Welcome!

We will use this page as a working and sharing space for the members of the Arts, Culture, and Design Technical Advisory Group supporting the Oakland Plan process. Materials and activities will be added as we meet and develop them.

Key Words from Engagement

• Distinct
• Authentic
• Inclusive
• Quirky
• Not corporate
• Diverse
• Innovative
• Equitable

Design Guidelines

Notes from the first two meetings are included below.

Combined Pilot Projects and Opportunity map

The map below is updated to reflect ideas of this group as well as past conversations as part of the Oakland Plan. Please comment on whether you think any of these projects are very likely to occuring in the next few years and should be considered pilot projects. This is particlarly ehlpful if you have the ability to commit the project to the guidance outlined by this group in response to community comments.

Opportunity Map > SEE PILOT PROJECTS MAP

Notes and materials to be added after the meeting.

Organization

Notes and materials to be added after the meeting.

What We've Heard

1. Accessible cultural amenities. Students, residents, immigrants, and visitors have access to cultural and recreational spaces, institutional and cultural events across all of Oakland. (Opportunity Map, Organization)
2. Add benches, trash and recycling receptacles, lighting, and public art to the public realm in support of community programming in the streets. (Pilot Projects, Opportunity Map)
3. Allow the public to access large gathering spaces and the art/architectural marvels within historic structures as part of a year-round accessible privately owned public space strategy. (Pilot Projects, Opportunity Map, Organization)
4. Art is tangible and representative. The amount of public art in Oakland increases and reflects the vibrancy and dynamism of the Oakland community, which is both constantly changing with new, young ideas, and given a sense of permanency by the professionals and families who live and work there. (Pilot Projects)
5. Balance traffic, pedestrian/wheelchair access, community and commercial uses, delivery services, multi-modal hubs, patient needs. (Design Guidelines)
6. Community streets accommodate community uses. It is accepted that public streets in Oakland will often have temporary and/or permanent functions that support community activities that take precedence over their transportation function. (Pilot Projects, Opportunity Map)
7. Create a public art walk in Oakland that helps visitors and residents explore their neighborhood, with temporary and provocative artwork by young, diverse artists added as community programming. (Pilot Projects, Opportunity Map)
8. Development in residential areas should add publicly accessible amenities for children of all ages to help attract and retain families in Oakland (e.g., Allequippa Street in West Oakland). (Design Guidelines)
9. Improve experience of waiting for the bus with bus stops that include art, lighting, and signage; ensure that bus stops are easily and safety access by pedestrians with well-marked crosswalks and well-maintained sidewalks. (Design Guidelines, Pilot Projects, Opportunity Map)
10. Oakland’s gateways should be places of high quality building design, wayfinding, multi-modal hubs, and potentially pull off areas where visitors can orient themselves to find things. (Design Guidelines, Pilot Projects, Opportunity Map)
11. Public realm needs to link community needs and transportation function for streets, sidewalks, and adjacent non-building areas. (Design Guidelines)
12. Residential development on the Boulevard provide open space amenities (playgrounds, older kid activities, and services like daycares that are needed by families). (Design Guidelines)
13. Use innovative ideas such as a free expression tunnel or wall to direct artistic expression that leads to graffiti problem. (Pilot Projects, Opportunity Map)
14. Address compatibility issues for new buildings adjacent to existing 2-3 story buildings. (Design Guidelines)
15. Blend historic preservation into development with stronger design standards that enable higher buildings and more density that is aesthetically in keeping with nearby historic structures. (Design Guidelines)
16. Identify best practices for design of new structures adjacent to historic areas. (Design Guidelines)
17. Proactively communicate what the community considers desirable new development including scale, massing, materials, examples. (Design Guidelines)
18. Study and preserve existing art inside historic buildings in Oakland. (Opportunity Map, Organization)
19. Target desired amenities to specific parts of the neighborhood where they are needed most (e.g., open space, community gardens, community centers, food options, small business incubation spaces). (Design Guidelines)
20. Work with institutions and other property owners to create studio and/or live-work artist spaces throughout Oakland and particularly in visible locations on major corridors. Consider whether there is value to concentrating these spaces on specific streets vs. integrating throughout. (Design Guidelines, Pilot Projects, Organization)
21. Build a grant program that identifies micro-level community-led projects to realize Oakland as a laboratory for an innovative, inclusive, resident-serving urban experience. (Pilot Projects, Organization)
22. Collaborate with the museums, library, and cultural attractions to engage people of color, especially children, in Oakland as an outdoor arts and culture destination. All children who grow up in Oakland should have free access to these cultural attractions, and see themselves reflected in the artwork and literature shared in these spaces. (Design Guidelines, PIlot Projects, Organization)
23. Establish an organization or committee that can serve functions similar to Downtown’s Cultural Trust by regularly convening different community organizations and institutions to develop shared programs, events, and projects. The goal of this programming should be to support residents, keep employees and non-resident students in the neighborhood during evening hours and weekends, and attract additional visitors. (Organization)
24. Establish grants and other funding opportunities to grow and diversify the group of artists creating public art in Oakland. Consider how these programs can preferentially invest in Oakland-based artists and express the lived experiences of residents. (Organization)
25. Establish new and grow existing programs to support community-building events in the streets such as block parties, street festivals, famers' markets, and street vendors; as well as the provision of commercial and community services that spill into the public realm. (Pilot Projects, Opportunity Map, Organization)
26. Grow and diversify artistic expression. Increase the diversity of artists living and working in Oakland through programming, funding, and spaces on major corridors to represent this important aspect of the neighborhood. (Design Guidelines)
27. Implement and integrate programming exploring and honoring the heritage of the many and varied groups of immigrants and cultures that have lived and currently live in Oakland. Consider programming that communicates Oakland as a welcoming place to live, work, worship, and play. (Pilot Projects, Organization)
28. Provide additional ongoing engagements for cultural institutions to meet with and work with community organizations to honor the heritage and culture of communities that have and currently live in Oakland. Engage with related local initiatives on this such as Welcoming Pittsburgh and All for All. (Pilot Projects)
29. Research strategies for organizational structures to support the public art and cultural heritage experience in Oakland, and improve their structural connections to the Oakland community. (Organization)