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SUMMARY:Tara Esperanza: Close to Home
DESCRIPTION:Tara Esperanza\, Protected Radiance\, 2026\, acrylic on panel\, 12″ x 12″\, Photo courtesy of the artist \nWhether painted in California or Oaxaca\, the works in Close to Home begin with the same impulse: to slow down and look closely. Working on a more intimate scale than in her previous work\, Tara Esperanza found herself drawn to quiet moments of observation\, where familiar plants reveal unexpected beauty through color\, form\, and light.\nCreated between two places that have become part of her life\, these paintings are less about geography than about attention. Though rooted in different landscapes\, each painting is shaped by the same curiosity and sense of wonder inspired by the resilience and sculptural elegance of plants.\nFor many years\, succulents have been Esperanza’s way of exploring themes of adaptation\, diversity\, and endurance. Through this body of work\, the smaller scale invites viewers to slow down\, look closely\, and discover that what is closest to us often has the most to reveal. \nBio:\nTara Esperanza resides in Oakland\, California\, where succulents thrive year-round. When she is not painting\, she enjoys running and capturing images that later inspire her work. Esperanza earned a BFA in Painting\, graduating cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth\, and studied plein air painting in Brittany\, France. A representational painter inspired by nature\, she has dedicated years to portraying the remarkable beauty and diversity of succulents. She has been a member of Mercury 20 Gallery in Oakland\, CA\, since 2020. Her work has been shown at the Women’s United Art Movement Virtual Gallery\, as well as numerous group exhibitions. In 2025\, Esperanza received Best of Show at the Annual National Juried Painting Exhibition at Emerald Springs Art Center in Oregon. Her paintings have been featured in Create! Magazine\, New Visionary Magazine\, and other publications\, and are held in private collections throughout the United States. \nGallery Hours: Friday and Saturday\, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)\nOpening Reception: Saturday\, September 12\, 3 – 5 pm\nArtist Talks: Saturday\, October 10\, 3 – 5 pm\nOakland Art Murmur / First Friday: October 2\, 5 – 9 pm
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/tara-esperanza-close-to-home/
LOCATION:Mercury 20 Gallery\, 475 25th Street\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Ongoing Exhibitions
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260911T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261017T170000
DTSTAMP:20260825T031138Z
CREATED:20260825T031138Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260825T031138Z
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SUMMARY:Present Figures – Curated by Laura Malone
DESCRIPTION:Clockwise from left: Nina Katz\, Heidi Brueckner\, Cindy Craig\, Shannon Rae Fincke\, Laura Malone \nPresent Figures brings together five California painters whose works exist within the figurative language of portraiture\, simultaneously expanding and disrupting it. Centered around themes of intimacy\, boundaries\, and embodied emotion\, each artist takes an individual approach to media\, scale\, and the capacity of the human form to be both a site of identity and a vessel of metaphor. Engaging in profound considerations of what it is to be human—our physicality\, sense of self\, relationships\, consciousness\, and creativity\, these artists invite us to engage with these shifting\, eternal questions and reflect on our own experiences—be they practical\, peaceful\, disturbing\, humorous\, fragmented\, spiritual\, or otherworldly. As individuals\, choices that begin with who and what to portray later manifest in stylistic and material communiquès that boldly and poetically reveal themselves to the world. Collectively\, the psychologically charged spectrum of the group reminds us of the myriad ways our sentience can be narrated. Like Anais Nin said\, “We don’t see things as they are\, we see them as we are.” \nBio:\nWith Present Figures\, Laura Malone expands her practice to curation. Malone invited four artists to show alongside her\, chosen for their unique and diverse approaches to representing the figure: two Southern California artists — Cindy Craig and Shannon Rae Fincke — and two from the Bay Area — Nina Katz and Heidi Brueckner. Collectively their work has been shown across the globe in Europe\, Asia\, and the United States. Malone’s artwork was featured in The Crocker Kingsley National Art Competition and included in “Disrupted Realism\,” juried by John Seed\, who wrote the book of the same name. Malone currently resides in Oakland\, CA and has been a member of Mercury 20 since 2023. \nGallery Hours: Friday and Saturday\, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)\nOpening Reception: Saturday\, September 12\, 3 – 5 pm\nArtist Talks: Saturday\, October 10\, 3 – 5 pm\nOakland Art Murmur / First Friday: October 2\, 5 – 9 pm
