Local Color

A few days ago I found myself in downtown Oakland. I haven’t been in downtown Oakland since the pandemic had us sheltering in place. I was surprised at all the murals on the sides of buildings. It took me a minute to realize that the murals were all on boarded up store fronts. Where there were once glass store fronts there were now murals.

Many of the store fronts in Oakland were boarded up during the unrest in the spring of 2020. Walking up and down a few blocks of Franklin Street seemed like being in an outdoor museum, with a lesson on current events mixed with the creativity and the will of people to adapt.

Here are six images I captured in the few minutes I had to walk a few blocks. You can view additional images here.