CRP Blog & Updates Archives - Page 4 of 19 - Community Rejuvenation Project

Revis(it)ing Oakland’s Controversial Public Art Ordinance

February 28, 2017

CRP Blog & Updates, Op-Eds, Public Art Policy

Recently, Oakland city staff proposed revisions to the controversial Percent for Art ordinance , which will be discussed at a March 14th Community & Economic Development subcommittee meeting, a preliminary step before a full City Council hearing. Most of the changes are minor, intended to clarify fuzzy language in the ordinance. But one proposed revision is not so innocuous: city staff has recommended incentivizing the “in-lieu” contribution to make that option more attractive to developers. The implications of this could be…

CRP Participates in First-Ever Bay Area Mural Festival

November 29, 2016

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CRP Blog & Updates, Events

The Community Rejuvenation Project (CRP) recently joined a handful of selected muralists to participate in the first-ever Bay Area Mural Festival (BAMF), held in late October 2017. Along with CRP, other invited artists included some of the Bay Area’s top muralists: Juana Alicia, Dan Fontes, Los Pobres Artistas, Trust Your Struggle, The Bay Baes, Daniel Camacho, Ernesto Olmos, Dave Kim, Daz, Dignidad Rebelde, Teodoro Saavedra, Caleb Duarte, Angel Jesus Perez, Eli Lippert, and Keneda Gibson Conceived as a co-partnership between…

CRP featured in Matatu Festival of Stories

October 11, 2016

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Alice Street documentary, CRP Blog & Updates, Events, Multimedia

The Community Rejuvenation Project is pleased to announce the screening of “Alice Street Short,” an advance look at the upcoming documentary “Alice Street,” during the Matatu Festival of Stories. The screening, which takes place on October 13 at Red Bay Coffee in the Fruitvale District, will also include dance performances by Carla Service’s Dance-a-Vision and Lenora Lee Dance, as well as a panel discussion featuring filmmaker Spencer Wilkinson, CRP Executive Director and muralist Desi Mundo, Chinatown historian Roy Chan, community…

Community Rejuvenation Project Announces Crowdfunding Campaign, New Trailer for Alice St. Documentary

June 24, 2016

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Alice Street documentary, CRP Blog & Updates, Multimedia

Acclaimed muralist collective Community Rejuvenation Project (CRP) has announced a crowdfunding campaign to help complete the documentary “Alice Street.” The organization is looking to raise at least $12,000 by July 25, $8000 of which will be matched by the East Bay Community Foundation’s East Bay Fund for Artists. In conjunction with the announcement of the crowdfunding campaign, CRP also announced the launch of AliceStreetFilm.com and the latest trailer for the documentary. Sponsorship packages, which range from a $25 mug to a $1000 personal portrait, are…

The Saga of Cleveland’s Controversial “137” Mural

April 26, 2016

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CRP Blog & Updates, Public Art Policy

Public art exists in a space between censorship, gentrification, community engagement, and notions of aesthetic value. These are the takeaways from a recent mural painted in Cleveland by CRP Executive Director and founder Desi Mundo, which became a source of controversy as well as a catalyst for a lengthy community discussion around these topics. It all started when Mundo traveled to Cleveland to give a talk for Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC), a non-profit arts advocacy group. The…

CRP, #SupportMalonga Coalition Announce Mediation Agreement With Bay Development

April 13, 2016

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Campaigns (Current), CRP Blog & Updates, Public Art Policy

In Fall 2015, the Community Rejuvenation Project (CRP) completed the Alice St. Mural, after two years of work. The mural reflected a new model for community engagement—dozens of interviews with cultural practitioners and neighborhood residents were completed—and represented a successful application of the city of Oakland’s underutilized anti-blight mural fund. Yet just a few months after a dynamic, rousing block party activated what had been a nondescript parking lot, word came that the lot was planned for development. The proposed…

CRP and Local Residents Launch Petition and Fundraiser for Community Benefits from Alice Street Development

February 5, 2016

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Campaigns (Current), CRP Blog & Updates, Public Art Policy

The Community Rejuvenation Project — in solidarity with artists from the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, the Chinatown Coalition, local residents and businesses — has launched a petition to Maria Poncel of Bay Development to demand community benefits from the development of the parking lot at 250 14th Street. In addition, the community has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise the funds to appeal the Oakland Planning Commission’s unanimous approval of the development. A protest will be held on…

Developers: Public Art “Something That’s Not Really Needed”

February 1, 2016

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Campaigns (Current), CRP Blog & Updates, Op-Eds, Public Art Policy

Oakland’s cultural shift is real, it’s happening right now, and its impacts could be devastating from a long-term perspective – unless there is a strong, concerted effort from both the cultural community and the larger community to organize around anti-displacement and cultural resiliency efforts. That’s the short version; the longer version goes something like this: For the past decade or so, as Oakland has become more and more gentrified, the threat of displacement has loomed ever-present. The biggest impact of…

As Development Threatens Displacement, Oakland Artists Fight for Cultural Equity

October 23, 2015

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CRP Blog & Updates, Public Art Policy

As CRP previously reported, the September 3 kick-off of the public engagement phase of the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP), followed the same week by a SPUR report outlining “big ideas,” raised community concerns about displacement and exclusion. None of those ideas, it seemed, addressed displacement, affordability, or maintaining diversity, and arts and culture seemed an afterthought at best. A second meeting, held October 19, did little to dispel those concerns. The evening began with a speak-out to defend Oakland’s arts and…

Mural Artists Remain Resolute In The Face of Tragedy

October 13, 2015

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CRP Blog & Updates

It’s the worst-case scenario for a mural artist: to be the victim of deadly violence while painting on public streets. But the muralists who witnessed the shooting death of Antonio Ramos say the tragic incident may have been shocking and horrific, but hasn’t deterred them from continuing to work on the third installment in the “Oakland Superheroes” series being painted under freeway overpasses in West Oakland. “Public art… is a powerful way to engage the public,” said Amana Harris, Executive Director…