Pic of the Day

"Pic of the Day"

Pic of the Day

"Vulcan & P.H.A.S.E.2"

"Pic of the Day"

 "Daz - Pine Ridge, South Dakota"

Pic of the Day

"Hipnotic, Rebel Diaz, Afrika Bambaataa, and fam at the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective.
Mural by the Community Rejuvenation Project"

New Piece by Gen (Arrow-Soul Council)

This is not my first piece I have done and surely not my best or the last I will ever do. But this experience those introduce me into these Montana Paints that are crazy good, best can ever to use to create a piece. I love the way it flows with what you do and it is stable enough so that you can be able to control the movement. This piece also rocks out my name and more practice for me and a way to improve my bars. The hard part is the way to do a filling that doesn't look sloppy or whack! And the outline was also hard to do but it's all about practice. Everything about it is fun but the most part is the way to put the colors together and make it look beast! I didn't choose the colors but I made the best of them.

Salma's first Piece

My experience with this piece was that it was hard. It was my first time doin a piece by myself. I chose the colors because i think they look good together. I wrote "twix" because i love that. The weather was so cold and there was a lot of wind. The photographer, Kathy, helped me on some parts too. I think that the piece is heka whack because I didn't feel it at the end. Probably if I had more time, I would do it better. Now that I see what I did, it motivates me to do better, to go outside the box.



Photos by Kathy (Arrow-Soul)

Concrete Jungle - Santa Fe NM - The Last Mural of 2010

The final stop on Mike 360 and Desi W.O.M.E whirlwind week-long mural tour was the Concrete Jungle in Santa Fe. Desi's last mural, Warriors Of Mother Earth, had recently been destroyed when the wall was been upgraded, so it was important to create a new prayer.

Mike and Desi experimented with drips, even painting with snow, to create the background. Then they created two pieces, say Mikitzli, the day of the mural on the Mexica sunstone, and Tochtli, the year on the sunstone, in the shape of the Ollin, a Mexica symbol representing movement.

Evolve Thrift Store, Albuquerque NM

While hosting Desi in Albuquerque, Mike introduce him to Dionisio Tafoya, who had relocated from Los Angeles as a set designer for major hollywood projects to open a shop in the south valley of Albuquerque. The three men collaborated on a new mural on the building housing his shop. At the request of P.H.A.S.E 2, elder practitioner and pioneer of the aerosol culture, the mural included a portrait of Richard Lee Cisco, the Cisco Kid, a hip-hop legend featured in the movie Beat Street, who recently past away. P.H.A.S.E 2 also contributed an outline to the mural.

The mural also depicts legendary New? Mexico potter, Maria Martinez, a youth mariachi, and the newborn son of Ahki, a local emcee who recently passed away, in front of a stormy vortex.

More Photos of the final mural coming soon!

Desi W.O.M.E and Mike 360 at Las Plazitas Institute, Albuquerque NM

Desi W.O.M.E returned to New Mexico in December and reunited with his painting partner, Mike 360,a master muralist and spray paint innovator. Their first stop was Las Plazitas Institute, an important community center in the south valley of Albuquerque. Mike and Desi contributed new works to an evolving mural representing "La Cultura Cura" or the culture cures. The mural depicts breaking through the mental and physical traps set up in our society through the connection to culture and ancestry.

Movimiento Salvadoreno Mural on Lupita's Pupuseria

In the summer of 2010, a group of students from a youth organization travelled to El Salvador as part of a program called Movimiento Salvadoreno. Upon their return, the group decided to paint a mural to reflect their experiences and the history that they learned about this beautiful country. CRP founder, Desi W.O.M.E, sat down with the group to facilitate the mural design. The mural was painted on Lupita's Pupuseria, located at 34th and Foothill.

Lupita's is an incredible restaurant and tamale truck run by Salvadorean members of the community who love to make traditional food from their homeland. Lupita herself became featured on the wall making a pupusa. Lupita was like a loving auntie to the artists, and feed the group the entire time that we were working there.

CRP was also visited by sacred geometry artist, Release, from New Mexico, who painted several young children playing throughout the mural. Desi took over the back wall of the restaurant and created a 40-ft masterpiece which he used to train several local youth in the basic of spray painting.

Another mural on the 34th side of the building is coming in 2011, so stay tuned!

