Super cute accent pillows in a variety of colors from Industrielle, the hot urban chic boutique and gallery on Grand near Broadway. Pillows are by local designer Joom! Available for $35 on the Industrielle website.
Sound familiar? We featured this fabulous Oakland company last year and are proud to announce that they have joined Oakland Unwrapped Marketplace.
Make your gift giving eco-conscious. Fwrap offers an alternative to buying gift wrap that your gift recipient just ends up throwing away. Instead, these clever and beautifully-designed wraps are meant to be re-used for other gifts and storage. These elegant wraps also make wrapping much easier - no more cutting and taping! They come in several sizes and colors and each one includes a gift tag. Also check out their book covers and notebook covers. Fwraps have been featured in SF Chronicle (yesterday!) and Oakland Magazine, and they are all the rage with Sierra Clubbers. Buy them online at fwraps.com.
Feed your soul while shopping local at the Dimond winter festival this Saturday. Spiritual leaders will share words and music to celebrate diversity. Enjoy choirs, pancake breakfasts, photos with Santa, and holiday crafts and gifts from local vendors. Suggested donation $5 or canned goods for the needy. 10 am - 3pm. Fruitvale Presbyterian Church. 2735 MacArthur Blvd. at Coolidge Ave.
This is the 22nd year for the Holiday, Kwanzaa & Christmas Gift show, presented by the African-American Business Exchange. Come celebrate family and community while finding unique gifts sold by African American and other vendors! $5 Admission. Dec. 8th and 9th. 11am - 8pm. Oakland Marriott Convention Center, 10th & Broadway. www.kwanzaagiftshow.com
This week’s online buy is from Industrielle, the newest addition to the Oakland Unwrapped! Marketplace. You may remember that we reviewed this ultracool urban boutique and gallery when it first opened just over a year ago. Now they’re online, and they are starting to add products to the site, like these super sexy Boy Shorts ($15) from Oakland designer Evo Noche. Check out the current exhibits, plus housewares, clothing fine art and more for sale online and in the store at 33 Grand Ave. (510) 271-0633. http://www.industriellegallery.com
Newbie Indie Award Winner Swarm Gallery and Studios is co-hosting the 2nd Annual Taste for Art event with Pro Arts Gallery. The event is to toast the annual East Bay Express Taste Dining Guide, and includes signature savories and sweets from the best East Bay restaurants as well as fine wines, spirits, and ales. This benefit event features music by DJ Cali of Relevant Sound and art by local talents. Benefits Pro Arts and Swarm Galleries and the Alameda County Food Bank. Thursday, October 18, 7:00pm- 10:00pm. 2nd St, Jack London Square. Tickets $10 at the door without a food donation, and $5 with 2 or more non-perishable food items for the Alameda County Food Bank.
Oakland Unwrapped! is thrilled to be working with the talented artists and entrepreneurs at the Cerebral Palsy Center for the Bay Area. The Center is located in Oakland and dedicated to providing services for persons with cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities, helping them to achieve their individual goals and aspirations. Oakland Unwrapped! is in the process of creating on-line stores for several entrepreneurs at the center. It won’t be long until you can buy their goods, including books, pottery, shirts and more on oaklandunwrapped.org!
Rock Paper Scissors Collective is a volunteer-run community arts space with a great gallery, shop, arts lab, and zine library in the Uptown District. Step into the bright space to find fun silkscreened tees, unique handmade clothing, wallets, jewelery, bags, and more. Many items are made of re-used materials, like plastic/foil juice snack bags, bike inner tubes, and even sailboat sails.
While you’re there you can read an independently-published zine in their Zine Library, listen to independently-produced music at their listening station, and take a class! Check out their site to find out about their rotating gallery exhibits (which open every First Friday of the month) and other events. They also offer monthly classes in DJ’ing, screenprinting, bike maintenance, and other fun topics! Part of Art Murmur’s First Friday artwalk.
