pitch for enjoying the DTO on Saturday.

In journalism, it’s called burying the lede. In dialogue, it’s an aside. This week, the juiciest information about openings in downtown Oakland came from a careful reading of an article and a blog. In a wide-ranging interview with Bakesale Betty herself, the Trib’s Dave Newhouse reveals the opening date of Uptown’s new Bakesale Betty’s bakery: in September! Meanwhile, an SF Weekly blog about Souley Vegan’s prepared dishes at the Grand Lake Farmers’ Market mentions that the vegan soul food cook hopes to reopen a downtown location this summer, at 3rd and Broadway.

There’s hidden information, and then there’s rumor and innuendo, which I suppose is a form of information. From the rumor mill, an Uptown steakhouse, and new dance club or two, and an Old Oakland take on hip Japanese cuisine are said to be in the works. Frozen yogurt is now being served in City Center, providing another place to get a sweet treat. With the Parkway perhaps getting a lifeline, it seems like anything is possible. Except perhaps a reopened Kaiser Auditorium.

Today, the Washington Inn continues its Friday night comedy series in Old Oakland; Mike Moto headlines. Jack London Square continues its nighttime dance lessons under the stars with American Tango. And Oaklandish is bringing back its Salsa by the Lake event this Sunday, though in Splash Pad Park to avoid Measure DD construction.

Finally, Mignonne Decor closes the doors on three charming years in Old Oakland with a sale today and tomorrow on vintage housewares and furniture. Though the store is, if anything, moving up in the world (it will soon find itself in West Berkeley’s furniture district), Old Oaklanders are disappointed that four gifts and clothing boutiques have closed in less than a year. But with some exciting things in the works for Uptown and other parts of the DTO, we hopefully won’t have to wait long for a new place to patronize! Sadly, though, we won’t read about it on OaklandGoods.

On this second Friday of the month, sunny downtown Oakland may not be hosting a big art walk or a restaurant opening, but there is much to read about the DTO on this beautiful day.

Dashe and JC Cellars, local urban wineries, are profiled in AppellationAmerica.com. Taste their wines at their shared warehouse, or at next week’s Oakland Indie Awards.

Bloggers, contributors, commenters and readers enjoyed meeting each other at one of Uptown’s hottest spots last week. Read Zennie’s take on the party, and the neighborhood.

A Chronicle food critic blogs that “it’s happening in Oakland,” about the recent spate of high-quality restaurant openings. Four of his favorites are downtown. OaklandGoods visits a new favorite, Pican, and an old favorite, the Paramount Movie Classics.

Many activists are quite pleased that the City Council gave public art a crack at using a prominent Uptown lot instead of car parking. Stay up to date on the two-week process by keeping an eye on the blogs.

Walk Oakland Bike Oakland posts the progress on Lake Merritt improvements as reported by Councilmember Pat Kernighan. Now that the rainy season is ending, the long-promised paths and bike lanes around our crown jewel are ready to be poured!

The Chronicle profiles Anthony Holdsworth, chronicler of a changing downtown in pastel. See his triptych of 14th and Broadway in the lobby of Oakland’s City Administration Building, 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza.

Nice to know, the reader may think, but what am I doing tonight? Three downtown events stand out tonight, Friday May 8. The Franklin Square Wine Bar is hosting one-dollar tasting flights of Italian wines on their lovely plaza. With two weeks until their cabaret license may be suspended, tonight at Oasis may be a last chance to dance to reggae, dancehall, and techno. And at Café Van Kleef tonight, West Oakland horns-driven outfit Damon and the Heathens will perform danceable funk with plenty of local references. But with Uptown, Old Oakland and Chinatown all offering a variety of walkable dining and entertainment options, it’s easy to come downtown without a plan! See you on the sidewalk.

The end of 2008 comes to a downtown packed with new restaurants, clubs, and parks in which to celebrate the New Year. BART will run until 3am, and offers an evening-long “Flash Pass” that can be purchased at the Lake Merritt station. Central Contra Costa County dwellers unfortunately just lost their all-night bus service, so New Year’s Eve may be their last chance to party all night in the DTO! Downtown New Year’s Eve parties include:

Reggaton Dance Party at Levende East, $20 (no cover with dinner). 825 Washington St.

Sugar and Gold and Damon and the Heathens at The Uptown. $10. 1928 Telegraph Ave.

Black Comedy Explosion at The Paramount. $40 – $75. 2025 Broadway.

Latin Beats and Go-Go Boys at The Bench and Bar. $25. 2111 Franklin St.

Funky New Year’s Eve at Luka’s. $20. 2221 Broadway.

