The Califia Mural on the Martinez Hall mural wall, was completed over the summer of 2015 created by student muralists Laila Guadalupe Espinoza Faik, Jacqueline Krase, Steven James Mayorga, Martina Miguens Casado, Ángel Jesús Perez working with CCA Faculty Eduardo Pineda. The team of six students combined the Virgin of Guadalupe with the legendary goddess Califia – source for the name “California” – to create a goddess of creativity, justice, and nature.
In fall of 2015 Eduardo Pineda's ENGAGE: Mural Arts class created seven murals for the intersection of Highway 16 and Woodland Ave in Esparto, CA., in a collaboration between: the town of Esparto, Capay Valley organizations, and the class, as part of a larger effort to rejuvenate Esparto by harnessing student creativity. The mural panels were painted on California College of the Arts’ Oakland campus, in consultation with Esparto community and tribal members. The class exchanged ideas with members of New Season Community Development Corp. and Yoche Dehe Wintun Academy to design the seven murals. In the mural panels, students addressed themes of the land and histories of Esparto and the Capay Valley, indigenous presence, and rebirth and growth cycles. Plants, seeds, animals, insects, and people engaged in traditional activities as well as working the land reflect the vitality of life in the region. Valley produce represents the rebirth of the region through the organic farming industry that supplies the g…
In spring of 2015 Eduardo Pineda's ENGAGE: Mural Arts class, in partnership with The Mexican Museum (TMM) and The Unity Council, created murals for the historic Masonic Temple on San Pablo Ave and Ignacio de la Fuente Ave in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, California. To create the murals, students examined objects representing 4000 years of art history and culture with TMM’s director and educators, and used the historical styles and themes to highlight aspirations and concerns of the Fruitvale community as shared by The Unity Council staff. The resulting seven mural panels express themes of community resilience, cultural diversity, and affirmation of traditional culture and youthful energy. The Museum and The Unity Council jointly approved the final designs. By adorning the Masonic Temple, The Unity Council activated this landmark, envisioning a cultural center for the neighborhood; TMM outreached to the East Bay in anticipation of their new building in downtown San Francisco, and CCA placed st…
In spring of 2012 Eduardo Pineda's ENGAGE: Mural Arts class began work on a three year project which created murals for the barrier fence surrounding the 601 City Center construction site in downtown Oakkland (bounded by 11th and 12th Streets, Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. Streets) for Shorenstein Properties LLC. This was part of ENGAGE@CCA, a community-engagement program of CCA’s Center for Art and Public Life. In this first year, the class worked with residents of the Harrison Hotel to express important aspects of community – sense of place, nurturing support, and self-empowerment. The hotel was a residency program that transitioned people from homelessness to homefulness, and was a five-minute walk from the site. Six murals were produced for 12th Street side of the site. Students used residents’ personal stories as metaphors, weaving together urban architecture, landscape, and language in order to connect with the greater Oakland community. Interspersed between the murals were text panels with q…
In spring of 2013 Eduardo Pineda's 2013 ENGAGE: Mural Arts class continued work during the second year of a three year project which created murals for the barrier fence surrounding the 601 City Center construction site in downtown Oakkland (bounded by 11th and 12th Streets, Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. Streets) for Shorenstein Properties LLC. This was part of ENGAGE@CCA, a community-engagement program of CCA’s Center for Art and Public Life. In this second year, at Jack London Gateway Senior Housing, a ten-minute walk from the site, to express what seniors contribute to and value about their community – diverse cultural perspectives, unity, and love. The murals also expressed ongoing concerns with safety and interconnection, the importance of nature, and the celebration of neighborhood culture. Eight murals were created and installed on the Martin Luther King Jr. Way and 11th Street sides of the site. The mural designs used anecdotes from the seniors as springboards to create playful images compo…
In spring of 2014 Eduardo Pineda's ENGAGE: Mural Arts class completed a three year project which created murals for the barrier fence surrounding the 601 City Center construction site in downtown Oakland (bounded by 11th and 12th Streets, Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. Streets) for Shorenstein Properties LLC. This was part of ENGAGE@CCA, a community-engagement program of CCA’s Center for Art and Public Life. In this third and final year, the class responded to historical research produced by the California State University East Bay (CSUEB) History Department’s Public History class, under the direction of Linda Ivey, Department Chair. In Fall 2013, Public History students researched the neighborhood surrounding the construction site called Old Oakland. The research materials, that included research papers and historical photographs, were given to the mural class. Inspired by landmark cultural institutions, performing arts traditions, and community and professional leaders, the mural designs highlight…
In fall of 2013 Eduardo Pineda's ENGAGE: Mural Arts class created murals for the Center for Elder’s Independence (CEI), a high quality, affordable integrated health care services program that promotes autonomy, quality of life and the ability of individuals to live in their communities. With guidance from CEI staff, students visited the Eastmont Town Center and the Josie Barrow Center to interview seniors over meals and hands-on activities and developed themes and imagery for the murals. The students designed and painted eight mural panels for the two facilities in which seniors attend day programs. Themes of nature, water, flight, day, night, and twilight are evocative settings used in the the mural designs to spark imagination. The fullness of life experience, the journeys taken, and the unique paths individuals chose are also expressed in the class murals, with an emphasis on introspection, togetherness, and joyful reunion.
In fall of 2012 Eduardo Pineda's ENGAGE: Mural Arts class created murals for the People’s Grocery Garden and the California Hotel. The class worked with the People’s Grocery, a social justice and food advocacy organization that established an urban farm in the food desert of West Oakland. The mural project was for the California Hotel, on San Pablo Ave in Oakland near Emeryville, owned by the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, and where The People’s Grocery operated a community garden on the Chestnut Street side of the building. The historic hotel was under reconstruction. Students also helped to tend the farm and provided administrative support in order to better understand the role of the organization in the expansion of the urban food system. Remarkably students discovered a zoning ordinance that saved the newly planted West Oakland farm from imminent closure by the City. The class created seven mural panels – five for the San Pablo Avenue side of the Hotel, that were temporarily mounted on …
In fall of 2011 Eduardo Pineda's ENGAGE: Mural Arts class created murals for the Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB), for the newly constructed storage and distribution facility. Student majors included graphic design, illustration, textiles, printmaking, writing & literature, individualized program, photography, sculpture, and painting/drawing. The collaborative design and painting process produced wood mural panels for the food sorting area, and a larger mural on canvas at the entrance to the facility. Students met with Food Bank staff to learn about the organization’s mission and observe the facility’s environment. The students also benefited from the architectural design of the warehouse produced by a previous CCA class — an Interior Design course taught by Amy Campos — in order to identify the best placement of the murals within the facility. In the panels, the students wanted to represent the transformation of food from packaged resource at the food bank to when it emerges at homes as bright …