NEWS RELEASE
Oakland Museum of California
www.museumca.org

10TH & OAK STREETS
OAKLAND, CA  94607

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
25 January 2007

Oakland Museum of CA Announces 2007 Schedule
Exhibitions & Annual Events

California as Muse: The Art of Arthur & Lucia Mathews Through March 25, 2007 As masters of the California Decorative Style, Arthur and Lucia K. Mathews were preeminent in the artistic life of San Francisco at the turn of the century. Their leadership was a major aesthetic force in the rebuilding of the city after the 1906 earthquake and fire. California as Muse includes more than 150 works by the artists, including murals, paintings, graphic design, and illustrations, as well as their frames, furniture, and decorative objects. With a book by Senior Curator of Art Harvey L. Jones (Pomegranate, 2006). The exhibition travels to the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach in 2007 and the Akron Art Museum in 2008.	Lucia K. Mathews, Oranges (Portrait of a Red Haired Girl), 1910. Watercolor on paper. Collection of the Oakland Museum of California; gift of Harald Wagner
Bringing the Condors Home! Through April 15, 2007 A compelling look at the Ventana Wildlife Society's 20-year effort to restore California condors to the wild. The exhibition interprets condor biology, behavior, and life history, as well as issues threatening the survival of the species and research efforts in captive breeding, release, and monitoring. A timely look at the largest land bird in North America.	John James Audubon, California Vulture (Old Male), n.d. Hand-colored aquatint on paper, 33 x 25 inches. Museum Donors’ Acquisition Fund.
100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change January 20–April 22, 2007 Celebrate the power of family, the creative spirit of Oakland, and the potential of art to connect people. Families in four Oakland neighborhoods worked with artists to create individual and collaborative art projects and learned how the process can build ties among community members.Curated by mixed media and installation artist Mildred Howard; produced with the Center for Art and Public Life at California College of the Arts.	Guest artists from the four neighborhood workshops. Photo: TaSin Sabir.
Transforming Vision: The Wood Sculpture of William Hunter, 1970–2005 January 20–March 18, 2007 Retrospective of the works of William Hunter, a seminal figure in the art of wood sculpture. The exhibition traces the development of Hunter’s work from utilitarian turned-wood objects to his exquisite decorative forms in rare and precious materials—ivory, ebony, walrus tusk, and amber—produced in collaboration with his wife, Marianne Hunter, a nationally prominent enamelist and jeweler. Organized by the Long Beach Museum of Art.	Chasing Infinity II, 2000. Long Beach Museum of Art. Photo: Hap Sakwa.
EarthDance Environmental Film Festival April 14 & 15, 2007 No clue how to save the world? No problem—the fourth annual EarthDance Film Festival offers hope and ideas. A juried competition of 50 docs, mockumentaries, animation, and high adventure plus parties, talks with filmmakers, dance and music performances, and workshops all weekend. Check www.earthdancefilms.com for details.	From The Pods, by Lesley Ehrenfeld.
California Wildflower Show May 12 & 13, 2007 Where have all the flowers gone? Gone to the California Wildflower Show! Come savor the colors and fragrance of hundreds of freshly collected native flowers, from Amsinckia to Zauschneria. Learn about conserving the state’s botanical diversity and using native species in home gardens.	Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium bellum. Photo: Bob Walker; ©IDG Films.
Yosemite: Art of an American Icon May 19–August 26, 2007 Explore Yosemite and its changing image and impact as a cultural phenomenon through the eyes of artists. From Native basket weavers to landscape greats Thomas Hill and William Keith and contemporary artists and photographers, Yosemite’s 300-year transition from remote haven to national destination is captured in more than 150 artworks. Organized by the Museum of the American West, Autry National Center, Los Angeles.	William Keith (1838-1911), Glacier Rock, Yosemite, 1869. Oil on canvas, 30”x25.” Oakland Museum of California, gift of Judge O. D. Hamlin. Photo: M. Lee Fatherree.
The Edge: Where California Culture, Critters, and Environment Collide June 2–October 7, 2007 Organized by the museum’s art, history, and natural sciences departments—The Edge explores the ever-changing boundaries between Californians and the natural environment. Through the juxtaposition and analysis of artwork, natural specimens, historical artifacts, and media, the exhibition examines the continually shifting dynamic between the state’s natural and human forces.	Robert Dawson, Private Property, Lake Tahoe, California (Farewell, Promised Land project),1988. Oakland Museum of California, gift of Steven and Sandra Wolfe.
California College of the Arts: 100 Years in the Making October 13, 2007–January 27, 2008 A portrait of Bay Area artists and art movements through the 20th century and celebration of the California College of the Arts (formerly CCAC) centennial. The survey includes the renegade plein-air painters known as the Society of Six; production ceramists Edith Heath and Jocomena Maybeck; artists of the Bay Area Figurative school Richard Diebenkorn, Nathan Oliveira, and Manuel Neri; Peter Voulkos, Robert Arneson, and Viola Frey, leaders of the studio ceramics movement; minimalist John McCracken and conceptualists David Ireland and Dennis Oppenheim; photorealists Robert Bechtle, Richard McLean, and Jack Mendenhall; and cultural commentators Squeak Carnwath and Raymond Saunders. Guest curator Lee Plested earned his MA in curatorial practice at the CAA in 2005.
	Richard Diebenkorn, Reclining Nude—Pink Stripe, 1962. Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art.Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 2001.
Days of the Dead/Días de los Muertos October 10–December 2, 2007 Celebrate the Latino/Chicano tradition of honoring the dead, marked each year with a guest-curated exhibition of altars (ofrenda) and installations by local artists, schoolchildren, and community participants. Días de los Muertos has evolved from its ancient pre-Columbian roots into a very Californian blend of humor, politics, and creativity.	Sandra Yagi, Unfinished Business, 1998. Oil on canvas, 16” x 20.” Photo by Sandra Yagi.
Days of the Dead Community Celebration! Sunday, October 21, 2007 The museum’s largest and most colorful (and free!) annual event. Celebrate Días de los Muertos with music, ofrenda, a mercado, ceremonie, crafts for all ages, food, and performers.
38th Annual Fungus Fair. A Celebration of Wild Mushrooms! December 1 & 2, 2007 Explore the mysteries of the mushroom with fresh displays, slide shows, cooking demonstrations, children’s crafts, mushroom treats! Mycologists on hand to ID specimens and offer cultivation advice. A fungus-filled weekend adventure!	Aleuria. .Photo Michael Wood.

For additional information:
Elizabeth Whipple
510/238-4740 M-F, MEDIA ONLY
PUBLIC CALLS: 510/238-2200
ewhipple@museumca.org