Art Glass

The new East Oakland Community Library at 81st Avenue will feature art glass designed by artist Rene Yung in a 64-foot bank of clerestory windows in the main reading room, and an Interactive Pod housing a monitor dedicated to the Our Oakland website. The 21,000 square foot library will be the City of Oakland's first green building. 

The art glass design shows an image of overlapping ripples to express the theme of Mutuality + Transformation.  This means that everyone in the community depends on one another.  Each of our stories and actions is like a drop in a pond. The ripples from each drop fan out to impact neighboring ripples, and together they create a shimmering pool that can replenish and sustain the community, and begin the process of hope and transformation. 

The window design also shows a stylized elm leaf and seedpods. The water and plant imagery refer to the ecological history of the library site, which is located in an area once known as Elmhurst Village.  It was one of the most productive agricultural lands in the Bay Area in the 19th century, fed by underground aquifers and wells that are now depleted because of human activity. 

The art glass windows will enrich visitors' visual experience of the librray as well as tell as story, just as stained glass windows in traditional churches once did. By recalling the story of Inner Elmhurst's rich history to reflect on East Oakland's present challenges, the symbolic images are a call to re-imagine the possibilities for the community. At the same time, the Digital Archive supports this vision by presenting the stories of community members and organizations that bring to light the under-acknowledged assets and heritage of East Oakland, as well as honest expressions about community concerns.

The combined artwork elements are intended to help visitors envision the transformation we can each make by taking care of the human and ecological resources we have and taking individual and collective steps to renew and replenish our communities. The ripple imagery and the  theme of Mutuality + Transformation extend throughout all aspects of the project, linking the physical artworks with this Digital Archive and the ongoing Community Building.

• A Digital Archive of Community Stories about East Oakland
• Community building activities including forming new partnerships and hosting storytelling events to build a new community online that will help build community on the ground.