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| The art community in the Golden Gate neighborhood of Oakland is growing. Here at the Firehouse Art Co. "Lottie Rose Art House", 15 artists get together for a meet and greet potluck dinner. |
The Firehouse Art Co. family grew a bit tighter with a meet and greet potluck dinner. The new crew of the "Lottie Rose Art House" on San Pablo Avenue, had the opportunity to spend time together and to get to know one another.
While the few vacant rooms still lightly salted with saw dust, and the smell of finished wood wafts in the air, await their new occupants; the hallways were filled with laughter and conversation. The dining room smelled of good old fashion homemade food, pizza, pasta, and tortillas warming on the grill.
In the Dining room, Colin and Ben have some of their artwork spread out through the dining area, surrounding the mass quantities of food laid out on the tables. Jonny puts another batch of warm tortillas in front of us while Tom lays out some basic do's and don’ts of living in a share-house. We all start to settle and converse about who we are and what we are doing with ourselves as artists.
The artists here vary from traditional mediums such as painting, photography, sculpture, literature, and now days digital to conceptual art with untraditional mediums. There are four musicians as well, each with differing concepts to their music, which Alan says he’s ready to play some blues at anytime.
The large front room will be the place for not only the musicians, but will also be a gallery space to hang artwork, to act out performance art, and a place for invited guests to meet the artists.
The front room is ready and waiting for the vibrations from a guitar and amp. The bare walls are awaiting art to hang and the track lights hanging from the ceiling are in suspense as a target to highlight. The atmosphere breaths creativity; consumed by the handful of new tenants that occupy the 16 renovated rooms in this old building.
The "Lottie Rose Art House" may be old and have its own history, but now it is prepped and ready to make new history with the artists of the Firehouse Art Co. As the chatter grows and the food dwindles, the conversations drift to the future; the future of the house and its occupants, as well as a combined impact on the surrounding community and the East Bay.
As we, the new occupant artists and our guests sat, consuming our last bits of food and throwing out ideas, we all participated in the creation of a new paradigm for the arts in the Golden Gate neighborhood of beautiful Oakland.
Written by: Rory Terrell
Photograph: Johnny
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