STREET ART

The word adventure conjures up climbing the Himalayas, slogging through the rain forests, or hiking across a desert. I'm all for small adventures around the area I live. During the school year, I drive to a middle school in Berkeley to participate with Writer Coach Connection as a coach for students.  My drive starts in Danville, a suburban town with soccer and baseball fields, goes through the Berkeley Hills tunnel to arrive in a different place altogether. The temperature can be 10 degrees different, and Berkeley/Oakland are big cities, diverse and always changing. Some areas of the cities look pretty grim like all cities can. I get off the freeway at Telegraph Avenue and find myself on a route that is filled with colorful murals instead.

all photos by Bill Slavin

Last week Bill and I traced my route with his camera. Our first stop was Radasheen Ethiopian Market run by two brothers. Graffiti that proliferates in any big city covers a side door. Step back and the walls are covered with vibrant murals.

Martha talking with the market owner

The two brothers worked outside as Bill took pictures. They invited us inside to see their market. We saw stacks of large bags of teff, a gluten-free flour, the main ingredient of Injera, the traditional Ethiopian flatbread, which they sell to restaurants in the area. Injera is often served with Doro Wat, a spicy chicken stew.* The brothers also sell bags of lentils and the spices that are added to Ethiopian dishes. They hope to turn part of the market into an Ethiopian restaurant.

Teff ready to eat

Across the street from Radasheen, we saw another set of murals on a liquor store.

Back in the car, we turned left on to Alcatraz Avenue. Just before the Shattuck Avenue interchange, we passed a fierce cat guarding a utility box in front of the Korean Souel (sic) BBQ.

At the corner of Alcatraz and Adeline, another mural competes with a billboard for the salon and beauty supply store inside.

In the same block, a community art center has covered its building's walls with monumental paintings promoting healthy eating.

Directly across the street, we found a tribute to music and music makers.

We drove by the Alcatraz Market.

Even trucks are colorful.

We turned on to Sacramento Street, almost to our destination. Again, buildings are covered with imaginative murals along the way.

As we turned back towards home, the last mural we saw was a faded one at the entrance to the freeway on Telegraph Avenue.

We had had an adventure, an art adventure on city streets.

Back home as I looked at the photos that Bill had taken, I noticed that one of the murals had a small decal at the bottom announcing the Bay Area Mural Festival. I shook my head in disbelieve that I didn't know about the festival. We had missed it by a few days. Next year in May, we will go to the annual festival to watch the muralists paint their images on buildings.

Check out the festival at bay area mural festival and put it on your calendar for next year.

Thanks to Tena G. for information about Walldogs, a group of artists who come to towns to paint murals. They have some extraordinary samples on their website.
Check it out!  http://thewalldogs.com


There are other street art festivals in the Bay Area in the summer. Don't miss out on an art adventure.

San Francisco North Beach Festival:  June 16-17
https://www.sfstation.com/2018/04/12/free-san-francisco-street-fairs-and-festivals-2018/

San Rafael Street Painting Festival:  June 23-24
http://www.italianstreetpaintingmarin.org/index.php

Redwood City Chalk Full of Fun:  July 3-4
https://www.rwcpaf.org/chalk-full-of-fun-on-the-square---2018.html

Palo Alto Festival of the Arts:  August 25-26
http://www.italianstreetpaintingmarin.org/index.php

Sacramento Chalk It Up Festival:  September 1-3
https://chalkitup.org/join-us/artists/

San Jose Luna Park Chalk Festival:  September 15
http://www.lunaparkarts.org/festival


*Link to recipe for Doro Wat:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019079-doro-wat-ethiopian-style-spicy-chicken