Community newsletter: Wednesday night, and everything after
For as long as Local Economy has been open, Kija Lucas’s art has been on the walls. Her images take simple materials, usually botanicals—a leaf, a branch, a root—and set them on a matte infinite black. These things we see everyday by the literal million are suddenly exactly themselves, a one-of-a-kind artifact of a life on this earth.
The light seems to pour out from these works. They look like Renaissance paintings, luminous and dramatic. But I know that they are not paintings, but images made on a flatbed scanner, the materials arranged just so.
Kija’s life infuses these works. She was raised in the Lawrence Tract, an intentionally integrated neighborhood in Palo Alto, where her father worked as a gardener. In the exhibit she has up at Local Economy, tool images are in conversation with the botanicals, making a living mixing with life. All this to say, these works tell a deep Bay Area story about the place of people and plants in the world. Tending and attending can both be portals to healing.
These remarkable pieces will be leaving our space soon, so this Wednesday we want to toast Kija, and you are invited to hear more about her work and the Bay Area scenes that informs it. Come join us!
RSVP to celebrate Kija Lucas
Below, you’ll find all the many other events we have coming up. If you can’t make it Wednesday, we’d love to see you another day. You can take a look below, and as always, we're open 8:30-4pm Wednesday to Saturday. We hope to see you soon! (Oh, and don't forget, you can always become a member to support everything Local Economy does.)
Sarah & Alexis
- Thurs, Mar 26, 6pm: Sundial Reading Series: Camp Indigo edition
Poet Ben Gucciardi hosts the second edition of his reading series at Local Economy. We've got our lineup now: Sam Sax, Kar Johnson, Randall Mann, and Lee Trumpfheller! They're reading in support of Camp Indigo, a summer day camp for transgender and gender-expansive youth. All proceeds go to Camp Indigo! - Sat, Mar 28, 6pm: Cookbook Club: Polina Chesnakova's Chesnok
At last, it's time for round 2 of Cookbook Club This time, in partnership with East Bay Booksellers’ Thu Doan, we’ll be cooking from Chesnok: Cooking from My Corner of the Diaspora, by Polina Chesnakova, published by local publisher Hardie Grant. - Sun, Mar 29, 10:30am: Sunday Coffee, hosted by Jeff Wright, vol. 5
Jeff Wright has been hosting a regular event on Sunday mornings at his house for months. It’s a low-stakes morning of chatting, coffee, and snacks, and he’s brought it to Local Economy on a Sunday morning each month. - Mon, Mar 30, 6pm: Botanical Drawing
Our regular drawing event with Hannah Hirsekorn. Hirsekorn is an artist working in ink on paper and skin who is also a master gardener. - Tues, Mar 31, 6pm: Fired Federal Workers Meetup
Were you DOGEd? Did you lose your job, research, funding, collaborators, or perhaps the entire sector your career path was in as result of the new administration? - Thurs, Apr 2, 6pm: Utopia Book Club, No. 2: Everyday Utopia by Kristen Ghodsee
Tracy Clark Flory and Sarah Rich lead a discussion about Penn historian Kristen Ghodsee's book, Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Bold Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life. If you start now, you still got time to finish the book! - Sat, Apr 4, 1pm: Celebrating Illustoria, the brilliant magazine for creative kids
Illustoria Magazine is a high-quality print publication for creative kids & their grownups to slow down and enjoy stories, art, and activities; and as a counter to our fast-paced, digital age. Illustoria celebrates visual storytelling, makers, and DIY culture through print and beyond. - Wed, Apr 8, 6pm: Demo Night: PhaseChimes Musical Exploration
Ken Murphy will demonstrate his PhaseChimes project: an app for musical exploration. Using virtual gears, you build seemingly simple musical machines that produce surprisingly complex rhythms and melodies. - Thurs, Apr 9, 6pm: The History of Your Oakland Home
Have you ever wondered about the history of your Oakland home? Join architectural historian Stacy Kozakavich for a hands-on workshop exploring how to uncover your property's past. - Sun, Apr 12, 2pm: Fig Leaf Gardens x Local Economy: Party
Local Economy partners with Fig Leaf Gardens to celebrate half a year of building the LE community! - Mon, Apr 13, 6pm: Wild Writing Workshop
Join Dayna Macy for a session of Wild Writing, a potent but low-stakes way to meet your voice on the page. This come-as-you-are writing practice is about expression and discovery rather than competition and critique. - Tues, Apr 14, 10am: Storytime for Caregivers with Rachel Richardson
Join series organizer Patricia Zaballos and Berkeley poet Rachel Richardson for an intimate story hour. Rachel is the author of the poetry collections Copperhead, Hundred-Year Wave, and the recent Smother, which explores motherhood, friendship, and life amid Northern California wildfires. - Thurs, Apr 16, 7pm: Unsung Heroines: East Bay Book Launch with Rae Alexandra
Celebrate the East Bay launch of Unsung Heroines: 35 Women Who Changed the Bay Area by KQED Arts & Culture staff writer Rae Alexandra, published by City Lights Books. From civil rights pioneers to environmental champions, this book profiles remarkable Bay Area women whose stories have been overlooked by history. Friend of LE, Liam O'Donoghue of the East Bay Yesterday podcast, will interview Rae - Sun, Apr 19, 3pm: Generations in Motion with Dance Generators
Join social practice artist + educator, Liv Schaffer at the intersection of embodiment, aging, and civic stewardship. We'll witness an intergenerational dance performance by Sebastian Le, age 24, and Carmen Crockett, age 61, and participate in a facilitated group discussion that weaves reflections on the dance into a new vision for intergenerational advocacy. - Tues, Apr 21, 6pm: What the Hell Is Happening in the World?
Are we at the end of the world as we know it—or in the midst of a messy birth of something new? In this workshop, facilitator Jess Serrante explores the "Three Stories of Our Time" as taught by the late Berkeley elder Joanna Macy: three competing narratives about this moment in human and planetary history, all unfolding simultaneously.
