by Ken Katz
If you shopped the Farmers Market on Saturday, you likely saw the Grand Avenue Business Association (GABA) booth with a gorgeous chalkboard poster as its centerpiece. Kudos to Lorenzo Galvan, an employee at Ikaros, for stepping up to the plate at the last minute and hitting a home run.
Thirteen Grand Avenue businesses will be participating in the Art Walk on Thursday, November 2! To enjoy this event, you can use the the above map (which will be posted at each location) or join the guided tour led by Tracey Williams of Urban Furniture (meet at Michael’s Chocolates at 6pm). Michael will be offering free tastings of chocolates and gelato and a 15% discount on all purchases.
Next door, at Panorama Framing, Ted Dively will be hosting a show of artworks titled, “Beavering Away” by KG Greenstein and Nancy Mizuno Elliott.
Ikaros Greek Restaurant is hosting a show of photographs of Greece by Michael Kokoullis, acrylic paintings by Rochael Adranly, and Day of the Dead prints by Daniel San Souci. They will be serving complimentary “treats.”
Kori Chen and Jessica Moncada-Konte at Alkali Rye-Oakland’s Beverage Shop will be pouring tastings at their back bar. Upstairs, you’ll find a piecemeal vintage pop-up show of high quality, mid-century furniture.
Brother & Sisters Flower Shop is hosting a show of artwork by Lea Feinstein in their second-floor gallery and will remain open late with music, drinks, and snacks.
Urban Furniture will be showcasing the artwork of Cassandra Jacobs, who works in a wide variety of media — everything from spray paint to sculpture. Light refreshments will be served, and summer items including open toe sandals, summer dresses, shorts etc. will be marked down 25%.
Radbird will be featuring Metal Art by Mark Canepa accompanied by sounds by Suede Denim.
8am Style Fashion will be setting up on the sidewalk on Grand alongside Oakland artist Chris Granillo. Live music will be provided by Matt Torres, and light refreshments will be served. Meaza is offering a 10% discount on all sales $50 or above.
At Alyce on Grand, be sure to check out the striking black and white woodblock prints by My Maji Art while sipping a glass of wine.In addition:
- TwoTwo is hosting a collection preview of Duality with sounds by Souae, Yunger Rorian, Shapes, and Tina Snow.
- An Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony will be on tap at Cafe Romanat, along with complimentary vegan popcorn.
- Music at ReLove will be provided by DJ Emelle.
- Bake Sum, which usually closes early, will be open late and, even though they’re not formally on the walk, check out the artwork that lines the walls of The Barbary, the new Tiki Bar that recently opened in The Libertine space.
News in Brief:
- Shopping at Grand Lake Ace a couple of weeks ago, I found myself in line behind Joe Paul, the owner of Bell and Iron Tattoo just down the block. When I complimented Joe on his tattoos, the cashier came out from behind the counter and revealed the extent to which Joe has mastered the art of tattooing.
- Uhuru Furniture closed last week. Almost immediately afterwards, two upper Grand business owners emailed us over concerns that the two storefronts would remain vacant or, worse in their eyes, be leased to a third cannabis dispensary in the neighborhood. If it’s not in violation of zoning regulations, the latter may be the case. Considering that there are currently only two vacancies on Grand Avenue above the freeway, we’re confident that they will be leased fairly quickly . BTW: If you have smalls you want to donate, check out Urban Furniture and, for larger items, Out of the Closet. More resources are listed on the DonateOakland.org website.
- Killers of the Flower Moon, a 3.5-hour blockbuster of a film, is currently playing at the Grand Lake Theatre along with Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Bottoms, and Five Nights at Freddy’s. Upcoming in November are The Marvels and Napolean. Matinees for all shows before 5:45 are $7.50. In addition, discounted $6 Tuesdays are back.
Ken Katz founded the Splash Pad Neighborhood Forum in late 1999 and, in his role as Chair, coordinated the community efforts to lobby for a new park and subsequently served as a liaison to the City of Oakland and to Walter Hood’s office during the planning process. The first Splash Pad Newsletters were emailed beginning circa 2006. Currently, he acts as a contributor to—and publisher of—the monthly Splash Pad News. Keila Diehl proofreads all the copy, filters content as needed, and makes everyone involved look good.
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