Great story on last Monday's community mural with clients at St. Vincent de Paul:

"Volunteers from Community Rejuvenation Project, a mural and beautification program based in Oakland, first painted a blue background color onto the 8-foot high by 20-foot wide piece of waterproofed wood, then divided the panel up by lightly painting on a grid of small individual blocks. Each block is assigned a different color and then anyone can paint whatever design or image they like onto the blocks. When done, the final painting will have the effect of a multi-hued quilted pattern."

By Dara Kerr, Oakland Local, February 2, 2011

Read the full article here.

Limited First Edition 2010 CRP Photo Anthology NOW AVAILABLE!

As the year closes, we have decided to create a limited edition 2010 Year in Murals book called Rejuvenation featuring professional photography by Peskador and Daniel D. Zarazua among others. Get to know the Community Rejuvenation Project through 80 pages of beautiful murals, behind-the-scenes stories, and works in progress. Only 500 copies of the first edition will be printed. We are currently accepting pre-orders for the book. Books ordered by Dec. 19 should be delivered by X-mas. We will send you a copy of the book with any donation of $50 or more.

Rejuvenation 2010

Kilumbo Warriors Mural in Honor of the Protesters Struggling for Justice for Oscar Grant

We arrived at 10 AM to start the mural. The parking lot gates were chained up and the space was full of garbage. The area in front of the wall was overgrown and we had to watch carefully for needles and glass as we cleared the brush to access the wall. A man who was walking by saw our struggle with the huge weeds, jumped the fence with a knife and proceeded to cut down the larger stalks that our tools couldn't handle. The morning was overcast but not showing any signs of rain as we began to prime in the sky and mountains.

We had a instinct that history would repeat itself and Johannes Mehserle, the BART officer / killer of Oscar Grant would be given a light sentence. The theme of Kilumbo (or Quilombo in the European spelling) resonated with us. For the two years since Oscar Grant was murdered on the Fruitvale station, the people of Oakland had stood up and fought for justice. BART, the police and the city government had proven indifferent, if not defensive, and refused to act without prodding. Each small victory, such as the resignation of Gary Gee, the BART police commissioner, and even getting Mehserle a trial had required numerous loud protests, often resulting in at least 100 arrests at each stage. Every police officers' association had contributed to Mehserle's defense in order to maintain their hold.

Kilumbos were the communities of African runaway slaves and indigenous people that were founded in Brazil. In addition, we wanted to make connections between the other autonomous African / indigenous communities in the Americas and the traditional African tribes located in their motherland. We wanted Oakland to remember that such societies existed in the face of brutal repression and ongoing genocide and that Oakland should not give up hope.

We left for an hour to meet with some youth to plan the next day's mural. Even though the sentence was not to be announced until 2 PM, we saw students walking out from school at 1:30 telling us that Mehserle has received 2 years with credit for time served. We drove through 14th and Broadway and saw the police amassing. Arriving back at the wall a few blocks away, we knew that we would not leave until we were done. As we parked, the police helicopters arrived and we painted into the evening under the loud rattle of their propellors. Yet around 6 or 7 PM, the helicopters left and as the sun went down there was an eerie silence. Around 8:30, it became clear that the light in the lot would not turn on and it was too dark to continue painting. We made arrangements to meet the next day and put on the finishing touches. Painting all afternoon, we had been disconnected from the updates and wondered what was going on.



On the way home, we detoured up Telegraph and saw a huge crowd of hipsters partying away at the Oakland Fart Murmur like nothing had happened. Returning back downtown, we saw a huge mass of police at 14th and Broadway, yet people were heading out to the clubs and bars in apparent amnesia. No signs of protest could be found. We made our way around the lake wondering what had happened. Had Oakland just packed it up in a hopeless state of dispair? It seemed unlikely given the resiliency of the people but where was everybody? Then we saw the familiar helicoptors flashing its light into the community. Excited, we began to chase it. We drove up 5th Ave. and made a right on 17th Street and founded ourselved blocked off. The police had cordoned off 6th Ave and directed us to turn right. I drove slowly trying to see what was going on. Just then, the fire truck and the ambulance came flying towards us and we were forced to back up. The backdoors of the ambulance opened and police officer was wheeled on a gurney and placed inside. By then, the police directing traffic forced us to move on. All the streets on 18th were blocked off. We had to detour all over the place to return to my house, which further complicated by the neighborhoods stupid cul-de-sacs and blocked off streets. We were treated to the helicoptor's rattling propellors until 1 AM. At my house, we learned the cop had been hit by another cop car and that 152 protestors were surrounded without exit or opportunity to disperse and arrested.

