(Oakland, CA) March 2, 2012: “It’s exciting to see the city come alive” Oakland resident Kait Singley said about Friday night’s Art Murmur. “It’s exciting to see so much creativity coming out of everyone,” she said, pointing out how many parents brought their kids to the free art walk and seeing parents selling their art on the sidewalk with their children selling cupcakes.

Over a thousand people turned out to Oakland’s Art Murmur Friday night, March 2, and the attendees came from diverse backgrounds. There were young hip hop artists, dancers, street performers, and an interesting mix of students, Occupy Oakland folks, working professionals in suits, parents with their kids, can collectors, and hip grandmas.

Read the full post here.

See Joe Sciarrillo’s photos from the night on Google+.

 

What exactly did renowned U.S. writer and art collector Gertrude Stein mean when she said “there is no there there” about Oakland, California? In honor of Gertrude Stein’s 138th birthday today, I explored the meaning of this oft-quoted phrase on the Inside Google Books blog. Read the full post here:

http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2012/02/gertrude-stein-puts-there-back-in.html

Little did I know that researching for an article on “Gertrude Stein’s Oakland” would put me on a collision course with Occupy Oakland and get me tear gassed today (Jan. 28, 2012).

Read the full story on Oakland Local: http://oaklandlocal.com/posts/2012/01/how-researching-gertrude-stein-got-me-tear-gassed-community-voices

My Kickstarter Project Oakland in Popular Memory was successfully funded!

Learn more at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattwerner/oakland-in-popular-memory-book-project/posts/157495

Learn more about Oakland in Popular Memory, my collection of interviews with artists from Oakland and artists who’ve influenced musicians from Oakland, by going to my Kickstarter page and Thought Publishing.