Bay Area Urban Art + Culture Now

Cool Remixed is the museum's topical spin on Birth of the Cool, a look at the mid-century music, architecture, fashion, and art of southern California, organized by the Orange County Museum of Art.

Produced by Oakland Museum of California staff, Cool Remixed captures northern California "cool" via graffiti art, film, fashion, dance, skateboard and bike culture, and themed lounges where visitors can chill.

Curators Evelyn Orantes and Christine Lashaw invited local artists and Oakland community organizations—the East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC), Oakland High's Visual Arts Academy (VAAMP), Town Park, Visual Element of the EastSide Arts Alliance, Youth Radio, and Youth UpRising—to create art and installations for the exhibition.

"Cool Remixed reflects the relationship youth have with their environment, how they create personal space and define themselves," said Orantes, cultural arts developer at the museum. "What has surfaced from our discussions and their artwork is a real sense of pride in being from O-town."

The Cool Remixed curators and community partners have created a venue—including a central performance area—where visitors can sample and mix the signature aspects of East Bay cool. "The exhibition gives youth a platform to speak and be heard," said Lashaw, head preparator for the education department.

* Local artists KDub, Mike Reyes, Ben Winslow and others will provide a glimpse into the world of skateboarding, or "street surfing" circa the 1960s. They will build a quarter-bowl skate ramp for the exhibition, with a video by Reyes of local skaters projected as a backdrop.

* Local artist Estria Miyashiro and graffiti writers from Visual Element will create murals for the exhibition. City streets have served as canvases for graffitists since the 1960s; once considered vandalism, graffiti have become legitimate art. -- www.museumca.org