Rainey Straus: re(COMPOSING)
2026-07-31 12:00 - 2026-09-05 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Rainey Straus, re(Composing), 2026, site specific Installation: cast paper and bioplastic, dimensions variable, photo courtesy of the artist
Rainey Straus’s work begins with walking, listening, and close attention to the living world. Created for Mercury 20, re(Composing) turns that attention toward fungi, following the ways matter breaks down, gathers, and becomes something else. The installation takes decomposers as a starting point: organisms that are also composers, transforming one kind of matter into another. Straus’s materials follow this logic. Paper is shredded, pulped, and cast over found, downed wood, echoing the way paper wasps chew wood fiber into shelter. Lacing through these casts are bioplastic forms, spun like spider silk until gesture becomes structure. By working with already fallen wood, Straus treats the tree not as an ending but as part of an ongoing cycle of transformation. The work invites attention to other intelligences: the pathfinding of slime molds, mycelial networks, and forms of sensing beyond human perception. Rather than representing ecological change, re(Composing) takes part in it: paper returns to pulp, pulp takes the impression of wood, and matter reorganizes itself into temporary form: fragile, provisional, and alive to what comes next.
Bio:
Rainey Straus is the award winner from Mercury 20’s 2026 exhibition, Mapping Time, awarded by juror Minoosh Zomorodinia. Straus is a Bay Area interdisciplinary artist whose work grows from fieldwork into sculpture, installation, painting, and cyanotype. After working as a Bay Area tech designer, she returned to artmaking in response to ecological urgency. Solo exhibitions include Spinning Time into Form, Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA and The Old Growth Project at MarinMOCA. Her work has appeared in Bodies and Borders: Ecologies of Consent with Women Eco Artists Dialog, Forest Unseen at Petaluma Arts Center, The New Geologic Epoch with Ecoartspace, and exhibitions at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, and the San Jose Museum of Art. Straus has held residencies at BigCi Residence in Australia, Lucid Art Foundation, and Morris Graves Foundation. Her work has been featured in Dark Mountain Journal, Sculpture Magazine, Rhizome, San Francisco Chronicle, and Point Reyes National Seashore Association. She holds a BFA from State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase and an MFA from California College of the Arts.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artists’ Opening Reception: Saturday, August 15, 3 – 5 pm
Artist Talks: Saturday, August 29, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

Andrew Catanese Solo Exhibition | I Watched Your Leaves Grow Silver in the Wind
2026-08-06 12:00 - 2026-09-27 17:00 | Johansson Projects, 2300 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Johansson Projects presents I Watched Your Leaves Grow Silver in the Wind, an exhibition featuring paintings by Andrew Catanese. The exhibition explores ecologies of recollection, as Catanese channels connections among places and individuals, particularly those who linger only in memory.
For Catanese, painting is a narrative medium that moves across time and space, reshaping how we see the everyday world. Their canvases feature landscapes, shifting weather, animals, and spectral figures, each serving as a portal to distinct moments and memories the artist calls “slips” in time and place. Painting becomes a bridge to people and environs that have been lost, abandoned, or rediscovered. Gazes, where they appear, are slant, unfocused. Animals sulk through forests, searching, unaware that they are being watched. Full figures, with backs turned, are ensconced in brambles, alienating them from the viewer. Imbued with distance and uncertainty, Catanese’s lush compositions swim in windswept, haunting ambiguity.
A mysterious and quiet spirituality permeates the work, suggesting something just beyond reach. Catanese’s expressive use of color deepens the atmosphere, intensifying the sense of connection and longing throughout the exhibition. Amid today’s uncertainty and division, Catanese’s paintings remind us of our deep-rooted desire for kinship. These poetic works encourage reflection and uncover the bonds that persist, even in the most turbulent times.
I Watched Your Leaves Grow Silver in the Wind will run from August 6 to September 27, 2026.

