Take a Look Around

Biking from my home to work in downtown Oakland is a sweet ride. Besides giving me a good cardio workout and personal thinking time, I have visual entertainment courtesy of the locals making the best use of their public space. A wide range of embellishments on signs, walls, and common spaces reflect the various values and personalities of the neighborhoods I pass through.



Take for example these traffic circles in South Berkeley.

California poppies swarm one, while the other is surrounded by a frame that is perfect for tomato vines to creep up. This neighborhood values these little plots of open space, making the best of the circles in their intersections. I often see community members of all ages doing a little tending to the plants in these communal plots of dirt.

Along this same stretch of road, some stencil artists got the idea to pay homage to music from the 1990's on a couple of stop signs.



Other signs show pride in the cultural background and history of the neighborhoods. Here is a house whose owners decided to make the fence a space for public art with messages of empowerment.
And here is a freeway underpass that had its walls painted over with images of community members decades ago.

The graffiti on this wall in an abandoned lot adds some color and life to otherwise bleak stretch along San Pablo.


There are other random acts of art that I encounter along my commute. A few months ago, a pure white bike appeared chained to a street pole. While its purpose remains an enigma to me, I imagine that it was created in memory of someone who once rode these streets and I think of that unknown person as I pass.


Before bikes were in full force on the streets of Oakland, there was a time when horses must have been one of the main modes of transit. The horses below have been given a horrific appearance. I don't know the intent of the artist, but perhaps these horses are displaying shock from something that they witnessed.

I don't want to give the wrong impression about my route - it's not like riding through a museum gallery. It's a commute full of concert with plenty of ugly buildings and billboards. It's just nice to have touches of beauty and creativity interspersed along the way.