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Events

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Upcoming Events

Friday Nights at OMCA | Live Music by Fantastic Negrito & Friends, Poetry and Hip Hop by Let’s Lab with KDThe Poet!, Gallery Chats, and DJ set with Mani Draper

OMCA campus

Friday Night’s at OMCA presents an electrifying evening with Oakland’s own Fantastic Negrito as he takes the stage alongside some of his favorite musicians in the Bay Area. Join us for an immersive performance that plays with the boundaries between funk, rock, soul, and blues to produce  a unique and captivating experience. More boundaries are broken as Let’s Lab with KD the Poet makes the mundane fantastic as he centers everyday life in his blend of soulful lyricism and tempered production. The night will be further filled with the groovy blend of rap, soul, R&B, and Afrobeats emanating from Bay Area DJ Mani Draper, all excellent energy to intercut with engaging discussion facilitated by the Gallery Chats taking place in our Special Exhibition, Por el Pueblo: The Legacy and Influence of Malaquías Montoya.

Free

Member Gallery Chats: California AAPI History

OMCA Gallery of California History 1000 Oak St, Oakland, California, United States

This month’s Member Gallery Chat presents an opportunity to come share your questions and reflections on key moments in California Asian American history and explore how the causes and consequences of these events still reverberate today. What are the many ways Asian Americans have contributed to the “Becoming California” story? How might more Asian American stories be uplifted and heard?

Free for Members
Event Series Group Chats

Group Chats

OMCA campus

Interested in engaging more deeply with our gallery content? Sign up for Group Chats where knowledgeable facilitators share insights and help make meaning with your group in OMCA’s galleries. Group Chats puts a twist on the traditional museum tour and centers community voices, lived experiences, and provides fresh interpretations of OMCA’s Exhibitions. This is an informal experience, not a traditional tour. The facilitators will generate conversations and engagement with your group throughout the hour.

Friday Nights at OMCA | Live Music by Awesöme Orchestra, K-Pop Dance Lesson with Groobeu & Robin Lee, Gallery Chats, and set with DJ Peter Lo

OMCA campus

Join OMCA this Friday night as we host Awesöme Orchestra and 100+ musicians for an evening filled with internationally acclaimed guest artists and local composers! Bringing music out of the concert hall and into the wider Bay Area community parks, streets and rock venues, Awesöme Orchestra takes film and video game scores and brings them to life. Both a performance and an invitation, the Awesöme Orchestra invites you to their website for info about how to participate. This Friday Nights at OMCA further invites you into the performance with K-Pop Dance Lessons with Groobeu & Robin Lee as they teach one of NewJeans’ choreography to one of their most popular songs, “Hype Boy!” This will be a supportive space as they walk through each movement, try the choreo many times, and split into smaller groups to give everyone a chance to showcase their new moves!

Free
Event Series Group Chats

Group Chats

OMCA campus

Interested in engaging more deeply with our gallery content? Sign up for Group Chats where knowledgeable facilitators share insights and help make meaning with your group in OMCA’s galleries. Group Chats puts a twist on the traditional museum tour and centers community voices, lived experiences, and provides fresh interpretations of OMCA’s Exhibitions. This is an informal experience, not a traditional tour. The facilitators will generate conversations and engagement with your group throughout the hour.

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

Friday Nights at OMCA | Bolo Music Group Presents Live Music by Ruby Ibarra & Ian Santilliano, Live Figure Drawing with Sketchboard, Gallery Chats, and set by DJ Sake One

OMCA campus

Friday Nights at OMCA brings back a Thursday After Hours special, Sketchboard Live Drawing! This Friday OMCA invites visitors to bring their sketch pads and appetites and get creative in the Museum’s Gallery of California Art with live drawing sessions.

Free
Event Series Group Chats

Group Chats

OMCA campus

Interested in engaging more deeply with our gallery content? Sign up for Group Chats where knowledgeable facilitators share insights and help make meaning with your group in OMCA’s galleries. Group Chats puts a twist on the traditional museum tour and centers community voices, lived experiences, and provides fresh interpretations of OMCA’s Exhibitions. This is an informal experience, not a traditional tour. The facilitators will generate conversations and engagement with your group throughout the hour.

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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