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

First Friday Art Walk - Society of Artists and Makers Student Show
2026-08-07 17:00 - 21:00 | Werkshack, 481 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
The Society of Artists and Makers is a club created by community college art students in the East Bay. The club was founded in Spring 2026 following the decision to demolish the Laney Tower Building, and as a result, decommission the June Steingart Art Gallery (aka the Laney Art Gallery).
Goals of the club include increasing accessibility around showcasing art, fostering community among students outside of class, and responding to the ongoing loss of art spaces in the Bay Area.
The werkshack Student Show is the inaugural show of The Society of Artists and Makers. Some artists are showing work for the very first time and others are decades into their careers. All work is made by current students enrolled at College of Alameda, Berkeley City College, Merritt College, and Laney College. Mediums including painting, printmaking, mixed media, sculpture, ceramics, and more will be on view from July 3 – August 29.
Artists: Abby Hilling, Angela Kaewsuriya Roberts, Ava Gulassa, Cassia Artanegara, Christi Showers-Evans, Debbie Lin Grow, Diana Castillo, Donald Diggs, Emmet Bush, Gabriela Zambrano, Hilda Wang, kiki reitano, Liam Cunningham, Malena, Moss, Penny Flood, Ping Gong, Rania Siddique, Rena Tom, Ruth Charlotte Kneass, Sam Cadigan, Sarai Cobos, V. Hendrix Oppenhimer

FIRST FRIDAY RECEPTION -- July-August Multi-Artist Show
2026-08-07 18:00 - 21:00 | Art@Archer, 431 13th Street, Oakland, CA, 94607, United States
Join us on this First Friday to celebrate the art of three local artists. Different styles. Different mediums. Makes for a very interesting show. Come and talk to the artists about their work and their passion.
Vida Karamooz
MacArthur Nelson
Melva Spigner
Refreshments will be served.

Bosko’s World
2026-08-08 - 2026-09-05 | East Bay Creative Lab, 558 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94610, United States
Nestled in the Rockridge area of Oakland is a quaint picture framing shop. John Bosko and his sister are the proud owners of Bosko’s Picture Framing—a family business started by their father.
John has been a collector of photographic negatives. Bosko has been acquiring/purchasing negatives for decades. This exhibition is a mere fraction of Bosko’s extensive collection. This body of work consists of prints and glass negatives. John’s photo collection highlights the beauty and growth of the East Bay landscape through a historical lens. Bosko’s World is a portal showcasing a forever-changing land, culture, and people.
On view: Aug 7 – Sept 4th

Broad Strokes ~ The Art of Brian Clark aka Les Toil ~ Opening Reception
2026-08-08 12:00 - 16:00 | The Grand Gallery, 560 2nd Street, Oakland, CA, 94607, United States
Brian Clarke aka Les Toil, grew up in Berkeley, CA. Surrounded by Big Daddy Roth model cars, the Fantastic Four, MAD Magazine, The Jackson Five and Bruce Lee the very forces that became the foundational threads shaping his work.
You can see those threads in his new show Broad Strokes this August at the Grand Gallery.
Meet Les Toil at the:
Artist Reception
August 8th 12Noon -4pm
The Grand Gallery
560 2nd St. Oakland

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

Gestural Expressions
2026-08-08 | Slate Contemporary Gallery, 5510 College Ave, Oakland, 94618, United States
SLATE Contemporary Gallery presents “Gestural Expressions”, an exhibition which brings together five accomplished women artists working in gestural abstraction: Maria Burtis, Amy Donaldson, Nicole Mueller, Karen Silve, and Joanne Fox. This exhibition not only revisits the legacy of Abstract Expressionism, but also reimagines its future through the work of five artists whose voices continue to broaden and enrich the field.
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 8, 4–6pm⁠
Join us with three of the exhibiting artists for an evening celebrating the show, featuring specialty drinks from Rue de Rêve (@ruedereveaperitifs), a local women-owned apéritif producer.⁠
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Artist Walkthrough: Saturday, July 25, 4–5pm⁠
Explore the exhibition with artist Nicole Mueller for an intimate look into her process and perspective.⁠
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Gestural Expressions is on view at SLATE from July 15–August 29, 2026.⁠

