Opening Reception: Process Makes Practice
2026-06-05 18:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Oakland Photo Workshop, 312 8th St, Oakland, CA, 94607, United States
Joins us for an opening reception for Practice Makes Perfect; Work from the Teaching Artists of the East Bay Open Collective. There will be refreshments, music by the Cat Man of West Oakland, and some incredible work by our roster of instructors!
Practice Makes Process features the work of the teaching artists of the East Bay Photo Collective. Showcasing diverse photographic approaches, this exhibition explores the intersection of creative practice, artistic process, and shared learning. Featuring Joffrey Baylon, Jaya Bhat, Sakara Birdsong, Kimberley Campisano, Juliayn Coleman, Vincent Donovan, Brenna Hansen, Chrissy Huhn, Phillip Krayna, Jyoti Liggin, Ziru Mo, Jenny Sampson, Bob Shonkoff, Sophie Stoerkel, Kelly Sullivan, Beatrice Thornton, Najee Tobin, & Jan Watten.

East Bay Open Studios
2026-06-06 11:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-06 11:00 - 2026-06-07 17:00, 2026-06-07 11:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-13 11:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-14 11:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-20 11:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-21 11:00 - 17:00 | CA
See real local art this June!
East Bay Open Studios returns for two free weekends with over 180 artists opening their studios to the public. This free, self-guided event invites you to wander into local studios, galleries, and community hubs in Oakland, Berkeley, and beyond. Come curious — meet the creative minds behind the work, experience art where it’s made, and leave inspired.
Kick things off at our free Opening Party & Exhibition at Orchard Galleries on Saturday, May 30th (11am–5pm); a family-friendly day of art, music, food, and a community exhibition celebrating our 20th anniversary!
Not sure where to start? Explore our Emerging Artists, Community Hubs, or find your favorite artwork using our Artist Directory!
🎉 Opening Party: May 30, 11am–5pm @ Orchard Galleries
🗓️ Open Studios: June 6-7 and 13-14; 11am–5pm daily
📍 Art in your neighborhoods across the East Bay
🎫 Get your free ticket: Eventbrite
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
1. Visit eastbayopenstudios.com
2. Browse artist profiles or use the interactive maps (Weekend 1 + Weekend 2)
3. Don’t know where to start? Check out our Emerging Artists,Community Hubs, and Special Events.
4. Choose your route and hit the studios! Open 11am–5pm each day

Art Murmur First Friday at Werkshack
2026-06-06 18:00 - 21:30 | Werkshack, 481 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Werkshack is pleased to present “Kummerspeck”, recent Sculpture and Mixed Media work by Bay Area artists Kelly DeFayette and Cybele Gerachis.
Kummerspeck is a German word that translates to “grief bacon” — the weight gained from emotional overeating, or, more broadly, the ways people absorb and deal with discomfort, emotional confusion, and uncertainty.
This show does not illustrate the term as much as it moves through its emotional atmosphere. Across sculpture, painting, and mixed media, the work reflects making sense of creating amidst the pressure to adapt to a world constantly reshaping itself.
It also radiates humor, sarcasm, and material pleasure. The stubborn act of making something by hand while much around you feels out of human scale. There is no substitute for the act of making something – as a way to process, archive, feel, and connect.
The exhibition invites viewers into that shared space between grief and pleasure, vulnerability and spectacle — and asks what kind of meaning can still be built from the fragments around us – the scraps of paper or the bric-a-brac at the thrift store.
Meet the artists during this Oakland Art Murmur First Friday Event!

Wham! Bam! Queer!
2026-06-12 18:00 - 20:00 | East Bay Creative Lab, 558 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94610, United States
An exhibition portraying different perspectives of queer identities: black and brown people, gender non-conforming, femme, masculine, lesbian, gay, and all other members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The exhibition also showcases queer livelihoods depicted through histories of significant moments that define resilience, as well as zines about ways to fight back in our current social climate. Animals and characters represent the many facets of queer people and identities. Queer people are not a monolith, and their stories are unique and nuanced, transcending stereotypes. “We are here! We are queer! We make comics, zines, and illustrations that uplift, empower, and celebrate our communities.”

