Temescal First Friday

If I’m feeling energized, I always try my hardest to visit the many booths, and participate in the many festivities that Oakland’s First Friday offers to those willing to enter the crowds, during the night. It gets crowded till later later in the day around 8 – 10 PM.
So many food trucks, and the lines get pretty long. The variety is truly amazing, and it’s nice to eat on the sidewalks, chatting with strangers or friends. You get to see the great art that’s open for the public, and usually are for sale. The art stores and restaurants along Telegraph are also still open, which is great because rain or shine, you’ll always be welcome to have a look see, to enjoy the creative works of art, ranging from food, to clothes, to jewelry, to music, to just about anything and everything.
I hope First Friday’s grows into a larger venue, because it’s nice to meet new people, and have a place to go where communities convene to share their heart’s desire.
Cool Fridays, are First Fridays!
Oops, wrong location! I’ve been notified by a fellow Unilocaler that this review is actually intended for the First Friday further down Telegraph, heading towards Oakland down town! :) but still… I’m sure this location is just as dandy!

OK, I love Oakland’s First Friday Art Murmur as much as the next hipster/​art history major/​cheap date, but sometimes it is just too crowded and too… much. OK, mostly too crowded. Therefore, I was very happy when my friend suggested we traipse around the new Art Murmur alternative, Temescal First Friday.
For a first «go,» it went great. TFF has yet to (probably) hit its stride, but we can’t all be Johannsen Projects:
–can we?!
A couple highlights:
–Esqueleto, a gem of a spot on 49^th that’s a heady mixture of wearable art (a.k.a. jewelry) and art for the walls – I am obsessed with a necklace by Lauren Wolf (I am in the process of negotiating with Santa)
–Rise Above Graphics, which had a fun exhibit by Ali Liebegott that ranged from «Emily Duckinson» prints to thought-​provoking LGBT/​civil rights stats on stylized yellow-​lined paper to a portrait of a Hitachi Magic Wand as «Homewrecker.» (I would argue it’s a HomeMAKER
as much as wrecker, but I used to work at Good Vibrations in the 90s so I’m hardly unbiased.)
–Smokey Tangle had an intriguing video installation by Brook Hinton, «Amorphous States,» that I wish I got to spend more time with (my ADHD something friends were moving on to the next thing – I may go back there this week to check it out).
Some of the places, musicians, artists, tattoo artists include:
Collin Willis, Sacred Wheel, Danica Reed, Eric Reed, Scream Sorbet, Kaibrina Sky Buck, Tara’s Organic Ice Cream, Super Ugly, John Williams, Crimson Horticultural Rarities, Alicia Goode, Mellisa Bolger, Esqueleto, Kelly Best, Rise Above Print Shop + Gallery, Ali Liebegott, Jennifer McKay, Barbara Milman, 17 Jewels, Sara Christian, Dear Indugu, KaMasaJei, Lot 49, Matte Stephens, Ruby’s Garden, Wendy Yoshimura, SAGRADA Sacred Arts, Mahealani Uchiyama, Freddy Corbin, Hector Fong, Stash, Chummy, Sonju, Dan Gilsdorf, Dustin Wengreen, Alicia Goode, Paul Ehat, 57^th Street Gallery, Ozell Hudson Jr., Lavirille Aber, Michael McDonough, Marni Mutrux, Udi Peled, Donna Wayman, Alejandra Carpenter, Friday Evening Jazz featuring Terrence Brewer Soul-​Jazz Project, Royal NoneSuch Gallery, Carey Lin, Smokey’s Tangle, Brook Hinton, Studio One Art Center, Barbara Claire Freeman, Jenny Drai, Gillian Hamel, Sara Mumolo, Elizabeth Robinson, Brian Teare, Temescal Arts Center/​Oakland Under $ 100.
Judging by the massive crowds at First Friday Art Murmur, there are plenty of people who relish art/​beer/​wine crawling – a few of us even BUY ART occasionally! Here’s to more neighborhoods providing a community-​friendly outlet to highlight down-​home to highbrow creative people. Temescal First Friday’s fresh effort is just one of the many reasons I love Oakland’s can-​do-​despite-​the-​haters attitude!
I’ll be back!