Ultrahive4
2026-08-08 17:00 - 2026-09-27 17:00 | FM Gallery, 483 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
For August and September we are excited to feature UltraHive 4; a traveling art show with over 100 artists making original cd cover art! This vibrant and eclectic exhibition showcases artists from around the globe, each contributing unique works that explore the CD cover as both canvas and concept. From reimagined album art to sculptural pieces crafted from actual CD cases, the show celebrates the cultural legacy of physical media while pushing the boundaries of contemporary art. By transforming these once-ubiquitous objects into personal and provocative expressions, the artists revive nostalgia, challenge format, and reframe the way we view music, memory, and material. Together, their works create a dynamic visual mixtape that pays homage to the golden age of the compact disc—remixed for a new era.
UltraHive 4 has recently shown at the Hive Gallery in Los Angeles. After showing here at FM Oakland, it will then travel to Japan for display at the Tokyo Designfesta Gallery. Enjoy while it’s here with us today!
“Ultrahive4”
August 7th – September 26th, 2026
Art Murmur Receptions:
Friday, August 7th, 5-10pm
Friday, September 4th, 5-10pm

Earthseed Remnants Gallery Exhibition
2026-08-14 16:00 - 21:00 | ARTogether Center, 1200 Harrison Street, Oakland, 94612, United States
Earthseed Remnants
Curated by: Jy Jimmie Gabiola & Lynse Cooper
Opening Reception: Friday, August 14, 2026, 4PM–9PM
Exhibition Dates: August 10 – September 18, 2026
Venue: ARTogether, 1200 Harrison St, Oakland, CA 94612
Artists: Cole Lata, Jasmine Narkita Wiley, Jenn Ban, Nele Ponce, Zoe Miles
Description:
Earthseed Remnants is a group art exhibition on endurance, presence, and shaping the future from trace and memory. Curated by Jy Jimmie Gabiola and Lynse Cooper, the show brings together five artists whose practices excavate what persists — in land, in body, in archive, in imagination. Across photography, alternative process, sculpture, and installation, Earthseed Remnants asks: what do we carry forward, and what do we allow to transform?

Are you with me NOW? - Jeanne Lorenz
2026-08-15 - 2026-09-19 | Manna Gallery, 473 25th St., Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Manna Gallery is pleased to present Are you with me NOW?, a solo exhibition by Jeanne Lorenz, featuring new abstract paintings that emerge from an expansive daily drawing practice. Guided by the belief that art can metabolize the emotional and ecological turbulence of our time, Lorenz transforms accumulated gestures into luminous vertical paintings that balance vulnerability with resilience. She embraces painting as an act of participation rather than escape, one that holds grief, humor, light, and hope in dynamic tension. Lorenz invites viewers into a contemplative space where attention itself becomes a form of repair, and where abstraction offers a language for imagining what might grow from uncertainty.
August 15 – September 19, 2026
Artist’s reception: Saturday, August 22, 2-4 pm
Oakland Art Murmur First Friday: September 4, 5-8 pm
Artist talk/Closing reception: Saturday, September 19, 3-5 pm
Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 12-5 pm & First Fridays, 5-8 pm
All events and entrance to the gallery are free of charge

Fragments of Belonging: Artists’ Talk with Dalit Fresco and Jan Blythe at GearBox Gallery
2026-08-15 13:00 - 15:00 | Gearbox Gallery, 770 West Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Dalit Fresco and Jan Blythe will discuss their exhibition Fragments of Belonging at GearBox Gallery on Saturday, August 15th at 1:00pm. Come join the conversation.
About Dalit Fresco: Growing up at the intersection of Asia, Europe and Africa, a place where varied layers of cultures and traditions, languages and signs, music and soundscapes, have all shaped Dalit’s outlook, offering a visual abundance of colors and designs. Fragments of Belonging is a collection of recent pieces that are influenced by an emotional sensitivity to events of loss, as well as confidently reaching out for a dialogue between ways of seeing, with a constant reflection of memories and current state of observing and interacting.
About Jan Blythe: Born in Scotland, Jan was raised in Glasgow, a city with strong arts and cultural heritage. Her recent works in the show encompass personal, found and natural materials, which are hand stitched together to form sculptures. Another work is a stack of cut, tartan wool fabrics, Jan has collected over the years. She includes a piece of sculpture made from strips of reclaimed swimming pool cover draped over a wooden form.
GearBox Gallery is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 12pm to 5pm
Located in the Art Building at 770 West Grand Ave in Oakland.

