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CRP Blog & Updates

The Ascension of the “AscenDance” Mural

On October 16 2021, “AscenDance,” a large-scale mural produced by the Community Rejuvenation Project, in partnership with The Greenlining Institute, finally held its dedication ceremony. The eight-story mural was completed in 2020, but the official celebration was postponed twice due to the pandemic. Although public safety dictated that the event not be the massive block party originally planned, the scaled-down celebration was attended by approximately 75 people — including several elected officials, Oakland Cultural Affairs Department staff, Greenlining staff, and…

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AscenDance Mural: Progress Report

In the midst of the strangest summer in modern history–thanks, COVID!–progress is still being made, if you know where to look. Up in the skies, that is. Eight stories above ground level, one block on 14th St. in downtown Oakland is quietly being transformed into a vibrant artistic statement which resonates with energy, vitality, and fierce, passionate conviction. If you’ve been following the story of the AscenDance mural, whether through this blog, or as an observer passing by, you’ve seen…

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Meet the Muralist: Priya Handa

Guest artist Priya Handa comes highly recommended. A member of the Precita Eyes families, she comes to the “AscenDance” mural as a veteran of community mural projects throughout California and internationally. Watching her work on this mural is a study in quiet — yet intense — focus and concentration.  Although she professes to be more comfortable with brushes than with words, she has an amazing story (or three) to tell about her experiences painting in other countries, how she communicates…

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AscenDance: Coming Into View

In the last couple of weeks, the AscenDance mural has turned a corner. What once was a bare and unremarkable wall now pulses with color, vibrancy, and life. Gridlines have become outlines; outlines have metamorphosed into distinct figures, Details and backgrounds have emerged. The entire wall has taken on form, shape, and substance. Its new character is being slowly revealed, day by day, brush stroke by brush stroke. There is no going back — only forward.

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Meet the Muralists: Marina Perez-Wong and Elaine Chu

If you’ve been in and around downtown Oakland recently, you may have noticed the new mural going up on the exterior wall of The Greenlining Institute’s building. If you’ve stopped and taken a peek, you may have seen muralists at work on scaffolds and a swingstage, filling in details, painting portraits, and making the wall come to life.  Marina Perez-Wong and Elaine Chu, aka the Twin Walls Mural Company, have been putting in hours and hours of hard work in…

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Downtown Oakland Becomes Ground Zero For Street Art in Wake of George Floyd Protests

The “AscenDance” mural has finally kicked into gear. After several weeks of build-up, the project — located on the side of The Greenlining Institute’s headquarters, at 360 14th St. in downtown Oakland — has moved from gridding to sketching to outlining to images being colored and starting to come alive. The past two weeks have represented a giant step forward for the eight-story mural, which is beginning to take on a character as the faces of its subjects are given…

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AscenDance: The Greenlining Mural Moves Forward

CRP’s newest mural, at The Greenlining Institute’s downtown Oakland building, looks like it’s going to be a powerful work of public art. On Friday, May 29, the artists had just completed a day which saw the first sketch outlines hit the wall. That night, what started as a peaceful protest in honor of George Lloyd became a violent and chaotic scene. The morning light revealed scores of vandalized storefronts, dozens of scrawled tags, and broken glass everywhere. It was a…

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Desi Mundo Breaks Down the 360 Mural

The Community Rejuvenation Project’s highly-anticipated collaboration with The Greenlining Institute, the “360 Mural,” has completed its community input and design review phases. Now it’s on to the actual painting, which begins May 18. But before that happens, we thought you might enjoy a sneak preview of what the finished design will look like, as well as a breakdown of the images, people, and symbolism contained within. Here’s a mock-up of the design: A front-facing view of the same image: Here’s…

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Pandemics and Public Art

Pandemics have a way of impacting the best-laid plans (of mice and men). What happens to artists who do public-facing works, when  there’s an emergency order to shelter in place? What happens to projects? Read on and find out.  Earlier this year, the Community Rejuvenation Project announced a collaboration with The Greenlining Institute to paint a large-scale mural on GLI’s headquarters, the “360 building.”  The project had literally been years in the making. The planned mural was the culmination of…

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CRP’s “Warriors” Mural: A Collaborative Effort

Recently, CRP got a call from Oakland’s District 6 Councilmember, Loren Taylor, about a new anti-blight mural opportunity in East Oakland. To avoid fines by the City for unsightly tagging at a vacant site, the property owner wanted to commission some public art. The only catch? The mural had to be completed within 48 hours. As CRP Executive Director Desi Mundo explained, “Loren [Taylor] had been in a conversation around painting in this area for a long time. We had…

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