OMCA Announces Public Programs and Events for January 2024
December 15, 2023
Oakland Museum of California Announces Public Programs and Events in January including the start of the Inaugural season of Thursday After Hours at OMCA, a Panel with Malaquías Montoya and other artists from Special Exhibition Por el Pueblo, the final weeks of Into the Brightness, and expanded Gallery Chats featuring artists from Creativity Explored, Creative Growth & NIAD
Thursday After Hours at OMCA
Thursday, January 11 — Thursday, March 28, 2024 | 5—8 pm
The Oakland Museum of California introduces Thursday After Hours at OMCA – a weekly night out at the Museum rich with cocktails, culture, and community. Visitors are invited to mingle at Town Fare Café by Chef Michele McQueen and 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!
Thursday After Hours programming is included in the cost of General Admission for Museum Guests and Free for Museum Members. Visitors do not require a ticket to enter Town Fare. For more information, please visit our website at museumca.org.
Major support for Thursday After Hours at OMCA is provided by The Oakland Museum Women’s Board.
Thursday, January 11 | 5-8 pm
Sketchboard Live Drawing and Gallery Chats in Gallery of California Arts
Bring your sketch pads and appetites to the kick off of Thursday After Hours at OMCA. Mix and mingle over delightful cocktails prepared in OMCA’s Town Fare Café. After bites and beverages, head over to the Gallery of California Art for live drawing sessions hosted by Sketchboard, a BIPOC figure drawing collective, curating eclectic, diverse, and affordable events in the Bay Area over the last 10 years.
Programming in the galleries is included in the cost of General Admission for Museum Guests and Free for Museum Members. Town Fare Café will be open to visitors until 8 pm.
Thursday, January 18 | 5—8 pm
Game Night & Pop-up Performance in Gallery of California History
The Gallery of California History will come alive with can’t-miss pop-up performances in the Gallery of California History. In between pop-up performances and strolls through OMCA’s award-winning galleries, stop by Town Fare for Game Night.
Programming in the galleries is included in the cost of General Admission for Museum Guests and Free for Museum Members. Town Fare Café will be open to visitors until 8 pm.
Thursday, January 25 | 5—8 pm
Sketchboard Live Drawing and Gallery Chats
Pack your sketch pads and appetites! Delight in a special Town Fare menu in OMCA’s cafe, Town Fare by Chef Michele McQueen. After bites and beverages, head over to the Gallery of California Natural Sciences for a live drawing session hosted by Sketchboard, a BIPOC figure drawing collective, curating eclectic, diverse, and affordable events in the Bay Area over the last 10 years.
Programming in the galleries is included in the cost of General Admission for Museum Guests and Free for Museum Members. Town Fare Café will be open to visitors until 8 pm.
Spotlight Sundays: Exploring Intergenerational Chicanx Dialogue around Art and Practice
Sunday, January 21, 2024 | 1—2 pm | James Moore Theater
This event is sliding scale ($1—$30) visit museumca.org/event/ for more information.
Artists from the Special Exhibition, Por el Pueblo: The Legacy and Influence of Malaquías Montoya, along with other community members will come together to unpack potent issues around intergenerationality in Chicanx art and practice in an open forum discussion. The panelists will feature Malaquías Montoya himself along with other Por el Pueblo artists including Elyse Doyle-Martinez, Israel Campos and Juan Fuentes. The conversation will be moderated by the Director of Mission Cultural Center, Martina Ayala. The event will also include a call-to-action table with resources and a representative from the organization, Brown Issues. Through civic engagement and narrative change, Brown Issues fosters youth in becoming change agents by advocating for healing processes and the mobilization of the next generation of Brown leaders.
Gallery Chats at OMCA
Gallery Chats ~
Saturdays, 1—3 pm | OMCA Great Hall and Galleries of California Art, History, and Natural Sciences
Member Gallery Chats ~
Second Saturdays, 12— 1 pm | OMCA Great Hall Only
Special Edition Gallery Chats ~
First Wednesdays, 12—1 pm | Special Exhibition Into the Brightness: Artists from Creativity
Explored, Creative Growth & NIAD
Gallery Chats at OMCA takes an informal approach to the traditional museum tour. Visitors are invited to chat, ask questions, and connect in the galleries with our OMCA facilitators who combine content knowledge with lived experience to encourage meaningful dialogue and fresh interpretations of our Special Exhibitions and Galleries of California Art, History, and Natural Sciences.
Weekly Gallery Chats take place in our Special Exhibitions and our Galleries of California Art, History, and Natural Sciences every Saturday from 1 to 3 pm and are included with Museum and Special Exhibition admission. No reservation necessary.
OMCA Members have access to special Member Gallery Chats every second Saturday of the month from noon to 1 pm.
In addition to weekly Saturday Gallery Chats, artists from Into the Brightness: Artists from Creativity Explored, Creative Growth & NIAD have hosted Special Edition Gallery Chats are at noon to 1 pm every first Wednesday throughout the duration of the show and will host the final edition January 3 before the exhibition closing on January 21.
OMCA Architecture Walk and Talk
First Sunday of Each Month at 1 pm
Walk through OMCA’s landmark building and gardens with members of the Council on Architecture and learn about the history, design, and evolution of this award-winning structure with guides who are passionate about OMCA and Oakland.
No reservations or tickets are required. Walk and Talk begins near the Mid Level ticketing desk and lasts approximately one hour.
If you’d like to visit OMCA’s Galleries or Special Exhibitions, please purchase a ticket online in advance or at the ticketing desk on the day of your visit.