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/present-figures-curated-by-laura-malone/
LOCATION:Mercury 20 Gallery\, 475 25th Street\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Ongoing Exhibitions
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261001T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261031T170000
DTSTAMP:20260812T143507Z
CREATED:20260812T143443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T143507Z
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SUMMARY:Night Watch // Gregory Rick
DESCRIPTION:Johansson Projects presents Night Watch\, a striking exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Gregory Rick that boldly reimagines history painting through the fractured lens of contemporary life. \nApocryphal yet deeply referential and incisive\, Rick’s compositions collapse past events with biblical and mythological imagery\, art-historical allusions\, and capitalist spectacle into hypersaturated scenes that are at once facetious and unsettling. A burning cross\, a feline maw\, a tree of serpents\, and tigers charging toward machine-gun fire populate a world where violence–and communal acts of resistance–appear both ancient and immediate. \nFigures clad in Fila jackets\, yellow Hokas\, and other recognizable markers of contemporary consumer culture anchor these frenetic compositions in the present. As a veteran\, citizen\, and subject\, Rick draws upon collective memory to confront the cognitive dissonance of navigating everyday life amid recurring cycles of violence\, surveillance\, and oppression. In works such as Night Watch (We Got Us)\, Rembrandt’s civic militia meets Picasso’s Guernica\, transforming the historical tableau into a contemporary cry for help and vision of mutual aid. \nA few of the works are painted and collaged on silk mesh\, their transparencies exposing the layers of their construction and underscoring history itself as an unstable\, assembled narrative. In Night Watch\, Rick contends with what it means to stay woke and on watch in the 2020s. \nNight Watch runs from September 30 to October 31\, 2026 with an opening reception Friday\, October 2 from 5-8pm.
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/night-watch-gregory-rick/2026-10-01/
LOCATION:Johansson Projects\, 2300 Telegraph Ave\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Ongoing Exhibitions
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261002T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261101T160000
DTSTAMP:20260812T143507Z
CREATED:20260812T143443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T143507Z
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SUMMARY:Night Watch // Gregory Rick
DESCRIPTION:Johansson Projects presents Night Watch\, a striking exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Gregory Rick that boldly reimagines history painting through the fractured lens of contemporary life. \nApocryphal yet deeply referential and incisive\, Rick’s compositions collapse past events with biblical and mythological imagery\, art-historical allusions\, and capitalist spectacle into hypersaturated scenes that are at once facetious and unsettling. A burning cross\, a feline maw\, a tree of serpents\, and tigers charging toward machine-gun fire populate a world where violence–and communal acts of resistance–appear both ancient and immediate. \nFigures clad in Fila jackets\, yellow Hokas\, and other recognizable markers of contemporary consumer culture anchor these frenetic compositions in the present. As a veteran\, citizen\, and subject\, Rick draws upon collective memory to confront the cognitive dissonance of navigating everyday life amid recurring cycles of violence\, surveillance\, and oppression. In works such as Night Watch (We Got Us)\, Rembrandt’s civic militia meets Picasso’s Guernica\, transforming the historical tableau into a contemporary cry for help and vision of mutual aid. \nA few of the works are painted and collaged on silk mesh\, their transparencies exposing the layers of their construction and underscoring history itself as an unstable\, assembled narrative. In Night Watch\, Rick contends with what it means to stay woke and on watch in the 2020s. \nNight Watch runs from September 30 to October 31\, 2026 with an opening reception Friday\, October 2 from 5-8pm.