For the more casual reveler, DTO nightclubs Ruby Room (132 14th St) and Radio Bar (435 13th St) will have champagne toasts and no cover charges. The Oasis (135 12th St), Air Lounge (492 9th St), and Cafe Van Kleef (1621 Telegraph Ave) probably have parties, but there’s no online info.

Happy New Year!

In my professional life I work with fonts, and of course the internet is an intensive study of the utility and connotations of typefaces. I recently noticed that both StopWaste.org and the US Army are using the font Dirty Headline in advertisements, which two years ago graced my flier for a Halloween club night. Tonight, the Oakland Museum hosts a screening of the film Helvetica, about the ubiquitous early sans-serif font, and a panel discussion about typefaces in this time when the printed word is more dynamic and pervasive than ever. Also, it’s free!

Oakland Museum screens Helvetica
1000 Oak St, free parking
Tonight, Weds Dec 3, 6p

The film and discussion will be interpreted for the hearing impaired.

If I were to update last month’s Uptown Excitement blog, I’d call it Uptown Explosion. Several restaurants announced openings in the greater Uptown area, generating attention from San Francisco to Westlake. The district may soon see a champagne bar, but still no taco trucks.

More than just the culinary arts are flourishing in Uptown. Partners from B Restaurant, Fiveten Studio, and Levende East are planning a multi-level dance club in the block of historic storefronts including 21 Grand, once home to Industrielle, a mattress dealer, and a military-themed bookstore. Meanwhile, an improv theater has found a home nearby, on Broadway.

Maybe I’ve been paying too much attention to BRT, TOD and LTEs, but it seems like car parking is an issue as Oakland becomes a bit more thriving. But not only cars need parking. Bicyclists are of course aware of the crippling lack of bike parking since meters were replaced by kiosks. For another modal perspective, the crew of the Zen Sakai document the hassle of parking a boat to get lunch at Jack London Square.

Saturday, City Councilmember-elect Rebecca Kaplan, Equality California’s Sean Sullivan, and other leaders (TBA) will address a gathering of Oaklanders at City Hall in opposition to Proposition 8. Tomorrow looks to be warm, and Frank Ogawa Plaza is a sunny spot on a nice day.

Lest I leave out the jewel of downtown, please enjoy this Zeppelin’s-eye view of Lake Merritt, and your DTO weekend.

The Trib’s Night Owl, Angela Woodall, reveals details and dates of Ozumo’s venture in the DTO, on the smoking-hot corner of Broadway and Grand. Ozumo and Pican, who signed leases months ago but did not begin work until recently, will share the intersection with Luka’s, the Franklin Square Wine Bar, newly-glam Vo’s, and next year, Bakesale Betty.

The original Uptown investment that sparked the district’s revitalization, The Uptown Apartments, celebrated the first residents and the broader community by opening a new Oakland park last night. The park, built and maintained by Forest City but operating as a city park, will soon be home to Remember Them, a colossal bronze monument a friend called “Mt. Rushmore for liberals.” Check out the park before it’s overwhelmed by “art.”

The Trib also writes about the Fox Theater, which has received tens of millions in donations and is now going to reopen as a fully-restore, full-scale theater, a far cry from “The Ruins” plan developer Phil Tagami floated to get the city interested in its restoration, which promised a usable building on the cheap. The School for the Arts is planning to move in at the end of November, so the building will appear occupied and revitalized at that point.

All the talk about the city’s budget over the last week explains why many neighborhoods are working to provide their own services and not rely on the city. Before the recess, the City Council approved several new Business Improvement Districts, including three downtown, two of these in Uptown (Uptown, which includes the Lake Merritt office district, and Koreatown, which includes part of Uptown and several blocks to the North). The Uptown bid is currently looking to hire security guards for the district. Much of the controversy before Tuesday’s vote focused on cuts to the Cultural Arts and Marketing Department, and the Oakland Convention and Visitor’s Bureau was mostly defunded. Next week, the OCVB will propose a hotel BID (PDF) to fund its activities in the future.

In other downtown news, the Barbary Lane retirement home in the historic Lake Merritt Hotel opened for long-term residents. I’m not sure whether the restaurant overlooking the Lake will be again open to the public.

In the report for Oakland’s Zoning Update Committee of the Planning Commission for Wednesday’s hearing (PDF), city’s staff makes several major mistakes in Attachment H (pdf), among other places, regarding the height of existing buildings and their placement on the skyline, as discussed at A Better Oakland. From the selection below, try to spot all eight ten errors.

Lake Merritt Skyline

Recently the fine men and women of Oakland’s Public Works Department painted over a “guerilla” crosswalk installed in May by frustrated activists in the Gold Coast neighborhood. One resident is turning to public art to aid the pedestrian-unfriendly intersection: below is his proposal, Pride Mural.