GearBox Gallery Artists’ Talk with Linda Ellinwood and Joy Every
2026-06-13 14:00 - 15:30 | Gearbox Gallery, 770 West Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
GearBox Gallery is hosting an artist talk with Field Notes artists Linda Ellinwood and Joy Every with reading by author Joanne Furio. Furio will also be moderating the talk. Join in on the lively conversation on Saturday, June 13th, 2pm
About Linda Ellinwood:
Ellinwood’s sculptures are created completely from found natural materials. Each one is unexpected, yet simple and evocative. It is evident that she has been working with these materials for many years, developing a vocabulary ,building up a library of materials, landscapes from which to cull; a lifetime of looking, noticing and delighting in natural forms. Ellinwood’s creations are elegant in their simplicity yet manage to elicit an emotional response: delight, humor, contemplation, disinterest. She has exhibited nationally, her work is included incollections throughout the United States. She lives and works in Oakland.
About Joy Every:
Joy Every presents a series of photography-based mixed media works that emerge from direct observation of the natural world. Beginning with photographic impressions of landscape, light, and atmosphere, her process unfolds through intuitive layering, abstraction, and mark making. These works do not document place, but instead trace what lingers in the space between representation and memory, where landscapes become internalized and reimagined. Through subtle shifts in color, texture, and light ,the work evokes horizons, skies, and terrain that feel at once recognizable and elusive—shaped as much by feeling as by geography.
“Joy Every’s latest mixed media works on paper continue her exploration of the natural world through an intimate, tactile lens. Embroidery introduces a measured, meditative pace, where each stitch becomes an act of reverence. The works feel simultaneously fragile and immersive, inviting a closer exploration.”-Lori Austin,Owner/Curator of Lori Austin Gallery, Healdsburg, CA
Joy Every has exhibited nationally, and internationally. Her work is included in public and private collections across the United States. including the Security and Exchange Commission and Embassy of Peru. She lives and works in Oakland ,California.

Jen Garrido: (Un)tethered
2026-06-13 | Slate Contemporary Gallery, 5510 College Ave, Oakland, 94618, United States
SLATE is proud to present “(Un)tethered,” a solo exhibition by Jen Garrido. Featuring ten new paintings, marked by layered textures, fluid forms, and varied painterly techniques, this exhibition continues Garrido’s exploration of abstract painting through an evolving visual language. Suggesting atmosphere and imagined place, the works embody shifting environments and abstract spaces that resist fixed interpretation while remaining deeply grounded in sensation and feeling.
A Los Angeles native, Garrido lives and works in San Francisco. She holds an MFA from Mills College and has presented solo exhibitions across the United States, with her work included in galleries and collections throughout the U.S. and Canada.
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, June 13, 4–6pm
Exhibition runs Friday, June 5–Saturday, July 11, 2026
Open Tues – Sat 11am-5pm
SLATE Contemporary Gallery
5510 College Ave, Oakland, CA

ACT LIKE YOU'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE, SOLO WORKS BY AMOL RAY
2026-06-13 18:00 - 21:00 | Dear John, 3807 Macarthur Blvd, Oakland, CA, 94619, United States
Join us for the opening reception of Act Like You’ve Been Here Before, a solo exhibition from Oakland-based artist Amol Ray exploring memory, mythology, nostalgia, and the strange art of surviving modern life.
Drawing from Hindu philosophy, childhood memories, internet culture, and found materials, Amol transforms discarded objects, toys, comics, and everyday artifacts into a living mythology, where gods coexist with memes and spiritual lessons hide inside pop culture references.
This body of work asks what happens when we revisit old stories. It’s not to relive them, but to understand them differently.
Expect an evening of art, conversation, food, drinks, and a curated pop-up experience as we celebrate the opening of this playful, poignant, and deeply human collection.
Come curious. Leave changed. Or at least slightly confused in a good way.

