5/27 Alice Arts Demo

There was a demonstration on May 27th to save the Alice Arts Center. Here are some pictures, upcoming info and some background.

All photos by Bill Hackwell.

Tuesday, June 10
SAVE THE OAKLAND ALICE ARTS CENTER!
Don't Let Jerry Brown Shut the Alice Down!
6:00pm - City Hall (1 Frank Ogawa Plaza)
Oakland, CA

Sponsored by Artists Coalition. For more info, contact 510-839-4301 or
Artistscoalition1428 [at] hotmail.com. The Artists Coalition was formed in
2003
as a united front of artists and residents in favor of saving the Alice
Arts Community Center at 1428 Alice street in Oakland, California.

BACKGROUND
The Alice Arts Center has been home to the multicultural arts community
of
Oakland for more than 20 years. It is a historic landmark, featured in
numerous publications heralding the tributes of Oakland. The Alice Arts
Center is renown for the accomplished artists who come from various
corners
of the world to take part in the exciting programs administered there.
The
building at 1428 Alice street was renovated and a charter was drawn by
Mayor Lionel Wilson in 1987, allocating the Alice Arts Center to the
Oakland Arts Community.

The charter required that the artists create programs to serve the
community, while the city of Oakland support their efforts by providing
a
marketing campaign as well as maintenance of the building, etc. The
artist
have met their end of the agreement and surpassed it by far. They have
created classes, workshops, performances, rites of passage and other
educational programs serving the youth and the elderly, alike. In
contrast,
the city however, has not kept its end of the agreement under Mayor
Jerry
Brown's administration. The facility is slowly falling apart. The pleas
of
the artists and residents for repairs have fallen on deaf ears. There
are
broken stoves, heaters, showers and closed restrooms, which have been
in
need of repairs for over a year.

Last year alone, Mayor, Jerry Brown spent $1.5million of our taxpayer
dollars to renovate the basement of the Alice center to create a home
for
his private charter school at the expense of the artists and residents.
At
the same time, public school classrooms in poor and working class
communities have been eliminated and teachers have been laid off, while
at
the same time art and music programs continue to be cut. Mayor Brown is
also directly responsible for the displacement of numerous Oakland
residents due to public housing closures.

The latest target of Brown's gentrification efforts is the residents
and
artists of the Alice Arts Center. The artist organizations and
residents
are in danger of eviction because Mayor, Jerry Brown has decided to
expand
his charter school. The question posed by the Artists Coalition asks,
with
so many public school vacancies, why choose our facility as the site
for
your school? Is it because our community is composed primarily of
people of
color who appear defenseless and expendable? Could it also be because
the
mayor has an opportunity to capitalize on the name that the Alice
artists
have built for the last 20 years? The Artists Coalition sees the
mayor’s
aggression as a racist attack on people of color.

Brown's plans to also displace the 50 residents and the 22 arts
organizations that call the Alice Arts Center home. This aggression
will
not go uncontested. The community that we serve is in grave danger of
losing an invaluable resource. The Mayor's redevelopment plan has
already
driven property values up so high that most of us cannot afford to buy
homes in Oakland. With the economic changes made under Jerry Brown’s
administration, rents have also skyrocketed and become an increasing
challenge for Oakland residents to meet. Please help us to stop Jerry
Brown
in his tracks before he runs us all out of Oakland. Enough is enough,
Jerry. We won’t be moved!

The Artists Coalition needs your help!!!!!

In a meeting with the Mayor Jerry Brown on Wed., April 23rd, Arts
Center
organizations and residents were informed that he plans to move them
out of
their location with in the next 6-9 months in favor of expanding his
year
old charter School for the Arts.

The arts organizations & residents have decided to stay and fight this
proposed displacement.

Call, write, or e-mail your council person and voice your opposition to
Mayor Brown's plan to take over the Alice Arts Center for his Private
Charter School!
Oakland City Council --- One Frank H. Ogawa Plaza -- 2nd Floor,
Oakland,
CA 94612

District 1: Jan Brunner 238.7001 jbrunner [at] oaklandnet.com
District 2: Danny Wan 238.7002 Dwan [at] oaklandnet.com
District 4: Gean Quan 238.7004 GQuan [at] oaklandnet.com
District 5: Ignacio De la Fuente 238.7005 idelafuente [at] oaklandnet.com
District 6: Desley Brooks 238.7006 DBrooks [at] oaklandnet.com
District 7: Larry Reid 238.7007 LReid [at] oaklandnet.com
At Large: Henry Chang 238.7008 citychang [at] aol.com

For more information email the Alice Arts Coalition of Residents and
Artists at:
Artistscoalition1428 [at] hotmail.com
(510) 839-4301