Opening Reception – Rainey Straus: re(COMPOSING)
2026-08-15 14:30 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Rainey Straus, re(Composing), fragment, 2026, Cast Paper, 13 H x 35 W x 26 D in, Photo Courtesy of the Artist
Rainey Straus’s work begins with walking, listening, and close attention to the living world. Created for Mercury 20, re(Composing) turns that attention toward fungi, following the ways matter breaks down, gathers, and becomes something else. The installation takes decomposers as a starting point: organisms that are also composers, transforming one kind of matter into another. Straus’s materials follow this logic. Paper is shredded, pulped, and cast over found, downed wood, echoing the way paper wasps chew wood fiber into shelter. Lacing through these casts are bioplastic forms, spun like spider silk until gesture becomes structure. By working with already fallen wood, Straus treats the tree not as an ending but as part of an ongoing cycle of transformation. The work invites attention to other intelligences: the pathfinding of slime molds, mycelial networks, and forms of sensing beyond human perception. Rather than representing ecological change, re(Composing) takes part in it: paper returns to pulp, pulp takes the impression of wood, and matter reorganizes itself into temporary form: fragile, provisional, and alive to what comes next.
Bio:
Rainey Straus is the award winner from Mercury 20’s 2026 exhibition, Mapping Time, awarded by juror Minoosh Zomorodinia. Straus is a Bay Area interdisciplinary artist whose work grows from fieldwork into sculpture, installation, painting, and cyanotype. After working as a Bay Area tech designer, she returned to artmaking in response to ecological urgency. Solo exhibitions include Spinning Time into Form, Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA and The Old Growth Project at MarinMOCA. Her work has appeared in Bodies and Borders: Ecologies of Consent with Women Eco Artists Dialog, Forest Unseen at Petaluma Arts Center, The New Geologic Epoch with Ecoartspace, and exhibitions at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, and the San Jose Museum of Art. Straus has held residencies at BigCi Residence in Australia, Lucid Art Foundation, and Morris Graves Foundation. Her work has been featured in Dark Mountain Journal, Sculpture Magazine, Rhizome, San Francisco Chronicle, and Point Reyes National Seashore Association. She holds a BFA from State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase and an MFA from California College of the Arts.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artist Talk: Saturday, August 29, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

Opening Reception – Jessica Cadkin & Michael Lynch: The End
2026-08-15 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Image: Michael Lynch, A Short Story of an Owl and the Rabbit, 2026, Gouache on Wood Panel, 12” x 15”
Jessica Cadkin & Michael Lynch: The End
A few days after her uncle’s death, Jessica Cadkin was out walking when she noticed a crow cawing at her. It followed her for several blocks, seeming to want her attention. Only when she stopped and looked up at it did the crow alight on a nearby light post. They quietly stared at one another for a few minutes before it flew away. Crows appear prominently in mythology across cultures. In Native American traditions they are not only tricksters and wise guys, but protectors. In some Asian myths they represent the divine; while in Norse lore, Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory) serve as the eyes and ears of the god Odin. In Hindu belief, crows act as messengers of the dead, bridging the living and the spiritual worlds. Drawing on these associations as well as her own personal encounter with a crow shortly after a family member’s death, Cadkin’s sculpture, Eulogy, reflects on memory, loss, and connection.
Michael Lynch’s work often arises from his keen interest in art, natural science, and physics. The paintings of birds striking windows, The Final Act 1, 2, and 3, are based on photographs of the keratin and oil from powder down feathers transferred onto the glass at the moment of impact. They represent just three of the more than one billion fatal bird-window collisions in the United States each year. The Short Story of the Owl and the Rabbit is a reconstruction of a memory from a scene Lynch encountered over 50 years ago, one he always wished he had a way to record. Lynch often seeks to bring to life the stories and events in nature that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Bios:
Jessica Cadkin was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and grew up in Napa, California. She received a BA in Sculpture and Painting from San Francisco State University. Her work has appeared in group shows internationally and throughout Northern California including the de Young Museum, Headlands Center for the Arts, Southern Exposure, di Rosa Preserve, Bateman Foundation Gallery of Nature, Bedford Gallery, Root Division, and the Berkeley Art Center. Cadkin joined Mercury Twenty Gallery in 2020, this is her fifth show with the gallery.
Michael Lynch is a self-described artistic engineer. Over the course of the last 55 years, he has had several distinct careers. He began as a cabinet and furniture maker, followed by 30 years in the film special effects industry, most of which were in the Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) model shop. During this period, he earned more than 30 film credits and worked on countless commercials. Lynch then shifted his focus for a decade, contracting with the U.S. Department of Defense to design and fabricate prototype parachute systems and combat trauma trainers for the military and NATO. Retired since 2023, Lynch now spends his workweek in the studio in Sausalito, CA. Much of the work he produces lies at the intersection of art, natural history, and physics. His work often tells a story or records events that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artist Talk: Saturday, August 29, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