Opening Reception @UpTelArts
2026-06-26 18:00 - 21:00 | UpTelArts, 1729 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Opening reception on June 26 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM for a special pop up exhibition at UpTelArts. The exhibition will feature works by two artists, Brian Kieling and Lanning Stern.

Opening Reception: June 26, 6-9pm
Gallery Hours: June 27 and 28, 2-8pm

Location:
UpTelArt
1729 Telegraph Ave
Suite A, third floor
Oakland, CA

Instagram: @UpTelArt

Pat O’Connor: Reclaimed | Opening Reception
2026-06-27 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Pat O’Connor, “Entanglements,” 2026, 4′ x 3′ x 2″, salvaged cardboard acrylic paint
Pat O’Connor’s work has long explored the intersection of object, time, and narrative. Beginning with paper pulp castings over structures at a former World War II naval base, O’Connor developed a sustained interest in materials marked by history. In her exhibit, Reclaimed, she is drawn to surfaces shaped by wear, weather, and works with cardboard salvaged from the streets, recycling bins, and packaging. Through folding, layering, stitching, printing, and painting, she transforms these fragments and other seemingly incongruent materials into richly layered assemblages. Guided by shifts in patina and form, O’Connor builds surfaces dense with histories, lush harmonies, and active surfaces. Cardboard, humble and impermanent, originates from trees. O’Connor links the material back to the natural world. In some works, she introduces imagery of branches and tree forms, creating both calm and unsettling dialogues between the material’s fragile present and its living origin. In a culture shaped by disposability, O’Connor elevates overlooked materials, inviting viewers to sense the stories embedded in ordinary things as well as imagine ways the industrial and natural worlds might endure together.
Bio:
Pat O’Connor is an artist whose practice spans drawing, painting, assemblage, and site-responsive sculpture. Her work has been exhibited widely, most recently at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, Transmission Gallery in Oakland, the Sasse Museum of Art in Pomona, California, and O’Hanlon Center for the Arts in Mill Valley. Her pieces are held in public and private collections, including a public commission at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Pat received her BA in Painting and Drawing from UC Davis and pursued graduate study in textile arts at San Francisco State University. Honors include a San Francisco Foundation Grant, the Robert Rauschenberg-hosted Power of Art Award from the Lab School of Washington, D.C., and the Arts Educator of the Year Award from the San Francisco Unified School District. O’Connor has taught widely at notable institutions, including San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley Extension, and the de Young Museum.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, July 3, 5 – 9 pm
Artists’ Closing Reception and Talk: Saturday, July 25, 3 – 5 pm

Emily Shepard: In Flux | Opening Reception
2026-06-27 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Emily Shepard, “Pouring In,” 2026, 71” x 79”, photo by Sibila Savage
Emily Shepard’s large-scale abstract paintings pull viewers into an immersive, otherworldly space — one of shifting depths, interacting layers, and arched forms that float like portals above restless water. Working on unstretched canvas, she builds richly textured surfaces through gestural mark-making, watery drips, and stitched canvas shapes. Indecipherable loops of script speak to rhythm, breath, and cycles.
Shepard’s work is mirrored by her practice as a year round swimmer in the San Francisco Bay: moving her body through cold water, attuned to tides and currents, releasing into the hypnotic push and pull. Her painting practice and bay swimming share the need for focused attention, awareness of sensation, and internal states. Each artwork, like each swim, is a search for wholeness, presence, and embodied learning.
Bio:
Emily Shepard is a Bay Area painter, born in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned her MFA with distinction from the California College of the Arts where she received the Barclay Simpson Award. She has shown her work locally and nationally, including the Crocker–Kingsley Exhibition at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. Currently she has three pieces on exhibit in “Voices without Boundaries” at the Sasse Museum of Art in Pomona, CA. Shepard is a Kipaipai Fellow and member of the artist-run gallery, Mercury 20 in Oakland, CA. Her work is included in private and corporate collections. Shepard swims year round without a wetsuit in the San Francisco Bay. The practice of cold-water swimming focuses her senses, challenges her will, and informs her art.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)
Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, July 3, 5 – 9 pm
Artists’ Closing Reception and Talk: Saturday, July 25, 3 – 5 pm

