We moved our art space blog!

Hi, everyone.

We just finished migrating this blog to our new wordpress website. Check it out at actualcafe.com/art. I won't be maintaining this blog anymore, but we've copied all the old posts, so you won't have to look at both to see them.

thanks
sal

Sneak Preview: Paper Trails (a zine show) - opens Friday 3/9

The folks at Rock Paper Scissors, Fly Away Mobile Zine Library and Rad Dad are busy right now making holes in our walls and hanging zines everywhere...here are a couple early shots to whet your appetite.

Don't miss the opening, tomorrow (Friday March 9) from 6-10. Look, read, touch, listen, contribute, and have a swell old time.

Images from Live Drawing; also April open drawing workshop coming!

Alison Tharp, who's been coordinating our Live Drawing parties (and drawing in them herself), sent on some new photos of last month's event. For those of you who have never been to one of our Live Drawing Parties: a group of artists come out and draw/paint/whatever, and sell their art over the course of the night for not much dough. It's a great opportunity to watch the creative process of lots of great local working artists, and also collect their work for peanuts.

In April, Alison and I are working on a new event, which will be an open drawing workshop - open to all comers. Folks of all skill levels can come, draw together, have a beer or two, and maybe pick up some new tips or techniques. Details coming soon on this one...

For now, enjoy the Live Drawing Photos!

on March 3 - a mini opening for a new series of portraits by Lena Zentgraf

Lena shot a series of portraits during the opening of Alternate Takes (the show that's still hanging in the cafe). She'll be back to display the result of that shoot, and do another portrait sit and shoot.

These are really striking portraits - you have to see them in person to really appreciate them. And, if you sit for a portrait, you can become part of what's becoming a really beautiful and interesting series of Lena's work.

These shots will only be displayed in the cafe until the end of this show's run, so your time to come check them out will be limited. Don't miss them.

on the facebook

Upcoming show: Paper Trails (a zine show) - opens March 9

We're excited to announce another collaborative art show - this time partnering with the Rock Paper Scissors Collective and Tomas Moniz of Rad Dad Zine. Paper Trails is a zine-themed show, encompassing hundreds of zines, many of which are locally-produced.

The show runs from March 9th through April 12th and opens with a party on March 9th from 6-10pm. The opening will feature a Zine Variety Show with readings by Tomas Moniz, John Bobst, and Mari Naomi along with music performances by Annah Anti-Palindrome and Jon Barba. DJ Baro will add some vinyl flavor to the party.

At the opening party, and for the duration of the show, we'll host the Paper Trails zine-making station. Visitors will be encouraged to contribute pages to the crowdsourced Paper Trails zine, which will be curated from submissions, then printed and distributed by the R.P.S. crew after the close of the show - it will be available for purchase at R.P.S., Actual Cafe, and other art spaces and book outlets when it's done.

We'll hang featured installations from local zinesters Endless Canvas, MariNaomi, Jaime Crespo, and others, and show tons of other zines on a display designed by Jamie Mayne of RPS. Genres will include Riot Grrrl, Radical Politics, Parenting, Gender & Sexuality, Comics/Art/Photography, DIY Skill-Sharing, and more. Zines will be available for sale or trade, and a zine reading library will be installed in the cafe (replacing our normal book exchange for the month).

I'll post some images and such as soon as I can get some. Don't miss this show - it's a one-of-a-kinder.

new show up...Alternate Takes / People Make the World Go 'Round

We just opened an excellent new show of portraits in several media (photos, drawings, paintings), by a really talented group of artists: Chloe Crossman, Ashley Eberlein, Sage Redclay, Stephanie Sarley, Daniel Salo, and Jeffrey Chung. Apologies for not getting this stuff up before the opening, but the show's up for a full month, so you've got some time to come check it out. I'll do a few posts over the next couple weeks focused on each artists work, but for today, here's a quick overview...enjoy!

Last night's Live Drawing output...

A photo of our new Live Art wall, with lots of awesome drawings made at our party last night. Thanks to David Seiler for the photo. Sorry I don't have all the artist credits for this one, but I'll pull together and post some more photos of the event and the art soon.

Live Drawing - Friday January 20

We had a Live Drawing event last month, and it was such a hit, we've decided to make it a regular monthly occurrence, starting this month.

Every Third Thursday from 6-10pm, come hang out with some great local artists, watch them draw, and buy their work right out from under them...drawings are priced super-affordably - from $15-$40, and all the money goes directly to the artists - we take no commission on their work.

Artists will rotate - we'll have a dozen or so at each event. Participating artists include such rockstars as:

Heidi Cregge Cabra . John Casey . David Seiler . Carrie Hall . Alison OK Frost . Maya Kabat . Alex Rosmarin . Nathaniel Parsons . Dave Higgins . Patricia Gillespie . Sarah R. Filley . Obi Kaufmann . Michael McConnel . Alissa Goss . Jon Carling . Alison Tharp . Jake Walting . Matt Decker . Kelly Monson . Forest Stearns . Benjamin Carder . Martin Webb . Scott Greenwalt . Crystal Morey

DJs all night long, starting at 6. Drawing starts at 7.

If you're interested in the creative process, want to collect great inexpensive art, or just want to enjoy some great beer & music and admire the work these folks can make, you'll love this event.

Oakland Art Enthusiast Femme Cartel Photo Spread

Check out oaklandartbeat's photo spread on our Femme Cartel opening!

femme cartel - just two days away...

This is the last batch of preview images from the Femme Cartel show - I'll try to get some photos of folks hanging their art tomorrow night. Remember, the opening is just two days away. Tie a ribbon on your finger, put a note on your fridge - tattoo it on your thigh if you need to. If you forget, you'll be sad after.

Last taste of Femme Cartel for the weekend

Still more coming next week, but we're taking a little art blog break for the weekend...these will have to tide you over for a couple days.

even yet still more Femme Cartel...

There's so much variety in this show. More beautiful images...

More femme cartel sneak preview...

Emily from Femme Cartel has been sending me images for the Cartel show just a couple at a time (what a tease!), but today I have a stack to post. I love this show. I think you will too.

So, don't miss it!

Femme Cartel coming next week - more sneak preview!

We're getting new images from the Femme Cartel, and we'll be posting them every few days as they come in...don't miss the opening party!