Opening Reception – Cade Salamanca: The Final Push
2026-08-15 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Image: Cade Salamanca, The Clock is Ticking, 2026, Mixed media on canvas, 24” x 36”
The Final Push marks a pivotal chapter in Cade Salamanca’s artistic and personal journey. In 2026, Salamanca embraced a new name—an act of self-definition that became a powerful affirmation of identity and a catalyst for creative transformation. Freed from expectations that once constrained her, her work has entered a period of greater clarity, confidence, and emotional depth.
This body of work explores the liberation that emerges when authenticity is fully embraced. The introduction of wire mesh and draped chains began as formal material investigations but evolved into potent metaphors for the protective barriers Salamanca had constructed around herself over time. Fragmented mesh and suspended chains symbolize the dismantling of fear, self-doubt, and inherited expectations, revealing a renewed sense of freedom and possibility. Alongside 12 paintings, Salamanca will debut six double exposure self portraits that mark the beginning of a new practice with Film Photography on a Canon AE-1 Program. Both deeply personal and universally resonant, The Final Push is a celebration of self-acceptance, courage, and transformation—a declaration of identity expressed without apology and an invitation to witness the power of becoming fully seen.
Bio:
The Final Push marks Cade Salamanca’s second solo exhibition with Mercury 20 Gallery. Throughout her artistic journey, Salamanca has explored diverse mediums including ceramics and photography. After experimenting with different painting styles, she developed a distinctive voice that combines techniques she has honed over the years—from smooth color transitions to rich textured layers.Salamanca’s work has been shown at the Blue Mountain Gallery in New York City; Made In California 2024, Brea Gallery, in La Brea, CA; Reflections of Us (Juror Sergio Gomez), Warnes Contemporary, in Brooklyn, NY; Metal Haus Gallery, in San Francisco, CA; and others.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artist Talk: Saturday, August 29, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

Opening Reception – Monika Mayer: LINKED
2026-08-15 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Image: Monika Mayer_Flow # 60 – Entangled, 2025 (detail), Acrylic, coffee and ink on canvas, 22” x 28”, Photo: Dana Davis
Monika Mayer’s new body of work is inspired by the rocky shoreline along the California coast, shaped by the tides. At low tide, hidden worlds are revealed: clusters of mussels and barnacles clinging together, surviving by holding on to each other. By gathering together, they create shared conditions that protect them from crashing waves and harsh weather. Their strength comes from connection.
Working with gathered and repurposed materials including inner tubes and deconstructed soccer balls, Mayer builds sculptural forms through layering and accumulation. Discarded and overlooked, these pieces grow into organism-like clusters linked with zip ties and staples and are given new life. Her paintings extend this language through layered coffee, paint, and ink, echoing the coastal environment’s organic patterns and rhythms. By presenting familiar objects in unfamiliar ways, Mayer invites viewers into a space of ambiguity, encouraging them to pause, look closely, and consider what lies beneath the surface. These works reflect on resilience, not as something we achieve alone, but as something we build together.
Bio:
Monika Mayer is a multidisciplinary artist born in Germany and based in Berkeley, CA. Largely self-taught, she began developing a daily art practice during the COVID-19 lockdown, allowing her to deepen her focus and commitment. She holds a BA in Social Education from the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne, Germany and a MA in Educational Leadership from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. Mayer has been a member of Mercury 20 Gallery since 2023, and is an alumna of the Kala Artist-in-Residency program in Berkeley, CA. Her work is held in private collections in the U.S. and Germany and has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Tryst International Art Fair in Los Angeles, Kala Art Gallery, and in the UK as a shortlisted artist for the International Football Art Prize.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artist Talk: Saturday, August 29, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