Rebirth Through Time ~ Pete Escovedo Opening Reception
2026-07-09 17:00 - 20:00 | The Grand Gallery, 560 2nd Street, Oakland, CA, 94607, United States
Pen and Ink drawings and paintings by Pete Escovedo. July 1-31st, 2026. The Grand Gallery, 560 Second Street, Oakland.
Come celebrate with Pete for his 91st birthday on Thursday July 9th 5-8pm. A remarkably talented musician and accomplished visual artist, the art show co-insides with Pete’s Jazz show at Yoshi’s in Oakland!

Exhibition Opening & Artists' Reception - Everything Must Go
2026-07-11 14:00 - 16:00 | Manna Gallery, 473 25th St., Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Celebrate the official opening of Everything Must Go at Manna Gallery. Meet participating artists, connect with fellow art enthusiasts, and explore an exhibition that transforms the familiar language of clearance sales into a thoughtful meditation on change, memory, and new beginnings. Juried by Lisa Solomon, this dynamic group show brings together nearly forty Bay Area artists whose works invite reflection on the objects, experiences, and emotions that shape our lives. Refreshments will be served as we welcome the community to this exciting exhibition.
Everything Must Go Juried Group Show
Artists: Norman Aragones, Malachi Arthur, Jordan Benton, Laurie Caird, Madelyn Covey, Dana DeKalb, Eden Evans, Elizabeth Evans, Shelley Gardner, Elena Godina, Monica Guillory, Corrine Hatt, Rachel Katz, Kathryn Kenworth, Sarah Klein, Suzy Kopf, Faridah Laffan, Jenifer Lake, Patricia Liverman, Heath Massey, Colin McAllister, Erin McCluskey Wheeler, Manuel Rodriguez, John Rogers, Tammi Salas, John Sheridan, Maureen Shields, Renetta Sitoy, Jamie Smith, Hannah Claire Somerville, Jennifer Sturgill, Michelle Sweeney-Fillmore, Sarah Travis Buck, Yana Verba, Amy Vidra, Bill Ward, Martin Webb, Jia Wilson, and Alexander Yoshikawa
July 11 – August 8, 2026
Exhibition Opening & Artists’ Reception: Saturday, July 11, 2-4 pm
First Friday Oakland Art Walk: August 7, 5-8 pm
Closing Event / Exhibition Awards: Saturday, August 8, 3-5 pm
Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 12-5 pm, First Fridays, 5-8 pm & by appt

The Sight of Sound ~ Opening Reception
2026-07-11 14:00 - 17:00 | Studios 11, 560 2nd St Oakland, California, Oakland, CA, 94607, United States
Group show curated by Eric Murphy with Work by Pete Escovedo. Eric Murphy, George Bernard III, Cairo McCockran, and Monica Faith Walker. July 1-31, 2026 at Studios 11, 560 Second Street, Oakland, CA