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/night-watch-gregory-rick/2026-10-02/
LOCATION:Johansson Projects\, 2300 Telegraph Ave\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Ongoing Exhibitions
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261003T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261102T160000
DTSTAMP:20260812T143507Z
CREATED:20260812T143443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T143507Z
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SUMMARY:Night Watch // Gregory Rick
DESCRIPTION:Johansson Projects presents Night Watch\, a striking exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Gregory Rick that boldly reimagines history painting through the fractured lens of contemporary life. \nApocryphal yet deeply referential and incisive\, Rick’s compositions collapse past events with biblical and mythological imagery\, art-historical allusions\, and capitalist spectacle into hypersaturated scenes that are at once facetious and unsettling. A burning cross\, a feline maw\, a tree of serpents\, and tigers charging toward machine-gun fire populate a world where violence–and communal acts of resistance–appear both ancient and immediate. \nFigures clad in Fila jackets\, yellow Hokas\, and other recognizable markers of contemporary consumer culture anchor these frenetic compositions in the present. As a veteran\, citizen\, and subject\, Rick draws upon collective memory to confront the cognitive dissonance of navigating everyday life amid recurring cycles of violence\, surveillance\, and oppression. In works such as Night Watch (We Got Us)\, Rembrandt’s civic militia meets Picasso’s Guernica\, transforming the historical tableau into a contemporary cry for help and vision of mutual aid. \nA few of the works are painted and collaged on silk mesh\, their transparencies exposing the layers of their construction and underscoring history itself as an unstable\, assembled narrative. In Night Watch\, Rick contends with what it means to stay woke and on watch in the 2020s. \nNight Watch runs from September 30 to October 31\, 2026 with an opening reception Friday\, October 2 from 5-8pm.
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/night-watch-gregory-rick/2026-10-03/
LOCATION:Johansson Projects\, 2300 Telegraph Ave\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Ongoing Exhibitions
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261008T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261107T160000
DTSTAMP:20260812T143507Z
CREATED:20260812T143443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T143507Z
UID:10005660-1791464400-1794067200@oaklandartmurmur.org
SUMMARY:Night Watch // Gregory Rick
DESCRIPTION:Johansson Projects presents Night Watch\, a striking exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Gregory Rick that boldly reimagines history painting through the fractured lens of contemporary life. \nApocryphal yet deeply referential and incisive\, Rick’s compositions collapse past events with biblical and mythological imagery\, art-historical allusions\, and capitalist spectacle into hypersaturated scenes that are at once facetious and unsettling. A burning cross\, a feline maw\, a tree of serpents\, and tigers charging toward machine-gun fire populate a world where violence–and communal acts of resistance–appear both ancient and immediate. \nFigures clad in Fila jackets\, yellow Hokas\, and other recognizable markers of contemporary consumer culture anchor these frenetic compositions in the present. As a veteran\, citizen\, and subject\, Rick draws upon collective memory to confront the cognitive dissonance of navigating everyday life amid recurring cycles of violence\, surveillance\, and oppression. In works such as Night Watch (We Got Us)\, Rembrandt’s civic militia meets Picasso’s Guernica\, transforming the historical tableau into a contemporary cry for help and vision of mutual aid. \nA few of the works are painted and collaged on silk mesh\, their transparencies exposing the layers of their construction and underscoring history itself as an unstable\, assembled narrative. In Night Watch\, Rick contends with what it means to stay woke and on watch in the 2020s. \nNight Watch runs from September 30 to October 31\, 2026 with an opening reception Friday\, October 2 from 5-8pm.
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/night-watch-gregory-rick/2026-10-08/
LOCATION:Johansson Projects\, 2300 Telegraph Ave\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Ongoing Exhibitions
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261009T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261108T160000
DTSTAMP:20260812T143507Z
CREATED:20260812T143443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T143507Z
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SUMMARY:Night Watch // Gregory Rick
DESCRIPTION:Johansson Projects presents Night Watch\, a striking exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Gregory Rick that boldly reimagines history painting through the fractured lens of contemporary life. \nApocryphal yet deeply referential and incisive\, Rick’s compositions collapse past events with biblical and mythological imagery\, art-historical allusions\, and capitalist spectacle into hypersaturated scenes that are at once facetious and unsettling. A burning cross\, a feline maw\, a tree of serpents\, and tigers charging toward machine-gun fire populate a world where violence–and communal acts of resistance–appear both ancient and immediate. \nFigures clad in Fila jackets\, yellow Hokas\, and other recognizable markers of contemporary consumer culture anchor these frenetic compositions in the present. As a veteran\, citizen\, and subject\, Rick draws upon collective memory to confront the cognitive dissonance of navigating everyday life amid recurring cycles of violence\, surveillance\, and oppression. In works such as Night Watch (We Got Us)\, Rembrandt’s civic militia meets Picasso’s Guernica\, transforming the historical tableau into a contemporary cry for help and vision of mutual aid. \nA few of the works are painted and collaged on silk mesh\, their transparencies exposing the layers of their construction and underscoring history itself as an unstable\, assembled narrative. In Night Watch\, Rick contends with what it means to stay woke and on watch in the 2020s. \nNight Watch runs from September 30 to October 31\, 2026 with an opening reception Friday\, October 2 from 5-8pm.