We returned to the wall late the next day after completing a school mural with the youth we had meet with. It was quiet and sunny and the wall looked beautiful. Details we had missed in the darkness now appeared in the light. We completed our touch-ups and disappeared into the town.

350.org Mural on 10-10-10

A community rejuvenation Project from Mike Melero on Vimeo.

New San Francisco Alley Murals

In the past week, CRP founder Desi W.O.M.E has created 3 new murals in the alleys of the Mission District. In the last post, we documented his piece created as part of the international Meeting of Styles. During the event, San Francisco legend CUBA invited Desi to create a new piece in the historic Clarion mural alley, between Mission and Valencia just passed 17th St. Clarion Alley has been a hub of mural artwork since the 1990s. CUBA was one of the original artists to paint the alley and has recently begun coordinating artists to continue to transform the space.

Following his mural in Clarion alley, Desi returned to Lilac alley and created another mural on a roll-down door next to his previous piece. This piece is a more traditional aerosol mask style.

CRP Founder Desi W.O.M.E representing at the International Meeting of Styles

The International Meeting of Styles is a series of weekend mural gatherings held in different cities throughout the globe. The MOS has held events on the west coast for several years now. However, or the first time, the MOS was be held at San Francisco at one of the most historic and famous places for mural art, the Mission district. CRP founder Desi WOME was invited to participate and created the mural above in a few hours on the first day of the event, on September 24. The event also featured painting by Bay Area legends, TDK Crew, WCF, and many more. Stay tuned for more photos in the days to come.

Diego's Power Alley Gym Mural

Story by Jill Replogle (http://www.jillrep.com)

Members of Diego’s Power Alley Gym, at the corner of Foothill Blvd. and Seminary Ave., already made the choice for a healthier life. Now the whole community has a vision of strength and health, brightening the neighborhood outside the gym.

The Community Rejuvenation Project recently turned the gym’s void outer wall into a portrait of health—physical, mental and spiritual. A native Aztec dancer, a man meditating in lotus pose and a Zulu nobility, expression proud, chest and arms powerful, have replaced the pale yellow wall of Diego’s. The mural was created by Desi WOME, Dave Kim, and youth apprentice Leo Delgado and other CRP volunteers.

As the mural took shape, neighbors stopped by to check out progress on the wall, and thank the artists for bringing color to the neighborhood which, one man said, is plagued by a lot of “dark things going on.”

It’s easy to guess at the neighborhood’s problems by the empty, boarded-up storefronts and ubiquitous metal gates, locking up homes, lots and businesses. With an unemployment rate of over 17%, economic recovery still on shaky ground, and public services declining rapidly, East Oakland could use some brightness on its horizon.

A mural may not solve the neighborhood’s problems, but it’s one step toward rejuvenating the community, and opening minds to the possibilities for healthy change.

Rejuvenating the Garden

Video, Story, and Slideshow by Desi W.O.M.E

The City Slickers truck arrived exactly at 11 AM laden with a huge pile of fresh steaming compost, a wheel barrow, and a pile of tools. The garden at the Oakland Green Youth Arts and Media Center had fallen into neglect and was looking shabby. Center staff arrived at the same time with a soft rumble of discontent, reflecting that it was an hour earlier than their normal schedule. "I'm here because he [Galen Peterson, OGYAMC Co-Director], made me show up," said performing artist and youth staff member, Olondis "O-zone" Walker.

The morning was still overcast as Julie Pavuk of City Slickers Farms began to explain the goals for the day. The entire garden was getting a facelift. Each of the 13 raised beds would be given a fresh layer of compost, new starters would be planted, and the group would build a worm bin. Within a few weeks, the garden would be producing fresh organc vegetables ready to eat. Julie introduced Joseph, who will mentor the group and oversee support for the center's young gardeners throughout the year.

Access to healthy food has burgeoned into a major issue throughout Oakland's flatlands, such as west Oakland, home to City Slickers, where there is one grocery store to serve over 25,000 people. Health food has been a particular challenge, because mono-cropped produce grown with pesticides are consistently being sold at below market rates while organic produce has remained expensive and is looked at as an exclusive product for a new population of wealthy residents. Breaking down these barriers, both real and perceptual, has been an impressive challenge for food-justice advocates. Probably the clearest example of this phenomenon is in West Oakland, where the Mandela Marketplace was recently opened next to the 99 Cent store. Despite having competitive prices for healthy alternatives, Mandela Marketplace has struggled to gain a foothold with longtime residents. However, many white West Oakland recent transplants, a symbol for many of the neighborhood's gentrification, have already begun frequenting the store.