Pat O’Connor: Reclaimed | Closing Reception and Talk
2026-07-25 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Pat O’Connor, “Winter Sun and Shadow,” 2026, 48” x 36” x 2”, salvaged cardboard, acrylic paint, birch board
Pat O’Connor’s work has long explored the intersection of object, time, and narrative. Beginning with paper pulp castings over structures at a former World War II naval base, O’Connor developed a sustained interest in materials marked by history. In her exhibit, Reclaimed, she is drawn to surfaces shaped by wear, weather, and works with cardboard salvaged from the streets, recycling bins, and packaging. Through folding, layering, stitching, printing, and painting, she transforms these fragments and other seemingly incongruent materials into richly layered assemblages. Guided by shifts in patina and form, O’Connor builds surfaces dense with histories, lush harmonies, and active surfaces. Cardboard, humble and impermanent, originates from trees. O’Connor links the material back to the natural world. In some works, she introduces imagery of branches and tree forms, creating both calm and unsettling dialogues between the material’s fragile present and its living origin. In a culture shaped by disposability, O’Connor elevates overlooked materials, inviting viewers to sense the stories embedded in ordinary things as well as imagine ways the industrial and natural worlds might endure together.
Bio:
Pat O’Connor is an artist whose practice spans drawing, painting, assemblage, and site-responsive sculpture. Her work has been exhibited widely, most recently at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, Transmission Gallery in Oakland, the Sasse Museum of Art in Pomona, California, and O’Hanlon Center for the Arts in Mill Valley. Her pieces are held in public and private collections, including a public commission at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Pat received her BA in Painting and Drawing from UC Davis and pursued graduate study in textile arts at San Francisco State University. Honors include a San Francisco Foundation Grant, the Robert Rauschenberg-hosted Power of Art Award from the Lab School of Washington, D.C., and the Arts Educator of the Year Award from the San Francisco Unified School District. O’Connor has taught widely at notable institutions, including San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley Extension, and the de Young Museum.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)
Artists’ Opening Reception: Saturday, June 27, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, July 3, 5 – 9 pm

Emily Shepard: In Flux | Closing Reception and Talk
2026-07-25 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Emily Shepard, “Conversant,” 2026, 32” x 71”, photo courtesy of the artist
Emily Shepard’s large-scale abstract paintings pull viewers into an immersive, otherworldly space — one of shifting depths, interacting layers, and arched forms that float like portals above restless water. Working on unstretched canvas, she builds richly textured surfaces through gestural mark-making, watery drips, and stitched canvas shapes. Indecipherable loops of script speak to rhythm, breath, and cycles.
Shepard’s work is mirrored by her practice as a year round swimmer in the San Francisco Bay: moving her body through cold water, attuned to tides and currents, releasing into the hypnotic push and pull. Her painting practice and bay swimming share the need for focused attention, awareness of sensation, and internal states. Each artwork, like each swim, is a search for wholeness, presence, and embodied learning.
Bio:
Emily Shepard is a Bay Area painter, born in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned her MFA with distinction from the California College of the Arts where she received the Barclay Simpson Award. She has shown her work locally and nationally, including the Crocker–Kingsley Exhibition at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. Currently she has three pieces on exhibit in “Voices without Boundaries” at the Sasse Museum of Art in Pomona, CA. Shepard is a Kipaipai Fellow and member of the artist-run gallery, Mercury 20 in Oakland, CA. Her work is included in private and corporate collections. Shepard swims year round without a wetsuit in the San Francisco Bay. The practice of cold-water swimming focuses her senses, challenges her will, and informs her art.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)
Artists’ Opening Reception: Saturday, June 27, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, July 3, 5 – 9 pm

