Black Liberation is our 2021 Vision!
From a Year of Reckoning to a Year of Liberation
2020 has been a year of challenge and change.
Despite these changes, Alena Museum has remained firm in our work to dismantle systematic and institutional racism, and white supremacy through Black libration art activism and BIPOC Cultural Placemaking. Thank you for helping us activate West and East Oakland.
Check out what 2020 looked like for us with your support!
Our New Home: Alena Museum 8th Street Resilience Hub
We’re keeping the pulse of Black Liberation and Afrofuturism strong in West Oakland! We converted a 3000 sq/ft office into a mixed use creative space with seven work studios. Prior to COVID restrictions, we held a devoted space for community gatherings focused on culture-keeping and creative placemaking. We hope that the global community can defeat and recover from COVID soon, so we can welcome you to our new home studios on 8th Street.
Community Space and Resource Access
As a home for cultural placekeeping, we built a more resilient community through providing complimentary meetings, inspiring events, and photo shoots. We were able to supply community artists with art props, furniture, and other tech reosurces to help them develop their creativity. Due to COVID-19 regional shelter-in-place orders, Alena Museum temporarily paused some of our in-person programs.
Land & Liberation: Welcome to Magnolia Street
Our friends and arts organization peers at The Flight Deck invited us to tell the bittersweet story of closing our original location at 2725 Magnolia Street. Welcome to Magnolia is Alena Museum's origin story of land liberation. We showcased a mixed media installation that guides you through an activated scrapbook of different stages, starting from the rehab to the activation of a dilapidated West Oakland warehouse culminating in a thriving African Diaspora Cultural Hub.
The story of Welcome to Magnolia channels the spirit of Oakland's historical Black Empowerment Movements into the present through Alena Museum's eyes. Beginning as a safe space for creatives of the African Diaspora to confront gentrification in the built environment; our story roots Black Power into any space and land we activate, including this one.
Rapid Response Art Activism: Dancing While Black
The Alameda Police Department has had a long history of profiling Black people and people of color. The use of force and arrest of Alameda resident, Mali Watkins, was a reminder of this prevailing issue.
Dance is a creative and unspoken part of our liberation. The spirit of our cultural movement has kept our people alive, strong & resilient. In partnership with activist Red Bay and anti-racist Alameda residents, we showed up with support for Mali Watkins through creative direct action: drums, dance, songs & spoken word.
In support of the “Dancing While Black” protest held outside of Mali Wakins home, Alena Museum built and installed a 16 ft wall in which community members shared words of support to Mali Watkins. The wall featured art work by Arnold Randall and Spirit Wurx. The creativity didn't stop as we designed and printed two posters to give away to protesters.
Public Art Activism: 2020 Juneteenth Uprising
In the midst of mass uprising, we channeled the energy of Black Pride and Black LIFE at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater! We built a series of experience installations focused on joy and resilience, including the Black Futurists Wall, LOVE LIFE Installation, Conscious Books Install, Generational Healing Prayer Wall, Speak Life Affirmation Wall, African Free Up Mural, and more.
Our team of artists that brought these installations to life were Akili Simba, Shreya 360, Creative Shields, Aaron, Tara D., Sade Shakur and Seven Asefaha.
Cultural Placekeeping
Activating the Deep East: Black Cultural Zone & Liberation Park
Cultural equity and land stewardship are key to creative placemaking. This year we stepped up in Deep East Oakland by co-curating Liberation Park with murals, experience installations including our Community Giving Wall, Code of Righteousness, ArtWalk, and ongoing space activation.
Next Up! Afro-Futures in West Oakland
In honor of Black History Month 2021, we are grounding Afrofuturism into West Oakland. We will continue bringing the spirit of Black Power into the future through experience installations and community connection. We’ll be supporting West Oaklanders on the ground as well as sharing the history of West Oakland in partnership with the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative.
Thank you!
To all of our supporters, donors, artists, co-creators, and community for allowing us to continue to do the work of culture keeping. Despite the challenges of 2020, we have been able to keep a safe space for the African Diaspora to express their cultural identity. We can't wait to move forward into the new year with our art activism programing and space-keeping services!
We extend our gratitude and deepest thanks to our core funding and program partners:
Tao Rising
San Francisco Foundation
California Art Foundation
East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative
East Bay Community Foundation
Black Cultural Zone CDC & Collaborative
Community Visions
Haas Foundation