Friday Nights at OMCA

Join us for Friday Nights, every Friday from 5pm - 9pm, at OMCA. Reconnect with family, friends and community at OMCA over delicious local eats by OTG Creators, and exciting Museum offerings. As California moves toward a new post-pandemic normal, OMCA and OTG are excited to provide a gathering place for the public to foster community and deepen connections with each other.

Inspired by the community's stories of resilience and reconnection over the past two years, Friday Nights at OMCA has been reimagined as a more intimate experience where visitors can break bread and enjoy weekly programming that dives deeper into themes that drive OMCA's mission like community, belonging, and connection.

A variety of compelling, fun and relevant public programs and events will energize the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) throughout the month of July. After a triumphant and celebratory re-launch in June, Friday Nights at OMCA continues to engage and bring people together with activities, music, connections, and Off the Grid food trucks every Friday evening from 5 to 9 pm. July Friday Nights programs focus on the theme, "what does it mean to be free?" Groundbreaking ceramic artist and innovator Tung Chiang from Heath Ceramics will give a fireside chat July 10 in conjunction with the current exhibition, Edith Heath: A Life in Clay. Author, activist, comedian and media personality W. Kamau Bell and activist and New York Times bestselling author, Kate Schatz, host a special interactive event for their book, DO THE WORK! An Antiracist Activity Book July 23. The new exhibition, Hella Feminist, opens July 29 and continuing on view are OMCA Kids: Nature Playspace and Edith Heath: A Life in Clay in the OMCA Galleries.

Free

Presented by Oakland Museum of California.

~~~~~~~~

Schedule in July:


FRIDAY NIGHTS AT OMCA
Friday, July 1, 5-9 pm

DJ Wonway Posibul (KALW) "Folding For Freedom" Origami Butterflies and Cranes
Let your feelings about freedom take flight through a hands-on origami-making station. Let your spirit soar and your body move to the sounds of DJ Wonway. Grab a meal, a snack or a sweet, and a drink at the Off the Grid food trucks and spend the evening with friends old and new in the OMCA Galleries and Garden.

Fold cranes & butterflies to contribute to the efforts of Tsuru for Solidarity and The Butterfly Effect: Migration is Beautiful, two local organizations building solidarity among communities impacted by harmful immigration policies, and advocating for the end of detention sites at our southern border. Visitors may take their creations home with them, or donate them to our partnering organizations.


FRIDAY NIGHTS AT OMCA
Friday, July 8, 5-9 pm
DJ Santero and SOL Development - Music & Storytelling

Oakland's SOL Development is where soulful jazz, hip-hop and the depth of storytelling artfully intersect. Join SOL Development on our Garden Stage for a live musical performance celebrating joy and an opportunity to come together through powerful music. SOL Development's films Dear Beloved and When The Waters Get Deep will also be screened in rotation in the James Moore Theater throughout the evening. The performance is appropriate for all ages, but may touch on difficult subjects.


FRIDAY NIGHTS AT OMCA
Friday, July 15, 5-9 pm
DJ Sake One
Reproductive Rights are Human Rights

Oakland is the first City in California to declare itself a Sanctuary City for Abortion Access. Meet and engage with local organizations advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice in the Bay Area. Partners for this evening include Access Reproductive Justice and Planned Parenthood.

Meet and mingle in OMCA's Galleries and Garden, enjoy your favorites or try something new from Off the Grid food trucks, dance to DJ Sake One, and spend a provocative and powerful evening with us!


FRIDAY NIGHTS AT OMCA
Friday, July 22, 5-9 pm
DJ Juan G
Sanctuary City Project Takeover

Sanctuary City Project takeover at OMCA. Join artists Sergio De La Torre and Chris Treggiari will host two silk screening bicycles that will screen print posters from their selection of over 40 original posters developed from the stories of community members and address the complexity of the immigrant experience: Why did you come here? Where would you go back to? A sanctuary is a quiet place, sanctuary is a necessity. The resulting posters offer an opportunity for dialogue around the topic of sanctuary cities and immigration.

DJ Juan G electrifies the night with a backdrop of Off the Grid food trucks, OMCA's Galleries and Garden.


FRIDAY NIGHTS AT OMCA
Friday, July 29, 5-9 pm
Liberation Market featuring local vendors, including Nomadic Press: Painting the Streets Showcase
DJ Ron Reeser

OMCA Garden hosts a Liberation Market Place where you can shop and support local artisans, makers, crafts people, and authors. A variety of carefully curated vendors will be selling their unique offerings.

End your week with readings and music curated by Nomadic Press that highlight themes from Painting the Streets: Oakland Uprising in the Time of Rebellion, and browse handmade goods by local creators at our Liberation Market. Grab dinner, a snack or a drink at the Off the Grid food trucks and spend the evening in OMCA's Garden and Galleries.

Through publications, events, and active community participation, Nomadic Press collectively weaves together platforms for intentionally marginalized voices to take their rightful place within the world of the written and spoken word.