First Friday Oakland Art Walk
2026-08-07 17:00 - 20:00 | Manna Gallery, 473 25th St., Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Join Manna Gallery for Oakland’s celebrated First Friday Art Walk and experience Everything Must Go as part of the city’s vibrant arts scene. Explore the exhibition during extended evening hours, connect with fellow art lovers, and discover the diverse perspectives of Bay Area artists responding to themes of release, transition, and renewal. Whether you’re revisiting the show or seeing it for the first time, First Friday offers a lively opportunity to engage with the artwork and the creative energy of Oakland’s Uptown Arts District.
Everything Must Go Juried Group Show
Juror: Lisa Solomon
Artists: Norman Aragones, Malachi Arthur, Jordan Benton, Laurie Caird, Madelyn Covey, Dana DeKalb, Eden Evans, Elizabeth Evans, Shelley Gardner, Elena Godina, Monica Guillory, Corrine Hatt, Rachel Katz, Kathryn Kenworth, Sarah Klein, Suzy Kopf, Faridah Laffan, Jenifer Lake, Patricia Liverman, Heath Massey, Colin McAllister, Erin McCluskey Wheeler, Manuel Rodriguez, John Rogers, Tammi Salas, John Sheridan, Maureen Shields, Renetta Sitoy, Jamie Smith, Hannah Claire Somerville, Jennifer Sturgill, Michelle Sweeney-Fillmore, Sarah Travis Buck, Yana Verba, Amy Vidra, Bill Ward, Martin Webb, Jia Wilson, and Alexander Yoshikawa
July 11 – August 8, 2026
First Friday Oakland Art Walk: August 7, 5-8 pm
Closing Event / Exhibition Awards: Saturday, August 8, 3-5 pm
Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 12-5 pm, First Fridays, 5-8 pm & by appt
Manna Gallery, established in 2010, is an art space in Oakland’s Uptown Arts District dedicated to showcasing the work of local and regional artists. As a long-time partner and venue of Oakland Art Murmur—a 501(c)(3) organization that connects Bay Area artists and collectors through free public programs, exhibitions, and events—Manna fosters a vibrant and supportive community for artists and art lovers alike. Through diverse and engaging exhibitions, the gallery celebrates Oakland’s dynamic visual arts scene and seeks to inspire and enrich the community.
Follow us on instagram: @mannagalleryoakland

Everything Must Go - Closing Event, Juror Talk & Awards
2026-08-08 15:00 - 17:00 | Manna Gallery, 473 25th St., Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Join acclaimed Bay Area artist, educator, author, and curator Lisa Solomon for a special closing event celebrating Everything Must Go Juried Group Show. Known for her mixed-media works and large-scale installations that explore themes of identity, craft, domesticity, and personal history, Solomon has exhibited nationally and internationally and is the author of several books on art and creativity, including the forthcoming Art/Craft/Color. During this brief presentation, she will share insights into her selection process, discuss the exhibition’s themes, and highlight works that resonated with her vision as juror. Following the talk, she will present two exhibition awards that extend opportunities beyond the exhibition itself. The Juror Award includes a featured hallway exhibition at Manna Gallery during the 2026–27 exhibition season, while the Manna Gallery Award includes an invitation to the gallery’s annual year-end group exhibition. As Manna Gallery’s first juried exhibition, Everything Must Go reflects our commitment to building new relationships with artists throughout the Bay Area and creating meaningful opportunities for future exhibition, visibility, and community engagement within our gallery program.
Everything Must Go Juried Group Show Artists
Norman Aragones, Malachi Arthur, Jordan Benton, Laurie Caird, Madelyn Covey, Dana DeKalb, Eden Evans, Elizabeth Evans, Shelley Gardner, Elena Godina, Monica Guillory, Corrine Hatt, Rachel Katz, Kathryn Kenworth, Sarah Klein, Suzy Kopf, Faridah Laffan, Jenifer Lake, Patricia Liverman, Heath Massey, Colin McAllister, Erin McCluskey Wheeler, Manuel Rodriguez, John Rogers, Tammi Salas, John Sheridan, Maureen Shields, Renetta Sitoy, Jamie Smith, Hannah Claire Somerville, Jennifer Sturgill, Michelle Sweeney-Fillmore, Sarah Travis Buck, Yana Verba, Amy Vidra, Bill Ward, Martin Webb, Jia Wilson, and Alexander Yoshikawa
July 11 – August 8, 2026
Closing Event / Exhibition Awards: Saturday, August 8, 3-5 pm
Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 12-5 pm, First Fridays, 5-8 pm & by appt