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/night-watch-gregory-rick/2026-10-09/
LOCATION:Johansson Projects\, 2300 Telegraph Ave\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Ongoing Exhibitions
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261010T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261010T140000
DTSTAMP:20260916T193400Z
CREATED:20260916T193400Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260916T193400Z
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SUMMARY:Oakland Style Week - Big\, Small\, and Everything In Between
DESCRIPTION:Celebrate Oakland Style Week at Manna Gallery with an day at the intersection of art\, style\, and creative expression. Experience Big\, Small\, and Everything In Between and discover how Bay Area muralists Julie Engelmann\, Amos Goldbaum\, Liv Losee-Unger\, Fernanda Martínez\, and Deirdre Weinberg translate the energy\, color\, and scale of their public work into an intimate gallery setting. \nSeptember 26 – October 31\, 2026\nOakland Style Week: Saturday\, October 10\, 11-2 pm\nGallery Hours: Saturdays\, 12-5 pm & First Fridays\, 5-8 pm\nAll events and entrance to the gallery are free of charge
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/oakland-style-week-big-small-and-everything-in-between/
LOCATION:Manna Gallery\, 473 25th St.\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Artists Talk
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261010T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261109T160000
DTSTAMP:20260812T143507Z
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LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T143507Z
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SUMMARY:Night Watch // Gregory Rick
DESCRIPTION:Johansson Projects presents Night Watch\, a striking exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Gregory Rick that boldly reimagines history painting through the fractured lens of contemporary life. \nApocryphal yet deeply referential and incisive\, Rick’s compositions collapse past events with biblical and mythological imagery\, art-historical allusions\, and capitalist spectacle into hypersaturated scenes that are at once facetious and unsettling. A burning cross\, a feline maw\, a tree of serpents\, and tigers charging toward machine-gun fire populate a world where violence–and communal acts of resistance–appear both ancient and immediate. \nFigures clad in Fila jackets\, yellow Hokas\, and other recognizable markers of contemporary consumer culture anchor these frenetic compositions in the present. As a veteran\, citizen\, and subject\, Rick draws upon collective memory to confront the cognitive dissonance of navigating everyday life amid recurring cycles of violence\, surveillance\, and oppression. In works such as Night Watch (We Got Us)\, Rembrandt’s civic militia meets Picasso’s Guernica\, transforming the historical tableau into a contemporary cry for help and vision of mutual aid. \nA few of the works are painted and collaged on silk mesh\, their transparencies exposing the layers of their construction and underscoring history itself as an unstable\, assembled narrative. In Night Watch\, Rick contends with what it means to stay woke and on watch in the 2020s. \nNight Watch runs from September 30 to October 31\, 2026 with an opening reception Friday\, October 2 from 5-8pm.