The sun came out shortly before Matthew Linzner arrived with two youth from his Love Cultivating Schoolyards program. Matthew has been working at Ascend k-8 School and Urban Promise Academy through Oakland Leaf for the past 5 years. The youth that joined him were both Interns of the youth leadership program and ready to bring their knowledge back to the community. "Both of these guys have the skills to take over and manage a garden. They are ready to train and mentor aspiring farmers." The two young men busied themselves by drilling drainage holes for the new worm bin.

Earlier the same day, on the KPFA morning show, Jason Harvey, founder of the Oakland Food Connection, estimated that 30 - 40% of Oakland's produce could be grown locally, if its abandoned lots were used for localized gardens. OFC has been supporting local gardens in east Oakland in a similar way that City Slickers has been in the west. In some cases, this includes reclaiming some of the abandoned lots left vacant by their owners for many years. Cultivating food locally is the one of the ways to reduce the cost of healthy produce and since the lots are not being used for anything, they provide the perfect locations for local gardens.

Back at the Oakland Green Youth Arts and Media center, an hour's worth of work produced a notable difference. The youth's grumbles have been replaced by the steady banter of people deeply engaged in their work. City Slickers produces dozens of starters cultivated in their greenhouse from the back of their truck and the young men carefully loosen the sod around their roots as they place them in shallow holes in the raised beds. Joseph guides them and explains that the plants will need to drenched in water once a day for the next two weeks if they are to survive. Several questions are raised about proper care for the young plants and the youth seem genuinely engaged in their new project.

Its garden education programs like this that make local urban farms sustainable. Like the plants themselves, it takes time for the programs to take root. The Community Rejuvenation Project recently reclaimed an abandoned lot by Mills College on the corner of Seminary and MacArthur. The newly renamed Life Garden was started by youth in CRP's Arrow-Soul Council, an after-school program at Unity High School, along with Oakland activists and artists from the collective. CRP recognized immediately that maintaining the garden was beyond their capacity and turned the space over to nearby neighbors. However, reclaiming space is central to the collective's mission and their appetite for transforming lots was not satisfied. CRP has reached out to several food-justice organizations to build a support network of farmers to help train local residents in community gardening as more sites are reclaimed. They are applying for funding to bring together the aforementioned groups along with other likeminded organizations such as Grind for the Green, Women's Earth Alliance, and the Land and Life Garden to support an ongoing collaboration. They intend to start with a food justice mural on People's Grocery and continue with a series of projects to bring awareness to urban gardens and food equity.

Back at the center, just after 1 pm, the group quickly circled up to review plans for watering and garden maintenance. Food justice begins in these humble spaces with just few raised beds, new starts nestled in some fresh compost and a small cohort of fledgling gardeners.

Live Painting at Fresh Fest (Mosswood Park, Oakland)

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Get your own

Photos by Mike Melero. Story by Jasmine Sherren.


Community Rejuvenation Project is a unified expression of energy through public art. On Saturday August 14, Desi W.O.M.E., CRP founder and muralist,
and Dave Kim, longtime CRP volunteer and artist, hauled three 8"x10"
canvases on an enormous bamboo frame by hand to North Oakland's
Mosswood Park of the day of Fresh Fest.

Why did they do this? To educate the public on a serious local issue:
Oakland's rising rates of asthma, primarily in West Oakland.
The artists spent many hours painting these canvases to create awareness
about the Toxic Triangle in Richmond, Bayview and West Oakland.
Hopefully these efforts will lead the city to begin the necessary
change in West Oakland.

What is a city without its citizens at their strongest, where many
remain ignorant of the problems, and others must face them in their own
backyard? It is a city in crisis, and the first step in eliminating crisis
is education and understanding. Clearly these artists did not work in
vain.

CRP Featured on Oakland North with Legendary Muralists Estria and Dan Fontes

Oakland murals color the urban jungle from Jill Replogle on Vimeo.

Audio and Photos compiled by Jill Replogle and Malia Connor for Oakland North