Open Call for Art on Billboards – SaveArtSpace

Due Date:
* Monday, April 24

SaveArtSpace uses billboard ad space as public art for local artists. We are working with Oakland based BLOOM Collective to install artists work on billboards around Oakland starting in June!

Currently, we have an Open Call for Art, we aim to include as many area artists on billboards as possible.

We invite artists of all ages and talents to submit their artwork between March 15 and April 24, 2023. This is an opportunity to have your artwork placed on ad space in Oakland, CA.

The selected artist or artists will be announced May 8, 2023. Public art will be installed the week of June 12, 2023 in Oakland, CA, and will be on view for at least one month.

BLOOM is a curatorial collective based in Oakland, CA that champions local artists of color and queer/trans artists, especially those in the early stages of their careers. We are cooperatively run and care deeply about equity and access in our local arts community. Together, we curate new art shows and spaces that seek to transcend the often-exclusionary white-walled gallery and instead showcase the vibrant, the weird, and the beautiful perspectives of East Bay art and performance.

As a way to highlight these diverse stories in a public setting, BLOOM calls on the local community to share their art that relates to the theme, “In Bloom”. Artists can interpret the theme however they would like. Examples include (but are not limited to) visual art that expresses the concept of accepting and understanding one’s identity. Artwork can also communicate change (environmental, personal, or historical) or it can reflect on the natural world. Moreover, what does “In Bloom” mean in the context of Oakland and its ecosystem?

Curators

Callan Porter-Romero grew up in a Black, Japanese, and Mexican household in Oakland, CA. Her artwork intentionally centers people from Black and Brown communities, using recycled material and paint to convey the weight of labor and invisible hardships. She is especially interested in how people reclaim their right to humanity despite capitalistic society emphasizing their replaceability.

Cassandra Rose Casares is an Oakland born and raised Xicana artist. She is also a walking descendant of 1st generation college students–her father, who was a migrant farm worker and her mother, the daughter of a farm worker. Her Xiicana roots are embedded in her art through the representation of agriculture, Mother Earth, and women. To combat consumerism, Cassandra uses old makeup to paint on canvas.

Angel Albie Anjos is a first-generation Brazilian-American. They are a multidisciplinary Queer and Trans artist based in Oakland, CA, working in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Anjos recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s in Art Practice and a minor in Art History, primarily focusing on Painting and Ceramics. They use these practices as an introspective and reflective medium of the emotional and physical experience of queerness/transness.

Sam McGinnis is a multidisciplinary artist and organizer based in Oakland, CA. They are passionate about writing, zine-making, and making wearable pieces of art by hand, but more than anything, they care about watching young queer and trans artists succeed.

Mar Valle-Remond (they/any) is a Mexican immigrant lesboy creating art on Lamchin-Ohlone land. Through their work, they seek to explore how queerness, grief, and joy intertwine. In her free time, Mar advocates for COVID safety, spends time with loved ones, and seeks to cultivate a sense of wonder and radical hope in all aspects of their life.