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Spotlight Sundays

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Spotlight Sundays: Burn The Wagon live podcast with Juan Dominguez and Morning Star Gali on Environmental Justice

James Moore Theater

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) welcomes Climate Action Month with a live recording of Burn the Wagon podcast. OMCA invites guests to join host Juan Dominguez C’ya T’as (red hawk) and Morning Star Gali of the Pit River Tribe and founder of Indigenous Justice as they explore issues centering environmental justice including climate change, Indigenous sovereignty, and decolonization. The event will begin with a vibrant opening performance by a Pomo dance group from Point Arena and conclude with a Q+A session with the audience.

$1 – $30

Event Series Spotlight Sundays

Spotlight Sundays: Puri Arts & ARU Present: Ritual on the Road

OMCA Garden 1000 Oak Street, Oakland, California, United States

We are excited to welcome Oakland based artist Dohee Lee Puri Arts (DLPA) for their Ritual on the Road series. Join us for a powerful offering in OMCA’s beautiful Garden that will center the healing rituals of Korean indigenous practices from Jeju Island, Korea, where Lee was born and trained. Using visual art and traditional instrumental soundscapes, this interactive performance will be rooted in deep engagement with the Asian Diaspora immigrant refugees community represented by Asian Refugees United (ARU) and in educational collaboration with indigenous partners around loss, harm, and resilience of ancestral and homelands.

Free

Spotlight Sundays: Undocumented Heart

James Moore Theater +1 more

For the closing of Por el Pueblo: The Legacy and Influence of Malaquías Montoya, Spotlight Sundays will host a unique production of Undocumented Heart developed in collaboration with Teatro Jornalero, Peralta Hacienda, and the Oakland Theater Project. Teatro Jornalero is a LA based ensemble theater group made up of day laborers that uses theater, music, and dialogue to educate immigrant workers about their rights.

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Spotlight Sundays: Panel Talk and Presentation with Chicana Artists Celia H. Rodriguez, Yreina D. Cervantez, and Cherrie Moraga

James Moore Theater +1 more

This artist talk will showcase the art and practice of renowned artists Celia H. Rodriguez, Yreina D. Cervantez, and Cherrie Moraga featured in OMCA’s newest special exhibition, Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples. These seasoned Chicana artists will share their over forty years of public praxis, informed by feminism and Xicanx Indigenous perspectives. We are honored to host these celebrated womxn on our OMCA stage. Please join us for this important and lively conversation.

This Spotlight Sundays program is a part of our exhibition programming for Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples

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Spotlight Sundays | Care-Van: Get Out the Vote Campaign Town Hall

OMCA Lecture Hall 1000 Oak, Oakland, California

This election year, learn everything you need to know to make the best choices for you and your family at Care Van’s Town Hall on Sunday, August 18. Envisioned by artist Autumn Breon, Care Van is part of For Freedoms’ 2024 campaign to broaden democratic participation across the country. This traveling civically engaged interactive artwork was inspired by the work of Bernice Robinson, a beautician who taught Black communities to read and write in order to vote during the Civil Rights Movement.

Free

Spotlight Sundays: Making Music and Medicine for Health and Healing

OMCA Garden 1000 Oak Street, Oakland, California, United States

Join healing arts practitioner and featured artist in OMCA special exhibition, Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples, Felicia Montes of Mujeres de Maíz and La Botanica del Barrio for Barrio Botanica & Beats a bilingual herbal medicine demonstration on making and using natural, holistic and healing methods and traditions. Montes will share the custom of flor y canto or flower and song, as she is joined by the Xicana musical group, In Lak Ech in a ritual ceremony. 

Free

Spotlight Sundays: Buffalo Soldiers and the Philippine American War—A Multimedia Experience

OMCA Garden 1000 Oak Street, Oakland, California, United States

In honor of Filipino American History Month, join us for a moving multimedia experience highlighting stories of African American soldiers and Filipinos during the Philippine–American War. Developed by John Calloway, this artistic showcase combines live music, Indigenous dance, and spoken word to narrate powerful depictions of this history and the fight for freedom. The program will be emceed by Mario Nomi from the Oakland based Filipino Advocates for Justice. 

