I have so enjoyed intertwining California History with my own through Herstory these last years. Being at the Oakland Museum of California has been largely responsible for this passion for history. However, it is now time to turn to my love of making art and other things. I have started a new blog called Zellously.com,… Continue reading On To New Adventures
Creativity. I find it all through the Oakland Museum of California, and as close as in my own backyard. Last year I began to notice the murals all around Oakland, and saw them even more since muralist Antonio Ramos was shot while painting a community mural in Oakland. 2014 was a busy year for murals… Continue reading Oakland—A Home for Murals
OMCA has opened a new Sent Away bay, giving the visitor a more visceral experience of the Japanese-American Internment. It has replaced the old bay which exposed the experience at Tanforan detention facility—euphemistically called Tanforan Assembly Center, and formerly the Tanforan horse racing track—where Japanese-American families were detained during WWII. In the original exhibit, the… Continue reading Sent Away and Coming Home
I introduced you all to the T Sisters in February. They will be hard at work producing their next album. They are on the road a lot, but next month the girls and their band will be at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. I am inviting you all to join me and a lot of… Continue reading Oakland Sisters Sing!
It’s been quite a week in the gallery for me. On Friday afternoon I took a friend and her three sisters, all from California, on a tour of the History Gallery. Fridays are my regular day in the gallery with students. I spent the morning on Gold Rush tours and was looking forward to covering… Continue reading You Never Know…
Museums come in all shapes, sizes and types. This one has been in Berkeley for some 40 years. And after 40 years, my friend Eleanor Hopwell, will be closing her wonderful, well-curated store, Ethnic Arts, in Berkeley. Come and celebrate the closing with music, food and of course, sales—as Eleanor opens a new chapter in… Continue reading Other Museums…
Earlier this year I was contacted by George Rede who has a wonderful blog called “Rough and Rede II, Just one voice on The Left Coast.” He is a friend of my sister, Alexandra Zell and her partner, Brian Wartell, in Portland, Oregon. George recently retired from the newspaper, The Oregonian and OregonLive.com, as a journalist after 30 years.… Continue reading Being a Guest Blogger
Today I began to learn first hand the meaning of the docent’s college-level class, California History as Public History. Betty Reid Soskin came to the museum to talk to the docents for our monthly Advanced Training and New Year’s Luncheon. Betty is the oldest park ranger in the United States— 94 years young, for sure.… Continue reading Back to the Beginning: Docent Training and Understanding Public History
I’m going to put the process for becoming a “full-on” History OMCA docent on hold and look at our current exhibit, Rituals and Remembrance. This year when the opportunity arose to join the training for Dias de los Muertos, I said, “Yes.” Training started in late September and I gathered with fellow docents in the… Continue reading Dias de los Muertos 2015
I finished the touring of “Dias de los Muertos: Love and Loss” in the fall of 2011. The exhibition of all of the ofrendas opened on October 12 and ended December 11. Over the nine weeks, docents each gave 15 tours for this heavily attended event. By December, I was ready for a break. By… Continue reading Back to the Gold Rush—Again