GearBox Gallery Presents, MOMENTUM
2026-08-20 12:00 - 2026-09-19 17:00 | Gearbox Gallery, 770 West Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
GearBox Gallery presents MOMENTUM, August 20 – September 19, 2026. Momentum captures a moment in the evolving landscape of the Northern California Art Scene with 39 artists selected for this unique snapshot of the broader artistic community. Momentum presents diverse artistic perspectives, genres and media chosen by our 2026 guest juror, Demetri Broxton.
Artists selected: Amy Ahlstrom, Allison Allessio, Gale Antokal, Irman Arcibal, Joy Broom, Connie Cagampang Heller, Kimberley Campisano, Anthony Chavez, Diane Che, Vibrata Chromodoris, Deborah Corsini, Laurence Elias, Jeff Ellis, April Ford, Erik Friedman, Gina Gaiser, Patrice Gelband, Rachel Gelenius, Stanley Goldstein, Kitty Gordon, Jaya Griscom, Rachel Katz, Brett Kaufman, Jeff Key, Kathleen King, Elisabeth Koss, Georgianna Krieger, Charlie Levin, Patricia Ludovici, Monika Mayer, Sarah Merola, Tim Metallo, Mary Mocas, Mokhtar Paki, Jeff Palmer, Taylor Stoneman, Matthew Felix Sun, Jonathan Wieder, Jun Yan
Opening Reception
Saturday, August 22nd, 1-4 pm
Demetri Broxton Juror’s Talk
Saturday, September 19th at 2 pm
GearBox Gallery
770 West Grand Ave
Oakland, CA 94612
Thursdays – Saturdays 12 – 5pm

Artist Reception: Jeanne Lorenz – Are you with me NOW?
2026-08-22 14:00 - 16:00 | Manna Gallery, 473 25th St., Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Join Manna Gallery for the opening reception of Are you with me NOW? on Saturday, August 22, from 2–4 pm. Meet artist Jeanne Lorenz and celebrate the opening of her newest body of work in an informal afternoon gathering. Free and open to the public.
August 15 – September 19, 2026
Artist’s reception: Saturday, August 22, 2-4 pm
Oakland Art Murmur First Friday: September 4, 5-8 pm
Artist talk/Closing reception: Saturday, September 19, 3-5 pm
Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 12-5 pm & First Fridays, 5-8 pm

Bosko’s World: Closing Reception
2026-08-28 18:00 - 20:00 | East Bay Creative Lab, 558 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94610, United States
Join us for the closing reception of Bosko’s World.
Nestled in the Rockridge area of Oakland is a quaint picture framing shop. John Bosko and his sister are the proud owners of Bosko’s Picture Framing—a family business started by their father. John has been a collector of photograph negatives. Bosko has been acquiring/purchasing negatives for decades. This photography exhibition is a mere fraction of Bosko’s extensive collection. These images highlight the beauty and growth of the East Bay Landscape.

