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Oakland Museum of California
The Oakland Museum of California
or more commonly, the Oakland Museum is devoted to the natural
science, history and art of the state of California and is the only
museum in the state that is dedicated to those themes. It opened in
1969, the structure was designed by Kevin Roche, and is a three
tiered mix of terraces, sculpture gardens, galleries, patios and
pools. Its huge collection, educational programs and special
displays have attracted people from around the world. The museum was
closed in August of 2009, for renovations, and will open in May of
2010. That exciting reopening will be on the 1st and 2nd, with 31
straight hours of programs and events that will surprise you. It
contains over 1.8 million relics and artworks, all related to the
growth and evolution of the state. The history of California alone
is one of drama, excitement, discovery and determination, beginning
long before the Europeans arrived, and still continuing on today
with the state being outspoken and outstanding in its new ideas and
advances into the future. Their art is a reflection of the marvelous
creative talents of its people that began during the 1800s and
continues to the present day. The collection began in the Oakland
Art Gallery that dates back to the early 1900s containing more than
70,000 objects that have been created by the many artisans of the
state and represent just about every aspect of artistic disciplines.
These include; decorative arts, paintings, sculptures, photography,
conceptual works and crafts; and the volumes and pages of
documentary materials like maquettes, sketchbooks, scrapbooks and
artist's tools. It is especially vibrant in the landscape paintings
that were created during the 1850 to the 1880s, with the gold rush
period artworks, furniture, decorative arts and daguerreotypes, as
well as the big collection of crafts, paintings, decorative artworks
and furniture by Lucia and Arthur Mathews. Bay region figurative
sculpture and paintings, jewelry and California ceramics from
Margaret De Patta. In the photography collection, which includes
Dorothea Lange's own archive of about 25,000 negatives and more than
10,000 prints that came from the period 1919 to 1965; plus the
manuscripts, journals, field notes, contact sheets and
correspondence. There are other big collections in photography, that
include the Joanne Leonard and Helen Nester collections, the Roger
Sturtevant collection and an enormous amount of important and
talented California photographers. The state has always been
the home of extreme diversity, starting with the indigenous people
that lived and thrived here, continuing even today with a steady
flow of immigrants and emigrants that have moved to the state for a
multitude of reasons and ideas. There are more than 1.7 million
pieces of California history that showcases the state's early
history and culture from those early indigenous tribes to the
Europeans influx to the 21st century. The History department at the
museum is celebrating its centennial anniversary this year, 2010,
including the period when it was known as the Oakland Public Museum.
Their first curator, Charles P. Wilcomb was able to start a
collection that represented the foundation of the state's culture;
which included the native people of the state, and the initial
arrival of easterners. The history department's strongest collection
evolves around the photography pieces that contain native baskets,
agriculture, technology, the gold rush period relics, business and
labor, prominent events like the second World War and domestic life.
Many of the newer acquisitions include the stories of numerous
immigrants, counterculture, gay culture and ethnic and cultural
groups. To find out the real California story, the how, what,
why, when and where, you must visit the Oakland Museum; here you
will find out everything and anything about the state, its culture,
history and people. It is perhaps the epitome of the American, a mix
of peoples that have come together to create a common good, a common
goal and a common future.
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