What’s Happening: Oakland Museum of California announces public programs for October 2022

Renowned Oakland-based activist and icon Angela Davis headlines next month’s line-up at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA). Angela Davis — Seize the Time is an exhibition focused on Davis and her image. Organized in partnership with the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, the exhibition provides a compelling and layered narrative of Davis’s journey.

Organizers this week announced the public programs and events for October 2022. Full details below.

“As part of OMCA’s Hella Feminist exhibition accompanying programs, former Black Panther Party (BPP) member, Ericka Huggins and photographer Stephen Shames join Friday Nights at OMCA on October 21. Huggins and Shames will discuss their newly-released book, Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party, the critical role women played in the BPP, and the power of photography to raise awareness of social issues. Additionally, visitors are invited to a film screening and timely conversation on the intersectionality of reproductive justice with community leaders on Sunday, October 30 with the special program Beyond Roe: Reproductive Justice Now.”

Other exhibitions on view include Edith Heath’s A Life in Clay and a newly-created learning space for kids called OMCA Kids: Nature Playspace.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA

October Public Programs and Events

Brunch at Town Fare, Starting September 18

Join OMCA for brunch at Town Fare starting Sunday, September 18. From 11 am to 3 pm on Sundays, gather over mimosas, some of the cafe’s favorite lunch items, and a delicious new brunch menu by Chef Michele McQueen, including buttermilk pancakes with apple pecan compote, chicken and waffles, biscuits and country bacon gravy with chives, field greens and tomato frittata, and more.

28th Annual Día de los Muertos Community Celebration

Sunday, October 23, 2022
12 – 4 pm

Join us as OMCA comes alive for the 28th annual community celebration honoring Day of the Dead traditions. Craft activities, tasty food, dance and music groups, colorful ofrendas, and ceremonia bring the community together for this healing tradition. Watch demonstrations of traditional Mesoamerican arts and cooking, and browse Day of the Dead merchandise by local artisans for your home altar at our mercado. Enjoy performances ranging from contemporary popular music to folkloric dance to mariachi, and join in a procession to open the celebration led by Days of the Dead committee members.

Friday Nights at OMCA

Reconnect with family, friends, and community every week during Friday Nights at OMCA. These free, family-friendly events provide a gathering place each week, including live music, hands-on activities, Off the Grid (OTG) food trucks, and the newly-launched Town Fare Sundeck, featuring an outdoor bar and select bar bites from the cafe menu.

Friday, October 7, 5—9 pm
DJ Danny Fathom; Samora Pinderhughes Live: Excerpts from The Healing Project & Grief

Starting at 7 pm, join us in the OMCA Garden for a live musical performance by Bay Area composer, pianist, vocalist, filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist, Samora Pinderhughes. Known for examining sociopolitical issues and fighting for change through his art, Pinderhughes will play excerpts from his current exhibition, The Healing Project at the Yerba Buena Arts Center, and his latest album, Grief. Developed over eight years, The Healing Project is based on Pinderhughes’ interviews with 100 incarcerated and formerly incarcerated narrators, and involves sustained collaboration with over 30 artists working across a range of mediums. Fundamentally abolitionist, this project draws inspiration from a number of abolition and prison scholars including Angela Davis, who is the subject of OMCA’s latest exhibition, Angela Davis — Seize the Time.

DJ Danny Fathom will be playing in the Amphitheater from 6 to 8 pm.

Friday, October 14, 5—9 pm
DJ Monk Earl; Power Pendant Activity and Books and Blankets

Join OMCA educators in the Garden to create a colorful, wooden-beaded Power Pendant that celebrates individuality, confidence, and self empowerment. Strut your stuff and be inspired by the power of feminism and art as activism by visiting Hella Feminist and Angela Davis — Seize the Time. Introduce your little one to other women who have changed the world through OMCA’s Books and Blankets offering, which feature books such as “Dream Big, Little One” by Vashti Harrison, “Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem” by Amanda Gorman, and “The ABCs of Black History” by Rio Cortez. Books and Blankets are available for check out at the Level 2 Ticketing desk. DJ Monk Earl will be playing in the Amphitheater from 6 to 8 pm.

Friday, October 21, 5—9 pm
DJ Sake One; Comrade Sisters Book Release and Conversation with Ericka Huggins and Stephen Shames

Celebrate the book release of “Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party” by joining OMCA for a panel conversation with its authors, early Black Panther Party member and leader Ericka Huggins, and photographer Stephen Shames. It is estimated that six out of ten Panther Party members were women; “Comrade Sisters” is their story.

Kicking off the event in the OMCA Garden at 6:45 pm is a performance featuring Tarika Lewis, the first woman to join the Black Panther Party, as well as other former members Tureeda Mikell, Val Serrant, and Tacuma King. Following this, explore the power of photography to raise awareness of social issues with photographer Stephen Shames, and hear from Ericka Huggins and fellow former members as they share their reflections on the critical role women played in the Black Panther Party.

Copies of the book will be available for sale onsite, and visitors are welcome to have their copy signed following the program from 8-8:30 pm. DJ Sake One will be playing in the Amphitheater from 6 to 8 pm.

Friday, October 28, 5—9 pm
DJ Lady Ryan; Oakland Public Library’s Bike Library; My Oakland Pop-Up, Inti Batey

Get ready for heart pounding drum beats, love ballads, Indie voices, and dance! In honor of el Día de los Muertos, join us in the OMCA Garden for a musical performance titled La Muerte Vive by Inti Batey (The Sun-Gathering), a collective of “artivists” from different latitudes of the Latin American diaspora, who create unique experiences with Latinx, Afro-Latin, and Indigenous-inspired musical roots, poetry, and dance creations.

La Muerte Vive is an energetic and heart opening musical experience that commemorates Day of the Dead by honoring our beloved ones who have passed, celebrating their legacies, and reactivating our powers through healing modalities, creating a space for community joy and reflection.

Prepare for election season with My Oakland, a community advocacy and voter registration pop-up event, in the OMCA Garden hosted by the Oakland Lowdown and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Learn critical ballot information for the upcoming November election and engage in conversations about what’s important to Oaklanders.

Enjoy music in the Amphitheater by DJ Lady Ryan from 6 to 8 pm. Make sure to stop by Oakland Public Library’s Bike Library to grab a free book, sign up for a library card, and find out about upcoming library events.

Beyond Roe: Reproductive Justice Now
Sunday, October 30, 2022
1 – 3 pm
James Moore Theater; Masks required for this event
Tickets: $1–$30 sliding scale

With the reversal of Roe v. Wade, many will experience what it means to have their reproductive rights stripped away for the first time in their lives. But for many more, oppression and restricted healthcare access has always been a reality. Join us for a special conversation that moves beyond the pro-choice versus pro-life debate, and explores the intersectionality of reproductive wellness, as part of OMCA’s latest special exhibition, Hella Feminist.

This event will feature a screening of two short films Jane, and The Pulse of Life, which explore these topics, followed by a panel discussion between community leaders who are using their platforms to further this urgent conversation. Moderated by filmmakers Nataljia Vekic (Jane), and Jessica Jones (The Pulse of Life), the panel includes Arneta Rogers, Director of the Gender, Sexuality & Reproductive Justice program at the ACLU of Northern California, Jyesha Wren, midwife and founder of BElovedBIRTH Black Centering, and Xochitl Lopez-Ayala, Advocacy Coordinator of Access Reproductive Justice Policy. Masks are required to attend this event.

With more than 1.9 million objects, OMCA brings together its multidisciplinary collections of art, history, and natural science with first-person accounts and often untold narratives of California, all within its 110,000 square feet of gallery space and seven-acre campus.