Rock Paper Scissors Collective: 2278 Telegraph Ave. 510-238-9171. Open 11-7pm everyday except Tuesday, http://rpscollective.com/new.html
Memberships to local organizations are a fantastic way to be more locally involved, and they are a great way to explore something new! There is a lot going on in Oakland and memberships to suit everyone. Check out our selection below:
The Oakland Museum of California has memberships ranging from $35 (students, educators and seniors), Individual ($40) to Donor Forum/Curators Forum/California Collectors Circle ($1000). Memberships are good for a year and include exhibits, family programs, lectures, community events, etc. Upcoming exhibits for 2007 include 100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change, an exhibit to “Celebrate the power of families, the creative spirit of Oakland, and the potential of art to connect families and communities.” It is easy to join, you can join online, by phone, fax, mail or in person. Details on their website: http://www.museumca.org/member/index.html
The Oakland Zoo has memberships from $40 (students, seniors), $50 (Individual Adults), $80 (Family Plan) to $1000 (Giving Circle). The zoo is open daily from 10-4 and is home to more than 440 native and exotic animals. The Oakland zoo is, hands down, the very best place in Oakland to see a Red Knee Tarantula from Mexico, Flying Fox from Malaya and African Crowned Crane, all in one day! The Oakland Zoo is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1922. 9777 Golf Links Rd Oakland, CA www.oaklandzoo.org
Chabot Space and Science Center has a range of memberships, $20 Student, Senior, Teacher $50 Individual (includes one guest admission year-round) $80 Family (good for 2 adults and up to 4 children in the same household). This center is focused on astronomy and the space science. It has hands-on exhibits, an observatory and planetarium, all in a natural park setting. 10000 Skyline Blvd Oakland 510-226-7300 www.chabotspace.org
Museum of Children’s Art, MOCHA, is a not-for-profit arts education and youth development agency committeed to ensuring that the arts are a fundamental part of the lives of all children. Gallery admission is always free but memberships include discounts on classes, free shirts or bookbags, newsletters, head’s up on upcoming activities and other goodies. Memberships range from educator and student membership ($40), individual and family membership ($60 year). 538 Ninth Street between Washington & Clay 510.465.8770 www.mocha.org
Boys and Girls Club of Oakland: “Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland provides safe places for over 2500 boys and girls ages, 6 to 17. Their mission is to develop our community’s youth into positive contributors to society. Open after school and on Saturdays, the club “brings structure to the lives of children who desperately need it.” Members receive help with math, english and computers, take field trips, play games, make crafts and participate in performances. Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland owns and operates three Clubhouses in Oakland. Fees range from $12-$25 depending on the club. There are clubhouses in East Oakland, Central East Oakland and West Oakland. Check out their website for addresses and hours of each clubhouse: http://www.bgcoakland.org/
East Bay Regional Park District - Do you know someone who loves the outdoors? What about a membership to the East Bay Regional Park District! Prices range from $40 (seniors, students, educators), $50 (regular) or $95 (family). Benefits include day pass parking, free swimming, subscription to park newsletters, one annual dog pass, and various other discounts and benefits. With 65 regional parks, recreation areas, wilderness, shorelines, preserves and land bank areas including 1,150 miles of trails within parklands, it is time to explore! Memberships can be purchased by mail, at visitor kiosks, or at the parks administrative headquarters. Information online at http://www.ebparks.org/volunter/member.htm
One of the East Bay’s premiere galleries and arts organizations, Pro Arts, has a wonderful gift shop at the front of its gallery in the Ironworks neighborhood of Jack London Square. The shop has gorgeous housewares, jewelry, paintings, sculpture, cards, bags, t-shirts and more.
550 Second Street, Jack London Square, (510) 763-4361. Open Tuesday - Saturday, 12 -6pm and Sunday 12 -5pm. http://proartsgallery.org/gallerystore/index.html
Clever and stylish are the best words to describe the collection of home accessories, gifts, and furniture at this wonderful new shop at 17th and Telegraph. Entrez! Open House is the PERFECT store to usher in the Renaissance in Oakland’s uptown. Owner Marie Deleris brings her chic style to the corner, and much energy to the community.
Entrez! offers a wide range of items for the home, including candles, wine pumps, table linens, pillows, home fragrances, greeting cards, tables, chairs, and lots more. Even the office supplies are stylish. Designers carried in the store include local Oakland designers such as Chunks Candles and sitcom furniture, classic European companies such as Alessi and Koziol, and just plain fun companies like Knock Knock.
Marie is also very involved with the community, hosting pumpkin carving contests and french conversation nights, donating raffle items to good causes, and much more!
To top it off…Marie will gift wrap your items into a masterpiece (check the one in the photo)!
1645 Telegraph Avenue, (510) 268 9101. Holiday hours through December: Mon-Fri: 10 to 8; Weekends: 16th, 17th & 23rd: 12 to 5; Sunday 24th: 9 to 2. The store will be closed on Christmas day.
In August 4, 2006, the doors opened to Oakland’s newest treasure in home décor and artistic expression: Industrielle. This urban space in the heart of the Uptown Gallery District is a tribute to all things art. Colorful original paintings, ceramic cupcake holders, punk-inspired clothing, books, notecards, candles, blow-up dolls(!) and so much more await you. Eye catching window displays and progressive French provincial ambiance provide a warm welcome.
