ThursDates at OMCA with Jessa Calderon & Good Fire Pop-Up Talks and Demos
ThursDates at OMCA | Good Fire: Tending Native Lands In-Gallery Pop-Up Series ft. Jessa Calderon, Tiśina Ta-till-ium Parker, Saif Azzuz, Alice Lincoln-Cook, and Dr. Brittani Orona; Music from WELIVEINPARADISE; Pop-Up Market ft. Ihoo Taloowa Beads; and Gallery Chats
March 12 from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Adults 18+
This Thursday, experience the latest exhibition Good Fire: Tending Native Lands through a series of intimate, in-gallery pop-up talks, performances, and demonstrations. The evening opens with a musical set by Tongva, Chumash, and Yoeme artist Jessa Calderon, whose songs and poetry channel Indigenous resilience and community healing. Interwoven between performances, experience pop-up talks and demos with regalia maker Tiśina Ta-till-ium Parker, artist Saif Azzuz, and basketry and cultural fire specialists Alice Lincoln-Cook and Dr. Brittani Orona, each offering hands-on insights into art, land stewardship, and ancestral practices.
Outside the gallery, Town Fare becomes a hub for immersive sound with WELIVEINPARADISE, blending live electronics and ambient textures, while Ihoo Taloowa Beads offers handcrafted adornments rooted in Chickasaw traditions and the stories of the land. Throughout the evening, guests can sip cocktails, enjoy bites, and let the music guide them through an unhurried exploration of creativity, culture, and connection.
In addition, every ThursDates at OMCA offers a rich gallery experience with Gallery Chats from 5:30–7:30 pm. Unlike traditional tours, these conversations invite you to ask questions, share perspectives, and engage with OMCA facilitators who blend content expertise with lived experience. Gallery Chats take place in all of our galleries—including our Special Exhibitions—and are included with Museum and Special Exhibition admission. Join us for an evening made for learning, creating, lingering, and connecting.
Program Schedule:
5–7:30 pm Vendor: Ihoo Taloowa Beads | Great Hall Entrance
5:30–7:30 pm Live Music + DJ Set w/ WELIVEINPARADISE | Town Fare
5:30–7:30 pm Gallery Chats | All Galleries
5:40–6 pm Live Music w/ Jessica Calderon | Great Hall—Good Fire
6–6:15 pm Pop-Up Talk w/ Tiśina Ta-till-ium Parker | Great Hall—Good Fire
6:15–6:30 pm Pop-Up Talk w/ Saif Azzuz | Great Hall—Good Fire
7–7:30 pm Pop-Up Talk + Demo w/ Alice Lincoln-Cook + Dr. Brittani Orona | Great Hall—Good Fire
7:30–7:50 pm Live Music w/ Jessica Calderon | Great Hall—Good Fire
About ThursDates
Every Thursday, January through March, step into OMCA’s warm after-hours glow. Experience a rotating mix of intimate performances, live figure drawing sessions, game nights, and more—designed just for adults. Or sip a signature cocktail and grab a light bite in Town Fare by Michele McQueen, all to a soundtrack of local Oakland artists and DJs.
Whether you’re exploring the Museum with a date, catching up with friends, or are coming solo and looking to meet someone new, you’ll find connection, inspiration, and creative surprises, week after week.
Accessibility
Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is committed to providing programs that are accessible, welcoming, and inclusive of our community. Wheelchairs, sensory inclusive devices, and additional amenities are available for checkout on a first come, first served basis at the Ticketing Desk. To request other accommodations, like American Sign Language (ASL), Cantonese, Spanish or another language interpreter, please email [email protected] at least three weeks before the event.
Performer BIOS
The Bay Area Book Festival is a vibrant celebration of literature, diversity, and progressive ideas, drawing over 20,000 people to its flagship weekend event in Downtown Berkeley each year. In addition to this major festival, the Bay Area Book Festival hosts monthly events and year-round programming in venues throughout the region, making it a dynamic, community-driven hub for authors, readers, and literary advocates across the Bay Area. Their mission is to uplift and honor the full spectrum of literary voices, with particular care for those who have been historically excluded or marginalized, while encouraging reading, creative expression, and critical thinking across all ages and backgrounds, fostering understanding, resilience, and collective action.
Maw Shein Win’s latest full-length poetry collection, Percussing the Thinking Jar (Omnidawn, 2024), was shortlisted for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry. Her previous full-length collection, Storage Unit for the Spirit House (Omnidawn, 2020), was longlisted for the PEN America 2021 Open Book Award, shortlisted for the Golden Poppy Award for Poetry, and nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry. She is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito, CA, the 2025 Berkeley Poetry Festival Lifetime Achievement Awardee, and a 2025 Recipient of the Nomadic/San Francisco Foundation Literary Award. Win’s previous collections include Invisible Gifts and two chapbooks, Score and Bone and Ruins of a Glittering Palace. She teaches poetry in the MFA Program at the University of San Francisco and in the Low Residency MFA Program at Dominican University.
Danny Allen is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer living in Oakland, California. He’s played all over the US and Europe both as a solo performer and as a touring guitarist. Danny isn’t tied to one genre—he simply loves songs, and sonics that move and inspire him. He has a deep love for the American songbook and loves to perform standards. He also has a deep appreciation of punk rock, and early country music. He hopes you’re doing well!
La Femme Papi is a non-binary, first-generation Salvadoran American DJ, youth worker, and community healer. They were born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District (Yelamu), the unceded ancestral land of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Their work centers joy and healing for immigrants, as well as queer and trans people of color dedicated to collective liberation. They’re the current resident DJ at Clutch the Pearls, a QTBIPOC drag cabaret in the Mission, and have held residencies with iconic Bay Area parties including Soulovely, Puti Club, and Queer Qumbia.
Sponsor
Major support for ThursDates at OMCA is provided by The Oakland Museum Women’s Board.
