More than 400 artists will participate in this year’s annual Pro Arts Open Studios East Bay regional event. Among those will be seven local Emeryville Artists mostly centered around The Park Avenue District. Works like those of photographer Steve Lefkovits’ Pacific Landscapes Gallery at the Emeryville Warehouse Lofts and Artist Co-Op Steve Senter will be open to the public for viewing.
West Berkeley’s Kala Art Institute will also participate in this year’s events. The former Heinz Ketchup Factory complex on San Pablo offers an artists-in-schools program providing curriculum-based visual arts education to children in schools in Berkeley, Emeryville and Oakland. Another interesting thing of note at Kala is Oakland artist Sue Mark, who along with a half dozen others, will feature works examining the history of the San Pablo Avenue Corridor. Mark has been collecting stories from long time residents along the corridor and is exploring community identity. The title of the group exhibit is Print Public and it continues through June 27.
OPEN STUDIOS WEEKEND TWO:
June 13 & 14, 11am-6pm
More information on ProArtsGallery.org
Download the Complete Directory [PDF]
June events featuring local artists kick off June 14
By Annalee Allen Correspondent
Sunday is the final day for this year’s Pro Arts Open Studios. The online virtual tour of the 400 artist participants makes it easy to zero on the artists’ studios you want to visit. Artists from cities such as Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, El Cerrito, Piedmont and Richmond are taking part, making this an exciting regional event.
Or you might want to head to downtown Oakland to the Pro Arts Gallery where you will find the free map booklet guide as well as examples of the artwork on the gallery walls. The gallery is located on the ground floor of the Lionel Wilson Building, 150 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, across from City Hall. The event hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. View the virtual tour at www.proartsgallery.org.
Every year, I am attracted to works that show Oakland’s natural beauty and urban fabric. The paintings of artist Jessica Joy Jirsa caught my attention when I was thumbing through the directory. Her works of streetscapes and signs — like the neon blade signs of the Paramount and Fox Theaters, using strong bright colors are particularly eye-catching. The artist’s studio is located near Mosswood Park, in North Oakland; she is number 173 in the book. I also liked her vivid Oakland A’s baseball game series.
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