Every Tuesday our subscribers get this awesome roundup in their inboxes. You should sign up right here to make sure you never miss a thing. This week is like a fresh breeze of new-new blowing through the Bay! We’ve got art installations opening, new venues to check out, and new

Growing up in the Bay Area punk scene in the 1990s punk/ska you knew about Mike Park, his label Asian Man Records and his band Skankin’ Pickle. I myself saw them once at Gilman, a semi-underground venue located off Gilman Street in Berkeley. I was probably wearing Jnco jeans and

By LSN If you have been frequenting the Oakland artisan circuit, it is no secret that outdoor shopping, flea markets, swap meets, gallery displays, and popups have been on the rise since the early days of the pandemic. The opportunity for local artists and makers to come together collectively in

The first crack in the foundation wasn’t this most recent purchase of American Steel by ScanlanKemperBard (SKB) (for $82.5 million in all-cash). The first major blow to this community came 5 years ago when it was previously sold to 11-West. During that initial sale, my understanding was that many artists

There is surrealism and a dark edge, to the art this duo makes.  Their subjects often appear as mythical characters, suspended, grasping, transforming, even murdering at times.  Ransom and Mitchell blend several mediums and techniques, from encaustic painting to digital art and photography, with a dose of the ‘dark arts’ mixed in too.  The results are modern, gothic, potions that often feel both ‘movie quality’ and horror ready.  Starting with real-life subjects, their portraiture is then gradually transformed into the paranormal, fantastical, creations you’ll enjoy below.

The price that great writers pay for cursing convention and soiling the milquetoast ranks, it seems, is braving an inflamed collective that refuses to acknowledge the filth at its feet. At best, such artistic confrontation is met with a wince. At worst, literary banishment. And so writers who present an

Just 5 years after being purchased by 11-West, one of our most vibrant and imaginative artist communities in Oakland will be emptied out by this summer. The community of large scale industrial artists, fabricators, builders, and makers at American Steel in West Oakland is readying themselves for an upcoming eviction.

Early Saturday morning the 12th, I received an anonymous message on Facebook stating: “I saw your post on Alameda Peeps about your story on the red love letter mailboxes. I can get you in contact with the person who created these on the condition that they stay anonymous?” Attached was