$1 – $30

Spotlight Sundays: Celebrating Maize Through Screenprinting and Conversation with Xicanx Artists, Melanie Cervantes & Elizabeth Blancas

OMCA Lecture Hall 1000 Oak, Oakland, California

Join us for an engaging outdoor event in OMCA’s Oak Street Plaza. This program will explore Indigenous Xicanx heritage and its deep connection to maize (corn). Engage with a screenprinting poster activity and informal talk with featured artist, Melanie Cervantes & guest artist, Elizabeth Blancas, who will delve into the themes presented in our special exhibition, Calli: The Art of Xicanx Peoples. We invite you to connect, learn, and celebrate with us!

Free

Spotlight Sundays: Weaving Identity through Generations with Consuelo Jimenez Underwood and The Butterfly Effect

OMCA campus

Through the lens of ancestral tapestries Weaving Identity through Generations will explore homelands and the experience of belonging. This intergenerational offering will begin with an artist’s presentation and conversation in OMCA’s James Moore Theater with Calli: Art of Xicanx Peoples featured artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood and Chair of the Latinx Research Center at UC Berkeley, Laura E. Pérez. 

$1 – $30

Community Conversations: Reclaiming Democracy, Building Belonging

James Moore Theater

OMCA’s Spotlight Sundays is excited to introduce “Community Conversations,” a new series in partnership with The Othering & Belonging Institute (OBI). This new series of conversations will create a space to foster public dialogue and engagement around emerging community topics.

The program’s first installment this January will explore the topic of Reclaiming Democracy, Building Belonging. The panel will include john a. powell, Director of OBI and Professor of Law, African American and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley along with a diverse set of other visionary community organizers and youth leaders. The panel will be moderated by Ashley Gallegos who leads the Places of Belonging work at OBI.

$1 – $30

Ongoing & Annual events

Evening hours Thursday After Hours

Experience Thursday After Hours at OMCA – your weekly night out at the Museum rich with cocktails, culture, and community. Mingle at Town Fare Cafe by Chef Michele McQueen, where you can enjoy drinks and light bites against a backdrop of music, or explore the galleries  which come alive at night with a mix of pop-up performances, chats, live drawings, and more–  just for adults! 

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Evening hours Friday Nights at OMCA with Off the Grid

Friday Nights at OMCA with Off the Grid, Oakland’s favorite free weekly block party is back, April—October!

Gather with family, friends, and community every Friday 5—9 pm for live music, hands-on activities, Off the Grid (OTG) food trucks, and late-night access to our galleries and special exhibitions, with a Museum ticket.

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Gallery Events Gallery Chats at OMCA

Join us for Gallery Chats, an opportunity to chat with and ask questions of our enthusiastic and knowledgeable OMCA Facilitators.

 

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Third Sundays Spotlight Sundays

Every third Sunday, OMCA invites visitors to Spotlight Sundays, a series of conversations, performances, and experiences that showcase California visionaries.

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First Sundays First Sundays

Every first Sunday of the month, General Admission to OMCA’s Galleries of California Art, History, and Natural Sciences is free and tickets to Special Exhibitions in our Great Hall are offered at a discounted price of $6.

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Community Celebration Lunar New Year

OMCA celebrates the Lunar New Year and explores the shared connections between the diverse Asian cultures of the Bay Area. These family-friendly programs will include both virtual and in-person offerings that celebrate and honor Lunar New Year traditions through storytelling, performances, activities, cooking demonstrations, and more. OMCA holds space for our AAPI communities to come together and uplift each other with both in-person and virtual healing circles.

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Community Celebration Día de los Muertos

In collaboration with OMCA’s Día de los Muertos Committee, we honor Day of the Dead every October and November.

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Community Event White Elephant Sale

The Oakland Museum Women’s Board started the White Elephant Sale over sixty years ago. The annual event is not-to-be-missed.

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Gallery Events Group Chats

Knowledgeable facilitators share insights and help make meaning with your group in OMCA’s galleries.

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