Too much success
Yogi Berra was supposedly talking about a new restaurant when he said: “Nobody goes there anymore, they’re too crowded”.
That’s the way we feel about Art Murmur, the big event in Oakland on the first Friday of the month when thousands descend on the Telegraph Avenue art corridor, the streets are blocked off, the galleries are open, the street vendors come out with food and crafts and all the hip, slick and cool people are there to see and be seen. It’s gotten so big that you can’t move around the galleries, you can’t park nearby, the artists are too busy to chat and it just isn’t fun for us any longer.
Fortunately, there is an alternative–Third Thursdays. The third Thursday of the month, the galleries are open late, musicians come play, the artists are in attendance, and the crowds are tiny–mostly just the real art aficionados. It’s a great way to see what’s happening in the arts district of Oakland.
This week, we went to the Roscoe Ceramic Gallery, on 25th, to see an exhibit by our friend, Michelle Gregor. Michelle is a fine sculptor and a professor of art at San Jose City College. She’s also really tall, with a big personality to match.
Michelle is accustomed to being the center of attention.
Her show was all new work; relatively small figures.
Across the hall, at the Mercury 20 gallery, I found a new artist whose work I fell in love with, Julianne Wallace Sterling. Julianne is a young married woman with two kids who lives in Albany and paints in here home studio. She is exhibiting large paintings of people, clothed and unclothed. I have long had an idea in my head for a photo I want to make, and Julianne has already painted it:
This just works for me.
Another in the series.
I know I want the first of these paintings; Gail and I are debating where in the house it might fit. I’ll attach it to the ceiling if that’s what it takes.
Third Thursdays are pretty much a success as far as we’re concerned. We’ll be going again–want to ride along with us?
Totally Unauthorized 