Art

Vandalism at Richmond Ferry Terminal Saddens Residents

Residents have been lamenting the destruction online. Ellen Seskin posted photos of the vandalism to the Facebook group, Everybody’s Richmond, on Jan. 12, saying she encountered it while out on a walk. “It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

Published

5 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Graffiti mars the walkway at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Photo by Kathy Chouteau, The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” stated the post on NextDoor.

The post referenced images of graffiti at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Not just on the terminal, but also on public artwork, on trail signs, on public benches and the boardwalk.

On Wednesday, the Standard stopped by to see it for ourselves. The good news was that it appears the graffiti on the terminal and on the artwork, called Changing Tide, have been cleaned for the most part. But graffiti remained abundant in the area around the relatively new ferry terminal, which opened to the public just six years ago.

Graffiti artists tagged benches and the boardwalk. Cars that had done doughnuts in the street marked the cul-de-sac just outside the historic Craneway Pavilion.

A ferry worker told us the graffiti had been there since before he started working for the ferry service about a week ago.

A member of the Army Corps of Engineers who did not want to be named in this report called the scene “sad,” as “they’d done such a nice job fixing it up.”

“It’s sad that all this money has been spent and hoodlums just don’t care and are destroying stuff,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how soon the graffiti would be removed. The Standard reported the graffiti to the city’s graffiti abatement hotline. We were prompted to leave a message reporting the address and location of the graffiti.

“It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

In the comment section responding to Seskin’s post, local attorney Daniel Butt questioned why there aren’t cameras in the area.

On Nextdoor, one resident suggested searching to see if the tags match any accounts on Instagram, hoping to identify the perpetrator.

On its website, the City of Richmond says residents should graffiti immediately call Public Works graffiti removal and/or Code Enforcement at 510-965-4905.

Kathy Chouteau contributed to this report.

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Activism

Griot Theater Company Presents August Wilson’s Work at Annual Oratorical Featuring Black Authors

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Published

4 months ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Late playwright August Wilson. Wikipedia photo.

By Godfrey Lee

Griot Theater Company will present their Fifth Annual Oratorical with August Wilson’s “Half a Century,” at the Belrose on 1415 Fifth Ave., in San Rafael near the San Rafael Public Library.

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20^th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Previous performance highlighting essential Black American authors included Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Lorraine Hansberry with Langston Hughes.

The play will be performed at 3:00. p.m. on Feb. 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 at 7:00 p.m., and on Feb. 23 at 3:00 p.m.

For more information, go to griottheatercompany.squarespace.com/productions-v2

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Activism

MLK Day of Service Volunteers Make Blankets and Art for Locals in Need

“Everyone has an opportunity to participate,” said Glenda Roberts, kinship support care program manager at CCYSB. “Our nonprofit organization and participants recognize how important it is to give back to the community and this is serving. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, ‘Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.’”

Published

5 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy of the nonprofit.

By Kathy Chouteau
The Richmond Standard

The Contra Costa Youth Service Bureau (CCYSB) and Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church (BMBC) are collaborating with a team of volunteers for a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Monday, Jan. 20 that will wrap the community’s most vulnerable people in warm blankets and provide them with an uplifting gift of art.

Volunteers will kick off their activities at BMBC at 11 a.m., making blankets for the unhoused people served by the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) and art for those in convalescence in Richmond.

Others will get to work preparing a lunch of chili, salad, a veggie tray, and water for participants, offered courtesy of CCYSB, while supplies last.

“People of all ages are welcome to participate in the MLK Day of Service,” said Roberts. Volunteers can RSVP via phone to Glenda Roberts at 510-215-4670, ext. 125.

CCYSB Boardmember Jackie Marston and her friends donated the materials and supplies to make the blankets and art projects. The nonprofit is also providing the day’s complimentary lunch, as well as employees to volunteer, under the direction of CCYSB Executive Director Marena Brown.

BMBC, led by Rev. Dr. Carole McKindley-Alvarez, is providing the facility for the event and volunteers from the church, which is located at 684 Juliga Woods St. in Richmond.

Located in Richmond, CCYSB is a nonprofit youth advocacy organization that serves eligible children, youth, and low-income families with a variety of wraparound services so they can thrive. Programs include academic achievement, youth mentorship, truancy prevention and direct response.

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Activism

Oakland Community Art Center is Helping Immigrants Heal from Trauma

The programs are catered to youth and adults with programs called “Arts in Schools” and “Arts and Wellness.” Students are encouraged to participate in music, crafts, and dancing. In contrast, adults can join support groups to connect with others and receive mental health resources to alleviate trauma they may have previously experienced.

Published

6 months ago

December 29, 2024

Oakland Post

ARTogether is a community organization that allows immigrant and refugee residents a space to express themselves through an artful and creative outlet. IStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

A local community art center ARTogether is creating a safe place for immigrants and refugees one craft at a time.

After Donald Trump’s first presidential term started in 2017, Leva Zand saw firsthand the impact of discrimination towards immigrants. She wanted to give this community a space to heal through a creative outlet, which prompted her to start ARTogether.

“Folks can come together and do art activities, celebrate their culture, and basically be in a judgmental free environment, no matter what is their immigration status or how well they speak English, when they came to this country, what generation they are,” Zand explained. “The idea was how to use arts and culture for community building and connection between refugees, immigrants themselves and with the broader community.”

Located in downtown Oakland, the space is dedicated partly for galleries and art shows featuring local immigrant artists. The remaining area is a communal studio where ARTogether hosts its regular activities.

Art is used as a therapeutic medium that allows participants to process and express their emotions and experiences and build community with others in the studio, Zand said.

Zand told the Post that a lot of the issues participants come into the program with are related to feeling a lack of support or community after newly arriving to the area from their home countries. While many come from areas where traditional therapy is considered taboo, art lets people of all backgrounds express themselves in a creative form that makes sense to them.

The center can also provide referrals and direct contacts to traditional mental and physical health professionals and legal and social programs for those who need more extensive assistance.

Because of how the organization started, ARTogether has a strong “Stop the Hate” messaging built into its mission. They began promoting advocacy against anti-immigrant and anti-refugee hate across several demographics during the pandemic, even before “Stop the Hate” became officially established.

“We really want to activate this space for the community to get together, to share, to strategize, to see how they can advocate at the local, state and even national level for their rights,” Zand shared.

Anticipating an influx in stress and trauma for residents after the presidential inauguration in January, ARTogether is hosting a community gathering at the end of the month in order to give people the space to express their feelings through crafts.

These gatherings, or “Gather In’s”, will be held monthly, or for as long as funding can sustain them, which Zand said might not be for long.

The organization recently lost one of its grants from the city of Oakland during the major budget cuts earlier this month that slashed funding for arts and culture programs. They were meant to receive a $20,000 grant through the city’s initial contingency budget plan but the money is now gone until Oakland can get their revenue up again.

Zand shared she worries about the state of the country come the new year and where her organization may end up as well if budget restraints continue at the local and state level.

“We are really facing uncertainty. We don’t know what is happening…We don’t know how bad it’s going to be,” she said.

This resource was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library via California Black Media as part of the Stop theHate program. The program is supported by partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to https://www.cavshate.org/