Owner Dana Taylor is a native Oaklander and an artist in her own right. Her line of greeting cards, distributed by A Little Piece of Art ®, has been carried by Barney’s New York, Barney’s Tokyo, and in boutiques throughout the country. Don’t forget to check out Dana’s own artwork on the walls while you’re there.
While Industrielle’s focus is local artists, Dana also attempts to include merchandise that will benefit under-developed or struggling markets/countries, as well as items with a social purpose. For example clocks from New Orleans to help rejuvenate the Louisiana economy, Tooksie candles from South Africa, and “statement clothing” from Downtown Democracy out of Brooklyn, New York. Plans for the store also include an artist studio in the rear, where Dana will offer art classes to children and the local public. 33 Grand Ave., Open Tues.- Fri., 10am to 6pm, Sat 11am to 4pm.
Thanks to the Ronn Guidi Foundation for the Performing Arts and Chevron corporation, you can see the Nutcracker again this year — its 34th season — at the Paramount Theatre. The performance will include members of the Oakland East Bay Symphony, led by conductor Michael Morgan. Delight your friends and family by taking them to experience this timeless classic in our beautiful Oakland theatre. Fri, Dec 22 at 8pm, Sat, Dec 23 at 2 & 8 pm, Sun. Dec 24 at 11am. Tickets range from $15 - $50, and are available by calling the Paramount (510) 625-8497 and via Ticketmaster at 510-465-6400 or www.ticketmaster.com.
There are three great gift shows this weekend featuring independent artists and designers! Click the links below for more information about each event.
1) afterglow boutique, in Temescal, will host a dozen designers on Saturday and Sunday from 11 to 7. Oakland Unwrapped! will be there all day on Sunday.
2) I {heart} Independent is hosting its first gift sale at Pro Arts in Jack London Square on Saturday from 11 to 4. Unwrapped will be here on Saturday.
3) Montclair Artists Group’s holiday art sale is Saturday and Sunday from 11-4.
Also see our complete printable list of Oakland holiday gift events this month.
i {heart} independent is a unique shopping event open to the public. Local artists and designers showcase one-of-a-kind apparel, accessories, jewelry, handbags, stationery and more at discount prices. Come shop and enjoy a fabulous time at this premiere Bay Area event!
Pro Arts Gallery www.proartsgallery.org, 550 Second Street @ Jack London Square, Sat. Dec 9, 11-4 pm, Free admission, credit cards accepted. Support independent – buy local!
Holiday Gifts from Local Artists & Merchants * Craft-Making for Kids * Free Photos With Santa * Pancake Breakfast * Native American Jewelry* Christmas, Kwanzaa & Hanukkah Activities Saturday, December 9th, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm, Fruitvale Presbyterian Church, 2735 MacArthur Blvd. at Coolidge Ave. $5.00 donation or canned food donation appreciated. http://www.shopdimond.com
blankspace Art Gallery presents Holiday Land Gift Sale and More! Small works for art, cards, crafty things and accessories by local artists. Also, artist-donated ornament sale benefitting Destiny Arts Center. Christmas music with Kittinfish Mountain! Saturday, December 16. 1-7pm; 6608 San Pablo Ave, Oakland; 510.547.6608; http://www.blankspacegallery.com/
This painting is by Chandra Baerg, one of the many artists of Oakland’s rich and lively Jingletown Arts District. On Dec 2 and 3, over 25 Jingletown artists will open their studios for the neighborhood’s first Art Walk. Check out the paintings, mosaics, jewelry, sculpture and more from this incredible collection of neighborhood artists. Dec 2-3, 11am-5pm. Fruitvale Exit off 880 south or Fruitvale BART. See website for map and directions. www.jingletown.org
One-of-a-Kind, Modern Handcrafted Candles
by Creighton Hurt
$30
These gorgeous candles are the work of Oakand artist Creighton Hurt. Creighton hand makes a wide variety of candles in various colors and scents, from Mango to Jasmine to Eucalyptus. You can find him and his works of art at Jack London Square Market on Sundays, at www.chunkscandles.com, and soon…on Oakland Unwrapped!
Gift Boxes of Sumptuous
Body Lotions and Potions
by The Joys of Life
$45 and up
Look younger, feel healthier, and soothe your soul with natural shea butter products hand made by Joy Shaffer at The Joys of Life. Everything about Joy and her business exudes beauty, health, and integrity. Joy’s natural ingredients are lovingly chosen, stringently tested, and help provide a good living to the women of Ghana and Uganda who process them by hand. Visit Joy at Jack London Square on Sundays and online at thejoysoflife.com.