Community Beauty, Community Emblems

Like jewelry, makeup, tattoos and clothing we wear to adorn and celebrate ourselves and our bodies, I have taken notice of a few wonderful ways Oakland's Measure DD and local neighborhood efforts have created emblems that celebrate the city's history and help us to remember the ground (or streambeds) we're walking on.

I'm particularly fond of the Dimond district's - sidewalk  public art:  mosaic diamonds set into the pavement. Each diamond has four corners that note parks, cultural landmarks, adjacent Oakland districts, creeks and more in each direction.

A much better set of photos is available here from Monte McClain.

The Chabot Space and Science Center diamond:

The Fruitvale district diamond:
























The Glenview district diamond:


In the Rockridge district several miles away, they've noted where creeks run underneath our feet  with inset bronze emblems:

More information on these can be found here on the City of Oakland's web site.

Most exciting is the neighborhood art that's being painted on the side of the Farmer Joe's building in the Dimond district:  it's due to be finished sometime in Fall 2011 (The first image with the lights hanging down off the wall is my favorite because it celebrates the area for which the street is named, "the fruit vale," in spring):

 

More information on the Dimond district and other works of public art.

What's a little sad is to see all of this coming to fruition from Measure DD as our city is facing huge budget deficits and cuts. Also, the effects of Governor Brown's recent budget pass are forecast to come down hard on California cities.