development Archives - Community Rejuvenation Project

The Commodification of Public Art (Op/Ed)

October 8, 2018

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

Recently, Pacific Standard magazine wrote an article about public art in Oakland. Specifically, the story addressed mural brokers, middlemen who connect fat cat developers with artistic talent – for a fee. Mural brokers, the article explains, handle logistics such as price negotiations, choosing artists, prepping walls for painting, and handling insurance coverage – “everything necessary to make the mural happen except paint it.” The article correctly points out the cultural cachet of murals, and their historical connection to illegal street art,…

Another Perspective on Oakland’s Public Art Ordinance

March 17, 2017

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

Recently, the Community Rejuvenation Project (CRP) addressed Oakland’s controversial public art ordinance, analyzing the implications of a since-withdrawn staff report (a copy is here) outlining proposed changes, as well as some background on the history of the ordinance itself. While the staff report’s small changes to clarify language and buttress the ordinance against lawsuits seemed reasonable, the tacked-on proposal to incentivize the in-lieu contribution is both both problematic and unnecessary. CRP has since gotten word that the item has been pulled,…

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…

Cultural Resilience, Community Engagement, and Addressing Displacement from an Equity Standpoint

November 13, 2015

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Campaigns (Current), Campaigns (Past), Op-Eds, Public Art Policy

In the wake of the recent completion of the mural dedicated to murdered painter Antonio Ramos and Soul of Oakland and OCNC rallies to defend Oakland’s culture, CRP painted the outside walls of community organization Qilombo as part of an anti-gentrification rally. Most of the massive wall, which features portraits of Assata Shakur,Thomas Sankara, and Amed Sekou Toure against a red black and green backdrop, was done in just one day. Qilombo is currently facing another eviction attempt, this time from…

Big Ideas for Oakland’s Downtown Mostly Exclude Artists (Op/Ed)

September 11, 2015

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

Retaining the character, flavor and cultural identity of Oakland should be a Big Idea. But in an urban planning process which appears to be completely run by developers and consultants, apparently with the blessing of the pro-development administration of Mayor Libby Schaff, broadly diverse voices of the artistic and creative community may have been all but shut out of that process. As CRP previously noted, the development community has already taken aim at the arts, by filing a lawsuit this…

The Privatization of Public Art

February 26, 2015

crproject

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

Last November, then-Councilmember Libby Schaff proposed a new ordinance which required a percentage of new development–.5% for residential property, and 1% for private development—for “public art.” The ordinance further codified an existing public art program, which provides 1.5% of capital improvement projects to “commission and acquire public art.” Yet while the existing public art fund is administered by the city’s Cultural Arts dept., the new ordinance “provides developers with the option of commissioning public art on the development site or…