Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) has announced its lineup for 2022-2023. The season features a series of exhibitions and projects aimed at creating “a more vibrant future” for Californians and their communities. The idea is to tell stories that comprise California and sharing “the space and context for greater connection, trust, and understanding between people.”
The season is currently underway at OMCA with the schedule extending through to the summer of 2023.
OMCA’s upcoming 2022 -2023 exhibitions and projects include”
- OMCA Kids: Nature Playspace, a new offering for children and families
- Hella Feminist, an exploration of feminism in the Bay Area and beyond; and
- Angela Davis: Seize the Time, an exhibition focused on the activist, her image and impacts.
More details below on the OMCA 2022-2023 season.
What’s Happening:
Oakland Museum of California
2022–2023 Exhibitions & Projects
Oakland Museum of California
100 Oak Street (at 10th Street)
Oakland, California
Tickets: $16 general, $11 seniors and students, $7 youth ages 13-17
UPCOMING
OMCA Kids: Nature Playspace
Gallery of California Natural Sciences
Ongoing
Little learners can unleash their curiosity and imagination in the newly-created OMCA Kids: Nature Playspace. Located in the Gallery of California Natural Sciences, the playroom is focused on the unique needs of children ages 2 to 5, along with their families and caregivers. Play is critical to every child’s healthy development and the playroom offers something for everyone, from building materials and nature-themed puzzles to hands-on activities that spark creativity, wonder, and joy. Our youngest museum visitors can also discover the animals that make their homes in Oakland’s streams, hills, and backyards. The playroom gives families a fun, safe place to play and to build community with other families.
Hella Feminist
Great Hall
July 29, 2022 – January 8, 2023
Feminism. It’s a loaded word; as empowering to some as it is challenging for others. OMCA takes on this complex and timely topic with Hella Feminist, celebrating the lesser-known stories of feminism here in Oakland and the Bay Area. Bringing together historic objects from the Museum’s collection such as posters, pins, and photographs, alongside newly commissioned works by artists, Hella Feminist is rooted in the idea that discrimination against all elements of identity (gender, class, race, sexual orientation, physical ability, education, age, etc.) is interlinked and that no element can be addressed in isolation. The exhibition aims to challenge, provoke, and inspire visitors to reconsider and expand their understanding of feminism and its complicated history.
Angela Davis: Seize the Time
Great Hall
October 7, 2022–June 11, 2023
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. Using the Angela Davis Archive in Oakland as both the heart of the exhibition and a source, visitors are given the opportunity to investigate how we remember, preserve, and activate radical Black history, while also allowing us to re-imagine the construction of the image of Davis as an icon of American Black radical resistance, female empowerment, and a threat to the white patriarchal status quo.
Beyond the archive and popular culture references, the exhibition positions Angela Davis as a continuing touchstone for contemporary artists referencing mass incarceration, Black Lives Matter, and economic disenfranchisement. Contemporary artworks assert Davis’ significance as a Black feminism intellectual and engage with her as a historical participant in a larger narrative, not simply as an unmoored image of radical chic.
ON VIEW
Edith Heath: A Life in Clay
Gallery of California Art
On View until October 30, 2022
Trailblazer. Rebel. Revolutionary. Discover the story of Edith Heath, founder and designer of Heath Ceramics. Heath transformed the ceramics industry, creating dinnerware from California clay for “Sunday best” and everyday use. Driven by the power of good design, and a commitment to her craft, Heath’s vision continues to live on through her stoneware and tile over 70 years later. Durable, not delicate, simple, yet stylish, Heath Ceramics is an icon of American design.
Remembering Hung Liu
Gallery of California Art
On View until October 31, 2022
OMCA honors the life and legacy of beloved artist, Oakland resident, cultural bridge-builder, and long-time friend of the Museum, Hung Liu, who passed away on August 7, 2021. Drawing from our collection, this newly-organized installation features four of Liu’s works in our Gallery of California Art, offering a quiet setting for visitors to enjoy and appreciate her work, as well as space for remembrance and reflection, including opportunities to contribute memories of Liu.
You Are Here: California Stories on the Map
Gallery of California Natural Sciences
On View until February 12, 2023
We all use maps in our everyday lives—to navigate public transportation, find places to eat, and visualize big data like weather patterns or political opinions. But have you ever considered the deeper stories maps tell us? In You Are Here: California Stories on the Map, you’ll discover there’s more to maps than meets the eye. Showcasing a diverse range of maps from Oakland, the Bay Area, and California—from environmental surroundings and health conditions to community perspectives and creative artworks—experience how maps can be a powerful tool to share unique points of view and imagine a better future. Explore new perspectives of familiar places through maps made by the community, and mark your own stories on the community map inside the exhibition.
Black Power
Gallery of California History
Ongoing
Uncover the history of the Black Power movements in California with a compelling addition to the Gallery of California History. In response to the widely-popular 2016 exhibition All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50, Black Power illustrates the creative ways Black
anti-racist activists in California supported their communities and challenged the U.S. government. Focusing on the example of the Black Panther Party, Black Power brings to light the tensions between a culturally and socially progressive California and examples of economic racism and oppression in the state. This moment in California history is represented through historic photographs, provocative objects, iconic posters, paintings and interactive prompts that encourage visitors to take action out in the world. Learn more about the Bay Area role in this national story, and the impacts this history continues to have today.
Question Bridge: Black Males
Gallery of California Art
Ongoing
Immerse yourself in intimate videos—woven together and arranged to simulate face-to-face conversations between participants—among a diverse group of over 160 Black men across the United States. Hear these men answer each other’s questions with exceptional honesty and vulnerability, and share stories, beliefs, and values in a personal portrayal of their lives. Encompassing themes of family, love, interracial relationships, community, education, and wisdom, Question Bridge: Black Males presents nuanced portraits of past, present, and future of Black men in American society. Listen, watch, learn, and start your own conversations with this profoundly moving installation. Question Bridge is an innovative and widely exhibited video installation from artists Chris Johnson and Hank Willis Thomas in collaboration with Bayeté Ross Smith and Kamal Sinclair.
Dorothea Lange: Photography As Activism
Gallery of California Art
Ongoing
Experience the iconic life and work of Dorothea Lange, world-renowned documentary photographer, with an expanded installation in the Gallery of California Art dedicated to her works. Through the lens of her camera, Lange documented American life with riveting photographs that captured some of the most powerful moments of the 20th century. Drawn from Lange’s personal archive, which was gifted to OMCA over 50 years ago, and in response to the popular 2017 exhibition Dorothea Lange: The Politics of Seeing,, a number of newly added photographs illustrate the power of photography as social activism. See how Lange’s work continues to resonate with millions and inspire new generations of artists and activists.
Dorothea Lange Digital Archive
Explore prints, field notes, negatives, contact sheets, and more with OMCA’s Dorothea Lange Digital Archive.
