January 20– April 22, 2007 100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change Museum Celebrates Artwork from Oakland Neighborhoods Art Special Gallery Presented by the Professional Services Department

Chinatown family at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center workshop. Photo Abnet Asnake

Can the experience of learning and creating art together strengthen a family? Benefit a community? One hundred families in Oakland now believe that it can.

"100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change," a program launched by the Center for Art and Public Life at the California College of the Arts (CCA) in 2005, gave families in East Oakland, Chinatown, Fruitvale, and West Oakland the opportunity to be creative together in a series of 10 weekend workshops.

An exhibition of the artwork that was created in the workshops, 100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change, opens at the Oakland Museum of California Saturday, January 20, 2007 (through April 22). Mildred Howard, mixed media and installation artist, is the guest curator.

“When the 100 Oakland families worked with our project artists, the young people had a way to channel some of the negative things they are surrounded by in their lives into something positive,” Howard said.

“These kids are so vulnerable—they have quicker access to guns than to books. We need to intervene, one family at a time, if need be,” she said.

It was the powerful installation Howard created for the museum’s 2003 Days of the Dead exhibition—a map showing the names and locations of the 114 homicides in Oakland the year before—that inspired social entrepreneur and philanthropist F. Noel Perry to found the "100 Families Oakland" program.

“If we can strengthen the family,” said Perry, “maybe we can strengthen the neighborhood, then maybe the city, and reduce the violence. Just the act of picking up a paint brush can alter a person’s self-esteem and change their outlook.”

Perry’s vision of bringing together families through the transformative process of making art included honoring their artwork with an exhibition at a major arts institution. Smaller shows at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Fruitvale’s Unity Council Senior Center, the African American Library, and Gallery 555 downtown have displayed each community’s projects.

The museum’s 100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change presents nearly 500 artworks, including ceramics, collage, sculpture, and murals, from all four neighborhoods. The workshops were led by community artists and CCA students, who found that the families’ initial hesitation about making art gradually turned into creative expression. Parents began by helping their children and ended by participating fully themselves.

The Oakland Museum of California has three related programs planned during the exhibition; all are

Fruitvale family at the Unity Council Senior Center, Oakland. Photo Ta Sin Sabir.

included with museum admission:

Sunday, January 28, 2007 1–4:30 p.m.
Musical Masterpieces Explorations! Special activities to engage families in experiencing the connection between music and the visual arts. This Black History Event assembles families and musicians in the museum’s art galleries to create musical and personal responses to the artwork, especially to the pieces from the West Oakland and East Oakland “100 Families Oakland” workshops. Musical Masterpieces is presented in collaboration with the museum’s African American Advisory Council. Sponsored by Chevron Corporation.

Sunday, February 18, 2007 1–5 p.m.
Lunar New Year Celebration. Artists, performers, and community members share their Pacific Rim traditions through demonstrations, hands-on activities, performances, and craft booths. Families and artists from the the “100 Families Oakland” Chinatown workshops will be invited to share their Lunar New Year experiences and highlight their work. Sponsored by Chevron Corporation.

Sunday, March 18, 2007 1–4:30 p.m.
Family Explorations! Celebrate 100 Families Oakland. A wide range of art experiences based on the family learning activities developed for the “100 Families Oakland” workshops. Artists and families from all four neighborhoods will be invited to take part and engage other families in learning together by making art. Short films, live music, performances by Prescott Elementary School Circus Theatre students, and “100 Families Oakland” artists will encourage participants to explore their creativity. Sponsored by Chevron Corporation

The 100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change exhibition is among the events planned by the CCA for its centennial, in 2007. The museum will also host California College of the Arts: 100 Years in the Making, a chronological retrospective of art by alumni and faculty representing Bay Area art and its movements throughout the twentieth century, as seen through the lens of the CCA. The retrospective, October 13, 2007–January 27, 2008, builds on the museum’s commitment to California history by educating new generations about the Bay Area’s artistic legacies.

The Center for Art and Public Life was founded in 1998 to create and facilitate programs that provide and enhance arts education in underserved communities within and beyond the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information about the Center’s programs, visit www.cca.edu/center.

100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change received support from F. Noel Perry, the Oakland Museum Women’s Board, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, OneCalifornia Foundation & OneCalifornia Bank (in formation), and Working Assets. Media sponsors include KPIX TV5, and La Preciosa 92.3 FM Area De La Bahia.

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