65th Annual White Elephant Preview Sale
Sunday, January 28, 2024 | 10 am – 3 pm | 333 Lancaster St. Oakland, CA 94601
The 65th annual White Elephant Sale (WES), a Bay Area tradition and the largest rummage sale in Northern California, returns at the end of January and flows through February and the first week of March. Organized by the Oakland Museum Women’s Board, the White Elephant Sale is the biggest annual fundraising event benefiting OMCA. The first opportunity to shop is at the Preview Sale on January 28, 10 am – 3 pm. For more information, visit whiteelephantsale.org.
Press invited to cover with advance RSVP; please email [email protected] to coordinate your coverage.
Final Weeks of Into the Brightness: Artists with Creativity Explored, Creative Growth, & NIAD
Final exhibition date: January 21, 2024
In collaboration with three profound Bay Area institutions, Into the Brightness: Artists from Creativity Explored, Creative Growth & NIAD celebrates myriad works from contemporary artists with developmental disabilities. From painting to sculpture to multimedia, these world-renowned artists are producing work of incredible power, exuberance, humor, complexity, and joy.
Into the Brightness presents a variety of dynamic perspectives from the artists’ personal experiences of the world. This original, collaborative exhibition is the largest museum exhibition in over a decade featuring artists from the three local organizations – Creativity Explored in San Francisco, Creative Growth in Oakland, and NIAD (Nurturing Independence Through Artistic Development) Art Center in Richmond. Exhibition closes Sunday, January 21.
Currently On View
Por el Pueblo: The Legacy and Influence of Malaquías Montoya
Great Hall
Explore the living impact of Chicano artist, Malaquías Montoya, whose legacy as a public-serving artist, activist, and community leader serves as inspiration for younger generations within the Chicano community and beyond. Montoya’s posters, graphic prints, and murals highlighting political and social justice issues have helped define the Chicano identity for nearly five decades.
Malaquías Montoya’s activist roots and community ties can be traced back to his childhood as the son of a migrant farmworker family and the close relationships he held with elder family members, teachers, artists and more. Por el Pueblo: The Legacy and Influence of Malaquías Montoya invites visitors to consider Montoya’s deeply collaborative artistic process, focus on community, and engagement across generations.
This exhibition will explore what it means to become an elder through photographs, historical and familial ephemera, early works from the artist as well as contemporary artworks by artists from multiple generations influenced by Montoya, including Julio Salgado, Elyse Doyle-Martinez, Leslie Lopez, Israel Campos, and Arely Hernández. On view October 6, 2023—June 30, 2024.
Into the Brightness: Artists from Creativity Explored, Creative Growth & NIAD
Great Hall
In collaboration with three profound Bay Area institutions, Into the Brightness: Artists from Creativity Explored, Creative Growth & NIAD celebrates myriad works from contemporary artists with developmental disabilities. From painting to sculpture to multimedia, these world-renowned artists are producing work of incredible power, exuberance, humor, complexity, and joy.
Into the Brightness presents a variety of dynamic perspectives from the artists’ personal experiences of the world. This original, collaborative exhibition is the largest museum exhibition in over a decade featuring artists from the three local organizations –Creativity Explored in San Francisco, Creative Growth in Oakland, and NIAD (Nurturing Independence Through Artistic Development) Art Center in Richmond.
Featured artists include Saul Alegria, Peter Cordova, Tranesha Smith-Kilgore, Marlon Mullen, Dorian Reid, William Scott, Dinah Shapiro, Nicole Storm, and Marilyn Wong. On view through January 21, 2024.
OMCA Kids: Nature Playspace
Gallery of California Natural Sciences
Little learners can unleash their curiosity and imagination in the newly created OMCA Kids: Nature Playspace. Located inside the Gallery of California Natural Sciences, the playspace is focused on the unique needs of children ages 2 to 5, along with their families and caregivers.
Play is critical to every child’s healthy development and the playroom offers something for everyone – from building materials and nature-themed puzzles to hands-on activities that spark creativity, wonder, and joy. Our youngest museum visitors can also discover the animals that make their homes in Oakland’s streams, hills, and backyards. The playspace gives families a fun, safe place to play, and to build community with other families.
Visitors ages 12 and younger receive free admission to OMCA, as long as they are accompanied by an adult over 18 years of age.
About The Oakland Museum of California
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) tells the many stories that comprise California, creating the space and context for greater connection, trust, and understanding between people. Through its inclusive exhibitions, public programs, educational initiatives, and cultural events, OMCA brings Californians together and inspires greater understanding about what our state’s art, history, and natural surroundings teach us about ourselves and each other. With more than 1.9 million objects, OMCA brings together its multidisciplinary collections of art, history, and natural science with first-person accounts and often untold narratives of California, all within its 110,000 square feet of gallery space and seven-acre campus. The Museum is a leading cultural institution of the Bay Area and a resource for the research and understanding of California’s dynamic cultural and environmental heritage for visitors from the region, the state, and around the world.
Visitor Information
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is at 1000 Oak Street, at 10th Street, in Oakland. Museum admission is $19 general; $16 seniors and students with valid ID, $12 youth ages 13 to 17, and free for Members and children 12 and under. There is a $6 charge in addition to general admission pricing for special exhibitions in the Great Hall. OMCA offers onsite underground parking and is conveniently located one block from the Lake Merritt BART station, on the corner of 10th Street and Oak Street. An accessibility ramp is located at the 1000 Oak Street main entrance to the Museum.