[sudo-discuss] Eviction of Rock Paper Scissors: End of an Era for Oakland’s Art Scene

[Romy Ilano]

http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/08/07/eviction-of-rock-paper-scissors-end-of-an-era-for-oaklands-art-scene

Eviction of Rock Paper Scissors: End of an Era for Oakland’s Art Scene

Rock Paper Scissors' doors will close before the end of August (Andrew
Stelzer/KQED)
By Andrew Stelzer <http://ww2.kqed.org/news/author/andrewstelzer>AUGUST 7,
2015
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<http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/08/07/eviction-of-rock-paper-scissors-end-of-an-era-for-oaklands-art-scene#>

This ragtag Oakland storefront at 23rd Street and Telegraph Avenue was at
the geographic center of the original Art Murmur
<http://oaklandartmurmur.org/> in 2006. It’s an all-in-one art gallery,
classroom, clothing shop and activist meeting space. The volunteer-run
collective operating Rock Paper Scissors <http://rpscollective.org/>exemplifies
the city’s social justice seeking, DIY art and activism scene.

But with Oakland rents soaring, they’ve been priced out of their space.
August’s will be the last First Friday
<http://www.oaklandfirstfridays.org/> street
fair and Art Murmur gallery stroll for the collective — the last remaining
organization of those that helped start the monthly festival almost a
decade ago.

On a recent East Bay summer evening, volunteers gathered inside the
storefront to learn how to become pen pals with queer prisoners.

“It can get really complicated because if someone’s legal name is John but
they go by Jennifer for instance, You have to put J or John on the outside
of the envelope,” said Beja Alisheva, co-facilitator of Flying Over Walls
<https://flyingoverwalls.wordpress.com/>, queer/trans prisoner solidarity
organization.
[image: Flying Over Walls volunteers gather at the Rock Paper Scissors
Collective to write letters to LGBTQ prisoners.]
<http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS16278_group-around-table-qut.jpg>
Flying Over Walls volunteers gather at Rock Paper Scissors to write letters
to LGBTQ prisoners. (Andrew Stelzer/KQED)

There are lots of rules about how the envelopes sent into prisons can be
decorated, so as to not be confiscated.

“No glitter?” Louis Smith asked incredulously.

The letter-writing get-together was just one of dozens of gatherings held
at Rock Paper Scissors every month, ranging from writing workshops to a
sewing lab and jewelry-making for teens.

“When we first came to Rock Paper Scissors looking for a space, they said
of course,” Alisheva said. “Obviously, we don’t have a lot of money. It’s
not something that brings in a lot of revenue, but that didn’t matter to
them.”

She added: “It was such a relief when we finally landed here, so now we’re
not sure where we’re going to end up.”

That’s a sentiment shared with the quirky creative space’s regulars.

“Gentrification is real,” said Alexandra Rigaud, an assistant with the
collective’s youth program. “We are getting pushed out, and we did start
First Friday … Now we are paying for it.”

It’s becoming a common story all over the Bay Area. The artists who in a
recent era made a neighborhood “hip” are being driven out, in part due to
their own success.

“The neighborhood has changed a lot,” said Kristy Holohan, the collective’s
youth, community and interim gallery director. “We are basically like
sandwiched in between two bars, there are some really high end galleries.”
[image: The Rock Paper Scissors storefront on 23rd Street and Telegraph
Avenue.]
<http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS16281_RPS-storefront-qut.jpg>
The Rock Paper Scissors Collective storefront on 23rd Street and Telegraph
Avenue. (Andrew Stelzer/KQED)

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said the plight of Rock Paper Scissors raises a
much bigger question as the city continues to boom.

“It’s not just the housing affordability that is a potential crisis for
us,” she said. “The threat of displacement of our small businesses, of our
cultural institutions, of our non-profits — those are also community
stabilization issues that absolutely need to be solved.”

Schaaf said the city’s “solutions are more limited” because state law
prevents
<http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=civ&group=01001-02000&file=1954.25-1954.31>
rent
stabilization for commercial space. The mayor said she’s creating a new
Artist Affordable Housing and Workspace Task Force, but that’s yet to be
staffed.

Anyka Barber, who founded Betti Ono <http://www.bettiono.com/> gallery in
downtown Oakland, said the city needs to do more.

“In order for it to continue to be a world-class city and build on the
strengths that it has, especially around culture and arts, we really have
to have the investment match the brand recognition,” she said.

Barber is a lead organizer of the Oakland Creative Neighborhoods Coalition
<https://www.facebook.com/KeepOAKCreative> — a newly formed group that’s
calling for the re-establishment of Oakland’s Arts Commission, which had
its funding and staff eliminated more than five years ago.

“There’s a lot of talk about the economic development side of arts
experiences or cultural experiences, based on people visiting, what kinds
of funds or revenues that brings back to the city,” Barber said.
“Currently, it looks like maybe 1.3 percent of the total city budget is
funding or investing in community development or cultural programs. That
does not reflect equity.”
[image: The Rock Paper Scissors Collective's mission statement.]
<http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/RS16279_RPS-mission-statement-qut.jpg>
The Rock Paper Scissors Collective’s mission statement. (Andrew
Stelzer/KQED)

The coalition’s demands were left out of the recently adopted 2016-17 city
budget.

Rock Paper Scissors, meanwhile, has until the end of the month to find a
new space or close up shop and try to raise more money. The collective is
seeking volunteers to help pack up and move
<http://rpscollective.org/help-rock-paper-scissors-pack-and-move/> to a
yet-to-be-determined location.



=============================

Romy Ilano
romy at snowyla.com
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