Artist Talk – Monika Mayer: LINKED
2026-08-29 15:00 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Image: Monika Mayer, Flow # 61 – Stretched, 2025, Acrylic, coffee and ink on canvas, 18” x 36” x 1.5”, Photo: Dana Davis
Monika Mayer’s new body of work is inspired by the rocky shoreline along the California coast, shaped by the tides. At low tide, hidden worlds are revealed: clusters of mussels and barnacles clinging together, surviving by holding on to each other. By gathering together, they create shared conditions that protect them from crashing waves and harsh weather. Their strength comes from connection.
Working with gathered and repurposed materials including inner tubes and deconstructed soccer balls, Mayer builds sculptural forms through layering and accumulation. Discarded and overlooked, these pieces grow into organism-like clusters linked with zip ties and staples and are given new life. Her paintings extend this language through layered coffee, paint, and ink, echoing the coastal environment’s organic patterns and rhythms. By presenting familiar objects in unfamiliar ways, Mayer invites viewers into a space of ambiguity, encouraging them to pause, look closely, and consider what lies beneath the surface. These works reflect on resilience, not as something we achieve alone, but as something we build together.
Bio:
Monika Mayer is a multidisciplinary artist born in Germany and based in Berkeley, CA. Largely self-taught, she began developing a daily art practice during the COVID-19 lockdown, allowing her to deepen her focus and commitment. She holds a BA in Social Education from the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne, Germany and a MA in Educational Leadership from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. Mayer has been a member of Mercury 20 Gallery since 2023, and is an alumna of the Kala Artist-in-Residency program in Berkeley, CA. Her work is held in private collections in the U.S. and Germany and has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Tryst International Art Fair in Los Angeles, Kala Art Gallery, and in the UK as a shortlisted artist for the International Football Art Prize.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artists’ Opening Reception: Saturday, August 15, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

Artist Talk – Rainey Straus: re(COMPOSING)
2026-08-29 15:30 - 17:00 | Mercury 20 Gallery, 475 25th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Rainey Straus, Radicling, 2026, Bioplastic and Papier-mâché, 9 H x 38 W x 42 D in, size variable, Photo Courtesy of the Artist
Rainey Straus’s work begins with walking, listening, and close attention to the living world. Created for Mercury 20, re(Composing) turns that attention toward fungi, following the ways matter breaks down, gathers, and becomes something else. The installation takes decomposers as a starting point: organisms that are also composers, transforming one kind of matter into another. Straus’s materials follow this logic. Paper is shredded, pulped, and cast over found, downed wood, echoing the way paper wasps chew wood fiber into shelter. Lacing through these casts are bioplastic forms, spun like spider silk until gesture becomes structure. By working with already fallen wood, Straus treats the tree not as an ending but as part of an ongoing cycle of transformation. The work invites attention to other intelligences: the pathfinding of slime molds, mycelial networks, and forms of sensing beyond human perception. Rather than representing ecological change, re(Composing) takes part in it: paper returns to pulp, pulp takes the impression of wood, and matter reorganizes itself into temporary form: fragile, provisional, and alive to what comes next.
Bio:
Rainey Straus is the award winner from Mercury 20’s 2026 exhibition, Mapping Time, awarded by juror Minoosh Zomorodinia. Straus is a Bay Area interdisciplinary artist whose work grows from fieldwork into sculpture, installation, painting, and cyanotype. After working as a Bay Area tech designer, she returned to artmaking in response to ecological urgency. Solo exhibitions include Spinning Time into Form, Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA and The Old Growth Project at MarinMOCA. Her work has appeared in Bodies and Borders: Ecologies of Consent with Women Eco Artists Dialog, Forest Unseen at Petaluma Arts Center, The New Geologic Epoch with Ecoartspace, and exhibitions at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, and the San Jose Museum of Art. Straus has held residencies at BigCi Residence in Australia, Lucid Art Foundation, and Morris Graves Foundation. Her work has been featured in Dark Mountain Journal, Sculpture Magazine, Rhizome, San Francisco Chronicle, and Point Reyes National Seashore Association. She holds a BFA from State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase and an MFA from California College of the Arts.
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)﻿
Artists’ Opening Reception: Saturday, August 15, 3 – 5 pm
﻿Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, August 7, September 4, 5 – 9 pm

Exploring the Art of Collage: A Workshop Series with Raha
2026-09-05 10:00 - 13:00, 2026-09-05 14:00 - 17:00 | Dictée Art & Exhibitions, 2117 11th Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94606, United States
Join local multi-media artist Raha for an immersive, hands-on journey into the world of collage. Whether you are a complete beginner or an artist looking to refine your creative process, this workshop is designed to help you explore new stylistic constraints and stretch your imagination.
Date & Time: Saturday, September 5
Morning Session
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Afternoon Session
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