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/night-watch-gregory-rick/2026-10-10/
LOCATION:Johansson Projects\, 2300 Telegraph Ave\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Ongoing Exhibitions
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261010T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261010T170000
DTSTAMP:20260825T191948Z
CREATED:20260825T191948Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260825T191948Z
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SUMMARY:Artist Talk – Tara Esperanza: Close to Home
DESCRIPTION:Tara Esperanza\, Guardians\, 2026\, acrylic-on-panel\, 20” x 16”\, Photo courtesy of the artist \nWhether painted in California or Oaxaca\, the works in Close to Home begin with the same impulse: to slow down and look closely. Working on a more intimate scale than in her previous work\, Tara Esperanza found herself drawn to quiet moments of observation\, where familiar plants reveal unexpected beauty through color\, form\, and light.\nCreated between two places that have become part of her life\, these paintings are less about geography than about attention. Though rooted in different landscapes\, each painting is shaped by the same curiosity and sense of wonder inspired by the resilience and sculptural elegance of plants. For many years\, succulents have been Esperanza’s way of exploring themes of adaptation\, diversity\, and endurance. Through this body of work\, the smaller scale invites viewers to slow down\, look closely\, and discover that what is closest to us often has the most to reveal. \nBio:\nTara Esperanza resides in Oakland\, California\, where succulents thrive year-round. When she is not painting\, she enjoys running and capturing images that later inspire her work. Esperanza earned a BFA in Painting\, graduating cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth\, and studied plein air painting in Brittany\, France. A representational painter inspired by nature\, she has dedicated years to portraying the remarkable beauty and diversity of succulents. She has been a member of Mercury 20 Gallery in Oakland\, CA\, since 2020. Her work has been shown at the Women’s United Art Movement Virtual Gallery\, as well as numerous group exhibitions. In 2025\, Esperanza received Best of Show at the Annual National Juried Painting Exhibition at Emerald Springs Art Center in Oregon. Her paintings have been featured in Create! Magazine\, New Visionary Magazine\, and other publications\, and are held in private collections throughout the United States. \nGallery Hours: Friday and Saturday\, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)\nOpening Reception: Saturday\, September 12\, 3 – 5 pm\nOakland Art Murmur / First Friday: October 2\, 5 – 9 pm
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/artist-talk-tara-esperanza-close-to-home/
LOCATION:Mercury 20 Gallery\, 475 25th Street\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Artists Talk
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ORGANIZER;CN="Mercury 20 Gallery":MAILTO:mercurytwenty@gmail.com
GEO:37.804829;-122.272476
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261010T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261010T170000
DTSTAMP:20260827T031954Z
CREATED:20260827T031730Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260827T031954Z
UID:10005844-1791644400-1791651600@oaklandartmurmur.org
SUMMARY:Artist Talks: Present Figures – Curated by Laura Malone
DESCRIPTION:Laura Malone\, Carnivale\, Oil on Linen\, 60” x 48”\, 2021\, Photo courtesy of the artist \nPresent Figures brings together five California painters whose works exist within the figurative language of portraiture\, simultaneously expanding and disrupting it. Centered around themes of intimacy\, boundaries\, and embodied emotion\, each artist takes an individual approach to media\, scale\, and the capacity of the human form to be both a site of identity and a vessel of metaphor. Engaging in profound considerations of what it is to be human—our physicality\, sense of self\, relationships\, consciousness\, and creativity\, these artists invite us to engage with these shifting\, eternal questions and reflect on our own experiences—be they practical\, peaceful\, disturbing\, humorous\, fragmented\, spiritual\, or otherworldly. As individuals\, choices that begin with who and what to portray later manifest in stylistic and material communiquès that boldly and poetically reveal themselves to the world. Collectively\, the psychologically charged spectrum of the group reminds us of the myriad ways our sentience can be narrated. Like Anais Nin said\, “We don’t see things as they are\, we see them as we are.” \nBio:\nWith Present Figures\, Laura Malone expands her practice to curation. Malone invited four artists to show alongside her\, chosen for their unique and diverse approaches to representing the figure: two Southern California artists — Cindy Craig and Shannon Rae Fincke — and two from the Bay Area — Nina Katz and Heidi Brueckner. Collectively their work has been shown across the globe in Europe\, Asia\, and the United States. Malone’s artwork was featured in The Crocker Kingsley National Art Competition and included in “Disrupted Realism\,” juried by John Seed\, who wrote the book of the same name. Malone currently resides in Oakland\, CA and has been a member of Mercury 20 since 2023. \nGallery Hours: Friday and Saturday\, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)\nOpening Reception: Saturday\, September 12\, 3 – 5 pm\nOakland Art Murmur / First Friday: October 2\, 5 – 9 pm
URL:https://oaklandartmurmur.org/event/artist-talks-present-figures-curated-by-laura-malone/
LOCATION:Mercury 20 Gallery\, 475 25th Street\, Oakland\, CA\, 94612\, United States
CATEGORIES:Artists Talk
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ORGANIZER;CN="Mercury 20 Gallery":MAILTO:mercurytwenty@gmail.com
GEO:37.804829;-122.272476
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Mercury 20 Gallery 475 25th Street Oakland CA 94612 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=475 25th Street:geo:-122.272476,37.804829
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